DCS-Mirror
/
unfoldingWord_en_ta
mirror of https://git.door43.org/unfoldingWord/en_ta
2
0
Fork 0
Files Issues Releases Wiki Activity See in Reader

Jim's update from Word document 

Clarify that Points of Similarity are what the author intends.
Kinds of Metaphor: Live, Dead, and Patterned Paris of Concepts
Reason people may not accept a metaphor
This commit is contained in:
Susan Quigley 2017-05-15 14:18:11 +00:00
parent c1b21cf391
commit 3f1b39ea9b
1 changed files with 71 additions and 34 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

105
translate/figs-metaphor/01.md
View File

@ -1,31 +1,56 @@
### Description
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one concept is used for another, and in which there is at least one point of comparison between the two. In other words, in metaphor, someone speaks of something as if it were something else because he wants people to understand that certain things that are true of one thing are true of the other.
A metaphor is a figure of speech in which one concept (the "topic") is used as if it were another concept (the "image"). For example, someone might say,
* The girl I love is a red rose.
Sometimes a speaker does this in ways that are very common in the language. At other times, a speaker does this in ways that are less common in the language and that might even be unique. Speakers usually use metaphors in order to make their language more vivid or to give their language more emotional impact.
Here the topic is "the girl I love," and the image is "a red rose."
**Very Common ("Dead") Metaphors**
Anything in a language can serve as a metaphor. For example, verb forms can be used in unusual ways, as in,
* The Apostle Paul tells us that Christians will rise to life again.
The metaphors that are very common in a language are usually not very vivid. They may even be "dead." A "dead" metaphor is a metaphor that has been used so much in the language that the speakers of the language do not think of it as a metaphor. Examples in English are "table leg," "family tree," and "the price of food is going up." Examples in biblical languages are "hand" to mean "power," "face" to mean "presence," and "clothing" to mean emotions or moral qualities.
In this case, the English present tense form "tells" is a metaphor for the past tense form "told," because the Apostle Paul lived long ago.
Metaphors like these are in constant use in the world's languages, because they serve as convenient ways to organize thought. In general, languages speak of abstract qualities, such as power, presence, emotions, and moral qualities, as if they were objects that can be seen or held, or as if they were body parts, or as if they were events that you can watch happen.
Sometimes speakers use metaphors that are very common in their language. However, sometimes speakers use metaphors that are uncommon, and even some metaphors that are unique.
When these metaphors are used in their normal ways, the speaker and audience of that language do not normally even regard them as figurative speech. It is just the normal way to say something in that language. This is why, for example, it would be wrong to translate the English expression, "The price of petrol is going up" into another language in a way that would draw special attention to it as figurative speech, because English speakers do not view it as a vivid expression. That is, it is not an unusual expression that carries meaning in an unusual manner.
Speakers most often use metaphors in order to strengthen their message, to express their feelings better, to say something that is hard to say in any other way, or to help people remember their message.
For a description of important patterns of this kind of metaphor, please see [Biblical Imagery - Common Patterns](../translate-bita-part1/01.md) and the pages it will direct you to.
#### Kinds of Metaphors
**Less Common ("Live") Metaphors**
There are several kinds of metaphors: "live" metaphors, "dead" metaphors, and patterned metaphors.
This is the kind of metaphor that we usually think of when we talk about metaphors. This is the kind that we need to take special care to translate accurately. These metaphors are vivid and have emotional impact because they make comparisons that are unusual and that are sometimes even unique in a language.
**Live Metaphors**
The speaker usually produces metaphors of this kind in order to emphasize the importance of what he is talking about. For example,
>For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. (Malachi 4:2 ULB)
These are metaphors that people recognize as using one concept for another. These are metaphors that people easily recognize as giving strength and unusual qualities to the message. For this reason, people pay attention to these metaphors. For example,
Here God speaks about his salvation as if it were the sun rising to shine its rays on the people whom he loves. And he speaks of the sun's rays as if they were wings. Also, he speaks of these wings as if they were bringing medicine that would heal his people.
> For you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. (Malachi 4:2 ULB)
Here God speaks about his salvation as if it were the sun rising in order to shine its rays on the people whom he loves. He also speaks of the sun's rays as if they were wings. Also, he speaks of these wings as if they were bringing medicine that would heal his people.
Here is another example:
Jesus said, 'Go and tell that fox...,'" where "that fox" refers to King Herod. The people listening to Jesus certainly understood that Jesus was referring to Herod either as a very evil, cunning person or as a king who was only pretending to be great.
**Dead Metaphors**
A dead metaphor is a metaphor that has been used so much in the language that its speakers no longer regard it as one concept standing for another. Examples in English are "table leg," "family tree," "leaf" meaning a page in a book, and "crane" meaning a large machine for lifting heavy loads. Examples in Biblical Hebrew are probably "heal" meaning "repair," and "sick" meaning "spiritually powerless because of sin."
**Patterned Pairs of Concepts acting as Metaphors**
Many ways of metaphorical speaking depend on pairs of concepts, where one underlying concept frequently stands for a different underlying concept. For example, in English, the direction UP often stands for the concept of MORE. Because of this pair of underlying concepts, we can make sentences such as "The price of gasoline is going up," "A highly intelligent man," and also the opposite kind of idea: "The heat is going down," and "The stock market took a tumble."
