Translation as a Tool for Language Development – The Nupe Language Experience

  By    

Isyaku Bala Ibrahim

1.0 Introduction

Communication is one important fact that made the world what it is today. It is a world where barriers are falling apart because we can today understand each other more and rightly through conventional and unconventional means. The conventional means are through the use of language and the unconventional means are through technologies. Language is one important aspect of our lives that makes us what we are, human. The ability to speak one's language is another important thing in the life of any individual and for other people who are not one's tribespersons, makes it more interesting. Languages present the identity of our complex world. This complexity is reflected in the multiplicity of the over six thousand languages therein and the interactions among them. These interactions occur as a result of the unrelenting human activities like trade, spread of knowledge, religion, socialization that demand movements or interconnections of societies and their civilizations from one part of the world to another, which poses one important challenge, the challenge of understanding each other; this is where as in the past, the services of ‘interpreters and translators are now more essential to enable both parties understand each other.

2.0 Brief History of Translation/European Renaissance

Somewhere in Spain, and to be exact in Toledo, translation was what triggered the scientific renaissance of the world in the twelfth century. In a presentation by the School of Translators of Toledo asserted,

“The School of Translators of Toledo is considered to be an historical fact which took place in the 12th and 13th centuries. Systematically and with the support of the Archbishopric of Toledo, and of King Alfonso X himself later, many Arabic works which contained part of the Greek, Persian, Indian and Arabic science and philosophy and which have survived until our days were translated. This situation was made possible to the fact that Toledo was the first great Muslim city of Al-Andalus conquered by a Christian kingdom. When Castilian king Alfonso IV conquered the city in 1085, he found out that there were plenty of original works in the libraries of Toledo, including the remaining works from the library of Al-Hakam II in Cordoba, which had managed to gather up to 400,000 volumes. All that, along with the presence of a large number of Muslim, Hebrew, Mozárabe, Latin and Frankish educated people in the city, made possible that scholars and translators from all over Europe gathered in Toledo to know and share the scientific and philosophical knowledge of Al-Andalus and Sefarad. Toledo was not just a vast translation centre, but also a place for meditation on the organization of knowledge, which later proved to be crucial because of its repercussion on European culture.” ¹

It concluded also that,

            “Thanks to the translations of Arabic texts into Latin and Castilian language which were made in Toledo, Aristotelianism and mainly Averroísm arrived in Europe. The works of Aristotle influenced the ideas of St Thomas and the Scholastic, and, after being spread, the ideas of Averroes brought about several confrontations between philosophers and theologians in the University of Paris. The contribution of the School of Translators was remarkably significant in Medicine, Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology. In Mathematics the sexagesimal system, the algorism and the number zero were spread. The translations of astronomical subjects, along with the works supported by Alfonso X, meant the birth of European astronomy, so much so that The Alfonsine Tables of Toledo helped Copernicus to develop his heliocentric theories.

Finally, translators did not only help to spread texts, but, what is more important, to spread the Islamic experimental method consisting of experience, observation and analogy; which would prove to be crucial for the later development of modern science and European Renaissance.” ²

Nigeria is a state with over three hundred languages, and with their sub-tribes, over five hundred. Nupe is one of the major languages in the country. Today, there is no tentative figure on the number of speakers but they are predominantly found in Niger, Kwara, Kogi States, and the Federal Capital Territories (FCT). This bridge was caused by non inclusion of the language/tribe/ethnic group on the census questionnaire in the recent conducted census in the country. Though, the earliest censuses showed that Nupes numbered 650,000 in 1963, and it grew by 1986 to a population of 1,314,000. It is ranked among the first ten major tribes in Nigeria.  The language has a well established literary tradition dating over a century.

3.0  Complexities of Language Translation

There are several kinds/approaches to translations:

Formal equivalence — literal translation of the text, it is a word for word translation.

Dynamic equivalence – it is also known as the functional equivalent- it expresses the essential thought in the source text.

