Nouveau Testament Nulibie (2024)
Overview
The Nouveau Testament Nulibie is the complete New Testament (27 books) in the Nulibie (Elip) language of Cameroon's Centre Region, published in 2024 by CABTAL (Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy) and available via YouVersion/Bible.com (ID 4454; abbreviation: EKM). This NT marks a notable milestone in Cameroonian Bible printing: the translation was typeset by March 2024 and printed by CABTAL's own in-house printing facility, inaugurated in August 2024 — the first time a Cameroonian Bible society printed a minority-language Bible locally, eliminating the typical 2–4 year wait between translation completion and delivery of printed Bibles to the community. An orthography guide, Précis d'Orthographe de Langue Nulibie, documents the writing system.
Language and People
Nulibie (ISO 639-3: ekm; also called Elip, Libie, Belibi, or Belip) is a Bantu language: Niger-Congo → Atlantic-Congo → Benue-Congo → Bantoid → Narrow Bantu → Northwest Bantu → Guthrie Zone A, code A.62 (Sanaga group; Central Yambasa subgroup, listed as A62C in NUGL). The community name for the language is Nulibie; the canton and linguistic designation is Elip; the autonym recorded in the stub is Belibi. Three dialects are documented: Nuyambassa (Yambassa village), Nulamba (Balamba, Basolo, Botatango, Boalondo, Boatanye), and Nukanya (Botombo, Kananga, Bongando, Kilikoto).
The Nulibie community lives in Elip Canton, Mbam-et-Inoubou Division, Centre Region, Cameroon — in the watershed of the Mbam and Sanaga rivers, southeast of the town of Bokito, in ten villages.
Estimated speakers: approximately 6,400 (1982 SIL estimate) to 10,000 (later estimates). The language appears stable.
Historical Context
The Sanaga-Mbam language zone of south-central Cameroon is characterized by numerous small Bantu language communities, each with its own distinct language despite geographic proximity. This density has made the region a major focus of CABTAL's translation programme. The Nulibie community is part of the broader Yambassa cultural cluster that shares the Mbam-et-Inoubou Division with several related peoples.
Publishing and Organizations
Published by CABTAL (Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy), a Wycliffe Global Alliance affiliate founded approximately 1987 and headquartered in Yaoundé. CABTAL operates three regional training centers (Yaoundé, Bamenda, Maroua) and has completed New Testament translations into 36+ Cameroonian languages — one of the most productive minority-language translation organizations in West/Central Africa. The 2024 commissioning of CABTAL's in-house printing facility represents a new chapter in their self-sufficiency.