Summary and Aims

The sixteenth century Romanian Psalters are among the oldest texts written in Romanian. There is no consensus in the academic literature on their translation initiative, which was attributed to Orthodox, Hussites, Catholics or Reformers. However, it is generally acknowledged that the prototype translation, from a Church Slavonic source yet unidentified, underwent multiple revisions following different sources, resulting in related versions, of which four manuscripts and three printed texts from the sixteenth century survived; some of them are bilingual (Slavonic-Romanian). The difficulty of establishing their precise source(s) came from the fact that the Church Slavonic Psalter has a complicated and incompletely explored textual tradition. Moreover, other scholars advanced a Latin or even a Hungarian source hypothesis, but these perspectives need further investigation. 

While the oldest Romanian Psalters have been studied for more than a century, their translation process, sources, relations and reception are not entirely clarified. The lack of a tool facilitating their comprehensive linguistic comparison and a Bible-philology related analysis, the fragmental knowledge about the sources and the lack of modern philological editions are among the causes of this state-of-the-art. Seeking to fill this research gap, roPSALT will a) create a digitally aligned (at verse level) corpus of the sixteenth-century Romanian Psalters, b) compare and emphasize their translation practices and relations with the sources and between them, c) assess the context of their appearance.

Research Questions

Project Outline

Objective 1 (Y1): Creating a digitally aligned corpus of the texts

The aims of the project’s first phase are to transcribe the Psalters (from Romanian Cyrillic into Latin) and collect them, alongside the Church Slavonic text, in a structured database. The outcome will be a digital corpus aligned at the verse and word level, which will be comparatively investigated and displayed open-access at the end of the project. 

Objective 2 (Y1 and Y3): Re-evaluating the hypotheses regarding the sources and filiations of the Romanian texts. Comparative studies (I)

The outcome of the project’s second phase is a comparative study between the Romanian texts and their presumed source(s). The main research questions are: Which are the sources of the sixteenth century Romanian Psalters? What is the relationship between them? Clarifying the relationships between them and their sources would be a first step towards elucidating the context of their translation. Every hypothesis regarding the sources (Church Slavonic, Latin, Hungarian) will be addressed. Methodologically, the texts will be analysed and compared from a Bible-philology perspective and in the light of the new knowledge about the textual tradition of the Church Slavonic Psalter.

Objective 3 (Y3): Re-evaluating the hypotheses regarding the sources and filiations of the Romanian texts. Comparative studies (II)

The main outcomes of the project’s third phase:

1. a philological edition; 2. a thematic volume proposed for publication; 3. articles.

Team and Collaboration

Dr. Ana-Maria GÎNSAC (anamaria.ginsac@uaic.ro; anamaria.gansac@gmail.com)
Dr. Mădălina-Andreea UNGUREANU
Dr. Iosif CAMARĂ
Lector dr. Alex MORUZ
Dr. Ana-Veronica CATANĂ-SPENCHIU
Prof. dr. Marina VRACIU (“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași)
Dr. Gabriela HAJA (“A. Philippide” Institute of Romanian Philology, Iași)

Dr. Vladimir AGRIGOROAEI (CÉSCM Poitiers – CNRS)
Dr. Ágnes KORONDI (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest)
Drd. Constanța BURLACU (University of Oxford)

Events

1. Translation Automatisms in Early Vernacular Texts: Units, Clusters, Networks, International conference, Verona, June 9-11, 2022.
2. Vernacular Bible(s): From Manuscript to the Digital Edition, International workshop, Prague – Iași, September 9, 2021.
3. Les automatismes de traduction dans l’édition des textes sacrés, International workshop, Poitiers, November 4–5, 2021.
4. Antichitatea şi moştenirea ei spirituală [Antiquity and its Spiritual Heritage], Symposium, Iași, November 13, 2021.