Classification of Translations

In most societies, people understand other people through oral transmission of language. When people from say north move to the south for work or any other engagement that will make them spend some time in the place, they are expected to at least understand one or more languages which are often learned orally more especially the dominant ones or the lingual Franca in such areas. So when one visits the North, he is expected to learn Hausa; in the south, when one visits, he is expected to learn at least Yoruba or Igbo. Written documents on the languages are almost absent and the rigorous process of getting right the orthographies could be tiring.

i.                    Back-text translation – recovery process- is a translation of a translated text back into the language of the original text, made without reference to the original text. It is also called "round-trip translation”  

ii.                  Forward Translation - It is a one language translation oral or written.

iii.                Mixed translation - a word like ‘come’ can be translated into three Nigerian languages as in Wa (Yoruba), Zo (Hausa), Bia (Igbo). It is a translation in more than a language at a time  or in a written text.    

           Issues/challenges of Translation

1.      Reliance on a third-party called an Interpreter– In the introduction of his grammar book, Rev. Crowther said, “In translating into a newly reduced language, without the aid of a good native interpreter, there is a great disadvantage if the construction is made according to the idiom of a foreign language, instead of the idea and idiom of the language into which the translations are being made. The force of the original will thus be destroyed. Native idea, idiom, and construction should be studied as much as possible, so as to convey the subject home to the mind through the proper channel.”

2.      Mis-0r mal -translation – ‘Kare jini, biri jini’ this is a Hausa idiomatic expression that heated-up the polity in the wake of the April 2011 elections. Most newspapers in the south did not translate the expression properly. It technically means ‘struggling it out between two contending parties.’

3.      False equivalents -  the use of unsuitable words which lead to change in the message.

There are three basic facts or assumptions worth noting in translating a language to another:

i.                    No perfect translation – it is not possible to get a hundred percent translation exactly as the source language. The closest one is to the meaning and the message, the better the translation.

ii.                  Respect the language-registers: words that suggest names of people, places and things should be left in their original language format.

iii.                The translator must be fluent in the source and the text languages to be able to bring out a good work. Roger Bacon wrote in 13^th century that if a translation is to be true, the translator must know both languages, as well as the science that he is to translate; and finding that few translators did, he wanted to do away with translation and translators altogether.

Why Translate a Language

When a language is translated into one or more languages, there are expected effect on the people and the society. Some of which are: 

1.      Cultural promotions

2.      Language development

3.      Academic Experience

4.      Religious Propagations: Different religions in the world today most especially Islam and Christianity have developed a friendly method of evangelism where God’s message and religious doctrines are presented to the target group in the way and manner they will understand. So language is the key to achieving that. That is the more reason why Qur’an and the Bible are the most translated books on earth.

5.      Social Cohesion, Understanding and Harmony

There is always a need for the projection of one’s culture for the other to recognize and appreciate, and there is a special bond a language creates when a person not from your tribespersons can speak or write in ones language.

4.0 Nupe Language Translation

Language translation is generally a double-edge sword. It involves translating a language into another language vice versa. This can be traced back to the early missionaries of both Islam and Christianity. The early Islamic scholars used the Qur’an and Hadiths to translate/interpret in Nupe their messages to Muslims from the oral to the written Nupe Ajami.  It was widely used by the businesspersons, emirates and the aristocrats in the ancient Nupe Kingdom from about seventeenth century through the use of translators or interpreters orally or written. This trend continued until the coming of the Christian Missionaries whose activities heightened in the mid-nineteenth century in the kingdom.

“At the dawn of the twenty-first century a new interest in vernacular translations has arisen among Nigerians. It is fueled by the popularity of the Jesus film, which is being dubbed into the tribal languages. Most of this work is being done by Nigerians themselves, many of whom have been prepared in United Missionary Church schools such as the United Missionary Church of Africa Theological College and the Tungan Magajiya Bible College. Often this has been followed by linguistic training from the Nigerian Translation Trust, an heir of Wycliffe Bible Translators.”³

Early Nupe Translations

The use of the indigenous languages became a catch for effective evangelization of Nupe Kingdom in the nineteenth century which called for translations of the scriptures in the native languages. So this profession was pioneered by the Church missionaries in the 1840s. The activities in the 19^th century have made tremendous impact in the literary activity and development of the Nupe language. Nupe was among the first target when mission stations were stationed in different parts of Niger River territories.

The Anglican Bishop Herbert Tugwell suggested that the missions interested in the Nupe come together in a conference to decide on matters related to translation questions. These missions were the Anglican Church Missionary Society (CMS), SIM and the Brethren Mission (UMS). Their first meeting was held at Pategi in 1906 where they settled on a working alphabet. They also planned to translate the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. Banfield was asked to be the secretary. The second meeting in 1907 was at Shonga, and later meetings were at Pategi in 1908 and 1909. At the first conference J. L. McIntyre (CMS) was asked to write a Nupe grammar. Banfield was to revise his translation of the Gospels. After the committee decided his translation of the Gospels was good quality it went to the Bible Society and they were printed in 1908. The Banfields were on furlough and were able to be in London when the Gospels were being printed.

The Nupe Literature Conference’s work was not the first attempt at Bible translation into Nupe...It is likely the Anglicans made Banfield aware of earlier efforts. As early as 1877, Samuel Crowther had a translation of the Gospel of John printed by CMS in London, fruit of his many contacts with the Nupe and attempts to open the kingdom to Christian missionaries. In 1886-87, the BFBS published the four Gospels translated by Archdeacon Henry Johnson and a later revision by J. L. McIntyre and T. W. Bako in 1889. This same Thomas Bako also had a translation of the Psalms, with revisions by Obadiah Thomas and J. J. Williams, published in 1903 after Bako’s martyrdom. As they met, the 1909 Literature Conference urged Banfield to continue translating.⁴

Pioneer Nupe Translators

The interesting part of the earlier Nupe translators was that their source language was not Nupe. They worked through oral interpreter or translators to get their messages across to their target group or their work published. 

Reverend Samuel Ajayi Crowther (c. 1809 -1891)

i.           Primer for the Nupe language in 1860

ii.         A grammar and vocabulary of Nupe in 1864

iii.       Translated Gospel of John into Nupe in 1877 

Rev. Henry Johnson

i.                  i.   Nupe reading book and a translation of the Catechism of the Church of England, 1883. 12 pages

ii.               ii.   He translated the Gospels into Nupe and popularly known as the African Pastor between1886-1887

iii.             iii.    Adua Lazhin be Lozun. | Be Litani. Be Gigo Lilici. | Be Baptismi Lilici. | To Katekismi. Be Konfirmesoni.| nimi ezhi Nupenci. | (Portions of the Book of Commmon Prayer in the Nupe language.), 1899

T. W. Bako

i.  

1.  Alikéwo Wóró nyá Jesu Kristi Cocĩ to Zaboluguoyi ( Gospels (revised), a 283 page book with J. L. Macintyre, CMS, and T. W. Bako in 1899 ii. Psalms into Nupe in 1903. It was revised before printing by O. Thomas and J. J. Williams     iii. Enikozi (Songs/Hymns) , a 169 page book in 1903 with  O. Thomas and J. J. Williams, J.D. Aitken. Alexandra Banfield Wood (1878-1949)

A.W. Banfield was an evangelist who stayed in Tsonga (Shonga) for over two decades in the current Kwara State of Nigeria. He started the work of translating the Bible into Nupe in 1900s; by 1908 he has translated the four Gospels into Nupe language from English Bible. In 1914 Banfield completed the entire translation of the New Testament Nupe language and later the whole Old Testament. He is considered as giant in Bible translation.

