Southwest Tanna New Testament (NWIWBT)

Overview

The Southwest Tanna New Testament is a translation of the New Testament into Nivhaar, the language spoken by approximately 2,500 people in the mountainous villages of southwest Tanna island in the nation of Vanuatu [1]. The language spans the Nivhaal, Nivai, and Nelpwaai dialect areas. The translation was carried out by Kenneth Nehrbass, PhD, an anthropology and translation consultant with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), together with his wife Mendy and a team of ni-Vanuatu church leaders [2]. The Nehrbasses began their work on Tanna in 2002 with Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL, settling in the village of Yanemilen, approximately one mile from the active Mt. Yasur volcano [1][3]. During their time on the island, they developed an alphabet for the language, taught literacy, provided medical care, and produced audio Scripture recordings on solar-powered "Megavoice" players as well as the first-ever DVDs in the Naha language, including the 80-minute film God's Story [1]. The completed New Testament was copyrighted in 2011 by Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. [4], making Southwest Tanna one of the five Tannese languages now with access to Scripture in their mother tongue [5].

Language and People

Southwest Tanna (ISO 639-3: nwi) is spoken by approximately 4,500 people in Vanuatu. [Glottolog: sout2869]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA.

References