Results

2022

Scientific report

Publications

1. Ana-Maria GÎNSAC, When philology has the upper hand: ‘Culture-specific items’ and their translation in 16th century Romanian Psalters as proof of a prototype text, in „Translation automatisms in the vernacular texts of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period”, Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Ileana Sasu (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols, 2023 (in print).
2. Ana-Maria GÎNSAC, Gr. ἀπὸ βάρεων ἐλεφαντίνων în vechile versiuni românești ale Psaltirii, in „Philologica Jassyensia”, XVIII, nr. 2, 2022 ― Web of Science, Emerging Sources Citation Index (in print).
3. Ana-Maria GÎNSAC, Alex MORUZ, Mădălina UNGUREANU, The recurrence of the 16th century Romanian Psalters vocabulary in the 17th century lexicons based on automatic corpora comparison, in „Proceedings of the 17th International Conference „Linguistic Resources and Tools for Natural Language Processing. Chișinău, 10-12 November 2022”, Editura Universității „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași, 2022 (in print).
4. Iosif Camară, New information on the Slavonic Sources of the oldest Romanian Psalters, in „Palaeobulgarica” XLVI, 2022, nr. 1, p. 81–94.
5. Mădălina UNGUREANU, Mihai FELEA, Who is hiding the face of God? The translation choices for the Church Slavonic dative absolute in early Romanian Psalters, in „Translation automatisms in the vernacular texts of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period”, Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Ileana Sasu (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols (in print).
6. Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Agnes KORONDI, Ana-Maria GÎNSAC, Mădălina UNGUREANU et al., A pan-European translation cluster: Synonymic variations in the vernacular translation choices for τυμπανιστριαί/ tympanistriae (Ps 67:26), in „Translation automatisms in the vernacular texts of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period”, Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Ileana Sasu (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols (in print).
7. Ana DUMITRAN, Despre metodologia primelor traduceri românești: privire retrospectivă prin prisma experienței traducătorilor Psaltirii bălgrădene din 1651, in „Apulum. Seria Historia et Patrimonium. Supplementum”, LX, 2023 ― CEEOL (accepted).
8. Iosif CAMARĂ, The circulation of two rare versions of the Church Slavonic Psalter: Belgrade Psalter and Oxford Serbian Psalter, in „Palaeobulgarica” ― Web of Science, Emerging Sources Citation Index (in review).

Conferences

International conferences

1. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Culture-specific items (realia) and their translation in the Old Romanian psalters of the 16th century, Conferința internațională Translation Automatisms in Early Vernacular Texts: Units, Clusters, Networks, University of Verona, 9-11 June.
2. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Dinu Moscal, Les ainsi-nommées « reliques » lexicaux latines des psautiers roumains de XVIe siècle, XXX Congrès International de Linguistique et de Philologie Romanes (XXX CILPR), Universidad de la Laguna, San Cristobal, 4-9 July.
3. Agnes Korondi, Powerful Verses: Psalm Quotations in Old Hungarian Prayers, Conferința internațională Translation Automatisms in Early Vernacular Texts: Units, Clusters, Networks, University of Verona, 9-11 June.
4. Mădălina Ungureanu, Formal Slavonisms in the 16th century in the Romanian “Ciobanu” Psalter, Conferința internațională Translation Automatisms in Early Vernacular Texts: Units, Clusters, Networks, University of Verona, 9-11 June.
5. Iosif Camară, Marina Vraciu, Between Letter and Spirit: The Slavonic Models of the Oldest Romanian Psalters, Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting, Paris Lodron University Salzburg, 17-21 July. 
6. Marina Vraciu, Iosif Camară, Translation as commentary: The case of the oldest Romanian Psalters, Oxford Medieval Commentary Network Second Conference, University of Oxford, 29 Septemner.

National conferences

1. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Pasajul ἀπὸ βάρεων ἐλεφαντίνων în vechile traduceri româneşti ale Psaltirii, Simpozionul Internațional „Explorări în tradiția biblică românească și europeană”, 11th edition, Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași, 16-18 June.
2. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Alex Moruz, Mădălina Ungureanu, The recurrence of the 16th century Romanian Psalters vocabulary in the 17th century lexicons based on automatic corpora comparison, ConsILR-2022, Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Vladimir Andrunachievici Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, Chișinău, 10-12 November.
3. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Editarea comparativă a Psaltirilor românești din secolul al XVI-lea, Workshop – Lecturi tehnice. Critică de text, critică de ediție, Academia Română – Filiala Iași, 24-25 November.
4. Ágnes Korondi, Surse maghiare prezumate ale traducerii Psaltirii în limba română (secolul al XVI-lea): funcţii şi forme în schimbare, Simpozionul Internațional „Explorări în tradiția biblică românească și europeană”, 11th edition, Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași, 16-18 June.
5. Iosif Camară, Ce ştim azi despre sursele Psaltirilor rotacizante?, Simpozionul Internațional „Explorări în tradiția biblică românească și europeană”, 11th edition, Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași, 16-18 June.
6. Iosif Camară, Izvorul bilingv al Psaltirii „Hurmuzaki”, Al Optulea Simpozion Internațional de Lingvistică, Institutul de Lingvistică al Academiei Române „Iorgu Iordan - Al. Rosetti”, București, 29-30 September.
7. Mădălina Ungureanu, Ediția critică a Psaltirii Scheiene (I.-A. Candrea, 1916): utilitate și limite, Workshop – Lecturi tehnice. Critică de text, critică de ediție, Academia Română – Filiala Iași (Institutul de Istorie „A. D. Xenopol”), 24-25 November.
8. Mihai Felea, Observații privind editarea textului slavonesc din Psaltirea slavo-română de la 1577, Workshop – Lecturi tehnice. Critică de text, critică de ediție, Academia Română – Filiala Iași (Institutul de Istorie „A. D. Xenopol”), 24-25 November. 
9. Ana Dumitran, Metodologia   traducerii:   privire   retrospectivă   dinspre   paradigma   Psaltirii românești din 1651 spre laboratorul traducătorilor din secolul al XVI-lea, Conferința națională „Bibliologie și patrimoniu cultural național”, ediția a XVI-a, Universitatea „1 Decembrie 1918”, Muzeul Național al Unirii din Alba Iulia, 23-24 June.

