Bauni Bible (WRAWSV)

Overview

The Bauni Bible, completed in 2018, is the dated edition among four companion Scripture translations produced for the Warapu language cluster of Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. "Bauni" is the autonym — the name the people use for themselves and their language — while "Warapu" derives from the name of Barupu village and has been applied externally as a cover term for the cluster. This translation is available as an audio New Testament through Faith Comes By Hearing. It is accompanied by three other dialect-specific editions: Warapu Bible (WRAWBV), Warapu Bible — Bouni Pou (WRAWPV), and Warapu Bible — Ramo (WRAWRV).

Language and People

Bauni/Warapu (ISO 639-3: wra) is a Papuan language of the Sko family (Barupu Lagoon subfamily), spoken in Barupu (Warapu) village and surrounding communities in West Aitape Rural LLG, Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. The language has two principal dialects: Barapu-Warapu and Pou. The wider Barupu Lagoon language family also includes Bouni-Bobe (spoken in Sumo village) and Uni (spoken in Ramo village). These communities, indigenous to the coast near Sissano Lagoon, were devastated by the 1998 Sissano earthquake and tsunami, one of the deadliest disasters in Papua New Guinea's history. The communities have since been resettled inland. Speaker counts across all Warapu/Bauni varieties are in the range of a few hundred to low thousands, with the language considered vulnerable.

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Warapu Bible, which produced the full suite of four dialect-tailored New Testament translations to ensure that all related speech communities of the Sissano Lagoon area have access to Scripture in their own variety.

References