Do you think that “c” is a useless letter filling in for “k” in “cat,” “s” in “cedar,” and “t” or “sh” in “ocean”? If so, you would fit right in during my Linguistics class. For the last four weeks, we have looked at word lists from various languages around the world trying to figure out what sounds native speakers of that language think they are saying and how they would best be represented in an alphabet (we call this process Phonemics).
You may be wondering, “What does that have to do with discipleship and church planting in Papua New Guinea?”
That’s a good question! For the answer, think about this. “How did you hear about God?” Does your answer involve you reading a Bible or someone else telling you something they learned from the Bible? If so, you probably realize that having God’s Word in a language you understand plays a vital role in hearing about God. One of the early steps in the process of bringing God’s Word into another language is figuring out which letters should be used to represent the sounds of that language. For this reason, Phonemics plays a vital role in discipleship and church planting since it allows God’s Word to be written in another language.