East Kewa New Testament (KJSWBT)

Overview

The East Kewa New Testament, titled Gotena Epe Agale, was published in 2004 by Wycliffe Bible Translators, with a web edition following in 2014. The translation was produced by adapting the revised West Kewa New Testament into East Kewa, a process led by SIL linguist Karl J. Franklin using the Adapt It computer program [1][2]. Franklin, who had first lived among the East Kewa people in the Ialibu area from 1958 to 1963, returned to Papua New Guinea in 2003 to begin the adaptation, working with local collaborator Rose Poto and other East Kewa speakers [2][3]. The adaptation was completed in approximately 13 months and the East Kewa New Testament was dedicated in July 2005 at Kagua in the Southern Highlands Province [2]. East Kewa is one of three Kewa dialect varieties, alongside West (Pasuma) and South (Erave) Kewa. East Kewa and West Kewa are mutually intelligible dialects, each with approximately 45,000 speakers in the Southern Highlands Province, and about 100,000 Kewa speakers are counted across the whole cluster (2001 census) [1][4].

Language and People

East Kewa (ISO 639-3: kjs) is spoken by approximately 50,000 people in Papua New Guinea, Map 9. [Glottolog: east2516]

Publishing and Organizations

Created by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. Translation type: New.

References