Words That Have Different Senses

Within one language, the same word may have a number of different senses.

EXAMPLES from English

  • A “nail” is a pointed piece of metal used for carpentry work, but a “fingernail” is the hard substance at the tip of a finger.
  • A “foot” is a part of the body, the lower end of the leg, but the “foot” of a mountain means the lower part of the mountain, and a “foot” is also a measurement, twelve inches in length.
  • A “board” is a long, thin, flat piece of wood, but the “board” of a school means the “governing committee” of the school.

Notice that it is the context in which a word occurs that shows in which sense it is being used.

REMEMBER:
When translating from one language to another, the different senses of a word may need to be translated by different words in the Receptor Language.

EXERCISE 1

For the examples above, write down how you would translate each of these words into your own language:

nail
fingernail

foot
foot of a mountain
foot (measurement)

board
the board of a school

You will probably find that for at least some of these words you need to use different words in your language for the different senses of the Source Language word.

REMEMBER:
Always translate a word according to its sense in the particular context in which it occurs.

EXERCISE 2

Give three examples from your own language of words that have different senses.

For example, in one language,

ogbangbang can mean

  1. “zinc roof of a house”
  2. “an enamel basin”

fohno can mean

  1. “to wipe” as in ofohno okpokoro ‘he wiped the table’
  2. “to iron” as in ofohno ibara ‘he ironed the cloth’
  3. “to sacrifice” as in ofohno eja ‘he made a sacrifice’

NOTE: In many non-European languages, the tone on which a word is pronounced makes a difference to the meaning. For example, in one language, èfá (low-high tone) means “dog,” while éfà (high-low tone) means “power.” Such examples are not different senses of the same word, they are quite different words.

REMEMBER
Someone who is translating from a language that is not his own mother tongue may sometimes not be aware of all the different senses that a word has in the source language. He may think only of the most usual meaning of the word and may translate that meaning, without realising that the word may have different meanings in different contexts.
KEEP ALERT to recognize the correct sense of each word in the particular context in which it occurs.

EXERCISE 3

For each of the following examples, check carefully the actual meaning of the word in bold. Use a good English dictionary for this purpose. How would you translate each of the bold words into your own language?

  1. The Order of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism (Baptism, tr. Lash)
  2. Make him/her glad in all the works of his/her hands and in all his/her race (Baptism, Prayer for the Making of a Catechumen, tr. Lash)
  3. Come and depart from one who is being made ready for holy Enlightenment. (Baptism, Second Exorcism Prayer, tr. Lash)
  4. search out and try him (her), driving away from him (her) every operation of the devil (Baptism, Third Exorcism Prayer, tr. Lash)
  5. nor despise those who cry out with faith (Canon of Holy Unction, 8th Ode, tr. Lash)
  6. Preserve them, Lord our God, as you preserved Noah in the Ark. (Matrimony, Second Crowning Prayer, tr. Lash)

Adapted from Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles by Katharine Barnwell, 2017, pages 55 - 57