Kwamera New Testament (TNKWBT)

Overview

The Kwamera New Testament, titled Nənɨmwi Nari Me, is a translation of the New Testament into the Kwamera language (also known as Nafe or South Tanna), spoken by approximately 3,500 people on the southeastern coast of Tanna Island in TAFEA Province, Vanuatu. [1] Published in 2013 by Wycliffe Bible Translators, the translation was part of a broader effort by SIL International and Wycliffe to provide Scripture in all five indigenous languages of Tanna Island. [2] Kwamera belongs to the Tanna subgroup of the South Vanuatu branch of the Oceanic language family, and its speakers traditionally refer to the language as Nɨfe (meaning "what?") or Nɨninɨfe ("saying what?"), with the name "Kwamera" deriving from a mission station established in the late nineteenth century. [3] The language has proven remarkably stable over the past century and a half; linguistic analysis indicates that despite code-mixing with Bislama, William Watt's 1890 New Testament remains largely accessible to contemporary Kwamera speakers. [4] A Tanna orthographic committee revised the spelling system in the 1980s and produced educational materials, and a six-language comparative lexicon covering Kwamera, Lenakel, North Tanna, Southwest Tanna, Vaha, and Whitesands was distributed to ninety schools on the island in 2012. [5]

Language and People

Kwamera (ISO 639-3: tnk) is spoken by approximately 3,500 people in Vanuatu. [Glottolog: kwam1252]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Wycliffe Bible Translators USA. Translation type: First.

References