Patterned pairs of concepts are constantly used for metaphorical purposes in the world's languages, because they serve as convenient ways to organize thought. In general, people like to speak of abstract qualities, such as power, presence, emotions, and moral qualities, as if they were objects that could be seen or held, as if they were body parts, or as if they were events that could be watched as they happened.
When these metaphors are used in normal ways, it is rare that the speaker and audience regard them as figurative speech. Examples of metaphors in English that go unrecognized are:
* "Turn the heat up." Up is More
* "Let us go ahead with our debate." EXPLAINING IDEAS IS WALKING OR ADVANCING
* "You defend your theory well." ARGUMENT IS WAR
* "A flow of words" WORDS ARE LIQUIDS
English speakers do not view them as unusual expression, so it would be wrong to translate them into other languages in a way that would lead people to pay special attention to them as figurative speech.
For a description of important patterns of this kind of metaphor in biblical languages, please see Biblical Imagery - Common Patterns and the pages it will direct you to.
We call this kind of metaphor "live." It is unique in the biblical languages, which means that it is very memorable.
#### Parts of a Metaphor
@ -33,32 +58,35 @@ When talking about metaphors, it can be helpful to talk about their parts. A met
1. **Topic** The thing someone speaks of is called the topic.
1. **Image** The thing he calls it is the image.
1. **Points of Comparison** The ways that they are similar are the points of comparison.
1. **Points of Comparison** The ways in which the author claims that the topic and image are similar in some manner.
In the metaphor below, the speaker describes the woman he loves as a rose. The woman (his "love") is the **topic** and the red rose is the **image**. The **points of comparison** are that both the woman and the rose are beautiful and delicate.
In the metaphor below, the speaker describes the woman he loves as a red rose. The woman (his "love") is the topic, and "red rose" is the **image**. Beauty and delicacy are the points of comparison that the speaker sees as similarities between both the topic and image. Note, however, that a rose's beauty is not identical to a woman's beauty. Neither are the two kinds of delicacy the same. So these points of comparison are not built upon identical characteristics, but rather upon characteristics that are seen by the writer as similar in some way.
* My love is a red, red rose.
* My love is a red, red rose.
Normally, as in the metaphor above, the speaker explicitly states the **topic** and the **image**, but he does not state the **points of comparison**. The speaker leaves it to the hearer to think of the **points of comparison**. In that way, the speaker's message has more impact on the hearer.
Often, as in the metaphor above, the speaker explicitly states the **topic** and the **image**, but he does not state points of comparison. The speaker leaves it to the hearer to think of those points of comparison. Because the hearers must do that, the speaker's message tends to be more powerful.
Also in the Bible, normally the **topic** and the **image** are stated clearly, but not the **points of comparison**.
Also in the Bible, normally the **topic** and the **image** are stated clearly, but not the points of comparison. The writer hopes that the audience will understand the points of comparison that are implied.
>Jesus said to them. "**I am the bread of life**; he who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35 ULB)
> Jesus said to them. "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not be hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35 ULB)
In this metaphor, Jesus called himself the bread of life. The **topic** is "I," and the **image** is "bread." Bread is a food that people ate all the time. The point of comparison between bread and Jesus is that people needed break every day for nourishment. In a similar way, people need Jesus every day in order to live spiritually.
Note that this metaphor is really several metaphors. The first metaphor is that bread is used to represent Jesus. The second metaphor, which is inside the first one, is that physical life represents the spiritual life, which consists of living with God forever. The third metaphor is that eating bread represents benefitting from Jesus, who enables us to live with God forever.
In this metaphor, Jesus called himself the bread of life. The **topic** is "I" and the **image** is "bread." Bread is a food that people ate all the time. A **point of comparison** is that people need both to live. Just as people need to eat food in order to have physical life, people need to trust in Jesus in order to have spiritual life.
#### Purposes of this second kind of Metaphor
* One purpose of metaphor is to teach people about something that they do not know (the **topic**) by showing that it is like something that they already do know (the **image**).
* Another purpose is to emphasize that something has a particular quality or to show that it has that quality in an extreme way.
* Another purpose is to lead people to feel the same way about the one thing as they would feel about the other.
* Another purpose is to lead people to feel the same way about one thing as they would feel about the other.
#### Reasons this is a translation issue
* People may not recognize that something is a metaphor. In other words, they may mistake a metaphor for a literal statement, and thus misunderstand it.
* People may not be familiar with the thing that is used as an image, and so not be able to understand the metaphor.
* If the topic is not stated, people may not know what the topic is.
* People may not know the points of comparison, that is, they may not know how the topic and the image are alike, and so they will not understand the metaphor.
* People may not know the points of comparison that the speaker intends for them to understand that he is thinking of. If they fail to think of these points of comparison, they will not understand the metaphor.
