KOABIKE, Bedouma Joseph is from Togo, West Africa. He holds a MA in Bible Translation from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and a MA of Arts, option German Literature from the University of Lomé Togo. He joined SIL Togo-Benin in 1992 for Bible translation. In 2008 he completed the translation of the New Testament in his mother tongue Moba, a language spoken in the north of Togo and Ghana. Since 2009 to date, he works as translation Consultant and translation Coordinator for SIL Togo-Benin. He has mentored many translation consultants of SIL Togo-Benin Branch. He is married to Lim Sok Chin, Literacy consultant for SIL Togo-Benin.
Translating Feelings Using Body Part Metaphors: Example of the Heart Metaphor.
Abstract
The problem of the translation of body part metaphors has been one of the most difficult aspects in Bible translation during my career. There has always been a tension between Church leaders who would prefer to see metaphors translated as literally as possible in the native languages, translation consultants who insist on the Biblical origin of the metaphors, and translators who prefer to use dynamic translations and thus avoid body part metaphors. I am convinced that the key to understand metaphors and translate them adequately is to go through the study of the bodily conceptualization of metaphors especially in the domain of feelings. The reason for choosing to focus on semantics is that semantic analysis seems to give more information about the way of thinking and understanding the world behind the language. On the conceptual level, it gives more information about the metaphor. In terms of understanding, it is more accessible to many mother tongue Bible translators.
In the first instance, I will deal with the heart metaphor in Biblical language and its translation in English, then I will present a study of the heart metaphor in Moba to have an objective view about its usage and see more clearly the translational problems and suggest some solutions. I hope that this study would serve as a tool in the process of translation of other body part metaphors not only for the Moba but also for other languages which share the same patterns.