A preliminary investigation into the Samaritan Pentateuch as an intralingual translation
| dc.contributor.advisor | Miller-Naude, C. L. | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Naude, J. A. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Reid, Philip Mark | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-24T11:53:21Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-24T11:53:21Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021-09 | |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation investigates the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) as an intralingual translation. It gives an overview of the Samaritans and their version of the Pentateuch before presenting a model of intralingual translation. This model is then used to compare the SP to the Jewish Masoretic Text of the Pentateuch. The intralingual translational model is based on Peircean semiotics, which can be used to compare any two translations which share a common source. Translations are viewed as the product of a complex system – a trajectory of translational actions. Like many complex systems, translations generally follow a gradual, relatively stable path, but occasionally there are major changes in trajectory. When comparing two translations, often their translational trajectories will be similar, and they will be recognisably the same. However, where trajectories do differ significantly, on many occasions only one of them will have undergone a significant change in trajectory, while the other remains closer to the common source. This model is then used as an alternative to classical textual criticism, to compare the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP) and the Masoretic Text (MT) as a whole, and then the Song of Moses in particular (Deuteronomy 32:1-43). We see that on many occasions the SP has undergone a more significant change on its translational trajectory than the MT. These intralingual translational changes include: dialectical change, grammatical normalisation, and exegetical problem solving. There are also creative expansions, where scribes supplemented the text of the Pentateuch with text found elsewhere, with the aim of creating a more harmonised whole. Elsewhere there are translational changes linked to Samaritan theology and culture, many of which relate to the focus of their religious life: Mount Gerizim. Descriptive Translation Studies helps us to determine the skopos, that is, the aim or purpose behind these different kinds of translational changes. For example, some of the expansions of the SP are also found in a set of Jewish Qumran manuscripts known as the pre-Samaritan texts, and therefore cannot be attributed to Samaritan theology. Thus, the skopos behind these translational changes is different to the more overtly Samaritan additions. Unlike traditional textual criticism, this model also covers the translation of non-verbal sign systems, such as the formatting of poetry on the page, which differs from the Masoretic tradition for the Song of Moses. Another non-verbal sign system is the Samaritan Hebrew script, related to the paleo-Hebrew script, which is used for the SP. Here, recent evidence suggests that the Samaritans held onto the older script, while the Jews adopted the newer one, itself a major translational change. Overall, the translational paradigm presented in this dissertation gives a holistic view of all the distinctives of the Samaritan Pentateuch. This model could be fruitful both in the study of other ancient manuscripts and in the analysis of modern Bible translation processes. | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/11459 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Dissertation (M.A. (Hebrew))--University of the Free State, 2021 | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Samaritan Pentateuch | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Intralingual translation | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Intersemiotic translation | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Complexity theory | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Hebrew | en_ZA |
| dc.title | A preliminary investigation into the Samaritan Pentateuch as an intralingual translation | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Dissertation | en_ZA |