2938 A Japanese encouragement to look carefully at translation
austraLasia #2938

 
A Japanese encouragement to look carefully at translation

TOKYO: 7 November 2011 --  In July of this year the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan (CBCJ) formally endorsed a new, colloquial translation of the “Hail Mary” in colloquial Japanese. This new version replaces a previous colloquial version introduced in 1993.
    The new prayer’s formal Japanese name is Ave Maria no Inori, or “The Ave Maria Prayer.” A first draft of this translation underwent a nationwide trial period of provisional use from December 8, 2010, to March 25, 2011. During that time, 446 people contacted the CBCJ with their opinions.
    In response to some questions and concerns that formed part of this feedback, the CBCJ recently issued a guide to the revised prayer on its website. That document highlighted nine features of the translation and offered the rationale for the translations used in each.
    The Latin prayer begins with the greeting, Ave Maria. Among Japanese translations of the Bible, this is translated using phrases such as omedeto (“Congratulations”) or yorokobinasai (“Be joyful”). However, there have long been objections that, in many situations when the Rosary is prayed, such as at a deathbed or during a vigil ceremony, it would be awkward to pray “congratulations” or “be of good cheer.”
    The phrase Ave Maria is already well-established in people’s minds, even outside the realm of Christianity, through the names of songs and the like. Therefore, the CBCJ opted to retain the opening words of the Latin original in the Japanese, as they had for the provisional translation.
    The previous official colloquial translation from 1993 used the Japanese phrase megumi afureru, (“brimming over with grace”), but has been revised in this translation to use the verb michiru, (“to be full”), as a more faithful translation of the Latin. During the provisional phase, some felt that this would not capture the fact that Mary was filled with grace by God, but this phrase was ratified as-is out of consideration for ease of recitation and with the confidence that the possibility of misunderstanding is small.
    Some wondered whether the verb orareru, which is an honorific form of an alternate version of the standard Japanese verb iru, “to be,” was grammatical. However, the legitimacy of the form was confirmed with Japanese linguistic specialists and preserved in the prayer’s final text.
    Until now, the official Japanese Hail Mary contained the passage, Shu wa anata o erabi, shukufuku shi (“The Lord chose you and blessed you”). It has been observed that the Latin phrase in mulieribus (“among women”) was not reflected in this rendition. The older translation also shifted the grammatical subject from Mary in the Latin to the Lord God in the Japanese. Finally, in the phrase Shu wa anata o erabi (“The Lord chose you”), the verb erabu (to choose) represents and addition not present in the Latin original.
    Some objections were raised to the use of onna instead of josei, which both mean “woman” but of which the latter is considered most appropriate in modern rules of Japanese usage. Nevertheless, the CBCJ decided to leave the original, onna, in the final translation.
    There are additional changes and comments, too many to put here, but the point of all this is a question for us as Salesians in the Region.  Do we give the same attention to the crucial importance of certain Salesian terms (Preventive system, 'amorevolezza' might be two good examples) in the many languages in common use in the Region?  Is it perhaps time for the many experienced and good translators around the Region to pool some thinking on this and associated issues?  The CBCJ has given us good example!