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SIL translation consultant Roger Stone came to the community expecting to train a group of local pastors in translation processes, but he" /> <meta name="generator" content="Drupal 7 (https://www.drupal.org)" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.sil.org/blog/connecting-dots" /> <link rel="shortlink" href="https://www.sil.org/node/336746" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="SIL Global" /> <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/connecting-dots" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Connecting the Dots" /> <meta property="og:description" content="Linking data between similar languages accelerates translation efforts in the Philippines. When members of the Ayta Mag-Antsi community heard the book of Ruth read aloud in their language for the first time, something surprising occurred. SIL translation consultant Roger Stone came to the community expecting to train a group of local pastors in translation processes, but he felt perplexed when he arrived to meet five widows instead. Work moved forward despite this unexpected occurrence, and the community check began by reading it aloud to the gathered women." /> <meta property="og:updated_time" content="2024-02-15T13:07:48-06:00" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/header_0.png" /> <meta property="og:image:url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/header_0.png" /> <meta property="og:image:secure_url" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/header_0.png" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta name="twitter:creator" content="@SILintl" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://www.sil.org/blog/connecting-dots" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Connecting the Dots" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Linking data between similar languages accelerates translation efforts in the Philippines. When members of the Ayta Mag-Antsi community heard the book of Ruth read aloud in their language for the" /> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/images/story/header_0.png" /> <meta property="article:published_time" content="2024-02-15T11:20:11-06:00" /> <meta property="article:modified_time" content="2024-02-15T13:07:48-06:00" /> <title>Connecting the Dots | SIL Global</title> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_lQaZfjVpwP_oGNqdtWCSpJT1EMqXdMiU84ekLLxQnc4.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_EM9PzeHZt2AxxQ3R05nXINg9akBOG66G3hxOgWtlp2E.css" media="all" /> <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/css/css_y-6OGvqwgwpR259lzJYNwvxpJm3Q1qOD_DWt90goRpM.css" media="all" /> <style>.panels-flexible-new .panels-flexible-region { padding: 0; } .panels-flexible-new 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<section id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <article id="node-336746" class="node node-blog node-promoted clearfix"> <div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img class="img-responsive" src="https://www.sil.org/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_1140/public/images/story/header_0.png?itok=5ejc9hOP" width="950" height="502" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="view view-blog-post-masthead-information view-id-blog_post_masthead_information view-display-id-entity_view_1 text-center view-dom-id-2eca97d6e77d08570aa43c8841000924"> <div class="view-content"> <div class="views-row views-row-1 views-row-odd views-row-first views-row-last"> <div class="views-field views-field-title"> <h3 class="field-content">Connecting the Dots</h3> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-name"> <h6 class="field-content">by <span class="blog-post-author">Kelly Martin</span></h6> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-created"> <span class="field-content blog-post-post-date">15 February 2024</span> </div> <div class="views-field views-field-nothing"> <span class="field-content"><hr/></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><h2><small>Linking data between similar languages accelerates translation efforts in the Philippines.</small></h2> <p>When members of the Ayta Mag-Antsi community heard the book of Ruth read aloud in their language for the first time, something surprising occurred. SIL translation consultant Roger Stone came to the community expecting to train a group of local pastors in translation processes, but he felt perplexed when he arrived to meet five widows instead. Work moved forward despite this unexpected occurrence, and the community check began by reading it aloud to the gathered women. But as the five widows sat listening to the translation of Ruth, their demeanor visibly changed. </p> <p>“The ladies began engaging with this story like I have never seen any group in any language engage with Scripture,” recalls Stone. They especially resonated with the compassion Boaz showed the widowed Ruth and expressed delight at the prospect of hearing future drafts. With increasing amazement, Stone watched these women become more deeply engrossed in the story, even talking over one another in their excitement to relay what they just heard. As the first of their people to hear this story in their language, who could relate better to the story of Ruth than these five widows?</p> <p>Despite earlier setbacks, the Ayta Mag-Antsi community refused to abandon their dream of a Bible in their language. Once before, their leaders tried to start the work from scratch, but the complexity and vastness of the task led them to stop. Moreover, traditional translation methods often prove costly and time consuming, adding further strain on the team’s limited budget and human capacity. </p> <p>Ayta Mag-Antsi represents just one of four languages within the Ayta cluster project SIL currently manages in the Philippines. Grouping similar languages which share a common parent language into “clusters'' allows consultants to focus on multiple languages at once, and often, knowledge about one language in a family sheds important insight into others. Sensitive to the challenges more traditional translation methods present for small communities, the project consultant suggested an alternative approach utilizing SIL software FLExTrans. </p> <p>Combining Fieldworks Language Explorer (FLEx) with a powerful rule-based translation system, FLExTrans is a valuable ally for producing high-quality translation drafts, dictionaries and other reference materials. FLEx helps users record and manage the lexical information required for language development. </p> <p>Meanwhile, another language in the cluster, Ayta Mag-Indi, finished their New Testament and several Old Testament books, including the book of Ruth. These would serve as a starting point for beginning the Ayta Mag-Antsi translation by linking dictionaries for these two languages in FLEx. </p> <p>Using the Ayta Mag-Indi translation of Ruth, the Ayta Mag-Antsi team quickly produced a high-quality first draft for the book in their own language and noted with surprise that the first draft already appeared highly comprehensible and natural, resulting in a shared sense that “Oh, this work will be very light.” It was this same draft which so deeply affected the five widows. </p> <p>Soon after, FLExTrans helped another Ayta team when Mercy Ramos (Translators Association of the Philippines) passed away in March of 2023 after many years working alongside the Ayta Ambala translation team as a trusted mentor. With the Ayta Ambala New Testament only half complete, the translation team struggled to imagine how they could finish the project in the absence of their dear colleague. </p> <p>However, the Ayta Mag-Indi team agreed to help finish the Ayta Ambala New Testament using FLExTrans and quickly produced a draft of 2 Thessalonians. Draft review sessions even revealed more linguistic similarities between Ayta Mag-Indi and Ayta Ambala than the linguist previously envisioned. As work continues among the Ayta teams, the Ayta Mag-Antsi and Ayta Ambala people keep moving closer to fulfilling the dream they have long worked towards—a Bible in their language.</p> </div></div></div> </article> </section> <section id="block-block-261" class="block block-block blog-footer-links blog-footer-links clearfix"> <p> </p> <hr /> <p><a class="btn btn-default text-center" href="/blog" role="button">Back to Blog</a></p> </section> </div> </section> </div> </div> <footer class="footer"> <div class="footer-top"> <div class="container"> <div class="region region-footer"> <section id="block-panels-mini-sil-bootstrap-footer-menu" class="block block-panels-mini clearfix"> <div class="panel-flexible panels-flexible-new clearfix" id="mini-panel-sil_bootstrap_footer_menu"> <div class="panel-flexible-inside panels-flexible-new-inside"> <div class="panels-flexible-row panels-flexible-row-new-main-row panels-flexible-row-first clearfix footer-links"> <div class="inside panels-flexible-row-inside panels-flexible-row-new-main-row-inside panels-flexible-row-inside-first clearfix"> <div class="panels-flexible-region panels-flexible-region-new-column_1 panels-flexible-region-first "> <div class="inside panels-flexible-region-inside panels-flexible-region-new-column_1-inside panels-flexible-region-inside-first"> <div class="panel-pane pane-block pane-block-276 pane-block footer-logo" > <div class="pane-content"> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/sil_logo_white.png" style="width: 100px; 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