Examining the Viability of Bible Translations in Languages with Multiple Dialects: A case study of Lusaamia-Lugwe Translation Project.

Abstract

Bible translations in areas with multiple dialects have always faced a challenge of deciding which dialect to use for a translation. This is usually due to limited personnel, financial resources or lack of experts in all the existing dialects in a particular community. Bible agencies have been resorting to unifying dialects, thus creating a hybrid dialect that would result into a hybrid translation. In some cases, these versions end up belonging to none, after taking a lot of resources to develop. The Lusamia-Lugwe translation project is no exception to this approach. This research has examined the performance of such translations. The Lusaamia-Lugwe Bible translation committee opted to unify Lusaamia and Lugwe dialects to come up with Lusaamia-Lugwe Scriptures. The fact that this cluster has Lusaamia spoken in Uganda, Lusamia spoken in Kenya and Lugwe, increased the researcher's interest in venturing into establishing how, the policy of unifying or standardizing dialects affects the acceptability of a translation. Some Bible translation agencies are still using this model of translation. Basing on the Lusaamia-Lugwe Bible translation, this research has made recommendations which may be considered while making decisions on whether it is ideal to merge dialects in a community of diverse dialects. This research was conducted in Busia district of Uganda and Busia county of Kenya. It was conducted among the Basaamia, Bagwe and other dialects of Luyia to establish the level of intelligibility between these dialects in relation to Bible translation. The objectives of this research were: To study the historical background of the Basaamia-Bagwe and how it has affected Bible translation. To establish the need for sociolinguistic research in the receptor culture before starting a translation project. To identify the sociolinguistic factors among the Basaamia and Bagwe affecting Bible translation. To identify factors affecting the acceptability of Bible translation that takes place among multiple dialects. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data and conduct a linguistic survey on the dialects of Lusaamia and Lugwe using the portions of Luke 15, Mark 1, and John 1, translated into both Lusaamia and Lugwe to establish the level of intelligibility. This was beefed up by the information I picked from the existing literature about the Basaamia-Bagwe, Luyia, multiple languages and Bible translations. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). This helped me to tabulate data and determine the percentages. Qualitative techniques were also used to assess the findings, making conclusions and recommendations. Based on the findings of this research, the Lusaamia and Lugwe are mutually intelligible. They can afford to use one Bible. The Bagwe are demanding for their own translation for cultural, social, political reasons different from intelligibility. This research recommended to translate for one dialect first and later adapt the text to suit other dialects which can either be printed or availed in electronic format to be accessed online or on smart phones, to avoid the cost of printing for all dialects.