SIL International Publications

Journal of Translation

Journal of Translation 8(1) (2012)

Editor’s Comments


by David Frank



We are pleased to present a new issue of the Journal of Translation on schedule, with three short but excellent articles and a short note pertaining to different aspects of Bible translation, including the ethics of consulting and the cross-cultural understanding and meaningful cross-linguistic communication of the content of ancient texts. Our thanks go to these authors for their scholarly analysis and presentation of important topics.



We also thank the journal's Editorial Board, which will be working with the Editor,...

One of the great unknowns remaining in Bible translation projects is a formal understanding of the ethical foundations needed for the consulting task. Although this is also true for consultants in anthropology, linguistics and related disciplines, the focus of this article will be on translation consulting. Ethical standards in Bible translation projects must also be examined regarding the translation team and other parties involved, but this article will focus on the consultant. To whom are consultants responsible? Is it to the initiating institution or organization, to the individual’s or a...
Feeling down or in a tight spot? How do we know what someone means when they tell us how they feel? How could we go further and explain how emotions are understood across cultures? This article looks at three approaches—the use of physiology, of key words, and of metaphors. This is followed by a demonstration of the insights from the metaphorical approach as applied to Anglo emotions.
Applying this metaphorical approach to biblical Hebrew (where there is no access to native speakers) is much more difficult than to a living language. However, application of the Cognitive Linguistics of...
Translation involves, among other things, the attempt to communicate the words of one language in another language. An important part of Bible translation is dealing with the translation of key biblical terms. But is it words that we are really translating, or rather the concepts that are associated with those words? Is it reasonable to expect that in translation we will find a word in one language that will communicate “the same meaning” as another word in another language, or borrow a word if necessary? What is the relationship between words and meanings? How are different senses or...