Bizisa, a Tibeto-Burman Language, The Search for the Translation of Peace in Every Language

A Daily Dose of Peace. Each week, I focus on Love, Joy, and Peace in the world languages.

Hunan China where Bizisa or Tujia speaking people live. Peace poetry with Kimberly Burnham. Photo by yue su on Unsplash

Using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Find Words for Peace in Bizisa

Many languages are spoken by only a very few people and are not well documented. Bizisa or Tujia is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in China. My search for the Bizisa translation of “peace” lead me to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights articles which are translated into several hundred languages. The document has been translated into Bizisa. In the English text the word “peace” appears three times:

In the preamble: “Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world …”

Bizisa: Novdiex nier: cov nier cenryanrdiex hufniv xief niexxir zunxyanr niex qianrlir pinrdenv buryir cenrrenf, Sifgaif zifyour, zenfyif niex horpinr nier jixcuv

Article 20–1: Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Bizisa: Niev hif-Nav: Novdiex horpinr dav yir niex sef jier niexxir zifyour xief niexxir qianrlif xief.

Article 26–2: Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Bizisa: Niev hif wor-Niev: Jiaofyir nier murdir: Congxhunf nov nier gofxinf huarzanv, renrqianr niex jixbenv zifyour tiv xix jiax qianr dor. Jiaofyir guirjiaxdiex, zongvzurdiex sox zongxjiaof jirtuanrdiex nier liaovgaiv, rongrrenv nier davcaf curjinf dor, Lianrhor Guir horpinr weirhuf niexxir hordongfdiex curjinf dor.

In many languages the articles in the text are numbered so, it is easy to determine which is article 20 or 26. In Bizisa, the names of the article numbers are written out, so the additional step of figuring out the counting system to make sure I am looking at article 20 and 26 is needed.

Next, I figure out what words are in common in each of these two or three passages. Right away I noticed “Niexxir” so I did a google search for “Niexxir” AND “peace” which turned up nothing more than the UDHR site. Then I saw that “Horpinr” appears three times as well. Another possibility that turned up nowhere else on the internet.

Sometimes, I create a word cloud of the passages to see what words turn up most frequently. The result of these Bizisa passages shows:

7 nier (won’t be peace because it is here too many times)
4 niex (a possibility but again too many times)
4 niexxir (a possibility but too many times)
3 dor (the number is correct but it doesn’t appear in each passage rather showing up several times in one passage)
3 horpinr (a possibility)
3 xief (the number is correct but it doesn’t appear in each passage rather showing up several times in one passage)
3 zifyour (the number is correct but it doesn’t appear in each passage rather showing up several times in one passage)
2 curjinf (a possibility but not enough times)
2 Jiaofyir (too few and it doesn’t appear in each passage rather twice in one passage)

UDHR article passages in a word cloud format for Bizisa Peace poetry with Kimberly Burnham

Then when I check the entire document, where the concept peace only appears twice plus peaceful, I found “niexxir” appears 65 times knocking it out of the possibilities for the word “peace”.

“Horpinr” only appears three times in the entire document and only in the specific passages that have the word peace in the English version.

There is still no independent confirmation, but I am fairly certain the Bizisa word for peace is “Horpinr.”

I have now entered it in my database of words for the book, Peace Poetry Dictionary, The Meaning of Peace and Calm in 5000 Languages.

Bizisa (bz1), Tujia, a Tibeto-Burman branch of Sino-Tibetan language―”Horpinr” (peace)―China (provinces of Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou and Chongqing Municipality in central China).

Other Tibeto-Burman languages include: Achang, Arakanese, Balti, Bisu, Drung, Hajong, Hani, Hmar, Jingpho, Lahu, Lepcha, Lhomi, Lipo, Lisu, Magar, Manipuri, Marma, Mro, Naxi, Newar, Tangkhul Naga, Tujia, Yi, and Yolmo.

Originally Published in Peace Poetry Dictionary, The Meaning of Peace and Calm in 5000 Languages on March 15, 2021.