The primary focus of our Grammar classes was to learn to look for the patterns in languages. First off, we learned about morphemes, which are the smallest meaningful parts of words; they cannot be broken down further (e.g. determine and sound, or word parts such as -ed and un- as in determined and unsound.)
Armed with and understanding of morphemes we could then take word lists from foreign languages and determine some prefixes, noun stems, suffixes, tense markers, negative markers, etc. Of course, our word lists were carefully selected for us, so we could indeed figure this out (well, the brighter ones of us could; I caught on slowly.) Here’s a quick example: by comparing a list of words from Mbembe, we could determine that in the word mkogwo the ‘m’ denoted a future tense, the ‘k’ brought in a negative, the ‘o’ gave us the subject person he, and -gwo was the verb root to drink; thus, mkogwo meant he will not drink.
We also learned about the various syntactical modes used by multiple languages; not everyone says, “My two big white doves fight your warlike eagles”, but some might actually say, “white big my doves two warlike your eagles fight!”
I found the Grammar sessions to be challenging and fun. But more than that, I found our instructor, Grace Fabian, to be an awesome testimony to our God’s mighty power and strength.
Each day, at the end of her grammar lessons, Grace would tell us a “chapter” in her missionary-translator story. She and her husband served in Papua New Guinea for most of their lives (some 20+ years)! The tribe for which they were translating the Scriptures was very animistic and had some very odd and confusing cultural practices. For instance, everyone was called by their birth order: first-born son, third-born daughter, third-born mother, etc. My name would be Sa, fourth born son.
As Grace’s story progressed, she told us how her husband died; he was murdered by a tribesman who was helping them in translation. We wee all stunned and shocked by the climatic way Grace came to this point of her story. God’ Grace in Grace Fabian’s life, however, was very evident. Even as we could see the pain and sorrow on Grace’s countenance, we could also see the visible manifestations of God’s sustaining power in her life. Grace continued her story and told us how she came to forgiveness with the murderer and his people, how God brought her to the place where she could let go her hold on her husband’s life, how God worked to strengthen her so that she could help complete their New Testament Translation. And most joyously of all, Grace told us how the tribe reconciled with her and dramatically embraced her and her children into their hearts and lives.
Grace Fabian was a wonderfully sweet lady, and I’ll not soon forget her gripping testimony to God’s transcending hand of power in the midst of mortal weakness.
2 Comments
January 27, 2007 at 6:47 pm
In Spanish grammar I learned about morphemes (morfemas). It was a frustrating topic (didn’t help that our instructor wasn’t very clear in his explanations) but was interesting insofar as I’d never learned it in English.
I enjoy reading about your teachers and their experiences. Somehow I didn’t think of overseas missionaries being in as much danger from natives nowadays (as opposed to the days of everyone from John Paton to Jim Elliot, etc.) so much as illness. Was the tribe known to be violent?
January 29, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Well, I didn’t explain the whole story. That would have taken too long, and I’m afraid I couldn’t do it justice. No, I don’t think the tribe was known to be necessarily violent. Grace Fabian described the murderer as being both schizophrenic and under demonic influence. Of course, before the incident of her husband’s death, they were unaware of both of these things.
The most beautiful thing about her reconciliation with this tribe was this: At the dedication ceremony of their Nabak New Testament, the wife of the murderer asked Grace to be her sister. Family relationships constitute the core of this tribe’s culture, and so this was a great honor and demonstration of love. Grace told us that when she first came to the tribe, she was the first white woman that the tribe had ever seen. After confirming that she was indeed a woman, they named her “white-woman.” So, for a long time she was a cultural outcast. Then, after time, she was embraced into society, and given the name, “fourth-born Mother.” Then, at the dedication of the New Testament she had helped to translate, she was made the sister of a tribeswoman, thus she was subsequently related to nearly the whole tribe. Indeed, at this ceremony, her newly made sister went around the circle of villagers and introduced her to all her newly made relatives. The murderer’s wife did the same with all of Grace’s children.
Yes, I hadn’t before thought that death might be a part of missionary work. It sounds so out-dated. But then again, one could just as well die while hurtling down the freeway, or while helping a drunkard across the street. And what better way to end one’s life than in the work of bringing the gospel to a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea!