Tatahuicapan Mecayapan Nahuatl Bible (NHXWBTM)

Overview

The Tatahuicapan Mecayapan Nahuatl Bible, titled "Itajto̱l toTe̱ko ipan mela'tajto̱l," contains the New Testament with a summary of the Old Testament in Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl, spoken by approximately 37,000 people in the municipalities of Mecayapan and Tatahuicapan de Juarez in the northern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the state of Veracruz [1][2]. Speakers refer to their language as mela'tajto̱l, derived from the Classical Nahuatl words melac ("straight, right, true") and tajto̱l ("word") [3]. The translation project has a remarkably long history, originally begun in 1943, with three successive expatriate translation teams working on it over the decades; the third team, Chris and Elaine Hurst of Wycliffe Canada, began in 1986 and brought the project to completion [4]. The Tatahuicapan edition of the New Testament was dedicated at a celebration in mid-February 2017, with the Mecayapan variant dedicated a week later before an audience of approximately 700 people [4]. Mother-tongue translators Placido Hernandez Perez and Esteban Perez Ramirez collaborated closely with the Hursts on the translation and also co-authored a Nahuatl dictionary of the municipalities published in 2002 through SIL [5][6].

Language and People

Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl (ISO 639-3: nhx) is spoken by approximately 26,600 people in Eastern Central Mexico. [Glottolog: isth1245]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. Translation type: New.

References