So Phonology Underway

The So people are showing evidence of considerable interest in their language and are reporting that more and more people are asking how they can be involved in determining their own future. They want a future in which they can write to each other and even to future generations.

They can do this only if they have a written language.

Pastor Simon Pierre OSSIMBA and I worked this afternoon on the phonological description of their language. I began by giving him a brief lecture on phones, phonemes and graphemes.

The concern we first addressed is to understand their inventory of vowels. We are in the process of collecting words that can reflect to us how many letters are in the inventory of phonemes.

So far, we are making good progress and seem to have tentatively identified the following vowel system:

Genesis being brought to completion

Genesis is an exciting and troubling book to translate into Badwe'e. Our team is struggling and finding their efforts rewarded by success. Our part in this is the exegetical check and the pre-publication check. We are hoping to get another consultant check in August.
This is likely to be a spot-check.
Part of the pre-publication spot check involves doing a "free" translation of the Badwe'e text into French.
After that, the next part is a "parse" of each word into its components. Words are dissected and prefixes, roots and suffixes are displayed in such a way that the computer "understands" them.
This is bearing fruit in another way: the dictionary is being built up.

Dictionary development in Badwe'e

The process of language development includes dictionary-making. We have not helped the Badwe'e people do their dictionary yet, so we are preparing one for them to add to and improve.
It is over 3000 words in length.
We are confident of the completeness of only one part of the dictionary, the adjectives. This is because the adjectives of Bantu languages are usually a "closed set". Otherwise stated, they are few in number. The other words used do qualify a noun are nouns.
The 12 adjectives in Badwe'e have the following meanings:
"light" and "dark"
"small" and "big"
"same" and "different"
"new" and "old-fashioned"
"cold" and "hot"
"genuine"
"complete"
I hope that the rest of the dictionary can become somewhat more complete now.

"Genesis" in Badwe'e is now being checked

Mary and I are comparing the Badwe'e translation of Genesis with the Hebrew text and finding many ways to assist the Badwe'e translation team in improving it. One of our advantages is knowing about those "literary devices" that were used by the human author of Genesis to lend prominence to the part of the text that was deemed most important.
Another important literary device is backgrounding. It may be hard to recognize for someone unable to read the Hebrew.
Fortunately, our main Badwe'e translator is now going to seminary and is learning Hebrew.
We expect that the benefits from this will be a more exact translation, which also maintains its high standard of clarily and naturalness.

Community Mobilization

The So community has completed a period of reflection about the need of a written form of their language and of a translation of God's Word. They have sent some members of their com­munity to a program which was held by SIL and by CABTAL at the SIL training center. Please pray that they will re­turn from it with a new under­standing about how a whole com­mu­ni­ty can be involved in the Bible Translation task.

Janvier Ekoalea Succeeding in Seminary

Janvier Ekoalea is praising the Lord for a largely successful conclusion to the first year at seminary. Keith and he have had conversa­tions about the meaning of the Hebrew and Greek texts. We are grateful for the in­struction that he is receiving and see this as a very promising new develop­ment in the Lord's work.

New Literacy Campaign

Keith and Mary helped the Badwe'e and Nzime language com­munities complete new literacy manuals in the first quarter. Pray for new interest in becoming literate with a simplified writing system.

A Catechism Being Tested

Three pastors in the Presbyterian church have inaugurated the use of a catechism that we have prepared with the Reverend Ernest Njyelo. These were pub­lished in a test edition of 25 copies and are being used within these three parishes.
The catechism is a translation of Rev. Harold Kallemeyn's work, entitled "I Belong to God".
One point that we see being made in the catechism is that Africans need to understand themselves as covenant-keep­ing participants in three families. One is the ethnic group, but the other two are the Church and the human community. We hope to print a larger number of these books in June.

Sunday School Guide and Daily Devotional Book Prepared for Publication

The Badwe'e scripture use team was approached by the Presbyterian Church literature committee to translate the denomination's Sunday school materials and daily scripture meditations into Badwe'e. The team was able to complete this and is now in the process of getting them published. The Presbyterian Church contributed a considerable sum toward the publication of these materials to be used by pastors and lay preachers. Please pray that the publication process will soon be completed and that they will be delivered to the remote Badwee area. We pray that this will contribute to the spiritual edification of the Badwe'e people.
One of the people who was instrumental in doing the translation of this book was a young man, called Diphat, who is still twenty. He is the son of Janvier Ekoalea who was the main translator of the Badwe'e New Testament. One of the challenges that Diphat had was to make certain the all the expressions for key terms used in the NT also were incorporated into the devotional readings.
One example of this is that the local people, who were evangelized in a neighboring language, had understood the idea of forgiveness to be merely that of "putting up with", and many of them still use a Badwe'e word for that. They tried to get Diphat to put it into the devotional book. However, with the arrival of the NT, a key term expression for "forgiveness" had been introduced which was a little long, consisting of about five words, but which more accurately expressed the gracious act of God by which sin is put away and remembered no more. The new and more Biblically correct terms are now incorporated into the devotional and Sunday school materials which will be distri­buted and used soon.