Genesis 1:1-3 in Selected Akan Mother-tongues: A Grammatico-syntactic Analysis
Alfred Korankye 
, Emmanuel Twumasi-Ankrah & Isaac Boaheng
Issue: Vol.5 No.16 Issue Article 34 pp.3121 – 3131
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451634 | Published online 24th December, 2024
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
The translation of the Bible message from the original language to a receptor language has been challenging due to the lack of equivalent words in the receptor language to convey the exact meaning of the original language. This can sometimes distort the original meaning and create ambiguity in the receptor community. In some Akan dialects such as Asante-Twi, Akuapim-Twi, and Bono-Twi, the translation of Genesis 1:1-3 presents recognizable translational challenges when compared with the Masoretic Text. For instance, all the selected Akan dialects translated the Hebrew word bereshit, “In the beginning,” as independent in relation to other parts of the first sentence. However, this paper argued that rendering bereshit, with no indication of the temporal dependent relationship function of the clause within the sentence thus without any circumstantial sense, limits the meaning of the sentence and is inconsistent with the source text. Employing grammatical and syntactical analysis, the paper identified some translational inconsistencies in the selected Akan mother-tongue Bibles and accordingly proposed alternative renderings for readers.
Keywords: Akan, Genesis 1:1-3, Mother-tongue, Receptor, Translation, Twi
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Alfred Korankye holds a Bachelor of Theology with Administration from Christian Service University, Kumasi, Ghana. He also has a Postgraduate Certificate in Theology from Spurgeon’s College in London, United Kingdom. He is in his final year of a Master of Theology at Queen’s College, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. His research interests include Bible translation, biblical studies, pastoral care, and postcolonial theological studies, with a focus on African contexts.
Isaac Boaheng holds a PhD in Theology from the University of the Free State, South Africa. He is a Senior Lecturer in Theology and Christian Ethics at the Christian Service University, Ghana, and a Research Fellow at the Department of Biblical and Religion Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. He has over hundred peer-reviewed publications.
Emmanuel Twumasi-Ankrah holds a PhD in Religious Studies from the Department of Religion and Human Development at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Theology at the Christian Service University, Kumasi, Ghana.
Korankye, Alfred, Emmanuel Twumasi-Ankrah and Isaac Boaheng. “Genesis 1:1-3 in Selected Akan Mother-tongues: A Grammatico-syntactic Analysis,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 5, no.16 (2024): 3121 – 3131. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.202451634
© 2024 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
