EXAMPLE 1
Here are three sentences in the Mbembe language of Nigeria, with an English translation:
(a)
| ochi | eten |
|---|---|
| he-eats | eten |
“he eats meat”
(b)
| owa | eten |
|---|---|
| he-catches | eten |
“he catches a fish”
(c)
| eten ndo | kk’erobha | z’egba |
|---|---|---|
| eten | has-run | to-bush |
“that animal has run off into the bush”
What does eten mean in English?
In sentence (a) it means “meat.”
In sentence (b) it means “fish.”
In sentence (c) it means “animal.”
The area of meaning which is covered by one Mbembe word, eten, is covered by three words in English: meat, fish, and animal. A translator translating from Mbembe into English would need to use different words to translate eten according to each situation.
This illustrates the fact that words in some languages do not necessarily match up, one-to-one, with words in another language.
OTHER EXAMPLES
In English there is one word cloth, but in Hausa there are three words:
zane (a cloth which one ties round the waist),
yadi (cloth bought by the yard),
kyalle
In Mundu (Sudan) there is one word go, in English there are three words that cover the same meaning:
grass
flowers
plants
All three of these English words could be translated by go in Mundu.
In Sudanese Arabic there is one word mara, in Greek there is one word γυνή gyni, in English there are two words:
wife
woman
In Sudanese Arabic (and many African languages), there is one word asma, in English there are two words:
hear
understand
Asma would be translated into English sometimes by “hear,” sometimes by “obey” or “understand,” depending on context.
In Mbembe there is one word okora, in English there are three words,
red
orange
yellow
All these English words could be translated by okora in Mbembe.
Similarly, in Mbembe there is one word obina, in English there are three words:
green
blue
black
Some languages have many more words for different colours than others do.
REMEMBER:
Because words in different languages do not match each other, the same word in the Source Language must sometimes be translated by different words in the Receptor Language.
A word must always be translated by the meaning that it has in the particular context in which it occurs.
Adapted from Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles by Katharine Barnwell, 2017, pages 54 - 55.