International linguistics groups meet in Manila

Wycliffe Bible Translators International and SIL International, the world’s largest organization engaged in linguistic research and Bible translation, will hold its joint semi-annual board meeting in Manila starting tomorrow at the Greenhills Christian Fellowship in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.

The four-day meeting brings together prominent linguistic scholars, translators and Christian executives and workers led by Dr. Roger Welch, chairman of Wycliffe, and Dr. John Watters, president of SIL International (formerly known as Summer Institute of Linguistics). Sitting on the board of Wycliffe is a Filipino, Dr. Luis Pantoja, senior pastor of Greenhills Christian Fellowship.

Wycliffe, with nearly 6,500 workers worldwide, has been involved in translating 721 New Testaments and Bibles as well as Christian videos. Wycliffe International has 48 member organizations and 29 partner organizations.

SIL International is a faith-based organization that studies, documents and assists in developing the world’s lesser-known languages, with focus on unwritten languages. Its premier publication, “Ethnologue: Languages of the World” is a comprehensive catalog of the world’s 6,912 living languages.

SIL’s linguistic investigation exceeds 1,800 languages spoken by over 1.23 billion people in 70 countries.

The joint board meeting, held for the first time in the Philippines, will look at the organizations’ progress towards its stated goal: “By 2025 to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language needing one.”