The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English

Gerald Chishiba; Mutale Charles; Chola Musonda

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

| Peer-Reviewed

The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English

Gerald Chishiba, Mutale Charles, Chola Musonda

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 3, Issue 4)

Received: 26 October 2017 Accepted: 27 November 2017 Published: 21 December 2017

Views: Downloads:

Download PDF

Share This Article

Twitter
Linked In
Facebook

Abstract

The original version of the Zambia national anthem was written in English and then translated into most of the 73 Zambian languages. This article looks at how the Zambia national anthem was translated from English into the local languages. However, due to many factors, we chose to limit our study to one language, namely Bemba, which is considered as the most widely spoken Lingua franca in Zambia. In this study, great emphasis has been placed on the various translation processes and strategies used to translate the Zambia national anthem from English into Bemba, in the light of the equivalence theory. The concept of equivalence has often been used to indicate that the source text and the target text share what a number of scholars refer to as “sameness” or similarity. Vinay and Darbelnet as cited by Munday [6] explain that equivalence applies to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means. Translation is therefore perceived as a way of establishing a straight forward correspondence between individual words [14]. This article shows that various translation strategies were used to manage equivalence within the accepted proxies of optimum translation and weaker version translation. In other words, the equivalence levels between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) were analysed. This work shows evidence of semantic and socio-cultural variance between the original English version of the Zambia national anthem and the translated Bemba version. It also highlights the fact that the translation of a number of lines are close to approximations of the original lyrics, while others have substantially been modified to communicate the message in the original version. The ingenuity and innovativeness shown by the translator(s) of the Zambian national anthem into Bemba encompass what Lederer [5] refers to as linguistic competence and world knowledge to grasp the sense of the source text and convey it to the target text. This article shows that equivalence between the source text and the target text can be established at different linguistic levels and using different techniques. Without equivalence, it would be difficult to consider any given translated text as a successful translation of the source text. In this study the translation from English into Bemba can be seen as the product of the translator’s choices.

Published in	International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
Page(s)	50-57
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Translation Equivalence, Translation Strategies, National Anthem, Bemba and Textual Analysis

References

[1]	Chesterman, A. (2000). Memes of Translation (2ndEd); Amsterdam & Philadelphia: Benjamins Publishing Company.
[2]	Homsby, A. S. (1995). Advanced Learner’s dictionary of current English, (fifth edition). Oxford University press: Oxford.
[3]	Jakobson, R, (1959). On linguistic aspects of translation, in R. A. Brower (ed.) On Translation. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
[4]	Jing Fang, Zhongwei Song & Canzhong Wu (2008) What may be hidden behind a Translators’ choices: A Comparative Analysis of two Translations of the Art of Warin Nina Niggard (ed.), 2008. Systemic Functional linguistics in use; Odense working papers in language and communication Vol. 29.
[5]	Lederer, M. (2003). Translation: The interpretive model, Translated by N. Larché. Manchester: St. Jerome.
[6]	Munday, J. (2008). Introducing Translation Studies: Theories and Application (Second edition). London: Routledge.
[7]	Nida, E. (1964a). Toward a Science of Translating. Leiden: E, J. Brill.
[8]	Nida, E. A. and Taber, C. R. (1982). The Theory and Practice of Translation. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
[9]	Nkolola, W. M. (2013). Cacophony in Unison: Translation Strategies in Achieving ‘Singability’ in the Silozi and CiTonga versions of the Zambian National Anthem. Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences. Volume.2, Number 2, December, 2013.
[10]	Nord, C. (1988/2000) Text Analysis in Translation: Theory, Methodology and Didactic Application of a Model for Translation Oriented Text Analysis. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
[11]	Snell-Hornby, M. (1988). Translation studies. An integrated Approach. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
[12]	Vinay, J. P. and Darbelnet, J. (1958/1995, 2nd edition 1977) Comparative stylistics of French and English: A Methodolgy for Translation translated and edited by J. Sager, and M. J. Hamel. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
[13]	Vinay, J. P. and Darbelnet, J. (1973) Stylistique Comparée du Français et de l’anglais. Paris: Didier.
[14]	Walinski, J. T. (2005). Translation Procedures. [Accessed 14th July, 2017.11:30pm].
[15]	Toury, G, (1985). A rationale for descriptive studies. In Theo Herman’s (ed.) The manipulation of literature, in literary translation. Croon Helm, London.
[16]	Reis, K. & Vermeer, H. J. (1984). Grundlegung Einer All gemeinen translations theorie; Tubingen: Niemeyer.
[17]	Postgate, J. P. (1922. Translation and Translation Theory and Practice. Cambridge.

