Helping to preserve minority languages of Muslim communities in Russia through oral Bible translation

Abstract

The Institute for Bible Translation (IBT) in Russia has recently started ten new oral Bible translation (OBT) projects in Dagestan, Russia, among minority language communities. There are no Christians or churches among these language communities. IBT helps these communities preserve their minority languages that are slowly becoming extinct, due to their assimilation with the Russian language and community. This article examines how these OBT projects began, how they are proceeding, the use of
machine translation in these projects, and the challenges that both IBT and the communities are facing. Through interviews with the Muslim translators and communities, the author shows how these OBT projects are contributing to the preservation of both the language and culture of these communities. Finally, the author draws some conclusions for other OBT teams working within Muslim contexts.