Thu Feb 6 05:37:20 1997

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Subject: strange translation of Greek particle ARA
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 97 11:36:47 +0100
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From: Jean VALENTIN 
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Hello tc-ers!

Here are some more funny features of my Arabic manuscript, Sinai Arabic 
71. It's about the way it translates the Greek particle ARA (approx. 
meaning "thus") in three passages.

The ms covers Mt 23 - Lk 5. In all that text, the Greek "ara" comes 4 
times (Mt 24.45, Mk 4.41, Mk 11.13 and Lk 1.66). In three of these cases 
(Mk 11.13 is the exception), my Arabic version translates it by the 
Arabic verb _r'y_ (akin to the hebrew ra'ah).

Mt 24.45 man yara' dhalika 'l-(abd
"who sees that servant..."

Mk 4.41 man nara' hadha-lladhi 'l-baHr
"who do we see this one to whom the see..."

Lk 1.66 madha taruna yakun hadha al-Sabiyy
"what do you see is this child..."

Quite a strange translation! In my opinion, it is motivated by... the 
phonetic similitude between the Greek particle and the Arabic root! Quite 
a unique feature, isn't it? And again, it shows our translator wasn't at 
ease with Greek as he was embarrassed with this quite rare particle.


_______________________________________________________________________
Jean Valentin - Brussels - Belgium

Ce qui est trop simple est faux, ce qui est trop complexe est 
inutilisable.
What's too simple is wrong, what's too complex is unusable.
Wat te eenvoudig is, is verkeerd; wat te ingewikkeld is, is onbruikbaar.

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