Most people would probably consider Hindi the language of India. Indeed, Hindi is the most widely spoken native language in the world’s second-most populous country, but beyond the northern central region of the country, you won’t find much Hindi. With almost 450 unique indigenous languages, India is one of the world’s most linguistically diverse countries, representing several distinct language families, including Indo–European, Dravidian, Sino–Tibetan, Austroasiatic, and Tai–Kadai. In particular, India’s easternmost region is notable for its many Austroasiatic and Sino–Tibetan languages, among which we find the Naga languages.
The Naga languages, found in India’s eastern region and spilling out into Myanmar, are together spoken by around 2.3 million people. They come from the Sino–Tibetan family, specifically from the Tibetan side, but their relation to both Tibetan and the Chinese languages is distant. While no Naga language is huge, many do have more than 100,000 speakers, including Ao, Tangkhul, Angami, and Zeme. However, with a dearth of resources and recognition, many Naga languages face endangerment. Here at TranslationServices.com, we’re endeavoring to do our part and provide translation services for as many Naga languages as possible.
If you want a free quote for translation to or from a Naga language, get in contact with us and ask!
Let’s look a little deeper into the Naga languages.
The Naga languages are a loosely connected group of Sino–Tibetan languages spoken in far-eastern India and Myanmar. They’re a subbranch of the wider Kuki–Chin–Naga language grouping, with languages like Mizo, Thadou, and Lotha related to the group. The Naga subbranch is further divided into four main groups—Angami–Pochuri, Ao (or Central Naga), Tangkhul–Maring, Zemeic (or Western Naga)—but the relationship among these groups is fuzzy. For the most part, the subgroupings are entirely mutually unintelligible. To make matters more confusing, only Southern Naga languages are part of the Kuki–Chin–Naga branch, while Northern Naga languages belong to a separate grouping called Sal. We’ve prepared a list of the biggest Naga languages:
Tangkhul
Ao (divided into Chungli Ao and Mongsen Ao)
Angami (Gnamei, Ngami, Tsoghami, Tsugumi, Monr, Tsanglo, Tenyidie)
Zeme (Empeo, Jeme, Kacha, Zemi)
Sopvoma (Mao)
Poula (Poumai)
Sümi (Sema)
Lotha (Chizima, Choimi, Hlota, Kyong, Lhota, Lutha, Miklai, Tsindir, Tsontsii)
Yimkhiungrü (Yachumi)
Rongmei (Songbu)
Despite the significant variation among the Naga languages, all are most often written in the Latin alphabet. For some languages, like Ao and Angami, the Latin script is the only one used. For others, notably those spoken in Manipur, like Tangkhul and Zeme, the Meitei script may be used. Considering how different Naga languages can be from one another, it’s difficult to describe the group grammatically, but they generally don’t feature person or number marking. Ao uses a subject-object-verb word order, which is typical for Tibetic languages.
Ready for translation to or from Naga languages?
Even though many Naga languages are endangered, the speakers harbor pride for their native tongues, and efforts are underway to preserve many of these precious languages. We located some of the best translators of Naga languages and invited them to our team to help clients worldwide seeking Naga translation services access high-quality translation. We’re pleased to announce that our Naga translation services work in both directions, available both to and from numerous Naga languages, including Ao, Tangkhul, Angami, Zeme, and many more.
Here are just a few of the areas we offer Naga translation services for:
Historical documents. If you have a historical document written in a Naga language that you’d like to have translated, just send it to our Naga translation team. Whether it’s written in the Latin alphabet, the Meitei script, or another writing system, we’ll translate it smoothly and accurately.
Corporate materials. Naga-speaking businesses seeking to enter the global market can move forward with confidence thanks to our specialized Naga business translation services. At the same time, foreign companies who want a piece of the Naga market can lean on us to translate their corporate and promotional content into Tangkhul, Ao, Angami, Zeme, or any other Naga language.
Entertainment content. Stories add depth and richness to a language. Our Naga translation team is available not only to translate literature in various Naga languages to English, showcasing the beauty of these languages and cultures, but also to translate English-language books, websites, poems, apps, games, and more into Naga languages. Producing content in endangered languages is a fantastic approach to language revitalization.
Of course, if your translation needs fall outside of these categories, that’s no problem. Contact us no matter what your Naga translation needs are, and we’ll discuss the next steps together.