The Treatment of Unflagged New Testament Code Switching in English Bible Translations

Abstract

The New Testament contains over 3,000 non-Greek words. Many of these are simply cases of loanwords, seen especially in the case of proper nouns and toponyms. However, others retain their foreign value in the text, illustrated especially by the addition of an in-text translation or explanation. These examples of flagged code switching point to further examples of unflagged code switching. After dealing with the function of code switching in the New Testament, this article analyzes the treatment of nine examples of unflagged code switching in forty-four passages. The results point to a clear distinction in the translational practice between traditional and modern Bible versions.