Cite This Article

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Gerald Chishiba, Mutale Charles, Chola Musonda. (2017). The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 3(4), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Gerald Chishiba; Mutale Charles; Chola Musonda. The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2017, 3(4), 50-57. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Gerald Chishiba, Mutale Charles, Chola Musonda. The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2017;3(4):50-57. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13,
  author = {Gerald Chishiba and Mutale Charles and Chola Musonda},
  title = {The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {50-57},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  abstract = {The original version of the Zambia national anthem was written in English and then translated into most of the 73 Zambian languages. This article looks at how the Zambia national anthem was translated from English into the local languages. However, due to many factors, we chose to limit our study to one language, namely Bemba, which is considered as the most widely spoken Lingua franca in Zambia. In this study, great emphasis has been placed on the various translation processes and strategies used to translate the Zambia national anthem from English into Bemba, in the light of the equivalence theory. The concept of equivalence has often been used to indicate that the source text and the target text share what a number of scholars refer to as “sameness” or similarity. Vinay and Darbelnet as cited by Munday [6] explain that equivalence applies to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means. Translation is therefore perceived as a way of establishing a straight forward correspondence between individual words [14]. This article shows that various translation strategies were used to manage equivalence within the accepted proxies of optimum translation and weaker version translation. In other words, the equivalence levels between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) were analysed. This work shows evidence of semantic and socio-cultural variance between the original English version of the Zambia national anthem and the translated Bemba version. It also highlights the fact that the translation of a number of lines are close to approximations of the original lyrics, while others have substantially been modified to communicate the message in the original version. The ingenuity and innovativeness shown by the translator(s) of the Zambian national anthem into Bemba encompass what Lederer [5] refers to as linguistic competence and world knowledge to grasp the sense of the source text and convey it to the target text. This article shows that equivalence between the source text and the target text can be established at different linguistic levels and using different techniques. Without equivalence, it would be difficult to consider any given translated text as a successful translation of the source text. In this study the translation from English into Bemba can be seen as the product of the translator’s choices.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English
AU  - Gerald Chishiba
AU  - Mutale Charles
AU  - Chola Musonda
Y1  - 2017/12/21
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 50
EP  - 57
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-1271
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
AB  - The original version of the Zambia national anthem was written in English and then translated into most of the 73 Zambian languages. This article looks at how the Zambia national anthem was translated from English into the local languages. However, due to many factors, we chose to limit our study to one language, namely Bemba, which is considered as the most widely spoken Lingua franca in Zambia. In this study, great emphasis has been placed on the various translation processes and strategies used to translate the Zambia national anthem from English into Bemba, in the light of the equivalence theory. The concept of equivalence has often been used to indicate that the source text and the target text share what a number of scholars refer to as “sameness” or similarity. Vinay and Darbelnet as cited by Munday [6] explain that equivalence applies to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means. Translation is therefore perceived as a way of establishing a straight forward correspondence between individual words [14]. This article shows that various translation strategies were used to manage equivalence within the accepted proxies of optimum translation and weaker version translation. In other words, the equivalence levels between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) were analysed. This work shows evidence of semantic and socio-cultural variance between the original English version of the Zambia national anthem and the translated Bemba version. It also highlights the fact that the translation of a number of lines are close to approximations of the original lyrics, while others have substantially been modified to communicate the message in the original version. The ingenuity and innovativeness shown by the translator(s) of the Zambian national anthem into Bemba encompass what Lederer [5] refers to as linguistic competence and world knowledge to grasp the sense of the source text and convey it to the target text. This article shows that equivalence between the source text and the target text can be established at different linguistic levels and using different techniques. Without equivalence, it would be difficult to consider any given translated text as a successful translation of the source text. In this study the translation from English into Bemba can be seen as the product of the translator’s choices.
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download

Author Information

Gerald Chishiba

Department of Linguistics, the University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Mutale Charles

