"Lamentably, regrettably or unfortunately"

If you have to convey to people the sorrow and disappointment underlying a situation, you must use the lexical resources that are language-appropriate.
In Hebrew, it would seem that the pathos ("sadness") of a situation was represented by repetition of the regrettable proposition that is being narrated. This is found at two places in the text of Genesis.
Gen. 11:30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. (English Standard Version)
Gen. 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him. (English Standard Version)
Parallelism is the distinguishing feature of Hebrew poetry, but is also found in narrative discourse, as shown above.
Given our sense that this structure is intended to convey to the Hebrew reader the pathos of the two situations, we look for the comparable expressions in Badwe'e and in Nzime. It turns out that the Nzime have a word, Nzamedwɛha, that lexicalizes the expression "regrettably; unfortunately" whereas the Badwe'e, a closely-related language, have a phrase (A vwa' e) that has the same effect. It can be translated "how lamentable with (or 'for')". They come across very differently when seen side-by-side!

Getting the Meaning Across

In Badwe'e GENESIS, there is an interesting place where an accent rightly-placed will make the difference between Threshing Floor and Threshing Bed. The words for "area designated for use in..." and "bed" are duo (pitches: Low, Low) "bed" class 7 in sg. and class 8 in pl. and duo (pitches: Low, Low-falling) "area designated for use in" class 7 in sg. and class 8 in pl. To make the point that Joseph stopped at Atad's Threshing Floor rather than Atad's Threshing Bed, we add a "grave(Fr.)" accent on the "o" of duò. Now we have to record it and publish it for the Badwe'e people to hear and read. Pray for the funds lacking as we move toward these goals.

GENESIS in Badwe'e: Checked and Ready for Publication

Patricia Wilkendorf has checked the Badwe'e translation of GENESIS. The work is now ready for the first of an unknown number of adaptations into related, Bantu languages. Everyone wants to preach and hear the Word of God about the great beginnings of the cosmos and of God's redeemed community.

The Swo Consonantal System

The Swo consonantal system has taken shape in my thinking and we are now ready to launch the experimental orthography. Pastor Simon Pierre Ossimba is a great support for this work and is very appreciative. Mr. Lounga Nang began working with me Oct.14 on a write-up of the phonology. We are hoping to finish the data collection on Oct.22. I have many of the conclusions already. After some more data-collection, I'll be ready for the formal write-up. After the write-up, we will begin preparing pedagogical materials and texts of various genres in the language. There are three degrees of consonants: Labial: /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/ Labiodental: /f/, /v/ Alveolar: /t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /l/, /n/, /y/ Velar: /k/, /g/, /ŋ/. Allophones of these phonemes include: /K/-> [ʔ] / -CV_(V) /ŋ/-> [ɲ] / -_V /D/-> [r] / -CV_(V) /t/-> [ts] / -_V[high]

What the Lord is Doing in Lomie

Fifty Proclaimers with the Nzime New Testament have gone out to Lomie. Francois Medjo will deliver them and create new listening groups in response to the guidance of the Christian leaders in the area. Roman Catholic priests and Protestant pastors alike are looking at this tool as a major means of breaking through to the soul of the Nzime people with the Good News ("Gospel" in old English) of Jesus Christ. Pray for many miles of safe driving for Francois on his motorcycle.

Break-in in the Lomie Office

On August 25 a group of young men were seen around 3 AM near the office of Francois Medjo in Lomie. Shortly thereafter, a door and a window were broken to permit access. Thieves smashed three chairs and tore up papers in a senseless way. They stole 2 reams of paper, 3 laptops, 2 cell phones and a digital camera. They also took 20 New Testa­ments in Nzime and 10 literacy books. They left behind a laser printer. Later they brought back a laptop that was protected by a password.
We are not sure why they wanted the New Testaments, but it is one of the interesting aspects of the break-in. God watches over His Word and sends it to do His will.
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:10-11
Praise the Lord that one of these thieves has been apprehended. Pray for Francois Medjo as he seeks to retrieve the stolen items and restore peace, order and security to the office.
************************U P D A T E************************
Francois Medjo received word that the leader of the gang was captured. He went to the departmental capital (Abong Mbang) and to the regional capital (Bertoua) to deal with the authorities and the gendarmes. They are now returning to Lomie with the gang-leader in restraints. The gendarmes hope to "roll up" the entire gang and restore order in Lomie.

Imported words for the Bible

There is a constant need to modernize living languages, and Badwe'e is a good case in point. The speakers of Badwe'e feel at ease in adding borrowed words if they contribute to the communication task.
One example that was new to me concerns the word "Mpa'ra". It had two meanings originally: "association" and "pair". (Note: This word is a derivation from the verb "ba'ra", which means "join; add to") The second meaning has now lost acceptance and is being expressed by a borrowed word, "pia", which comes from "pair [English]" or "paire[French]".
The Nzime are not so quick to incorporate words from European languages. Instead, they sometimes borrow from other Bantu languages.
Their word for "pair" is "mpa' ", which is distinct from all other words. Their word for "association" is either "mpa'ra" or "kwan", which is borrowed from a neighboring African language, Ewondo.

The Nzime Language Academy

Anzyom Brigitte (shown second from the right) is the president of the "Nzime Academy" that is working on keeping their language from becoming relegated to a future as limited as its past, one in which there is an inability to write or read and so to impact their environment and future generations. In the past, minute-taking and reporting on meetings would only be in French ("pulasi"). Now, however, their confidence as writers and pride in their language has lead them to write their minutes in Nzime.

The following is a part of the minutes that they took in Nzime:

"Anziom Brigitte a nʉa lwib lɨ egʉa paʼla bʉr sa bɨh bé sa mya pihe yɨ. Syɛɛla yaa, yé a si mvol buobuo bʉr lɨ egʉa mpʉ gwɨhla Academie di etye, ndu e sa yé di epʉgʉ gwɨm esa yɨ. Tɨ', yé si nyin ó, Academie, yé ó gwɨhla di egwɨm mepwaʼ me kul bʉr o nzime. Yé lɨ esaa menzɨ me di ó, bʉr o nzime bé pɔʼa lɨ egʉʼla ndu e l'ekamle e lwib nzime. Academie, yé lɨ esaa menzɨ di ó, lwib nzime, yé bwaʼaa ndu e l'etiʼe mpʉ lwib pulasi ndu e lwib ngɨlis. Ebe no ó, bʉr o bʉm yaa di esaa mekan medwan di edumo le bisa bidwan di epyal tʉŋlʉ bitwiʼ ndu e metum me nzime lɨ esu e mepwaʼ me bʉr o nzime yɨ."

One of their concerns is to develop the Nzime language as a more adequate language for expressing new ideas of importance to the life and changing customs of the Nzime people. As they desire greater progress and development, they look to ways of making their language a resource. In the above text, they use the word " mepwa' " to express "progress/development". This is a nominalization of the verb " bwa' "meaning "to be big."

The Swo People on the path to a new future

There is a new blog on the internet entitled "Nouvelles du peuple Swo". The point of this website is to enable speakers of Swo to exchange information and documents in and about their language and culture.
The Swo people have two dialects, and in one dialect the language is pronounced "So".
At the present moment, it is the Reverend Simon Pierre Ossimba who serves the Swo people in the role of website manager.
He says that it is important that the Swo people become confident users of their language in all manners, including writing and reading.
In addition to being a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (EPC), Rev. Ossimba works in the Ministry of Basic Education.