I have used Google Translate for several years now. The primary languages which I use are Spanish, Greek and Hebrew, since I am currently working at learning all three languages. I have noticed that, for several years, Google translate was very good at translating common names in to other languages. For example, the name JAMES translates into Spanish as Santiago. Recently, I have noticed that, if I mention the names more than once in a sentence or paragraph, the name will be translated as Santiago once but remain as James in subsequent mentions of the name. Why would the translation NOT be consistent within the same document? When I mention the book of ACTS, sometimes the name is translated to HECHOS, sometimes it remains as ACTS and, at other times, it is translated as Hch. (which I presume must be some kind of abbreviation.) IF the SAME word appears several times in one or more paragraphs within the same document, why would the translation of the word NOT be consistent throughout the document?
There are many Hebrew names which are mentioned in the Greek New Testament and I find it strange that, sometimes the Greek and Hebrew translations can translate the names - and, sometimes, the name does NOT make it through in the translation. For example, in Greek, if a paragraph mentions the name John, sometimes the name is correctly translated as Ιωαννης - while, at other times, the name simply remains in the English as John. Of course, in the Hebrew, John would be יוֹחָנָן - and, once again, the same thing happens. Sometimes when John is mentioned and I am translating a paragraph to Hebrew, John appears as יוֹחָנָן - but, at other times, the name of John remains as John. There are numerous other instances, but it seems to me that it would be a simple accomplishment for the translators to be able to grasp the same name when it appears several times within a document and render that name with a consistent translation. My purpose for posting this message now is to inform you that Bible Gateway has THREE versions of the Greek New Testament and ONE version of the Hebrew Old Testament posted on line. So it seems to me that it would be a small matter for Google translate to contact Bible Gateway and obtain whatever permission is necessary to be able to incorporate at least common Biblical names into the translation process. For example, you can find a Greek copy of Matthew 1 at Bible Gateway at the following link MATTHEW 1 in the Greek New Testament at BIBLE GATEWAY http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%201&version=TR1894 This passage alone includes a number of common Biblical names which move from the Old Testament Hebrew to New Testament Greek, including Joseph, David, Ruth, and Abraham, among many others. For example, in the New Testament Greek, the name Ruth in Matthew 1:5 appears as follows: ρουθ When you access Bible Gateway's Hebrew Old Testament, you can go directly to the Book of Ruth and quickly learn that the HEBREW for Ruth is as follows in Ruth 1: רות RUTH 1 in the Hebrew Old Testament at BIBLE GATEWAY: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ruth%201&version=WLC Since Bible Gateway has a number of translations of Bibles in various languages, including Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian and many others, it should be easy for Google translate to be able to translate many common Biblical names from English into Greek, Hebrew, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Norwegian and many others, just by working out an amicable arrangement with Bible Gateway to access many of their translations. It would be quite helpful to scholars if Google Translate would consider adding LATIN to the list of languages being made available, since many important ancient documents were originally written in Latin. StudyLight.org ALSO has a number of different translations of the Bible available via the Internet, which INCLUDES the Latin Vulgate as well as a couple of different Spanish translations. Using the example of Matthew 1 once again, you can see how a list of common Biblical names appear in both Spanish and in Latin at: STUDYIGHT.ORG - Matthew 1 in Spanish and Latin http://www.studylight.org/par/view.cgi?query=mt+1&l1=en&t1=bla§ion=0&l2=en&t2=vul&new=1&oq=mt%25201&submit=Search&nb=mt&ng=1&ncc=1 Once again - it seems to me that it would be a small matter for Google to work out an amicable arrangement with Study Light.org to access the Latin version of Scripture which Study Light.org has available and begin work on making a Latin translation available through Google translate. Personally, I would like to see Google translate offer a few Native American translations as well. My great grandmother was Cherokee and I have friends whose native tongue at home has always been Navajo. I know that the AMERICAN Bible Society has a number of Scriptures or Scripture portions available in a number of Native American languages. I have a Cherokee Bible from the American Bible Society which my great-grandmother gave to me many years ago. Once again, it seems to me that an organization such as the American Bible Society would be happy to work out an amicable arrangement which would make it possible for Google translate to begin including some of the Native American languages in your list of available translations. The Home page for the AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY is as follows: http://www.americanbible.org/about Sincerely, Estrelita אסתר -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "General" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/google-translate-general?hl=en.
