Two linguists serving with Wycliffe Bible Translators have taken the first steps of translating the Bible into two languages in Chad that have no writing system.
Dorothea Reuter and Maria Gustafsson will be researching the linguistics of the languages to provide the foundation for translation and literacy work. They have started by creating a draft alphabet chart for each language.
Dorothea will focus on the ‘Gula Iro’ language, while Maria focuses on ‘Mulgəni’ (spoken by the Mulgi people). Dorothea said: ‘We will partner with other organisations, working towards an oral Bible translation which at some point will be written down.’
There are approximately 5–7,000 Mulgi and 10–11,000 Gula Iro. It is not known how, where or when they use their languages.
Caroline Tyler, Wycliffe team director in Chad, commented that apart from being able to read the Bible in their own language, the Mulgi and Gula Iro ‘will obtain many other benefits from having their languages formally studied, written down and taught’.
Meetings were held in each community to explain the work and hear concerns.
Dorothea said the draft alphabets they created were for some ‘the first written material they’ve seen in their language’.
Dorothea comments: ‘It’s exciting to start this work, to work directly with the people, and to do something that no one has done before or very little.’
She said that French and Arabic are the official languages in Chad, but many Mulgi, for example, do not speak them or only know them enough for basic conversation.
