The Bible in Bana (BCWWBT)

Overview

The Bana New Testament — titled Zliya Yǝwǝn kwǝma wǝzǝ naa dzǝkǝn Yesǝw Kǝristǝw, meaning "The New Testament in the Bana Language of Cameroon" — was published in 2005 by Wycliffe Bible Translators and the local Comité de traduction de la langue bana (Cotrabi-Bana) based in Maroua. [1][2] Bana is an Afro-Asiatic language belonging to the Biu-Mandara (Chadic) subgroup and is spoken in the canton of Guili within the Mayo-Tsanaga Department of the Far North Region of Cameroon; the language has three main dialects — Gamboura, Guili, and Ouda — and speakers refer to it as koma kabana ("the language of the Bana"). [3][4] SIL linguists Martha Giger and Ruth Lienhard produced a provisional Bana lexicon in 2003, contributing to the linguistic groundwork that supported the translation effort. [5] The writing system adopted for the translation follows l'Alphabet général des langues camerounaises (AGLC), the General Alphabet of Cameroon Languages developed in the 1970s. [3] The translation was a first-time Scripture publication for the Bana language community, which has approximately 23,000 speakers.

Language and People

Bana (ISO 639-3: bcw) is spoken by approximately 23,000 people in Northern Cameroon. [Glottolog: bana1305]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Comité de traduction de la langue bana, Maroua. Translation type: First.

References