Background
He was born in Alloa, Scotland, but migrated to Ballarat, Victoria.
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Daniel Macdonald
Edit ProfileEducation
McGill University.
Career
Macdonald served at Portuguese Havannah on the island of Efate from 1872 to 1905. He was the "most notable linguist in the history of the New Hebrides Mission," and was the "organising translator-editor" of the Nguna-Efate Old Testament published in 1908. He, John West. Mackenzie, and Peter Milne each contributed approximately one third of the translation.
Macdonald espoused the idea that Oceanic languages were of Semitic origin, and promoted a hybrid Efatese language.
He and Milne were involved in a feud that lasted for more than fifteen years, which started with a disagreement over how to translate the word "God" in the local language.
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Born
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Died
April 18, 1927 (aged 81)