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 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