17165: Mason Re 17159: JHudicourt: Creole Bible (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MariLinc@aol.com

Corbetters,

In response to recent notes posted to the Corbett List regarding the genesis
of the Haitian Creole Bible (crediting either Fr. Aristide or Fr. Desir as
translators who undertook the whole project as single individuals), I'd like to
add a few details (I'm sure there are other folks who can add even more
background material). Although a number of individuals (including Desir, McConnell
and Rocourt) produced individual books or worked together with others to produce
a more cohesive compilation, the Haitian Bible Society (in partnership with
the Canadian Bible Society) as an entity is officially credited with publishing
the original Haitian Creole Bible in Pressoir-Faublas orthography (circa
1985) and then very recently publishing the IPN orthographically-updated version.


1) Online accounts of background to production of the Haitian Creole Bible
are available at:

A) http://www.worldscriptures.org/pages/haitian.html

Publishing History:
Part of the Bible was published for the first time in 1927.
The New Testament was first published in 1951.
The complete Bible was first published in 1985.
This Page
This shows the first few verses from John's Gospel in the Common Language
Translation, first published in 1985 by United Bible Societies, Port-au-Prince.
This page is taken from a Bible published in 1993 by Haitian Bible Society,
Port-au-Prince.


B) http://www.biblesociety.ca/translation/world/

"This office is also providing text support and typesetting for the Haitian
Bible."


C) http://www.biblenetworknews.com/northamerica/103001_haiti.html


2) Haitian Creole Bibles available for sale online at:

A) http://www.biblescanada.com/catalog/products/3196.htm

Product: Haitian Creole Bible (New Orthography) HT053
Product code: 1HC001003
Price: $ 25.95


B) http://www.biblescanada.com/catalog/products/3197.htm

Haitian Creole Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha HT053DC
Product code: 1HC71
Price: $ 59.95
* This product is of interest to Catholics.

[Don't know if this has undergone orthographical updating; the description
does not specifically so state. Worth checking into though.]


C) http://www.biblescanada.com/catalog/products/3199.htm

Haitian New Testament on Cassette
Product code: 6HA22H
ISBN code: 1574491296
Price: $ 55.95
Summary: 18 Cassettes in one album


D)
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?cat=105315&dept=3920&product_id=2414539&path=0%3A3920%3A105315

List Price: $18.95
Our Price: $11.94
You Save: $7.01 (37%)
Availability: 1 business day to process before shipping.
Leather
Pub. Date: Sep 2003, Publisher: American Bible Society
ISBN: 1585167193, Dimensions (inches): 8.62x5.44x1.27

[Could it be that WalMart has underpriced the Canadian Bible Society for the
very same new orthographically-updated version it just produced, or is this a
reprint of the old Pressoir-Faublas 1985 edition? Worth checking into.]


E)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1585162817/103-1655253-5143035?v=glance#product-details

Cassette version
Publisher: American Bible Society; (December 2000)
ISBN: 1585162817


3) Haitian Creole Bibles available for free download on the Web:

Go to The Creole Links Page (http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/Index4.html):

Click on the Religion-related sub-section link of the HAITIAN CREOLE
ELECTRONIC TEXTS section.


4) What I've written on the subject:

A) http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/Orthography.htm

"Since the early 1970's, Marilyn Mason has been closely following these
trends of Haitian Creole orthography shift and, during the period of 1989-1995, she
created an electronic edition of Bib la an Ayisyin (in the Pressoir - Faublas
spelling system), as a necessary initial step of having a corpus (that is, an
electronic database of text) prepared for testing and training an automated
orthography conversion program from other spelling systems to IPN. NOTE: it
should be understood from the outset that Ms. Mason was NEVER asked to undertake
this research. She was NEVER given such responsibility by the Haitian Bible
Society, NOR was her quest funded by the Bible Society or any other
organization, NOR are the orthographically converted texts -- which can be accessed from
this page -- to be construed to be "an official update" of the Haitian Creole
Bible. Ms. Mason undertook all of this work as her own personal research and at
her own expense in order to test whether automated orthography conversion was
indeed possible. What was the result?"


B) http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/BibleBooks.htm

Download Site for Sample Illustrated Haitian Creole Bible Books

"The books which can be downloaded below (JenIPN.pdf; EgzIPN.pdf; RitIPN.pdf;
EstIPN.pdf; SomIPN.pdf; FilozòfIPN.pdf; JeremiIPN.pdf; JanIPN.pdf;
TravIPN.pdf; WomenIPN.pdf; EbreIPN.pdf; RevelasyonIPN.pdf) are samples of Bible books
(Genesis; Exodus; Ruth; Esther; Psalms; Ecclesiastes; Jeremiah; John; Acts;
Romans; Hebrews; Revelation) which have undergone an automated process called
CreoleConvert [developed as MMHCOC (Mason Method for Haitian Creole Orthography
Conversion) by Marilyn P. Mason in 1991 and upgraded at regular intervals since
then].

The Haitian Bible Society has been kind enough to grant Ms. Mason written
permission to "publish freely on the Internet" Bible books which have been
subjected to her computer program."


I can personally attest to the diligence and skill of Pauris Jean-Baptiste
and those working with him within the Haitian Bible Society in bringing the IPN
orthographically updated Haitian Creole Bible (produced by the Canadian Bible
Society) to market. Ayibobo!

Marilyn

************************************************
Marilyn Mason
P.O. Box 181015
Boston, Massachusetts 02118 USA
Tel: (+1) 617-247-8885
Email: MariLinc@aol.com
Marilyn Mason Bio & Publication List:
http://hometown.aol.com/marilinc/Index3.html
Creole Links Page:
http://hometown.aol.com/mit2haiti/Index4.html
The Creole Clearinghouse:
http://hometown.aol.com/CreoleCH/Index6.html