Skip to the content
Reply

Using La Sankta Biblio to learn Esperanto

by Starkman, May 11, 2010

Messages: 113

Language: English

Starkman (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 12:42:15 AM

La Sankta Biblio.

I know the Bible quite well, so I've thought about using it as a tool to enhance learning Esperanto.

What I need to know is if it modern enough—I assume it is an Esperanto equivalent of the King James Version, which isn't modern—and useful in general for learning the language.

Thanks,

Starkman

Oŝo-Jabe (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 2:37:46 AM

The Londona Biblio is a fairly good translation. It's still readable and generally has good style. The Old Testament was translated by Zamenhof, whose style is considered an ideal to strive for, but you might see phrases that aren't as common nowadays (though they are still grammatically correct.) Reading has helped me immensely in learning Esperanto, so I'd say go ahead and read it.

SandyM (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 3:29:35 AM

Until recently almost all of my Esperanto learning was based on reading the Bible. I like the book in any language, and the contents of the Esperanto version are challenging for the adult mind. Some other Esperanto texts are written for children. Also, the price is good.

I recommend the practice.

Donniedillon (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 3:23:37 PM

The Bible is great for language learning because it is so well known. That means that it is easy to figure out what is being said This really helps with learning that the word-for-word translation is not always necessary, or even the best option. Think of it as the Rosetta Stone (the actual stone, not the company).

erinja (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 5:13:26 PM

Parallel texts are a great way to learn. Also, it's easy to find the Esperanto Bible online, and some online Bible viewers will let you look at two translations side by side, so that's really helpful.

One little thing to watch out for - sometimes, interpretations of the original Hebrew or Greek text differ drastically. So don't let it throw you too much if the Esperanto version seems to be saying something completely different from whatever the English translation might be showing (or what you might be familiar with). It could well be that the problem is not with your understanding of the text, but that the Esperanto translator followed a different interpretation of the original text, than the one followed by the English translator.

I ran into this issue when translating the haggadah into Esperanto. For parts of it drawn directly from the Bible, I used Zamenhof's translation. But one portion of the haggadah assumes a certain interpretation of the biblical text, which is different from what Zamenhof assumed in his translation. Obviously, for that part, I couldn't use Zamenhof's words, because it would have made no sense.

Starkman (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 9:31:56 PM

Thanks so much for the input, folks.

From what version were the Esperanto Old and New Testaments translated?

This questions leads to my next: In view of the source for the Esperanto Bible, what English translation correlates best with it.

Thanks,

Starkman

erinja (User's profile) May 11, 2010, 10:59:27 PM

The "old testament" (the entire Jewish Bible) was translated from the original Hebrew, by Zamenhof himself. I don't know how good his Hebrew was and he may have used Russian or Yiddish translations to help him along, but if that's the case, it's been lost to time.

I don't know about the New Testament but perhaps someone who has a paper copy can tell you. In most cases, if something is a translation of a translation (as opposed to being a translation from the original language), the source should be printed in the book.

Oŝo-Jabe (User's profile) May 12, 2010, 3:56:52 AM

Most sources I can find say that the Londona Biblio's New Testament was "influenced" by the King James Version, but I've been unable to find the extent of this influence. The title page of my copy says it was translated from the original languages, though I don't know which Greek manuscript was the basis of the translation.

gyrus (User's profile) May 13, 2010, 10:16:09 PM

erinja:The "old testament" (the entire Jewish Bible) was translated from the original Hebrew, by Zamenhof himself. I don't know how good his Hebrew was and he may have used Russian or Yiddish translations to help him along, but if that's the case, it's been lost to time.
From the biography of Zamenhof by Marjorie Boulton:
"The first translation of the Old Testament, the Book of Ecclesiastes ... For his translations from the Bible Zamenhof used the original Hebrew, but had always Russian, German and Latin translations to hand to consult in case of any doubt."

Starkman (User's profile) May 13, 2010, 10:49:58 PM

Thanks!

I appreciate the help,

Starkman rideto.gif

Back to the top