Renewed commitment to the Minor Languages
Since its founding more than a century ago, PBS has committed itself to translating the Word of God into the language people understand and appreciate, that is, their heart language. Historically, PBS initiated and helped initiate translations of the NT into the minor languages. While it may be true that PBS has, through the years, put its major effort on the eight major Filipino languages, it has never abandoned its commitment to the minor languages. In fact, the dawn of the new millennium highlights this renewed commitment by PBS’s partnership with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), the Translators Association of the Philippines ( TAP), and other mother-tongue translation groups in translating the New Testament
into Kinaray-a, (Antique), Northern Subanen, (Zamboanga Peninsula), Paranan(Isabela), Majukayong (Mt. Province), and Rinconada (Bicol). But even more so is PBS’s deliberate decision to commence groundbreaking translation initiatives of select NT books into Tinggian Inlaud(Abra), the Western, Northern, and East- ern Waray dialects (Samar and Leyte). Some other minor languages are also being considered.