#### Translation Principles
@ -69,11 +97,14 @@ In this metaphor, Jesus called himself the bread of life. The **topic** is "I" a
>Listen to this word, <u>you cows of Bashan</u>, (Amos 4:1 ULB)
In this metaphor Amos compares the upper-class women of Samaria (the topic is "you") with cows (the image). The point of comparison is not stated, but from the context it seems that it is that both are fat and only interested in feeding themselves.
In this metaphor Amos speaks to the upper-class women of Samaria (the topic is "you") with as if they were cows (the image). Amos does not say what points of comparison between these women and the cows he has mind, but from the context it seems that he means that both the women and the cows are fat and interested only in eating.
Note, however, that Amos does not actually mean that the women are cows, for he speaks to them as human beings.
>And yet, Yahweh, you are our father; we are the <u>clay</u>. You are our <u>potter</u>; and we all are the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8 ULB)
The example above has two related metaphors. The topics are "we" and "you" and the images are "clay and "potter." The point of comparison is the relationship between the clay and the potter being similar to the relationship between us and God. Just as a potter takes clay and forms a jar or dish out of it, God makes us into what he wants us to be.
The example above has two related metaphors. The topics are "we" and "you," and the images are "clay and "potter." The intended point of comparison between a potter and God is the fact that both make out of something what they wish: the potter makes what he wishes out of the clay, and God makes out of his people Israel what he wishes. The point of comparison between the potter's clay and "us" is that both the clay and the people of Israel are made into something different from what they were before.
>Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of <u>the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees</u>." The disciples reasoned among themselves and said, "It is because we took no bread." (Matthew 16:6-7 ULB)
@ -82,16 +113,22 @@ Jesus used a metaphor here, but his disciples did not realize it. When he said "
### Translation Strategies
If people would understand the metaphor in the same way that the original readers would have understood it, go ahead and use it. Be sure to test the translation to make sure that people do understand it. If people do not or would not understand it, here are some other strategies.
If people would understand the metaphor in the same way that the original readers probably understood it, go ahead and use it. Be sure to test the translation to make sure that people do understand it.
1. If the metaphor is common and seems to be a normal way to say something in the source language (a "dead" metaphor), express the main idea in the simplest way preferred by your language.
2. If the metaphor seems to be a "live" metaphor, you can translate it literally if you think that the target language also uses this metaphor. If you do this, be sure to test it to make sure that the language community understands it correctly.
3. If the target audience does not understand the metaphor correctly, then change the metaphor to a simile. Some languages do this by adding words such as "like" or "as." See [Simile](../figs-simile/01.md)
4. If the target audience would not know the **image**, see [Translate Unknowns](../translate-unknown/01.md) for ideas on how to translate that image.
5. If the target audience would not use that **image** for that meaning, use an image from your own culture instead. Be sure that it is an image that could have been possible in Bible times.
6. If the target audience would not know what the **topic** is, then state the topic clearly. (However, do not do this if the original audience did not know what the topic was.)
7. If the target audience would not know how the topic is like the image, then state a **point of comparison** clearly.
8. If none of these strategies are satisfactory, then just state the idea plainly without using a metaphor.
Sometimes when people refuse to accept a metaphor, it is because they refuse to acknowledge the point of comparison is a true one. For example, in the metaphor
> And yet, Yahweh, you are our father; we are the clay. You are our potter; and we all are the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8 ULB)
If people do not or would not understand it, here are some other strategies.
1. If the metaphor is a common expression of a patterned pair of concepts in a biblical language, express the main idea in the simplest way preferred by your language. (See Biblical Imagery - Common Patterns for lists of some of these patterned pairs of concepts.)
2. If the metaphor seems to be a "live" metaphor, you can translate it literally if you think that the target language also uses this metaphor. If you do this, be sure to test it to make sure that the language community understands it correctly.
3. If the target audience does not understand the metaphor correctly, then change the metaphor to a simile. Some languages do this by adding words such as "like" or "as." See [Simile](../figs-simile/01.md).
4. If the target audience would not know the image, see [Translate Unknowns](../translate-unknown/01.md) for ideas on how to translate that image.
5. If the target audience would not use that image for that meaning, use an image from your own culture instead. Be sure that it is an image that could have been possible in Bible times.
6. If the target audience would not know what the topic is, then state the topic clearly. (However, do not do this if the original audience did not know what the topic was.)
7. If the target audience will not know the intended points of comparison between the image and topic, then state them clearly.
8. If none of these strategies is satisfactory, then simply state the idea plainly without using a metaphor.
### Examples of Translation Strategies Applied
@ -122,7 +159,7 @@ There is no change to this one - but it must be tested to make sure that the tar
* **Yahweh lives; may <u>my rock</u> be praised. May the God of my salvation be exalted.** (Psalm 18:46 ULB)
* Yahweh lives; <u>He is my rock</u>. May he be praised. May the God of my salvation be exalted.
7. If the target audience would not know how the topic is like the image, then state a **point of comparison** clearly.
7. If the target audience will not know the intended points of comparison between the image and the topic, then state them clearly.
* **Yahweh lives; may <u>my rock</u> be praised. May the God of my salvation be exalted.** (Psalm 18:46 ULB)
* Yahweh lives; may he be praised because he is the rock <u>under which I can hide from my enemies</u>. May the God of my salvation be exalted.