You probably think of Morocco as an Arabic-speaking country, and for good reason—nearly 90% of the population speaks Moroccan Arabic. You may also know that French has a major presence in the country, a relic of France’s colonial past. But the Berber languages of Morocco tend to be overlooked, even though almost 30% of the North African country’s population speaks a Berber language. There are three main Berber languages spoken in Morocco—Central Atlas Tamazight, Tarifit, and Tashelhit—and today we’re zooming in on Tashelhit.
With 5.8 million native speakers, Tashelhit is a pretty major language in Morocco, even if it attracts little attention on the international stage. It’s also called Shilha by some, with this moniker preferred by historians and anthropologists—linguists prefer Tashelhit. Tashelhit is the biggest of the Moroccan Berber languages and covers the most geographical ground, but translation services for the language can be hard to come by. That’s why we at TranslationServices.com have set up our own Tashelhit translation team.
Why not request a free quote for our Tashelhit translation services today?
Tashelhit: the biggest indigenous language of Morocco
The Tashelhit-speaking community encompasses a large swath of land in southwestern Morocco, north of the disputed territory of Western Sahara (Sahrawi Republic). They inhabit the Anti Atlas and High Atlas mountain ranges, as well as the Sous Valley and coastal regions. If we convert these locations into Morocco’s administrative divisions, we see that Tashelhit has a presence in parts of Souss-Massa, Guelmim-Oued Noun, Drâa-Tafilalet, Marrakech-Safi, Béni Mellal-Khénifra, Laâyoune-Sakia El Hamra, and Dakhla-Oued Ed-Dahab.
Though Tashelhit is completely different from Arabic, the two languages are distantly related, both hailing from the Afroasiatic language family. Tashelhit nouns distinguish two genders (masculine and feminine) and two numbers (singular and plural), as well as two states: free state and annexed state. The annexed state is used in various contexts, including after most prepositions and after numerals 1 to 10. Some nouns can be converted to the respective other grammatical gender, with the feminized version of masculine nouns indicating a smaller version of the noun, whereas the masculinized version of feminine nouns indicates a larger version. Tashelhit packs a lot of nuance that can be difficult to translate, which is why we only hire native speakers for our Tashelhit translation team.
Our dedicated translation team accommodates your specific Tashelhit translation needs
Our Tashelhit translation draws from all areas of the Tashelhit-speaking world, gathering a diverse collection of experienced translators ready to help you with your unique translation project. Though Tashelhit doesn’t have much dialectical diversity, by including translators from the different regions where Tashelhit is spoken, we ensure broad coverage of the subtle differences you may find from locale to locale. Our translation services are available both to and from Tashelhit, making our team ideal for a wide range of translation projects.
Our team is populated with translators specialized in different areas of translation, so if you’re looking for a specific type of translation, simply let us know. We have academic translation specialists who can translate everything from dissertations and journal articles to research surveys and interview transcripts, either to or from Tashelhit. Our business translators are well suited for any local companies that want to grow an international presence, as well as enterprises from around the world looking to set up shop in the Tashelhit-speaking regions of southwestern Morocco. Then there are our literary translators, who can help spread various works from Tashelhit’s rich literary tradition—historical or contemporary—by translating them into English, or can help foreign creators bring their books, poems, stories, games, apps, and more to the Shilha people of southwestern Morocco through meticulous translation into Tashelhit. We can even work with esoteric subject matter—just let us know if you need an expert in a particular field.
Place an order today to get started with your Tashelhit translation project!