Radiophonics

Translating ‘Sing Like A River’ into ‘Opela bjalo ka noka’

by Phomelelo Machika

Listen to 'Opela Bjala Ka Noka' (MP3)

Download 'Opela Bjala Ka Noka' (Word format)

Direct transations would not make sense even if this was not a poem. Translating into Sepedi requires a lot of creativity, our language provides for strong visuals and imagery. The problem I encountered was with the borrowed words that we do not have in Sepedi. For example: ‘a bell behind my teeth’. In Sepedi we do not have ‘bell’, so we use pele, borrowed from the English ‘bell’. It does not make sense on it’s own, so we give a description: ‘a bell used for cows’ or ‘a church bell’. This is because we tie named bells on our livestock for easy identification. In English poetry, a brief sentence makes sense and provide for imagery. In Sepedi, we have to elaborate, while at the same time we have to be careful not to tell, but show. The line breaks differ because of this, which makes the appearance of a Sepedi poem different in presentation and the way it sounds. For example on the bell issue, I have had to say leleme laka, kera yona tshipi sellamogolong wa boketšwamaswi. I have had to expand the bell part and be creative by including the cows, so I would not have to use the borrowed word. In this way the poem flows, has meaning. I could not do the same with ‘ladder’. In Sepedi we use llere, a word borrowed from Afrikaans. I ended up using it as it is because unlike a bell, it makes sense standing on it’s own. Translation has always been a rewarding process for me because it is about accessibility. The translated poem, opela bjalo ka noka/sing like a river, was edited by a high school Sepedi teacher.

February, 2006

February, 2006