Iceve — Iceve-Maci Scripture Portions (Cameroon / Nigeria)
Overview
Iceve is the Gospel of Luke in the Iceve-Maci language of Manyu Division, Cameroon, and neighboring Cross River State, Nigeria, published by The Seed Company in partnership with the Luke Initiative for Scripture Translation (LIST) (copyright ©2024 Luke Initiative for Scripture Translation) and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 3991; abbreviation: BEC). This is the first scripture in written Iceve-Maci — the language was first reduced to writing only between 2013 and 2017, when communities in Cameroon and Nigeria jointly developed a Latin-script orthography, making this Luke translation one of the earliest written texts of any kind in this language. The cross-border nature of the Iceve-Maci speech community (spanning Cameroon and Nigeria) is reflected in the joint orthography development process.
Language and People
Iceve-Maci (ISO 639-3: bec; community name for the Maci/Oliti variety: Oliti; for the Iceve/Ceve variety: Iceve or Ceve; also called Becheve) is a Niger-Congo language: Niger-Congo → Atlantic-Congo → Volta-Congo → Benue-Congo → Bantoid → Southern Bantoid → Tivoid. Iceve-Maci is one of a cluster of Tivoid languages spoken along the Cameroon–Nigeria border, alongside Tiv (the dominant Tivoid language with ~2 million speakers) and Otank/Itang (uta). The two varieties — Iceve/Ceve proper and Maci — are dialects of a single language.
Iceve-Maci is spoken in:
- Akwaya Sub-Division, Manyu Division, South-West Region, Cameroon (primary concentration)
- Obanliku Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria
- Benue State, Nigeria (Itokase village area)
Estimated speakers: approximately 20,000–23,000 (Joshua Project: 18,000 in Cameroon + 4,600 in Nigeria = ~23,000; Wikipedia/Omniglot: ~20,000).
Cultural Context
The Tivoid language belt straddles the Cameroon–Nigeria border, and Iceve-Maci communities maintain close cross-border ties. Like other Tivoid communities, the Iceve-Maci practice subsistence farming and maintain traditional governance structures alongside modern national administrative systems. The jointly-developed orthography (2013–2017) reflects an unusually collaborative cross-border language documentation effort. Prior to this Luke translation, minimal written literature existed in the language; literacy in Iceve-Maci remains low.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by The Seed Company (Arlington, Texas) in partnership with LIST (Luke Initiative for Scripture Translation), a Nigerian-registered non-denominational Bible translation organization (founded 2004, registered 2014) that specializes in producing Luke's Gospel in minority languages as a first-ever scripture foundation.