Yet another reason to be delighted by my partner: He reads the Bible in Yup’ik, the language spoken by indigenous folks in western and southwestern Alaska (and the Russian Far East).
That’s because DF has been doing home visits for his church, and one of the parishioners is an elderly woman who is much more comfortable with Yup’ik than with English.
Having spoken a little Yup’ik as a kid and studied it as an adult, DF sent away to the American Bible Society for a Yup’ik version. He wanted to be able to do that day’s in-church reading when he visits.
He always practices the reading ahead of time, so he doesn’t sound too awful. Thus I reap the benefits before his fellow parishioner does. Although he’s a baritone, DF always does the readings in a soft, low voice. Heck, I would listen to him read a grocery list (and sometimes have!) or anything else he wanted to say out loud.
After Navajo, Yup’ik is the most-spoken indigenous language in the United States. The version DF speaks is Central Alaskan Yup’ik, which is not to be confused with Central Siberian Yup’ik (spoken in Far East Siberia and also on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska) or with Naukan Yup’ik (which is also spoken in Far East Siberia).
If you’d like to hear it spoken, here’s a short video:
If you watched the video, you likely noticed how the captions didn’t seem to “match” what we were hearing. The Yup’ik orthography uses Latin script but not all of the letters in the English alphabet. (Although sometimes it uses a letter twice to connote a specific sound.) When I look over DF’s shoulder to see what he’s reading, I’m always impressed that he can pronounce such a complex language.
Here’s a sample page:
The elder told him that he sounds pretty good, and one of her adult grandkids responded, “Wow, that’s cool” when she heard him reading the word of God in Yup’ik.
He already had a Yup’ik hymnal, so he also sings with the woman when he visits. One recent Sunday, DF and the elder were singing “How Great Thou Art” in Yup’ik. The same grandkid who thought he sounded cool said, “I like the English version better” after the song had ended.
“So do I,” DF told her.
Bible translation isn’t an exact science
I heard DF snickering one day and asked why. He translated a verse for me wherein Jesus walks by and is hailed with, “Behold, the Lamb of God.”
Except that in Yup’ik, this translates to, “Behold, the Reindeer of God.”
Well, the reindeer is the only herd animal with which the Yup’ik folk are even slightly familiar, so it had to do.
During the Christmas season, I heard him practicing songs like “O Come All Ye Faithful,” “Silent Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High” in Yup’ik. Which led to another fun translation: The Central Yup’ik word for angels is pronounced something* like “anglesh,” but the Siberian Yup’ik word for angel is “thing with wings.”
Thus if DF were visiting a Siberian Yup’ik speaker, the two of them would be singing, “Things with wings we have heard on high/Sweetly singing o’er the plain.”
I don’t just love this man. I admire and respect him. That is such a joyful thing to be able to say.
*It’s not an entirely accurate pronunciation, but it’s the best I could do.
Related reading:
What a great post. May you and your DF have many, many more years together.
You made my day. I will be chuckling throughout my chores. “May the reindeer of God take away the sins of the world.’ There may be hope for mankind yet. What a kind and talented fella!
So my apparant ability to still think like a six-year-old has me imagining a sleigh pulled by reindeer filled with limbo babies as their sins are finally removed.
It’s somehow both terrifying and comforting.
“Limbo Babies” is the name of my next rock band.
Not to be confused with “Limbo, Baby!” which makes one hairy men at a cruise ship bar.
Think… ugh.
Your DF is wonderful. As I have heard religious folks say, You and he are “equally yoked”.
I am happy for you both to be so well paired off.
That is so interesting! SO important to keep those languages alive Thanks for sharing and the video. DF is so very talented
As a translator (written) and interpreter (oral) at times in a bilingual church I took a special interest and joy in reading what DF is doing. First that he would learn a second, difficult language but second and most of all that he would spend his time ministering to someone who needs his caring heart and language skills.
Is that cool or what, to learn the language to give comfort to an elder! The guy is a keeper.
He is, indeed.
Thanks Donna, This was a great post about a language I’ve never heard spoken before. The video was great too.
Thanks, Karen. It’s a very rich language that, like Navajo, is spoken by quite a few people and has a chance of surviving despite outside influences.
DF is not only gifted with intelligence but also was favored with a big heart. What a combination! You got me at the part where he not only reads the Bible to her but sings with her too. Not too many would rise to that challenge.
I very much enjoyed the video too. I especially loved the little girl speaking Yup’ik. Precious.
“What a man what a man what a man what a mighty good man” — so happy you have each other!
Funny — I sing that refrain to myself from time to time, and sometimes to him. But since he’s a huge classical music nerd, I don’t think he gets the reference.
Absolutely beautiful. I really enjoyed the video, so quiet soothing words. Your DF is wonderful to reach out to the elder people . Hopefully some of the children will pick up his example and spread the joy. Thanks for sharing this
Great post!
Why, thank you.
I loved this!!
You’ve met him, so…doesn’t it sound just like something he would do?