C. Part Three

TRANSLATING UNKNOWN NAMES

Names that that are unfamiliar to the speakers of the Receptor Language may cause difficulties for several reasons:

  1. The name may be hard to pronounce. It is usual that proper names (that is, names of people or places) are adapted to a form which is easy to pronounce in the Receptor Language. They are re-spelt according to the spelling system of the language.
  2. People will not know to what they refer. For example, a name might refer to a region or a town, or a river or a mountain. In some contexts it might even not be clear whether a place or a person is referred to.

Therefore, whenever necessary, the translator should provide any information that the hearer needs in order to understand the passage correctly. This is usually done by including a general word which indicates the kind of place referred to, as illustrated in the examples below.

The translator should be careful to check all unfamiliar place names on a map to make sure that he himself knows what is referred to.

  1. As Elias of old dwelt on Carmel, so he too dwelt on Mount Athos… (Ode 8 of the Canon to St Athanasios of Athos, July 5) –> As Elias of old dwelt on Mount Carmel, so he too dwelt on Mount Athos…
  2. Christ has come, whom the Prophets declared would come from Sion, and call back the world. (Ode 3 of Matins Canon for Mid-Pentecost) –> Christ has come, whom the Prophets declared would came from Mount Zion, and call back the world.
  3. …the Word, whom you saw after the resurrection at Emmaus, and ate with him with heart aflame along with Cleopas… (Vespers Aposticha for the Apostle Luke, October 18) –> …the Word, whom you saw after the resurrection at Emmaus town, and ate with him with heart aflame along with Cleopas…
  4. When the Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea… (Vespers Aposticha for Nativity, December 25) –> When the Lord Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in the region of Judea…
  5. Isaias dance: the Virgin has conceived and given birth to a Son, Emmanuel… (Crowning Hymn in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony) –> Prophet Isaiah dance: the Virgin has conceived and given birth to a Son, Emmanuel…
  6. …when you see the mountains tremble and Jordan being turned back… (Glory at the Matins Aposticha for the Forefeast of Theophany, January 2) –> …when you see the mountains tremble and the River Jordan being turned back…
  7. You reached Samaria, and talking with a woman, sought water to drink, my all-powerful Saviour… (Exapostelarion for the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman) –> You reached the region of Samaria, and talkiing with a woman, sought water to drink, my all-powerful Saviour…
  8. …they refuted the impiety of accursed Antiochos… (Glory at the Vespers Aposticha for the Maccabeean martyrs, August 1) –> …they refuted the impiety of accursed King Antiochos…

Adapted from Bible Translation: An Introductory Course in Translation Principles by Katharine Barnwell, 2017, page 50.