Dass It!

"God, you our Fadda.
You stay inside da sky.
We like all da peopo know fo shua how you stay,
An dat you stay good an spesho,
An we like dem give you plenny respeck."

So reads the pidgin translation of Matthew 6:9-13, otherwise known as "The Lord's Prayer," in Da Jesus Book by Joseph and Barbara Grimes. It actually came out last year, but is resurfacing today having caught the fancy of bloggers everywhere. (Yes, including Metafilter.)

We've recently discussed the relevance and legitimacy of pidgin. "Da Jesus Book" is part of a much larger, and decidedly serious, effort by Wycliffe Bible Translators to "[translate] the Scriptures into languages of tribal people."

Do you think this book — or at least oral readings of it — helps spread "the word" to new, untapped audiences?

I have to confess, I never read and don't know the bible, so starting fresh with the pidgin version, I didn't quite know what was being said. Only going to the original and reading side-by-side did I catch on... and at that point, it felt more like "getting the joke" than "seeing the light."

Comments

I've always thought of pidgin as a familiar language, one that you use with your familiars. At least that was the way I was raised. I know that there are entire groups of people who only speak pidgin, but they can sure read American English. It seems to me like when people "translate" something into pidgin they're automatically assuming that if you speak pidgin, you can only read pidgin. Obviously, that's not true.

I agree that it's more like "getting the joke". Only people who try to do that in a serious manner often end up just insulting the intelligence of the people who speak pidgin. In a joking manner, like Pidgin To Da Max, it's fine. In that context it's supposed to be a joke. And hey, we're locals right? We get da joke!

But we like get da respeck too, eh!

It look to me like all dey stay doing is speling da werds all hemojang and dey stay using abreeveeated gramma. Dey foget dat pidgen (or is it peedgen?) uses werds from da otta languages like Hawaiian, Japanese, and Chinese. Also, what kine slang dey stay using? Every island get dea own. I tink dey stay shmall kine LOLO.

Shit ... I forget to mention the liberal use of swear words..

I have a copy of this, if anyone wants me to look up favorite passages for them. :)

I think it's a neat idea, and infinitely more useful than the guy in California who is using DMV records of personalized plates to do a Bible translation.

As far as I'm concerned, the pidgin translation is at least as accurate as any found in English, considering the Bible went through the oral tradition before being inscribed in Old Hebrew translated to Latin translated to Old English, etc.

And if you're more comfortable in pidgin, this translation is likely to give you a more personal sense of God than those archaic English versions anyway.

I never understood why so many people were upset about the book coming out last year. But then, I'm admittedly areligious.

I read the Bible. I've read Da Jesus Book. Personally, I don't think it's a joke myself.

My dad was a pastor in Waianae for 22 years before retiring in March. He worked with Dr. and Barbara Grimes to get the translation finished. Several families native to Waianae for generations served as consultants to the projects. Dr. Grimes is a well-respected linguist worldwide who is widely published. Dr. Grimes has utmost respect for the pidgin language and definitely did not treat this work to be portrayed as a joke. He sees the cleverness of the language and the innate intelligence of its speakers. Because pidgin is so often used by business types to tell jokes or be casual, people who don't use pidgin as a first language automatically make a comical connection. Not always true for a native speaker.

On occasion, my dad would use the pidgin translation alongside other translations, and it would illuminate the passages in a refreshing way. The people really responded to this. The translation is also effective in small-group settings. Definitely a spoken language, so it's not like there were copies being passed around.

I may use pidgin to tell jokes, but for many people, pidgin is the language used to tell a lover "I love you" or to apologize for a grave mistake. While lots of people may come to the language lightheartedly, that's not the case for those who consider pidgin "home." Even the deepest ideals that have the most gravity can be spoken in pidgin, and spoken beautiful - poetically. There already have been a few audio recordings of several Da Jesus Book passages. To read it may seem funny, but to hear its has brought tears to some people's eyes. Once you get past the giggles and are able to look at it from another angle, you might be amazed.

Unlike a lot of literature that may attempt to make light of the pidgin language, Da Jesus Book attempts to convey ideas of great weight to general audiences. A true service not only for pidgin speakers, but moreso for those who are not.

It's clear to me the intent and execution of this book was meant in all seriousness, though I did want to point out that the off-the-cuff response is often that it is not. (Note the Metafilter thread linked above.) For me, part of the barrier is my ongoing frustration with attempts to convey all the richness of a spoken dialect in written form. Unless Da Jesus Book, like many other attempts by Lee Tonouchi and others, is read aloud, it's tough for me to process.

Of course, I'm a "defective local." My local haole friend from Pennsylvania can speak better pidgin than I can.

Hey, meri, I'd love to read how the much-quoted 1 Corinthians 13 on love were translated in Da Jesus Book.

Perhaps if MeFites and bloggers everywhere actually heard some of these passages out loud, they wouldn't think of Da Jesus Book as a joke? I'm with Ryan and Ruth. Pidgin has much more impact as a spoken language than as a written one. Reading the Lord's Prayer out loud sounds right...

Although I would've translated "amen" as "All pau"...

I think that's Twain's genius; he writes dialect as pronounced better than any other writer I can think of.

From what I can tell, the authors of this translation have done a very creditable job.

I read the first 30 or so posts at MeFi; has the word "Philistine" shown up yet?

While trying to make sense why the NIV and NASV and other versions of the (WORD OF GOD) exist, I ran across (da Jesus Book). Definately it is not a joke.
It is PURE BLASPHEMY. My one question is this: Does God's words change? ANSWER... NO! Man should never do to the WORD OF GOD what has been done in this book.

Indeed. It should have been translated straight from the original Aramaic.

To NemesisVex, and Robin Blair.

Think about this for a second. This is no different than having a King James Bible. The big difference is the language used. There's enough things that are lost when translated from Aramaic that I honestly believe this book does no more harm than an English translation. I honestly will probably buy a copy of the book after having previewed a copy of it. However I do plan on learning Aramaic so that I can read the word in the original Aramaic too. Just keep an open mind.

Blasphemy? Please! God's Word has been translated for millions to understand. Pidgin English is a normal way of communication for many in Hawaii. Just because it's different or you don't get it, you automatically deem it an unforgivable sin? Get off the high self-righteous horse and be realistic. God's Word becomes real in people's hearts. How God allows that to happen is up to him. Pidgin English is not a joke; so the Lord's Prayer translated to Pidgin is totally acceptable.

First off, the bible's orignal language is not Aramaic. Much of the old testament was written in Hebrew, and then translated into greek after the diaspora when the common language was Greek. Much of the orignal new testament writing is in Greek. Pop Zero makes a good point in that Pidgin is just another language and it's like having a english bible. I for one have seen the dramatic impact "Da Jesus Book" has on native hawaiians. It brings Jesus alive to them.

Post a Comment