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Usta or kost? On the Translation Errors in Old Czech Psalters

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2023

Abstract

The paper focuses on errors by misreading of Latin homonyms and heteronyms in the medieval translation of Psalms into Czech. The examples are drawn from four Old Czech Psalter translations and their revisions from the beginning of the 14th century to the end of the 15th century.

Most of the translation errors occur in the two earliest translations of the Psalter, which is probably due to the fact that the first translators often translated the Psalms word for word and did not sufficiently consider the wider context. This refers to common Latin homonyms, such as os and hic.

For some verb forms, such as the Latin venit (3. person of the indicative of praesent or perfective), we encounter incorrect translations repeatedly throughout the Old Czech period, even in the printed sources of the late 15th century.