The “X” Factor

 

A family friend, Dr. Steve Marlett, a Bible translator who serves in Mexico, wrote this in an email. They are revising an already completed translation. 

I think his short but very linguistic email highlights how diligent we have to be with the translation process, and how sacrificing accuracy for speed can very easily diminish the Word of God. This important details would be lost if the Marlett’s only spent two weeks with the Seri or if the Seri themselves only worked on the translation for two weeks.

"One of the sounds of Seri is a voiceless uvular fricative. I don’t know if any other language in Mexico has this sound. You can probably pronounce it if you can imagine yourself trying to gargle in secret. In fact, Seri has two such sounds— a plain one and another one just like it, except that you round your lips while making it. I think they are two of the favorite sounds in the language since lots of words have them. If you can’t make one, you can’t speak Seri.

The plain uvular fricative is written “x”. Now, as it turns out, there is actually a word that is composed of just this sound. It occurs at the end of many clauses where we now write a comma, and in fact a naive person might for a while think it is the Seri way to pronounce comma. But it’s not. It is what distinguishes “if Bill arrives” (with x) and “when Bill arrives (in the future)”; and “whenever Mary reads it” (with x) and “when Mary read it”. I really don’t understand exactly when it should be there (something to do with the time of the event), but I know that the guys I work with are very clear on when it is missing.

Why was it missing in the translation sometimes? I’m not sure. Even after Cathy’s father wrote down exactly what his Seri co-translator told him to write down, other speakers differ on some details. It’s easy to misunderstand. I also know (now) that sometimes the “x” word is really difficult to hear because it is pronounced so lightly. Sometimes it can’t actually be heard, because it follows a verb that ends in “x”, or “sx”, or “fsx”, or some such combination. But careful readers and writers know that it should or should not be there (after thinking about it for 15 seconds or so), and they want it written, of course. So, we are constantly looking to be sure we have them in the right places.

The next time you gargle, think about “x”. And pray that the meaning it conveys will be clear to those who read and hear the Seri scriptures."