TRANSLATION
PROJECTS
1.
Kalenjin
Language Bible Revision
Objective(s)
To
revise the present Kalenjin Union Bible into a more
comprehensible language for the Kalenjin community.
Summary
The Kalenjin community is made up of 14 mutually intelligible
dialects, which can be grouped into four clusters: the Rift Valley, the
groups. Initially, there was only one
Bible for all the dialects, which was published in 1939 based entirely on the Nandi dialect. Most of the dialects could not understand
this Bible. A new strategy saw to the publishing of the Kalenjin
Union version in 1969. This version adequately caters for the Rift Valley
dialects. The Pokot people have translated their own
Bible (currently it is being prepared for printing). The 1999 population census
established that 79% of Kenyans are 29 years and below. This is true of the Kalenjin community.
In
2002, a number of key Kalenjin church leaders
approached the Bible Society of Kenya (BSK) with a request to have the Kalenjin Union Bible’s contents readdressed with a view to
making them more understood by their people. They said that the current Bible
has some archaic words besides some concepts not clearly understood. A series
of meetings between the BSK and the church leaders resolved to undertake the
revision of the Bible, in particular, to:
·
Use vocabulary as spoken today.
·
Remove literal idioms and replace them with
meaning-based words that express the exact meaning of the original message in a
way that is natural in the new receptor language of the users.
·
Remove words that have offensive meanings in some
dialects.
·
Is the Bible Inter confessional
After a series of lengthy meetings
with all interested stakeholders, it was resolved there was need to undertake
the revision of the Kalenjin Union Bible, and this is
the reason for this proposal.
Background
This
project’s objective addresses BSK’s
The Kalenjin
language belongs to the South Nilotic group of
languages. It has several dialects, but the most mutually intelligible ones
include Nandi, Kipsigis, Tugen, Terik, Marakwet,
and Keiyo. All these people are estimated to be over 3 million in number (1999
census). They are found within the entire Rift Valley Province of Kenya. Their
basic lifestyle evolves around livestock farming, especially cattle, sheep and
goats, for the purpose of both sale and domestic use. Cash crop farming is also
practised in some areas like Trans-Nzoia district.
The whole region occupied by the Kalenjin community
has mixed climatic conditions: Whereas some areas are rich in both soil and
rainfall, some are both arid and semi-arid with agriculturally unproductive
land, but ideal for livestock keeping, especially goats. The former is regarded
as the granary region of
Early Church Missionaries
introduced Christianity in this region. Though the Catholic Church has its
presence in the region, the protestant churches dominate. They use the 1969 Kalenjin Union Bible, from which apparently the younger
literate generation is encountering a lot of problems (as stated above),
thereby calling for its revision.
The project is a
continuation of existing work that commenced in July 2005. Using the meagre
resources available, and with regard to the strong need among the Kalenjin (as expressed under the Project Summary above),
the churches and the BSK resolved to implement the project as they strategically
continue to work on how to ensure the project succeeds.
Expected
Completion Date 2010
2.
Bible Translation, Kiembu-Kimbeere Language
Objective(s)
To translate and avail a Bible to
the Aembu-Ambeere community in a language they
understand best.
Summary
Kiembu-Kimbeere has hitherto hardly been used as a
written or read language. It’s used extensively in speech and church services.
The Gikuyu language has been the main dominant neighbouring language used for reading and writing. Though
this language is fairly mutually intelligible with the Kiembu-Kimbeere,
there are significant differences in the sound system, semantics and tone. The churches in Embu
and Mbeere districts have a strong desire to fully
express the Word of God in their own language using a Kiembu-Kimbeere
Bible, which they do not have.
Background
Any other specific
audiences?
Ideally, all the Aembu-Ambeere people are targeted.
How would you describe
the characteristics of the target audience to someone who has never met them
and who lives in a different country and different cultural context?
The Aembu-Ambeere
people are a section of the Bantu group who live in Eastern Province of Kenya,
in Embu and Mbeere
districts. They neighbour the Agikuyu, Ameru, Achuka and Akamba communities. They are a distinct ethnic group with
own language and culture. The population stands at over 500,000 people.
Small-scale farming is the main preoccupation of the community, where crops
such as coffee and tea are grown, mainly for subsistence. Small-scale livestock
farming is also practised. The Christian
religion dominates the area, with two-thirds of the people affiliated to some
church denomination in one way or another, having been influenced by Christian
Missionaries in the early 20th century.
