Punti Version

Punti Version The Punti, or Canton Colloqulial, as it is sometimes called, is a dialect spoken by a large population which is to be found in and around Canton, in China. Into this dialect only portions of the Bible were translated, viz. Mark's Gospel, by the Rev. G. Piercy, and published in 1872, with the title Ma ko fuh yin chuen. Luke's Gospel was translated in the Roman character by members of the Rhenish Mission, and published in 1867, with the title Das Evangelium des Lucas in Volkesdialekte der Punti Chinesen. John's Gospel was translated by the Rev. C. F. Preston, and published at Canton on wooden blocks, under the title Yo han chuen fuh yin shoo. In 1872 St. Paul's Epistles — Galatians to Philemon — were published, under the title Paou le ta hwuy seaou shoo, as translated by Mr. Piercy; while the Acts of the Apostles were also published in the same year, with the title She t'oo hing chuen, in the translation of Mr. Preston. These are all the parts of the New Test. published in that dialect, of which St. Mark and St. Luke have been reprinted by the American Bible Society, changing the term for "God." Of the Old Test., the book of Genesis was translated by the Rev. G. Piercy, and published in 1873, under the title Kiew yo chwhang she k'e, to which the book of Psalms must be added, which has been translated by the Rev. A. B. Hutchinson, of the Church Missionary Society, and was published in 1876. Comp. the annual reports of the British and Foreign Bible Society for 1872, 1873, 1874, and 1877. (B. P.)