Bible Society - NT
Translation Topics
Bible Society - NT |
Translation Topics |
Translation Topics - #2
This issue of Translation Topics reports on media interest in the Bible Socieites' translation programs in Indigenous Languages and in particular the completion of the Kriol Bible. The Sydney Anglican paper Southern Cross reported on the Kriol program with a photo of Lance Tremlett (translation facilitator) with a member of the Kriol translation team. Journalists in both the Murdoch and Fairfax organisations have phoned me concerning the Kriol program and about translation into other Aboriginal languages. Copies of the articles are in the attachments. Higher resolution scans are available if you would like them. The text of the Sydney Morning Herald and NT News articles is set out below. The Herald journalist was fascinated to learn that translation has been done in over 30 languages. The News journalist was particularly interested in the achievement of Territorians. He has offered to do a follow up article. Kriol checking workshops planned for July and August will provide an opportunity. While preparing this email, I received a call from a reporter with the SA Independent Weekly. He was also interested and is preparing an article for this weekend's edition.
The web links are: http://ntnews.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,7034,15539508%255E13569,00.html http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/06/03/1117568381381.html
The text of the SMH article follows: Bible gets a bush home By Linda Morris Australia 's first translation of the Bible from Genesis through to Revelation into an indigenous language has been completed.A final draft of the manuscript for the Kriol Baibul is now being cross-checked in preparation for publication in 2007. The project has been 27 years in the making. Kriol is the language of 30,000 Aborigines from northern Australia and is spoken as a first language in the region between the Katherine and Roper rivers, the southern Gulf of Carpentaria and the Kimberley in Western Australia. It is understood in northern parts of Western Australia, and in Arnhem Land as a second or third language. Peter Carroll, of the Australian Bible Society, said translations into the many Aboriginal languages were complex. "All translations are difficult when you are matching thought patterns with two different cultures," Dr Carroll said. "In English we use the word heart a lot and we attach to the body part a lot of emotion. We talk of a loving God, one we can love with all our heart, but in the Aboriginal language of Kunwinjku it's meaningless. "Instead we say that you love God with all your insides or, if you like, your inner being." The Bible Society has published three editions in Kriol and 35 other indigenous languages that contain extracts from the New Testament and the Old Testament. However, never before has a complete translation been attempted from cover to cover into an indigenous language. -- The text of the NT News article follows: Indigenous Bible finished By PAUL JACKSON A Territorian has played a leading role in completing the country's first translation of the Bible into an indigenous language. A final draft of the manuscript for the Kriol Baibul is being cross-checked in preparation for publication within 18 months. Dr Peter Carroll, of the Territory's Bible Society, said the project had taken more than 25 years to complete. ``This is the first time all of the 66 New and Old Testament books have been completed,'' he said. Dr Carroll, of Rapid Creek, Darwin, said the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek. The Kriol had used some pidgin English. Kriol is the language of 30,000 Aborigines from northern Australia and is spoken as a first language in the region between Katherine and Roper rivers, the southern Gulf of Carpentaria and the Kimberley in Western Australia. It is also understood in northern parts of WA and in the Territory's Arnhem Land as a second or third language. The translation was undertaken by a group of Aboriginal Christians and missionaries in the NT with support from organisations which included the Bible Society of Australia and other church agencies. The Bible Society has published three editions in Kriol and 35 other indigenous languages that contain extracts from the New Testament and the Old Testament but not from cover to cover. Dr Carroll, who has lived in the NT for nearly 40 years, said translations into the many Aboriginal languages were complex. ``All translations are difficult when you are matching thought patterns with two different cultures,'' he said. END OF ARTICLES
Dr Peter J Carroll, | |