In English, it is idiomatic to say “he suffers” or “he has a lot of suffering.” In many languages, it is natural to say “he sees suffering” or “he drinks suffering.”
Many words have a “natural partner.” We say they collocate, or “go together with” certain other words.
In each particular language, the natural collocation of a word is the other word or words with which it commonly occurs. For example, the words “bread and butter” are a common collocation in English. Other natural collocations are:
“to sing a song”
“to keep a law”
“to drive a car”
Often the meaning of the word changes depending on the collocation.
In the Mbembe language, the word chi ‘to eat’ can be used in a number of collocations:
| chi | odaang |
|---|---|
| eat | foufou |
‘eat foufou’
| chi | akpuka |
|---|---|
| eat | money |
‘embezzle money’
| chi | eden |
|---|---|
| eat | path |
‘go first’
| chi | ngwo |
|---|---|
| eat | bribe |
‘take a bribe’
| chi | akpen |
|---|---|
| eat | life |
‘live it up (high life)’
| chi | onong |
|---|---|
| eat | person |
‘cheat someone’
A common mistake that translators make is to translate too literally, carrying over the collocation of words in the Source Language. The result is an unnatural and often confusing translation.
Avoid the mistake of carying over collocations from the source language that would be unnatural in the Receptor Language. Instead, use the collocation that is natural in the Receptor Language.
FURTHER EXAMPLES of collocations that do not match in different languages:
Mark 1:6
English: ate locusts and wild honey
Jukun (Nigeria): ate locusts and drank wild honey.
Mark 1:9
English: mending their nets
Jukun: tying their nets
Luke 5:9
English: to catch fish
Many languages: to kill fish
Mark 2:22
Greek:
| οὐδεὶς | βάλλει | οἶνον | νέον | εἰς | ἀσκοὺς | παλαιούς |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| udis | valli | inon | neon | is | askus | paleus |
| no-one | casts | wine | new | into | wineskin | old |
RSV: No one puts new wine into old wineskins
GNB: Nor does anyone pour new wine into used wineskins
Mark 6:2
English: What is the wisdom given to him?
Ezaa (Nigeria): Who taught him this kind of wisdom?
Mark 3:6
Greek:
| οἱ | Φαρισαῖοι | συμβούλιον | ἐποίουν | κατʼ | αὐτοῦ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | Farisaei | simvulion | epiun | kat | aftu |
| the | Pharisees | counsel/ plan | gave | about | him |
Greek: gave plan
RSV: held counsel
KJV: took counsel
NIV: began to plot
GNB: made plans
Revelation 11:1
| μέτρησον | τὸν | ναὸν | τοῦ | θεοῦ, | καὶ | τὸ | θυσιαστήριον, |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| metrison | ton | naon | tu | theu | ke | to | thysiastirion |
| measure | the | shrine | of | God | and | the | altar |
| καὶ | τοὺς | προσκυνοῦντας | ἐν | αὐτῷ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ke | tus | proskynuntas | en | afto |
| and | the | ones-worshipping | in | it |
RSV: measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there
GNB: measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshipping in the temple.
Adapted from Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles by Katharine Barnwell, 2017, pages 62 - 64