Translating Jita Jonah (part 1)

Jita translators: Neema, Magoma, Magesa and Translation Advisor: Ben

Now that we finished translating the book of Jonah into the Jita language, I thought I would show you the steps involved.  It should be simple, right?  Just 4 little chapters and 48 little verses....piece of cake, right?

Here's the first step in translating the book of Jonah into the Jita language:

DRAFTING

The three Jita translators (Magesa, Magoma and Neema) used a software program called Paratext to translate the book of Jonah from various Swahili versions into Jita (don't worry, you'll see in later steps that the Translation Advisor and Translation Consultant refer to the original Greek and Hebrew to ensure accuracy). Paratext was designed by the geniuses at SIL International and the United Bible Societies. (You guys are awesome!) Here's a screen shot of Paratext...

The translators look at the three major Swahili Bible versions and decide which way would be most natural in Jita. Then they make a back-translation, which means translating the Jita back into Swahili for the benefit of advisors (like me!) and consultants.

Translating the Bible from Swahili into Jita is not as simple as you might imagine. For example, the Jita language has three past tenses:

  Distant past is a long time ago until the day before yesterday
  Past is yesterday
  Near past is this morning

And Jita also uses a narrative "tense" when describing consecutive events in the past.

This is a challenge when translating Jonah 4:10, "The LORD said, 'You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.'"

How many days ago did the plant grow? How many days ago did the plant die? Which past tense should they use?

Jita also has various future tenses:
  the speaker has certainty that something will happen later today
  the speaker has some hesitation that something will happen later today
  the speaker has certainty that something will happen tomorrow
  the speaker has certainty that something will happen the day after tomorrow

This is a challenge in Jonah 2:9 during Jonah's prayer from the belly of the fish, "I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone."

When does Jonah think he will get out of the fish? Does he have certainty about when he will get out? Which tense should be used?

Please pray for the Jita translators as they carefully translate God's Word into their heart language.


{HUGE DISCLAIMER!!!}
Step 1 of the translation process is ONLY possible after Jita translators have been hired, trained in computer skills, trained in using Paratext, and trained in translation principles. Also, the Linguistics Department must spend years analyzing the sounds and the grammar of the Jita language so that they can decide how to write the language. But before that, Language Survey teams determined that the Jita language is distinct enough from surrounding languages that it needs its own translation of the Bible. But before that, people with a heart for missions and a passion for the Bible were praying that God's Word would be accessible to the Jita people so that they can hear the good news of Jesus and enjoy eternal life in Jesus.

THANK YOU for praying!!!