The Bidayuh Language Yesterday, Today and ... - SIL International

The Majlis Pembangunan Sosial (Council for Social Development), under the Kementerian
Pembangunan Sosial, was given the task of carrying out the project; according to Katalog Tradisi Lisan
Sarawak, Jilid 1, 1992, 217 Bidayuh Oral Traditions were recorded in various dialects of Bidayuh.
3.8 Continuing activities of the churches
The major church denominations among the Bidayuh (Anglican, Roman Catholic and Seventh Day
Adventist) began activities during the Brooke regime, but continue to produce new materials today and
to revise older materials. Since these materials are used in church activities throughout the Bidayuh belt,
the churches continue to be major players in the development of the Bidayuh language.
Major works produced since 1963 include:
1. A new translation of the Biatah New Testament (Simanya Bauh) by Anglican priest Rev. Fr.
Gregory Chambers (himself a Biatah), published in 2003.
2. The Biatah Old Testament, also translated by Fr. Gregory, now nearing completion and to be
published with the New Testament as a complete Bible.
3. Revised and new prayer books and catechism books in the Bau district, with a new spelling,
all done by Fr. Luis Schwabl and his assistants.
4. The prayerbook and Psalms in Bukar, done by the Anglican church. A revised version of the
Psalms is currently being tested.
5. English–Sadung and Sadung–English vocabularies, compiled in the 1970s by Rev. Fr. J.
Houben and several volunteers, including Paul Subeh, Louis Nyaoi and Teresa Yong. (These
are unpublished to date.)
6. Agah Katholik: a Catholic newsletter in Sadung, published and distributed once every three
months. This was started by Rev. Fr. Jerome Juleng in the late 1990s.
The Roman Catholic Church in Bau and Lundu (where Rev. Fr. Jerome Juleng is the parish priest)
has also been actively translating liturgy into Salako and smaller Bidayuh dialects such as Rara and
Tringgus, as well as translating hymns and composing new songs in these dialects. Fr. Jerome is also
supervising translations of the Bible in the Bau and Bukar-Sadung areas.
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