Muyuw New Testament (MYWPNG)
Overview
The New Testament in the Muyuw language of Papua New Guinea, titled "Kaleiwag Kweivaw," was first published in 1976 by the Bible Society of Papua New Guinea and revised in 1993. Muyuw is an Austronesian language of the Oceanic branch, within the Kilivila-Louisiades subgroup, spoken on Woodlark Island (Murua) in the Solomon Sea within Milne Bay Province. [1] Its Iwa dialect is transitional toward the neighbouring Kilivila language, sharing 68% lexical similarity. About half of the language's speakers are monolingual. The translation was carried out by Dr. David Lithgow and Daphne Lithgow, who began learning the Muyuw language in June 1965 and worked alongside local speakers to produce the New Testament over the following decade. [1] [2] A 2014 reprint was issued by the Bible Society of Papua New Guinea and Wycliffe Bible Translators. [1] Lithgow also contributed to broader linguistic work in the region and published on the challenges of working with untrained local translators in Bible translation projects. [3]
Language and People
Muyuw (ISO 639-3: myw) is spoken by approximately 4,000 people in Papua New Guinea, Map 17. [Glottolog: muyu1244]
Publishing and Organizations
Published by Bible Society of Papua New Guinea.
References
- [1] Kaleiwag Kweivaw: Muyuw Language New Testament (Amazon) - Bible Society of Papua New Guinea / Dr David Lithgow and Daphne Lithgow. 2014 reprint of the 1976 first edition.
- [2] Woodlark Island (Wikipedia) - Wikipedia article on Woodlark Island with language and population information.
- [3] Strengths and Weaknesses of an Untrained Translator (archived) - David Lithgow, The Bible Translator, 1973. Paper on translation methodology in PNG.
- Audio Bible - Audio Bible, Faith Comes By Hearing
- NT - Online text, Faith Comes By Hearing
- Nupela Testamen long tokples Muyuw long Niugini - Online text, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.
- Bible For Developers - DBL archive entry, Digital Bible Library
- Rosetta Project: Muyuw Genesis - Internet Archive / Rosetta Project. Genesis in Muyuw.
- Global Bible Catalogue - Global Bible Catalogue entry.
- ebible.org entry - ebible.org.