Urak Lawoi' 1998 Edition

Urak Lawoi’ 1998 Edition (URKTBS)

Overview

The 1998 Urak Lawoi’ New Testament is the first Scripture translation in the Urak Lawoi’ language, published by the Bible Society of Thailand. [1] The Urak Lawoi’ are an Austronesian maritime people of the Andaman Sea coast, one of several ethnic groups collectively referred to as “Sea Gypsies” (chao leh in Thai), who have navigated the waters off western Thailand for at least 300 years. [2] The translation uses the Thai script and provides New Testament access to a small, traditionally oral community whose language is closely related to Malay but has been significantly influenced by Thai. [3] The text is written in Thai script, reflecting the community’s integration into the Thai educational system. [1]

Language and People

Urak Lawoi’ (ISO 639-3: urk) is an Austronesian language belonging to the Malay macrolanguage, spoken by an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people on islands off the western coast of Thailand, including Phuket, Phi Phi, Koh Jum, Koh Lanta, Koh Bulon, Koh Lipe, and Koh Adang in the Adang Archipelago. [2] [3] In the Urak Lawoi’ language, urak means “people” and lawoi means “sea,” making them literally the “people of the sea.” [2] The language is classified as endangered, used as a first language primarily by adults, and is not taught in schools. [3] The Urak Lawoi’ were historically the first inhabitants of many of these islands and maintain a distinct cultural identity as a seafaring people. [2] [Glottolog: urak1238]

Publishing and Organizations

Published by Bible Society of Thailand. Translation type: First.

References