However, R. V. Bingham, the co-founder of SIM said: “Mr Banfield applied himself wholeheartedly to mastering this difficult tongue. Into it he began to translate the precious Word of God. He compiled his own dictionary and when he returned from his first furlough he had ready the manuscript which the British and Foreign Bible Society printed, so that he was able to take back to the field these portions of the New Testament (the four Gospels) to the two or three million people who spoke the Nupe language.” Bingham later said: “A.W. Banfield set the standard and tone for SIM’s translation programme.”⁵

He used the Niger Press and published his works which are listed below:

i.        Gospels (Matthew, Luke, John & Mark, 1908 

ii.      Completed the translation draft of the whole New Testament in 1914 using the Reverse Standard Version of 1881.

iii.    Romans- Revelation (Portion of the Bible), 1910-1915 

iv.    A Grammar of the Nupe Language together with a Vocabulary by A. W. Banfield &  J. L. Macintyre in 1915

v.      A Nupe Dictionary in two volumes of over 13,000 words was also published; volume 1 in 1914 and volume 2 in 1916.

vi.    Published in 1916, Gamaga - Nupe Proverb and translated in English, a collection of 623 Nupe proverbs.

vii.  Published Zabura tò Gạ̀cìṇẓì. (Psalms and Proverbs – Part of the Old Testament into Nupe) in 1920 and revised by a committee in 1950, the committee included: A. W. Banfield, I. W. Sherk, F. Merryweather, A. E. Ball, and C. H. Daintree.

viii.The whole bible in 1953 by same committee.

Examples of translations done by Banfield in his proverb book wrote:

Bolanci è la ewun zhe etsan ò : (Nupe Language)

A weak person turns a quarrel into laughter. (i.e., he can't fight it out.) (Translation)

Cintara wuryagi kun dinni nya à, a ci ba ù nya dinni nance à : (Nupe Language)

The goat's tail that is not long enough to switch flies, should not be cut off to make a fly -switch (i.e., if he cannot support himself he cannot support others). (Translation)

Isaac Madugu

Sharp Sayings: Aphorisms of Jesus in the Gospels 1994

Sheikh Saidu Muhammad Enagi (1952 – 2011)⁶

Translated the Holy Qur’an into Nupe Language in 2002

Ambassador Solomon Adama Yisa

Just published a 900 page Nupe Heritage Dictionary to be presented to the public this week in Abuja

5.0 The Government effort and Policies on Indigenous languages

The impact of language development could be felt more when government creates the enabling environment for it to strive. That is by establishing policies that encourage the languages. The former National Language Center, now transformed into the current Language Development Center (LDC) and placed under the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), in 1976 suggested that, in addition to the three major languages, viz: Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, only the following nine of the remaining 387 or so indigenous languages in the country should be allowed to feature in the country's formal school system: Edo, Fulfulde, Ibibio, Idoma, Igala, Ijaw, Kanuri, Nupe, and Tiv. 

Thereafter, the Federal Republic of Nigeria through National Policy on Education (NPE) mentioned in an official document first published in 1977, revised in 1981, it for the first time laid it down as a policy for the whole country that: 

a.       in primary School, which lasts six years, each child must study two languages, namely: (i) his mother-tongue (if available for study) or an indigenous language of wider communication in his area of domicile, and (ii) English language; 

b.      in Junior Secondary School (JSS), which is of three years' duration, the child must study three languages, viz: (i) his mother-tongue (if available for study) or an indigenous language of wider communication in his area of domicile, (ii) English language, and (iii) just any one of the three major indigenous language in the country, namely, Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, provided the Language chosen is distinct from the child's mother-tongue;

c.       in Senior Secondary School (SSS), which also lasts three years, the child must study two languages, viz: (i) an indigenous language, and (ii) English language.⁷ 

In 1978, the Niger State government inaugurated the Nupe Language Project Committee to look into the possibility of teaching the language in public schools especially at the primary and secondary school levels, the state drew its inspiration from the conclusion of the National Language Centre that included Nupe among major languages to be taught at that stage. Sadly, this effort was never realized.