Department of Linguistics, the University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
Chola Musonda

Department of Linguistics, the University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

Download PDF

Sections

Plain Text BibTeX RIS

APA Style

Gerald Chishiba, Mutale Charles, Chola Musonda. (2017). The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 3(4), 50-57. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

ACS Style

Gerald Chishiba; Mutale Charles; Chola Musonda. The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2017, 3(4), 50-57. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Gerald Chishiba, Mutale Charles, Chola Musonda. The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2017;3(4):50-57. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13,
  author = {Gerald Chishiba and Mutale Charles and Chola Musonda},
  title = {The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {3},
  number = {4},
  pages = {50-57},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20170304.13},
  abstract = {The original version of the Zambia national anthem was written in English and then translated into most of the 73 Zambian languages. This article looks at how the Zambia national anthem was translated from English into the local languages. However, due to many factors, we chose to limit our study to one language, namely Bemba, which is considered as the most widely spoken Lingua franca in Zambia. In this study, great emphasis has been placed on the various translation processes and strategies used to translate the Zambia national anthem from English into Bemba, in the light of the equivalence theory. The concept of equivalence has often been used to indicate that the source text and the target text share what a number of scholars refer to as “sameness” or similarity. Vinay and Darbelnet as cited by Munday [6] explain that equivalence applies to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means. Translation is therefore perceived as a way of establishing a straight forward correspondence between individual words [14]. This article shows that various translation strategies were used to manage equivalence within the accepted proxies of optimum translation and weaker version translation. In other words, the equivalence levels between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) were analysed. This work shows evidence of semantic and socio-cultural variance between the original English version of the Zambia national anthem and the translated Bemba version. It also highlights the fact that the translation of a number of lines are close to approximations of the original lyrics, while others have substantially been modified to communicate the message in the original version. The ingenuity and innovativeness shown by the translator(s) of the Zambian national anthem into Bemba encompass what Lederer [5] refers to as linguistic competence and world knowledge to grasp the sense of the source text and convey it to the target text. This article shows that equivalence between the source text and the target text can be established at different linguistic levels and using different techniques. Without equivalence, it would be difficult to consider any given translated text as a successful translation of the source text. In this study the translation from English into Bemba can be seen as the product of the translator’s choices.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Bemba Version of the Zambia National Anthem as Compared to the Original Version in English
AU  - Gerald Chishiba
AU  - Mutale Charles
AU  - Chola Musonda
Y1  - 2017/12/21
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 50
EP  - 57
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-1271
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20170304.13
AB  - The original version of the Zambia national anthem was written in English and then translated into most of the 73 Zambian languages. This article looks at how the Zambia national anthem was translated from English into the local languages. However, due to many factors, we chose to limit our study to one language, namely Bemba, which is considered as the most widely spoken Lingua franca in Zambia. In this study, great emphasis has been placed on the various translation processes and strategies used to translate the Zambia national anthem from English into Bemba, in the light of the equivalence theory. The concept of equivalence has often been used to indicate that the source text and the target text share what a number of scholars refer to as “sameness” or similarity. Vinay and Darbelnet as cited by Munday [6] explain that equivalence applies to cases where languages describe the same situation by different stylistic or structural means. Translation is therefore perceived as a way of establishing a straight forward correspondence between individual words [14]. This article shows that various translation strategies were used to manage equivalence within the accepted proxies of optimum translation and weaker version translation. In other words, the equivalence levels between the source text (ST) and the target text (TT) were analysed. This work shows evidence of semantic and socio-cultural variance between the original English version of the Zambia national anthem and the translated Bemba version. It also highlights the fact that the translation of a number of lines are close to approximations of the original lyrics, while others have substantially been modified to communicate the message in the original version. The ingenuity and innovativeness shown by the translator(s) of the Zambian national anthem into Bemba encompass what Lederer [5] refers to as linguistic competence and world knowledge to grasp the sense of the source text and convey it to the target text. This article shows that equivalence between the source text and the target text can be established at different linguistic levels and using different techniques. Without equivalence, it would be difficult to consider any given translated text as a successful translation of the source text. In this study the translation from English into Bemba can be seen as the product of the translator’s choices.
VL  - 3
IS  - 4
ER  -

Copy | Download