Rev. Kierien Ekpang Ayugha is a lecturer at the Linguistics and Translation Department, Theological College of Northern Nigeria (TCNN), Bukuru, Jos. He holds a BA in Linguistics and Translation from the same department, and a Master’s Degree in Theology (with specialization in Translation Management) from University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa. Upon graduation at TCNN, he worked as Translation Advisor with the Utugwang Bible Translation and Language Development Project in Cross River State, Nigeria, for three years.
A Preliminary Analysis of Utugwang Narrative Discourse: Implications for Utugwang Translators and Consultants
Abstract
Many a grammatical description of African languages stops at the sentence level. This deprives translators and translation consultants the benefit of knowing how narratives work, which makes the translation very unnatural, and consequently, less incarnational; for the transmission of God’s Word through Bible translation could be seen as a process of incarnation in that each stage of translation work results in a better understanding of the Word. This paper is built on the premise that a good knowledge of Utukwang narrative discourse, and the application of such knowledge, would help Bible translators and consultants in Utukwang to produce translations that would communicate better the incarnate Word in the native idiom of the Utugwang people. The paper benefits from a functionalist approach to translation, as expounded by Levinsohn, Runge, and Nicoles. It identifies the features that play important roles in the narrative and their functions. This paper reveals that the Utukwang narrative is a beauty to behold. It employs the use of sound devices like ideophones, formulaic expressions, and assonance at strategic points in the narrative. The narrative also uses different verb forms to signal online and offline information, as well as employs inferential and continuative markers to signal new developments in the narrative. The Utukwang narrative also uses discourse markers to signal sequentiality and cataphora.