CFF Archives

Translation Studies before ‘Translation Studies’

Translation Studies before ‘Translation Studies’ challenges the established historical narratives of ‘translation studies’ by showcasing some of the rich traditions of debate, research and theorising that happened around the world in the centuries prior to the supposed beginnings of the discipline. The volume includes selected extracts by scholars and translators from the ‘nothing happened’ period. Beginning in Ancient Rome, the volume moves through Medieval China and India, Early Modern Europe, the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Europe, Africa, the Arab World and South America, before concluding with twentieth-century extracts from China, Brazil, Russia, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Ukraine and Poland.

The extracts are accompanied by essays that explore the ideas in the context of their time and link to the concepts of post-1972 translation studies. All of the extracts were originally written in languages other than English and most make their debut here in English translation, amplifying the accessibility and significance of these previously overlooked contributions.

A Grammar of Gaddi

This is the first long-form descriptive grammar of the Pahari Indo-Aryan language, Gaddi (also called Bharmauri), spoken by the Gaddi people, a traditionally pastoral community now undergoing rapid occupational and lifestyle change. In 2010, the language was considered ‘definitely endangered’ by the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger.

A Grammar of Gaddi begins with an account of the historical and sociolinguistic profile of the community, including a discussion on the vitality of the language. Following this is a detailed documentation of the linguistic properties of the language, with chapters dedicated to the language’s phonetics and phonology, its word classes, its morphosyntax and its syntax. The appendices in the book contain the phonemic inventory of the language, a basic word list, and the cardinal, ordinal, fractional and distributive numerals of Gaddi.

The careful linguistic analysis in the book allows for Gaddi language data to be presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet, with minute morphological glosses for maximum transparency. The book thus serves as a vital resource for public and private bodies, and will be of use to the language community as a basis for primers, textbooks and learning tools.

A Grammar of Elfdalian

Elfdalian is the language traditionally spoken in Övdaln (Älvdalen), central Sweden. Due to its linguistic differences to Swedish, coupled with the determination of the speech community, several attempts have been made to acquire an official recognition of Elfdalian as a minority language in Sweden. However, despite growing interest in documenting and revitalising Elfdalian, it is still regarded as a dialect.

As one of the best-preserved members of a larger but lesser-known Dalecarlian (or Dalmål) sub-branch of the Scandinavian languages, Elfdalian is a unique language to study. The purpose of the grammar is to account for Late Classical, or ‘Preserved’, Elfdalian from linguistic, historical and sociolinguistic angles, and to make the language, including both its archaic and innovative features, accessible to a wider audience.

The grammar has multiple target groups: people in Övdaln who wish to revitalise or reclaim their language in a more original form than the one it was transferred into through language decline and Swedish influence since the beginning of the twentieth century; those who wish to transmit the language to others through preschool, school or adult instruction; and likewise others who wish to study a lesser-known North Germanic language. Linguists may find Elfdalian interesting from the angles of comparative historical linguistics, language structure, as well as sociolinguistics and language planning.

A Grammar of Khowar

This book is the first full-length English-language grammar of Khowar, one of the Far Northwestern Indo-Aryan languages. It reflects more than 30 years of field research by the author, and attempts to capture a snapshot of the language at the end of the twentieth century, a time when this and other small mountain languages in northern Pakistan were undergoing rapid change, the pace of which continues to accelerate.

An introductory chapter presents the language in its genetic, geographical, and typological contexts, and its multi-layered lexicon. There follow chapters on phonology, word formation and derivational morphology, nominal morphology, deictic elements, the verbal system, adjectival modification, adverbial modification, morphosyntax, and morphosemantics. This final chapter is a distillation of features of the language that are central to understanding how it conceives of and portrays the world.

In addition to grammatical analysis and discussion, A Grammar of Khowar features numerous original example sentences, mostly contributed by senior, highly competent speakers of the language. A significant number of examples are drawn from oral texts recorded by the author in several villages. They are presented in roman representation and are accompanied by a complete morphological analysis and English translation.

Additionally, an Appendix contains a 30-page sample text, presented first in Khowar’s Perso-Arabic script then by roman-based morphological analysis and an English translation by the author.

Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic

Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic was the native tongue spoken by the Jews of Baghdad and other towns of Southern Iraq, historically one of the oldest and biggest Jewish communities. This textbook is dedicated to spoken Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic and is designed to guide beginners to an advanced level, with the goal of enabling basic conversations. It focuses on common expressions of this unique dialect and opens a window to Baghdad’s historic Jewish culture. The 10 lessons guide readers through a particular topic, such as greetings, family, shopping or cuisine, and consist of sample texts, key vocabulary, grammar points and exercises.

The textbook includes access to audio files, additional activities and links to the exercises.

Praise for Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic

‘Baghdadi Judeo-Arabic, distinct from the Muslim and Christian dialects of Baghdad, was spoken by Jews for over a millennium. This book is an invaluable resource for those aspiring to study and teach the spoken Arabic dialect of Baghdad, setting a benchmark for instructional textbooks on other dialects. The author is renowned authority on Iraqi Judeo-Arabic and has extensively published on Jewish Iraqi dialects. In this volume he integrates his vast pedagogical experience, skilfully blending texts, grammar, vocabulary, and exercises focused on daily life. This book significantly contributes to the ongoing efforts to document, preserve, and study this notable dialect, thereby ensuring its preservation from oblivion.’ Ofra Tirosh-Becker, Professor and Head of the Center for Jewish Languages, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

‘This textbook comes at a time of increasing interest in Judeo-Baghdadi language and culture, as Jews of Iraqi descent recognize the urgency of learning the language from their Arabic-speaking relatives. Students will find this book easy to use, either in a class context or on their own.’ Sarah Bunin Benor, Founding Director, HUC-JIR Jewish Language Project, and Founding Co-editor, Journal of Jewish Languages