Searching for missing and extra words in a Bible translation
In many translations of the Bible there are “added words” that the translators decided were needed to clarify the meaning of the text.
There are also “untranslated words” that the translators thought they did not need to put in their text.
How does one search for these “missing” and “extra” words?
Comments
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I don't think it is truly possible even with the extensive tagging. Some "missing words" are simply implied in English or expressed via punctuation or the choice of gloss in another word. Some "added words" are implied in Hebrew but must be explicit in English. So you need to define the characteristics that you mean to stipulate are "missing" or "added". Then you need to choose a translation for which there is a reverse interlinear so we have the text used by the translators. Even then, I can't think of a way that does not require wildcards thus severely limiting the length of text it is practical to search.
Therefore, I would suggest that you use the in-line interlinear and eyeball the potential mismatches between the original and the translation and make an educated guess as to the degree to which the word is "added" or "missing". Morphology carries much of the meaning that results in word count mismatches so I'd always show it as well.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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David Ames said:
In many translations of the Bible there are “added words” that the translators decided were needed to clarify the meaning of the text.
It's laborious and you need to identify every translated word via wildcards
(a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*)
Added words don't have a morphology, so you need to identify each part of Hebrew & Greek morphology
<LogosMorphHeb ~ A>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ C?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ D?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ G> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ I> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ J????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ N?????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ P?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ U????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ V????????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ X>
We want:---> word NOT INTERSECTS morphology i.e.
(a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*) NOT INTERSECTS (<LogosMorphHeb ~ A>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ C?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ D?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ G> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ I> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ J????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ N?????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ P?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ U????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ V????????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ X>)
Then you repeat for Greek Morphology.
The search takes about 2.5 minutes on my laptop, with 8th generation i5 and SSD. It took 6 min on my 5th gen laptop with HDD. And it doesn't make much difference if you restrict the range from OT to a single book!
David Ames said:There are also “untranslated words” that the translators thought they did not need to put in their text.
Reverse the query i.e. morphology NOT INTERSECTS word, but they are readily identified in the Inline Interlinear with periods/dots at the surface level.
You can choose which morphology is not translated e.g. the article, <LogosMorphHeb ~ A> NOT INTERSECTS (a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*)
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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(a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*) NOT INTERSECTS (<LogosMorphHeb ~ A>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ C?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ D?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ G> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ I> , <LogosMorphHeb ~ J????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ N?????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ P?>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ U????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ V????????>, <LogosMorphHeb ~ X>)
569,297 results in 1250 articles (1289.49 sec) [21.49 minutes on a four year old i7 HP lap top]
(a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*) NOT INTERSECTS (<LogosMorphGr ~ A>, <LogosMorphGr ~ C?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ D?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ G> , <LogosMorphGr ~ I> , <LogosMorphGr ~ J????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ N?????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ P?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ U????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ V????????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ X>)
952,718 resilts in 1,250 articles (303.35 sec) [5.06 minutes]
<LogosMorphHeb ~ A> NOT INTERSECTS (a*, b*, c*, d*, e*, f*, g*, h*, i*, j*, k*, l*, m*, n*, o*, p*, q*, r*, s*, t*, u*, v*, w*, x*, y*, z*)
65 results in 55 articles (1637.34 sec) [27.29 minutes]
Thanks. Now I just have to see if they found anything interesting.
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1. Hebrew Morph:
David Ames said:569,297 results in 1250 articles (1289.49 sec) [21.49 minutes on a four year old i7 HP lap top]
181,252 in 929 articles in ESV. In Basic Search you use Bible Text in Old Testament, else you get results from non-bible text and New Testament!
2. Greek Morph:
David Ames said:(<LogosMorphGr ~ A>, <LogosMorphGr ~ C?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ D?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ G> , <LogosMorphGr ~ I> , <LogosMorphGr ~ J????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ N?????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ P?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ U????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ V????????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ X>)
You have to generate the Greek Morphology (from Morph Search) as it is different to Hebrew i.e.
(<LogosMorphGr ~ B?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ C?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ D???>, <LogosMorphGr ~ I>, <LogosMorphGr ~ J????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ N????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ P>, <LogosMorphGr ~ R??????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ T?>, <LogosMorphGr ~ V???????>, <LogosMorphGr ~ X?>)
David Ames said:952,718 resilts in 1,250 articles (303.35 sec) [5.06 minutes]
In ESV, I get 52569 results in 260 articles. You must limit Basic Search to Bible Text in New Testament.
Dave
===Windows 11 & Android 13
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