The New Testament in Ibatan (IVBWBT)

Overview

The New Testament in Ibatan, known in the vernacular as Chirin ni Apo Dyos ("Word of God"), is a translation of the New Testament and the Book of Genesis into the Ibatan language, an Austronesian language of the Batanic branch spoken on Babuyan Claro Island in the northern Philippines [1][2]. The translation was produced through the work of SIL International linguists Rundell and Judith Maree, who arrived on Babuyan Claro in 1978 with the primary purpose of Bible translation and language documentation [3][4]. Over more than 25 years of living among Ibatan speakers, the Marees produced not only the Scripture translation but also a grammatical sketch of Ibatan (2007) and an Ibatan-to-English dictionary (2012), contributing significantly to the preservation of the language [4][5]. The New Testament and Genesis were first published in 1996 by the Philippine Bible Society in a bilingual Ibatan and Ilocano edition [6]. The Ibatan community on Babuyan Claro numbers approximately 2,500 to 3,000 speakers, and the publication of the Bible translation has been credited with encouraging greater use of the Ibatan language [3][7].

Language and People

Ibatan (ISO 639-3: ivb) is spoken by approximately 1,240 people in Northern Philippines. [Glottolog: ibat1238]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA.

References