Scientific meetings

1. National workshop: Editarea vechilor traduceri biblice, între tradiție și inovație [Editing the Oldest Translations of the Bible, between Tradition and Innovation], in Lecturi tehnice. Critică de text, critică de ediție, Academia Română – Filiala Iași (Institutul de Filologie română „A. Philippide”, Institutul de Istorie „A. D. Xenopol”), Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” din Iași, 24-25 November.
2. International conference Translation Automatisms in Early Vernacular Texts: Units, Clusters, Networks, University of Verona, 9-11 June (co-organizer).

2021

Scientific Report

Corpus

Publications

1. Iosif Camară, Cele mai vechi Psaltiri româneşti şi redacţiile Psaltirii slavone [The oldest Romanian Psalters and the redactions of the Old Church Slavonic Psalters], in Caietele Sextil Puşcariu. Actele Conferinței Internaționale „Zilele Sextil Pușcariu”, V, 2021, p. 69–78.
2. Mădălina Ungureanu, Ion-Mihai Felea, Creative calques in the early Romanian translations of the Psalter. Translatological and philological approaches, in Translation automatisms in the vernacular texts of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Ileana Sasu (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols (in print).
3. Iosif Camară, New information on the Slavonic Sources of the oldest Romanian Psalters, in „Palaeobulgarica” (accepted). 
4. Claudia Tărnăuceanu, Ana-Maria Gînsac, Cosmin Popa-Gorjanu, Colloquial calque translations, novice blunders, and grammaticalization clusters in a Latin complaint of the Romanian knezes from the Remete estate, c. 1360-1380 [viitorul perifrastic în Psaltiri], in Translation automatisms in the vernacular texts of the Middle Ages and Early Modern period, Vladimir Agrigoroaei, Ileana Sasu (eds.), Turnhout, Brepols (in print).

Conferences

1. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Les noms propres dans les premiers psautiers roumains et le problème des sources – Les automatismes de traduction dans l’édition des textes sacrés, International Workshop, Poitiers, November 4–5.
2. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Gabriela Haja, Alex Moruz, The Sixteenth-Century (Slavonic-) Romanian Psalters Digital Corpus: Challenges, Solutions – Vernacular Bible(s): From Manuscript to the Digital Edition, International Workshop, Czech Language Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague (DiaBible) & “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iași (roPsalt), Praga-Iași, September 9 (online).
3. Iosif Camară, Straturi redacţionale în Psaltirea “Hurmuzaki” [Redactional Layers in “Hurmuzaki” Psalter] – International Conference “Zilele Sextil Puşcariu”, 5th edition, “Sextil Pușcariu” Institute of Linguistics and Literary Theory, Romanian Academy, Cluj-Napoca, September 9–10 (online).
4. Iosif Camară, În căutarea surselor Psaltirilor rotacizante. Cercetări în biblioteci din Bulgaria, Serbia şi Muntele Athos – Simpozionul Internaţional “Slavistica românească şi dialogul culturilor”, 9th edition, University of Bucharest - Departamentul de Filologie Rusă şi Slavă, Asociaţia Slaviştilor din România, October 22–23 (online).
5. Ana-Maria Gînsac, Iosif Camară, O reevaluare a psaltirilor românești din secolul al XVI-lea. Corpus aliniat și studii comparative (roPSALT): prezentarea proiectului – Romanian Academic Lexicography. The Challenges of Digitization, International Colloquium, 10th edition, Institute of Romanian Philology “A. Philippide”, Romanian Academy, Iaşi, May 27–28 (online).
6. Iosif Camară, Descendenţii lat. *poenitare în cele mai vechi versiuni româneşti ale Psaltirii şi Apostolului [Descendants of Lat. *poenitare in the Oldest Romanian Versions of the Psalter and Apostle] – Simpozionul Internaţional “Provocări trecute şi prezente în evoluţia limbii, literaturii şi culturii române”, 20th edition, Institute of Romanian Philology “A. Philippide”, Romanian Academy, September 22–24 (online).
7. Iosif Camară, Rom. lângoare (< lat. languorem) în cele mai vechi texte românești [Rom. lângoare (< Lat. languorem) in Oldest Romanian Texts] – Simpozionul „Antichitatea şi moştenirea ei spirituală”, 17th edition, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iaşi, Classical Philology, November 12–13 (online).