Kupang Bible App

The Kupang language [mkn] is used in and around the city of Kupang, southwest Timor Island, Indonesia. More than 100,000 people speak Kupang as their mother tongue, and there are estimated to be more than 200,000 second language speakers in the region. This app contains the New Testament, Genesis, Ruth, Esther, Daniel and Jonah in the Kupang language. In recent years many ministries in and around Kupang have realized they are much more effective when they use the Kupang language alongside Indonesian, rather than only using Indonesian.

Linguistically the Kupang language is not “bad” Indonesian and is not “slang”. It is a language in its own right, with its own grammar, vocabulary and discourse structures that are different from Standard Indonesian. Standard Indonesian has its roots in the official language Malay of the sultan's palaces of Riau and Johore. Kupang, Ambon, and Manado Malay have their roots in the trade Malay that was used in eastern Indonesia over many centuries. Each of these Malay creoles has adapted to the vocabulary and structures of the local languages around them.