For many years, this
community has used the Gikuyu language as a medium of
communication especially in churches and schools. About 30% of the adults aged
between 40 and 60 years are not literate in any language, but they speak Kiembu-Kimbeere. The other 70%, the younger group, can
speak and read the Gikuyu Bible. The launch of the
first Kiembu-Kimbeere New Testament print Scripture
in September 2003 was received with a lot of enthusiasm. All the 2500 printed
copies were immediately sold out. A demand for a full Bible (the Old and New
Testaments combined) is strongly expressed by the churches. The Project’s objective, if attained, will
greatly contribute towards fulfilment of BSK’s
mandate of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ through making Scriptures
available to the Aembu-Ambeere people in the language
they understand best.
Expected
Date of Completion 2010
3.
Kikamba
Translation Project
Objectives
To translate and
provide a Bible to the Akamba people in their common Kikamba language.
Summary
Bible translation into Kikamba
language was started in the year 1850. Seventy years later, in 1920, the first
New Testament was ready. The first full Bible was published in 1956 and has
been in circulation ever since.
It is generally accepted that languages change after
every 25 to 30 years. Many of the younger generation (40 years and below) among
the Akamba people have language problems with the now
old Kikamba Bible. Some of these are literate and
have resorted to reading the Bible in either English or Kiswahili language.
However, many cannot understand well any other language other than their own.
Key areas of concern therefore include:
Socio-linguistic problems: Due to time lapse some
expressions and words are “out-dated”, while others connote different meanings.
The Akamba people desire a Bible which communicates
to them in a clear and natural form.
The old Bible is a literal-based one: The people
have need of a meaning-based Bible, to help them comprehend Its Message.
Therefore,
though some members of the young generation read their Bibles in English and
Kiswahili, many do express themselves in Kikamba in
their day-to-day lives. They would like to read the Bible in their
mother-tongue as they know it. The new translation was initiated in 1995. The
New Testament was published and launched in 2003. All the 2500 printed copies
were sold out. Work on the Old Testament is in progress albeit under heavy
financial constraints.
To translate and
provide a Bible to the Akamba people in their common Kikamba language.
Background
Bible Society of Kenya’s (BSK’s) strategic business plan emanates from her Mandate, “To
share the Good News of Jesus Christ by
translating, producing, distributing and encouraging use of the
Holy Scriptures” and is based on her
Expected
Completion Date 2009
4.
Oluluyia
Translation Project
Objective(s)
To
translate and avail a new Bible to the Abaluyia
people in a language they understand best.
Summary
The
Oluluyia language group is fundamentally made up of
seventeen dialects: As a group, Oluluyia speakers
form the second largest community in
The
first translation work for a Union Bible for this group was started in 1942.
The translators had to grapple with many issues such as the grammar and
vocabulary: On which dialect was such to be based? A general standard format
was agreed upon and in 1968 (twenty-six years later!) the first New Testament
was published. Thirty-three years later, in 1975, the complete Union Bible was
published.
However, due to the extreme
differences in the dialectal spread, some dialects, especially the OluLogooli, OluBukusu, OluNyole, OluIsukha, OluIdakho, and OluTirichi had
difficulties in reading this Bible. The AbaLogooli
community went ahead to translate and publish its own first Bible in 1951. The OluBukusu speakers embarked on translating theirs in 1976
(still going on!). The Abanyole published their first
Bible in 2002. The AbIsukha & AbIdakho
(commonly known as Abakakamega) and AbaTirichi church leaders jointly resolved to embark on
translating a common Bible known as the Lukakamega-Lutirichi
Bible. Its New Testament was launched in April 2005. With this “split”, it
became apparent that the remaining Oluluyia speakers
had a Bible that was not clear and natural to them. This Bible had taken more
than thirty years to publish, implying that by the time of publishing, the way
the dialects were expressed had changed (language expressions change after
every 25-30 years). Therefore, in 1989, the Abaluyia
church leaders met and resolved to start the translation of a new
inter-confessional, meaning-based Oluluyia Bible to
serve the following mutually intelligible dialects: Oluwanga,
Olumarama, Olutsotso, Olushisa, Olumarachi, Olukhayo, Olukabras, Olunyala and Olutachoni. They
selected the Oluwanga, Olumarama,
Olushisa and Olutsotso
dialects to be the focus on which the translation grammar and vocabulary was to
be based. They also decided that the translators be selected from any of these
four dialects, while the reviewers should come from the wider stated dialects.
The actual translation started in the same year (1989). The New Testament was
launched in May 2005. Translation of the Old Testament is in progress and is
the purpose for this proposal, to ensure a full new Oluluyia
Bible is made available to the stated Abaluyia
people.
