This article was originally published in Oak Leaves
In my mother tongue, please!
About the importance of translations for ADF as an international organization.
by Ishtar vom Sternenkreis
Recently a study has shown that we may have several words in common with the Ice Age people, bringing us in a certain way together not only in an Indo-European language tree, but in an Eurasian one (Pagel 2013). Nonetheless, the impact of the Mother tongue, surpassing this “super language family tree”, is not to be underestimated. We embed the sounds of our native language already within our bodies when we are still in the womb, so that it actually becomes a pre-native influence. The sense of hearing is the first of being developed. A recent comparison of French and German babies showed that their crying already had the typical melody of their mother tongue and they already reproduce the intonational patterns of their respective native language. So to speak they have a “native crying” (Mampe 2009). There is even a region in our brain specifically for our native language and learned languages are stored elsewhere.
Unless we have been raised bi-lingual or learned another language in our early childhood, no matter how proficient we have learned another language, our mother tongue echoes in the back of our mind. We instinctively get more information out of it, because when learned at a very early stage we grasp a concept, reaching deeper than a word and its translation. Therefore, understanding comes easier, we remember more easily and we have a stronger emotional attachment to it. This is even truer in countries where movies in theatres and series in TV are synchronized into the respective native languages (like Germany, France, Italy, Spain and many others more). Many people are very proud of their native language and a foreigner often has to at least show some effort that they are willing to indulge in the native language of the country, before the “host” switches to a common language to suit better the traveler. Within ADF many of us do something similar in our rituals: We greet the Gods in their „Mother tongue“.
Another important aspect is that our “child self” our instinctive self understands and speaks the mother tongue (unless of course you’ve been raised in a bi-lingual or have lived really long in another country, though as I explained earlier the latter will always be a foreign language for the brain, so it will make a psychological difference). Much of the participation within a ritual, that which moves us goes through this instinctive, child-self. Naturally parts of a ritual can be accessed without words through the movements, the ritual regaliae like the fire, the candles, the cauldron, the offerings and the act of offering. But the words in our mother tongue reach easier the limbic system in our brain, where our emotions lay.
The other side is that for some a foreign language has become something like a “magical language”, a religious language, in a certain way how Latin was to the medieval Christian priest. It would not be unknown in the ancient world to have a special ritual language, there seems to have been as well something like this in Mesopotamia. Many Pagans enjoy singing mantras in different languages, giving them something exotic, out of the ordinary. But nonetheless, if you don’t happen to have grown with these languages, the quality of the really deep spiritual meanings of the words will lessen. How many actually sing chants and songs and when you talk about their meaning, you realize, they haven’t really understood what they are singing about. It is the mother tongue that readily opens your heart.
What does this imply for ADF on an individual and international level? In a nutshell: We need translations. In the effort of an international growth, there is no way going around translations – and sooner or later more people from other countries will start bringing the flavor of their own languages and cultural influences to ADF. We could ask ourselves if we want to grow internationally. I personally believe that international growth is implied within the first vision of Isaac Bonewits, our founder. I personally believe too that ADF Druidry has much to offer for searching Pagans and it is a good feeling being part of something bigger than yourself, or your country. But many people want community as well – so many actually join different Pagan paths additionally “for the sake of community”.
If you ask Pagans in their countries, they want their native languages. They want a direct understanding (at least of the words), they want (and need) songs, prayers, hymns and teachings in their own language, where they can easily connect on an emotional level. They want to indulge in the words and pictures they are hearing, without having to use a heightened concentration to understand something or feel “dumb” because they have to look up every third word. Many people actually don’t speak a second language well enough to read and understand books on a certain level. Imagine having all your liturgical stuff and the most important teaching manuscript in Latin, as it was the case during the long medieval Christian language domination, and Arabic is still the only language the Koran is allowed to be read. Pagans usually don’t want that – and luckily we don’t have to.
Translations in a volunteer-run organization are a tricky thing, because most people doing it are volunteers and usually not professional translators.
