Bible translations into Indigenous Australian languages date back to the 1800s, when missionaries translated the Bible into several Aboriginal languages. The practice has continued into the 20th and 21st centuries, with Australian Kriol becoming the first Australian language to have a complete Bible translation (completed in 2019). [1] [2]
Currently, 54 Indigenous Australian languages, including two creoles and Plain English (intended to be easy for non-native English speakers in Indigenous Australian communities to understand). [3] Several have a complete New Testament, but only one (Kriol) has a complete Bible with both the Old and New Testaments.
Language | State/territory | Status |
---|---|---|
Adnyamathanha | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Alawa | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Alyawarr | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Anindilyakwa | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Anmatyerr | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Awabakal | New South Wales | Portions completed |
Burarra | Northern Territory | New Testament completed |
Dhuwa-Dhaŋu'mi | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Dhuwaya | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Dieri | Northern Territory | New Testament completed |
Djambarrpuyŋu | Northern Territory | New Testament completed |
Djinang | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Eastern Arrernte | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Gälpu | Northern Territory | Translation started |
Gamilaraay | New South Wales | Portions completed |
Garrwa | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Gumatj | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Gupapuyŋu | Northern Territory | Translation started |
Gurindji | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Guugu Yimidhirr | Queensland | Portions completed |
Kitja | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Kriol | Northern Territory Western Australia | Bible completed |
Kukatja | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Kuku-Yalanji | Queensland | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Kunbarlang | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Kuninjku | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Kunjen | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Kunwinjku | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Martu Wangka | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Mawng | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Murrinhpatha | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Ndjébbana | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Ngaanyatjara | Western Australia | New Testament completed |
Ngarrindjeri | South Australia | Portions completed |
Nyangumarta | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Nyungar | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Pintupi-Luritja | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Pitjantjatjara | Northern Territory South Australia | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Plain English | Nationwide | Portions completed |
Rembarrnga | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Thayore | Queensland | Portions completed |
Tiwi | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Walmajarri | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Wangurri | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Warlpiri | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Western Arrarnta | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Wik-Mungkan | Queensland | Portions completed |
Worrorra | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Wubuy | Northern Territory | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
Yanyuwa | Northern Territory | Portions completed |
Yindjibarndi | Western Australia | Portions completed |
Language | Status |
---|---|
Kala Lagaw Ya | Portions completed |
Meriam Mir | Portions completed |
Torres Strait Creole | New Testament and portions of Old Testament completed |
The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica. The NIV was created as a modern translation, by Bible scholars using the earliest and highest quality source manuscripts available, into broadly understood modern English.
The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, as The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, with the complete New World Translation of the Bible released in 1961.
The Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As of 2022 all of the Bible has been translated into 724 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,617 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,248 other languages according to Wycliffe Global Alliance. Thus, at least some portions of the Bible have been translated into 3,589 languages.
Partial Bible translations into languages of the English people can be traced back to the late 7th century, including translations into Old and Middle English. More than 100 complete translations into English have been written.
The Jerusalem Bible is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical books as the Old Testament, and the 27 books shared by all Christians as the New Testament. It also contains copious footnotes and introductions.
Modern English Bible translations consists of translations developed and published throughout the late modern period to present-day. A multitude of recent attempts have been made to translate the Bible into English. Most modern translations published since c. 1900 are based on scholarly critical editions of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. Recent translations typically rely on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia / Biblia Hebraica Quinta, counterparted by the Novum Testamentum Graece.
The Julia Evelina Smith Parker Translation is considered the first complete translation of the Bible into English by a woman. As of 2017, she is still the only woman to have translated the entire Bible unaided. The Bible was titled The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues, and was published in 1876.
Australian Kriol is an English-based creole language that developed from a pidgin used initially in the region of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia, in the early days of European colonisation. Later, it was spoken by groups further west and north. The pidgin died out in most parts of the country, except in the Northern Territory, where the contact between European settlers, Chinese and other Asians and the Aboriginal Australians in the northern regions has maintained a vibrant use of the language, spoken by about 30,000 people. Despite its similarities to English in vocabulary, it has a distinct syntactic structure and grammar and is a language in its own right. It is distinct from Torres Strait Creole.
Australia legally has no official language. However, English is by far the most commonly spoken and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since European settlement. Australian English is a major variety of the English language with a distinctive pronunciation and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. General Australian serves as the standard dialect.
Pitjantjatjara is a dialect of the Western Desert language traditionally spoken by the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia. It is mutually intelligible with other varieties of the Western Desert language, and is particularly closely related to the Yankunytjatjara dialect. The names for the two groups are based on their respective words for 'come/go.'
Bible Society Australia is an Australian non-profit, non-denominational, Christian organisation. It is part of a worldwide network of Bible Societies. Bible Society Australia maintains that the Bible is a significant historic text which has deeply influenced society and culture and is still relevant today. The organisation is involved in translating, publishing, and distributing the Christian Bible, from print, to audio, to digital versions. Bible Society Australia is also involved in Bible advocacy, the publication of Bible reading materials, and the provision of literacy support, both in Australia and overseas.
There are biblical translations into Hawaiian and Hawaii Pidgin which are the two main languages of Hawaii.
A Protestant Bible is a Christian Bible whose translation or revision was produced by Protestants. Such Bibles comprise 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament for a total of 66 books. Some Protestants use Bibles which also include 14 additional books in a section known as the Apocrypha bringing the total to 80 books. This is often contrasted with the 73 books of the Catholic Bible, which includes seven deuterocanonical books as a part of the Old Testament. The division between protocanonical and deuterocanonical books is not accepted by all Protestants who simply view books as being canonical or not and therefore classify books found in the deuterocanon, along with other books, as part of the Apocrypha.
Part of the Bible was first available in the Kurdish language in 1856. Modern translations of the whole Bible are available in standard Kurmanji and Sorani, with many portions in other dialects.
Translation of the Bible into Malayalam began in 1806.The Manjummal translation is the first Catholic version of the Bible in Malayalam. This is the direct translation from Latin. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were translated by the inmates of the Manjummal Ashram, Fr. Aloysius, Fr. Michael and Fr. Polycarp. The Pancha Granthy came out from Mannanam under the leadership of Nidhirikkal Mani Kathanar in 1924. The New Testament was published in full in 1940. and has influenced development of the modern language.
Bible translations into Oceanic languages have a relatively closely related and recent history.
Biblical translations into the indigenous languages of North and South America have been produced since the 16th century.
Bible translations into the languages of Indonesia and Malaysia have a lot of common history up until the modern era. Apart from the shared Malay language which historically was the lingua franca of the Malay archipelago and forms the basis for the national languages of Indonesia and Malaysia today, portions of the Bible have been translated into a variety of indigenous languages in the region.