Background
The
Abaluyia
people, for whom the Oluluyia Bible is being
translated, are made up of ten mutually intelligible dialects, namely: Oluwanga, Olumarama, Olutsotso, Olushisa, Olumarachi, Olukhayo, Olukabras, Olunyala, and Olutachoni. This population stands at over 2.5million
people. They are based in the Western Province of Kenya, in the administrative
districts of Kakamega, Bungoma,
Vihiga, Lugari and Busia. This region is well endowed with fertile
agricultural soil with adequate rainfall through-out the year. Subsistence
farming in crops and livestock is their mainstay. Crops such as maize, beans,
cassava and sorghum are grown, while animals like cattle, sheep and goats are
reared.
Christianity
is the main religion of this community, having been introduced to them by
Missionaries from mid-18th to early 19th centuries. There
are very many protestant church denominations besides the Roman Catholic. The
old Oluluyia Bible of 1975, (whose translation was
initiated in 1942 and which incorporated many dialects) has been serving this
community over the years. In the recent past however, the community has
expressed concern over the relevance of the language used in this Bible. The
older generation have problems with words borrowed from remotely intelligible
dialects (eg Logooli and Lukakamega-Lutirichi)
and used in this Bible, while the younger generation have problems with the
overall language used, which they find ambiguous because it does not sound
natural and clear at all as spoken today. These concerns led to the present
translation work, to provide a new common language Bible to the Abaluyia community.
Expected Completion Date 2009
5.
Lukakamega-Lutirichi Translation Project
Objective(s)
To
translate and avail a Bible to the Abakakamega/Batirichi
community in a language they understand best.
Summary
The Lukakamega-Lutirichi Bible translation Project seeks to
serve the Oluidakho, Oluisukha
and Olutirichi dialects who
are part of the larger Abaluyia community. These
communities have been using the Olulogooli and Oluluyia Bibles of 1951 and 1975 respectively, besides the
English and Kiswahili Bibles. The Lukakamega-Lutirichi
communities found the Olulogooli and Oluluyia Bibles to be very difficult to comprehend. The Olulogooli Bible was strictly translated with the Abalogooli speakers in mind. The Oluluyia
Union Bible was translated for the 16 Oluluyia
dialects leaving Maragoli dialect with their Bible.
This Union Bible reflected all the 16 dialects with little regard to the
naturalness of any specific dialect thus rendering it unclear.
Based on
a research done in 1983 on the 17 Oluluyia dialects,
the findings noted that the Oluidakho, Oluisukha and Olutirichi are
highly intelligible. Another research on this group was conducted in 1995
focusing on language analysis, number of speakers and their felt needs. It had
similar conclusions as that of 1983: highly intelligible, with differences
noted only in pronunciations. Both researches recommended translation of a
Bible for the Lukakamega-Lutirichi dialects.
Meanwhile,
the Bible Society of Kenya (BSK) continued to receive numerous requests from
churches in these 3 dialect areas each requesting for translation of the Bible
in their own individual dialects. Indeed, some private translation work was
started within the period. A series of meetings between the BSK and the church
leaders from the Abakakamega-Abatirichi communities
took place. It was resolved that a Lukakamega-Lutirichi
translation project be started in mid 1997. This proposal seeks support to this
translation project to ensure the Abakakamega and Abatirichi have a Bible in their language.
Background
The Abakakamega
and the Abatirichi people make up three dialects that
are a part of the larger Oluluyia language group
based in the Western Province of Kenya. Specifically, they are found in the
administrative districts of Kakamega and Vihiga. They are approximately 325,000 in number (95,000 AbIdakho, 135,000 AbIsukha and
100,000 AbaTirichi). These three dialects highly
comprehend each other and use the same orthography. The only difference occurs
in pronunciations and intonations.
The target audience are
predominantly peasants growing subsistence crops besides keeping domestic
animals (cattle, sheep, goats and chicken). Their area is densely populated and
characterised by poverty. The literacy level is average, with its growth noted
among the young generation (those of 40 years and below).
Christianity is the
predominant religion, with the Roman Catholic Church being dominant among the Abakakamega, while the Abatirichi
are mainly Protestants. Commonly used Bibles are the Olulogooli
(1951 edition), Oluluyia (1975), Olunyole
(2002), English and Kiswahili. These languages do not meet the core need of the
people to hear God speak to them in their own heart-language. This necessitated
the language group church leaders to request the BSK to initiate the translation
of the Bible into Lukakamega-Lutirichi dialects. This
dream was realised in mid 1997 when the Lukakamega-Lutirichi
translation project was started.
Expected Completion Date 2009