A translation is more than copy – paste sentences into Google translator (which honestly, for English- German it gives you horrible sentences). They are certainly helpful, as are programs like “linguee” who shows how the words are used in professionally translated books and within their respective context, but you always need to know the actual language.
A translation also has to do with conveniences, a certain vocabulary used within the Pagan community of a specific country. For example some words that are a correct translation would never be used by German Pagans, because it reminds them too much of Christian churches. Other words have been tainted badly by history, or have received a pejorative meaning. Moreover, there are words that have no direct “correct” translation, like for example “Kindred” which has no equivalent in German, Italian, French or Spanish and so people need to really feel and test out how the words are best translated. The good thing is that one of the important things is expertise for the respective subject to be translated. So it certainly is a great advantage if Pagans translate Pagan material. A professional translator and Pagan friend told me that the most important thing is to have understood the material and transport the inner meaning. This sometimes differs from a “correct” translation, including as well the cultural meaning and how a different culture would understand and interpret a text. She suggested that if there is no equivalent word, you sometimes need to write around it or try to collect a pool of possible words, talk about it with fellow Pagans and people of other religions, explaining the inner meaning to them and see what they understand from your word ideas. To ensure continuity, especially when a few people are engaged in the work of translation, it is important to write a dictionary how certain special words are translated.
Translations should be edited by someone else – here again the inner meaning is the most important carrier.
Translations gets even more complicate when you want the text to rhyme. Additional challenges are texts that need to be sung. The voice travels well with vocals and there are languages using many vocals (Italian, Spanish) while others using more consonants (German). Now, especially on a long held high note you want an open vocal. So choosing the appropriate word can become so tricky, that there are translations of commonly well-known English chants into German that are actually new invented lyrics because the correct translation will not fit the melody – and we’re not talking about rhyme! It is helpful to use an online thesaurus and in some languages you can find rhyme-dictionaries, where you can put in an ending and see which words would rhyme with it.
An important aspect are revisions and updating of original articles. There is nothing more frustrating to have translated a complete article, let alone manual, and in the next week the “completely re-written new edition” comes out – so that the whole translation was more or less for naught. An information flow therefore should be established, so that the people translating know beforehand when an article is being revised so they don’t have to bother with translating the old version. This could be as simple as writing a short note on the Mailing-list.
For ADF, the first efforts have already started to translate ADF material on a voluntary basis into other languages. At the moment we have the first articles available in Portuguese, Spanish, and German already online and some additional original material. And possibly there are other parts translated into other languages resting somewhere on the home computer (Sounds familiar? Do you recognize yourself? Go look for them, and send them to us, someone might be very happy about it!) If you happen to speak another language fluently, or you translated something already – please consider joining the Non-English-Speakers SIG and making your translation on our Wiki available for other members. In our Wiki you can find already translated stuff and you can easily upload yours. We are here to help you with any difficulties and we are here to talk about translations, because sometimes translations from another language might inspire you how to well translate some of the trickier words in your language. Even if you’re not a native speaker, your help would be greatly appreciated. You can include as well original material as for example rituals you did in your native language. They are very important too.
An advantage is, that translating a text, you actually often receive a deeper understanding than just reading it through, so it serves your own studies. A possibility could be to translate things as you move along the DP.
If you’re hoping to soon be able to read the DP Manual in your native language – Please stay realistic: Within a volunteer run organization translations of a complete course or manual usually take up many (!) years. Motivation and encouragement for people who translate material is important to keep on going, because it takes perseverance to translate a complete course. We hope to be able to support each other in these tasks. The first small steps have been taken. I know we have great language potential within our community – Be part of it!
Resources:
Pagel, M., Atkinson, Q. D., Calude, A. S., & Meade, A. (2013). Ultraconserved words point to deep language ancestry across Eurasia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(21), 8471-8476.
Mampe, B., Friederici, A. D., Christophe, A., & Wermke, K. (2009). Newborns’ cry melody is shaped by their native language. Current biology, 19(23), 1994-1997.