Furthermore, in the portion of the 1989 Nigeria constitution dealing with the educational objectives of the policy. Section 19 sub-sections (4), says simply that "Government shall encourage the learning of indigenous languages."⁸

In addition, government established media⁹ organizations both print and electronic in northern Nigeria to reach out to its people with educative and informative local programmes in different languages. At the beginning, indigenous languages programmes that involves news gathering, interpretation and translations was part of the core programmes of these organizations, which was a good language development tool that has the ability to transform the society, suddenly stopped broadcasting in some, with only a skeletal transmission in the Hausa. For instance:

i.        In the 1950s and 1960s, the weekly Nupe Newspaper, Nnanyitsu published by the Gaskiya Corporation, Zaria with over 2500 copies weekly circulation had stopped long ago.

ii.      The Nupe half-hour programme aired on the Radio Nigeria Kaduna in the 1960s had also stopped.

However, despites all the efforts by government in promoting indigenous languages in the country through policies, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba got the dismal result, the rest, total neglect. So, in the face of official neglect, the responsibility of Nupe speakers is obvious. The onus is on them to keep their language alive by using it as medium of communication all the time and to also get involved in language engineering with the aim of making Nupe acquire tools needed to communicate efficiently in today’s  changing world.

6.0 Current Efforts:

Since year 2007, new nerve of creative art brew into Northern Nigeria, specifically in Niger State thereby repositioning itself as the literary hub of the country. Book activities were energized and momentum increased. In a bid to responds to this hype, I wrote, collaborated, or translated the following books in an effort to further promote the language:

i.                    Eganmaganzhi Nupe (Nupe Proverbs – over a thousand proverbs with English translation and explanations) in 2009. Here are examples of the proverbs:

    “Soko gá tankpolo cin be ezhi lo è, wun à de kara eza na wun à fu dan na.

    When God has destined the travelling of a toad, it will hop into a traveller’s luggage. (i.e. Whatever God had ordained for any person, he will get it.)

Eza è cewo ya ti ù wun kpé éwó so à.

                    A person does not trade alone and defrauds himself.

                    (i.e. One cannot deceive himself).” ¹⁰

ii.                  Prof. Mohammad Kuta Yahaya’s play – Ignorance is a Disease was also translated and acted into Nupe Language book (Rakpebo Batán Wun Yi ò) and film respectively in 2012, it was a collaboration between me and the Sadisu Mohammad, a Nupe Filmmaker.

iii.                Translated into Nupe language BM Dzukogi’s Sex is Beautiful titled Cìn Sà. This is an excerpt from the book:

“Nyizagi ndondo kpe aziki na dan nyizagibo ù na. Nyizagi ndoro kpe wó gan muradi bagi gá yi nyizagibo wun bo. Nyizagi, ba na wun sà tu à na, bòla wun yi ò, alita na è fò bagi sharya na ù yi ò. Wun ma kpe acin; wun kpe gan éyézhi kpátá zhe dan ù. Kpekpewo nana, ganganni be kemina a ku ù dan dozhi ge na, wun à jin wun fe ka ù gi, yekpa nyá didàbéwo be èsà è. Nyizagi sà à ka a la de egwa la tò wun à.” ¹¹

 “Everywoman knows the treasures called femininity. Each woman knows that the terminal goal of man for the day is her femininity. A woman, no matter how bad looking, is a delicate, lucid creature that tickles another man’s fancy. She understands this; she believes that all eyes are on her. This consciousness, together with her adorable nature, regularly ignites in her, the sense of self-esteem and beauty. A woman is ugly only when not touched”

iv.                 Finally, through the Niger State Book Development Agency, Minna, efforts is being made to get late Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart translated into some indigenous languages, among which Nupe language was included. It is interesting to note that this classical book has been translated into over 50 languages of the world, sadly, none from Nigeria. The Nupe Translation by Allah’s grace would be ready before the end of the year, here is an excerpt from the translated work:

égó dan zumata èmì Okonkwo ò. èfògi na lo èmì ù na gá yi eba na dan ègba-egundzuru na bishezhi è lo be ezhin ebo ègi à zhi ò na. Èfo wunci ma la eza wo à.  Égó zumata nana gá Obierika la komishina be eza ù zhi da ò. A ci à ganshe nbaga be saza è, a ci à tsò ba ègba ò. Nyana we wó wo na gá yi bicí à zhi na è ban finigbásázhi be nyi na. ¹²

There was a small bush behind Okonkwo’s compound. The only opening into this bush from the compound was a little round hole in the red-earth wall through which fowls went in and out in their endless search for food. The hole would not let a man through. It was to this that Obierika led the Commissioner and his men. They skirted round the compound, keeping close to the wall. The only sound they made was with their feet as they crushed the dry leaves.¹³

7.0 Conclusion

In Niger State, writers are not resting on their oars in a bid to re-energize the almost forgotten Nupe Language Project Committee set up by the then Military Administrator of the State, Colonel Ola Oni.  For that reason, we have devised means of furthering the development of the indigenous languages in the state most especially, the Nupe language in the following ways:

-          Opening of a translation bureau in collaboration with the Niger State Book Development Agency to published translated works of writers in the areas of Prose, Poetry, even sciences and humanities.

-          Teaching the language at HillTopArts Centre, Minna owned by the HillTopArts Foundation

-          Proposing to host a Nupe Language Conference to further promote the teaching of the language in schools in the states.

If translation of texts was used as a tool for scientific development and above all the European Renaissance, I am hopeful that this can be repeated in Nigeria or the whole Africa. The impediment here would be the absence of a strategic plan by government, and the inactivity of the languages concerned to consolidate on the past efforts and devising new approaches of producing works and popularizing the use of translation in developing our indigenous languages.

Endnotes:

¹The School of Translators of Toledo, University Board of Toledo (within the University of Castilla-La Mancha) Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. http://www.uclm.es/escueladetraductores/english/history/ (accessed 17 June 2013)

²Ibid

³Erdel, Dr Paul, Vernacular Language Translators and the Missionary Church

http://www.bethelcollege.edu/assets/content/mcarchives/pdfs/v8n1p3.pdf (accessed 12 June 2013)

⁴Mason, Jim (2009). Literature Outreach in Nigeria: A History of SIM Literature Work 1901 – 1980. Waterloo

⁵R. V. Bingham, Seven Sevens of Years and a Jubilee, Evangelical Publishers, Toronto, Canada, 1943.

⁶Ndagi, M. U. Sheikh Saeedu Muhammad Enagi (1952-2011). Weekly Trust newspaper. Abuja: 12 November 2011

⁷Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1981. National Policy on Education. Revised. Lagos, Nigeria: NERDC Press. 

⁸Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1989. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Ilorin, Nigeria: Woye Printers & Publishers. 

⁹See a Report of the Use of Mother Tongue for Literacy Part III: Nigeria by UNESCO / University of Ibadan.  Ibadan: 13-23 December, 1964, p 62-64.

¹⁰Ibrahim, I. B. (2009) ‘Eganmaganzhi Nupe (Nupe Proverbs)’, over a thousand (1000) proverbs. Minna: Gandzo Enterprises.

¹¹See Chapter 9 (first paragraph). Dzukogi, BM. (2008), Sex is Beautiful, Ibadan Kraft Books; and it translation, Cìn Sà (unpublished). 

¹²Excerpt from Enyazhi à Gbìnya (Things Fall Apart), Nupe Language Translation by Isyaku Bala Ibrahim (Unpublished).

¹³Achebe, Chinua. (2008) Things Fall Apart. Essex: Pearson Education Limited Edition – Chapter 25, pp. 164-6.