Zande (individual language) 2011 Edition (ZNEBSS)

Overview

The Zande 2011 Edition is a New Testament in the Zande language, produced by the Bible Society in South Sudan. [1] Bible translation work among the Azande people has a long history tied to Christian missionary activity in the region. The Church Missionary Society (CMS) began work in Zande-speaking areas of southern Sudan in the early 20th century, with pioneer missionary Archibald Shaw (1879-1956) advocating for CMS expansion to the Zande, Bari, and Moru peoples. [2] An earlier Zande Bible, produced by the Bible Society of Zaire (now DR Congo) and published in 2000, used a form of the language influenced by Lingala and French that was not easily understood by Sudanese Zande speakers, creating a need for this updated edition in the South Sudanese dialect. [3]

Language and People

Zande (ISO 639-3: zne) is spoken by approximately 1,792,000 people across the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, southwestern South Sudan, and the southeastern Central African Republic. [Glottolog: zand1248]

The Azande (the name means "the people who possess much land") are one of the largest ethnic groups of Central Africa, with a presence across three countries. [4] They are historically known for their centralized political organization under a system of hereditary chiefs. The Azande attracted significant scholarly attention through the work of British anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard, whose studies of Azande witchcraft beliefs (Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande, 1937) became foundational texts in social anthropology. [4] Today, most Azande identify as Christians, primarily Catholic, Anglican (Episcopal), and Pentecostal. [3]

References