Resumo

COMBRINK, HJ Bernard. Prof Ernst F Kotzé: His role as linguist in the Afrikaans Bible translation of 2020. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2023, vol.63, n.3, pp.481-487. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2023/v63n3a6.

It is a great privilege to highlight the important contribution of this internationally renowned and versatile linguist to the 2020-translation of the Bible in Afrikaans. Initial phase Since the beginning of the translation project prof. Kotzé, chair of the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts (2003-2012), was involved in the planning of the manual for all collaborators, as well as the identification of language specialists to serve in various book teams as well as the linguistic advisory committee. Linguistic advisory committee The Bible Society invited Kotzé to chair a panel of linguistic advisers that eventually became a broader linguistic advisory panel and a smaller linguistic advisory committee respectively. In his capacity as chair, he played an essential role in the identification and placement of language specialists in the respective book translation teams, as well as the linguistic evaluation of the trial translations by language practitioners endeavouring to be part of the project. The linguistic advisory committee attended to various problematic issues such as punctuation, linguistic and textual features, etcetera. Kotzé then provided extensive guidelines to collaborators and proof-readers concerning various tricky issues. Since the beginning of the project, he was also a member ofvarious book teams, as well as at a later stage of the editorial committees of the Old and the New Testament. Whenever expedient, he consulted with members of the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts. Executive committee At the executive committee (policy committee) his opinion carried great weight. He submitted proposals concerning Fauna and Flora emanating from deliberations in this committee to the Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts to be considered for inclusion in their planned CD Rom, and saw to it that the project remained in sync with the Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls (Afrikaans Glossary and Spelling rules). With respect to the vexing issue of second person pronouns as form of address in Afrikaans, he also provided clear guidelines with regard to the dynamic of power and the dynamic of solidarity, respectively. Editorial committees In the editorial committees of the Old Testament and the New Testament, he was responsible for the final linguistic editing. He could, furthermore, substantiate the suitability of a specific word with reference to the statistical frequency of its usage in the Afrikaans linguistic corpus. Given his broad linguistic and semantic background, he could often pose probing questions to the exegetes and source language specialists concerning a specific translation proposal that often led to an adaptation of the translation. In this respect, his self-acquired knowledge of the source languages (as a non-theologian) often took the source language specialists by surprise. When the discussion sometimes became a bit heated, his sense of humour and witty remarks would invariably defuse the situation. Approachability The executive committee and the project leader had great appreciation for the fact that Ernst Kotzé was always willing to answer any enquiry by colleagues or proof-readers speedily and in detail. Even at a late stage in the project, he was still willing to edit the Introduction, Glossary and Accountability for consistency. Even after the publication of the translation, he still remains selflessly willing to answer enquiries to the Bible Society arising from feedback by readers. Public contributions Prof. Kotzé often delivered addresses about Bible translation, speaking specifically about the linguistic aspects of the 2020 translation on Radio Sonder Grense (Radio Without Borders) and Radio Cape Pulpit. On the project's website (www.bybeldirektevertaling.co.za) he answered specific questions received from readers. He explained different ways of spelling as well as the issue of loan-words resembling the source languages.

Palavras-chave : Bible Society of South Africa; Bible translation; steering committee; editorial committees; Linguistic Committee; style guide; linguist; Fauna and Flora; syntax; address forms; Language Commission of the South African Academy for Science and Arts; Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls.

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