Relevance Theory

This book describes the nature of communication, the implications it has for the theory of translation, and its application to Bible translation.

About the Author: Ernst-August Gutt and his wife Eva joined SIL in 1970 and were involved in a translation project in Ethiopia. He completed his M.A. studies in linguistics at University College London (UCL) in 1983. From 1974 until 1996, he worked as translation advisor, linguistic researcher, and administrator in Ethiopia, specializing on Silt'e, an Ethio-Semitic language. He pioneered the application of the relevance theory of communication to translation, for which he received a Ph.D. from UCL in 1989. Since 1998 he has been carrying out a research program for SIL International into foundational notions of translation.