Med Izvirnikom in Prevodi by Jože s> Krašovec (review)

Abstract

i i8 SEER, 83, I, 2005 Likemost conference proceedings the paperspublishedhere are of uneven quality, but one or two are quite outstanding. Since the nineteenth century linguistshave been tryingto confine Sorbianto a Procrusteanbed suppliedby the other Slavonic languages. Some of this was an impulsive reaction to the attitudes of the likes of Leskien (see above). But now we have a younger generation of scholarswho are not satisfiedwith any of this. EdwardWornar rejectsthe traditionalview thatUpper Sorbianperfectiveverbscannot express the actualpresentorbe combined with phasalverbs,such as 'to begin', a view that is simply not borne out by the evidence. General observations about Slavonic aspect, as if all Slavoniclanguageshad somethingin common in this respect, are (he says)misguided. Even among the Slavonic languages aspect varies from one language to another. Aspect in Upper Sorbian is not a grammatical but a lexical category and it is doubtful whether grammatical verbal aspect ever existed (pp. I55-68). Another investigation into aspect is offeredby WalterBreu. Based on fieldworkwith informantsfrom Ralbitz and Crostwitz, it does not go quite as far as Wornar,but agrees with him at least thataspectin Upper Sorbianis differentfromthatin otherSlavoniclanguages (PP. 143-54). Its specificqualityin Lower Sorbianhas yet to be explored, but by revealingsomething of its truenaturein Upper Sorbian,Wornarand Breu have begun to dispel the confusionby which Sorbiangrammarhas long been troubled. Her~ford College, Oxford GERALD STONE Krasovec, Joze. MedIzvirnikom in Prevodi. Studijskazbirka, 3. Svetopisemska druzba Slovenije, Ljubljana, 2001. 784 pp. Illustrations.Notes. Bibliography .Indexes. SIT II,900. IN the winter of I980, on the eve of the most momentous period in the constitutional history of the country, the Slovenian Bishops' conference accepted a proposalfor the preparationof what would be chronologicallythe seventh complete Slovene translationof the Bible Slovenski standarni prevod celotnega Svetega pismaiz izvirnihhjezikov (Ljubljana,I996). Overall editor of the work is ProfessorJoze Krasovec, holder of four doctorates and Professorof Old Testament exegesis in the Theological faculty of the University of Ljubljana,who has keptwith meticulouscare a fullrecordof the project.After a shortintroductionextollingthe excellence of the Bible (pp. 27-36) the three main sections deal with the historicalbackground(pp. 37-230); the Slovene standardBible translation:project and realization (pp. 231-378); attendant events and revision of the new translation (pp. 379-548). English-language summaries cover the following topics: an evaluation of literary translations (pp. 549-67); literaryaestheticin the Scripturesbasedon unityof content and form (pp. 568-86); translatability of literary works in general and the Scripturesin particular(pp. 587-604). A supplementreprintschronologically articles and interviews from the Slovene media from I990 onwards (pp. 605-752). REVIEWS II9 The interesting anthology of opinions from antiquity to modernity on the nature of translationand the duty of the translatorofferssupportto both the strictand liberalschool of thought, though some may feel that Horace, one of the firstwitnesses, has what could be accepted as the last word on the subject when he advocates faithfulnesswithout slavishnessto the text. It seems rather a pity that room could not be found for Cyril and Methodius's theory and practice, particularlyon the rightsof the vernacular.On the other hand, one would have willinglydispensedwith Nabokov'sill-temperedrantagainsteasyreading versions of Pushkin's EvgeniiOnegin and demand for monumental commentariesin theirstead. The concise accounts of early Greek,Aramaic and Latinversionsare clear and well illustrated.The transliterationof Greek is unusual in its failure to distinguish long e and o (eta and omega)from their short counterparts; preservation of the Greek accents, while not without its charm, is no compensation for potentially misleading cases like hos (with long vowel a conjunction or adverb;with short vowel a personal pronoun). Eagerness to chronicle in full the course of scholarlydebate has given the trivialflotsamof orthographicminutiae a prominence no other context wouldjustify. In some cases, e.g. the transliterationof Hebrew names (Gabriel or the more recent Gabrijel), the orthographers should prevail, while in matters involving an apparent loss of dignity (capitalizationof only one member of a compound phrase, e.g. Holy spirit)the theologians should be allowed to determine their own usage, which may if necessary be so categorized in orthographic dictionaries. Among the aids for translatorshere reprintedthe registerof orthographic rules (pp. 35 i-68) is of general interest, together with the basic HebrewSlovene glossary,with separatelists of termsfor musical instruments,and for...