Mandarin is obviously the most commonly spoken language in China—this is common knowledge. The language is spoken all over the massive East Asian nation, as well as across the large Chinese diaspora that spans the entire globe. But there’s a lot more to China’s linguistic landscape than this one Chinese tongue. A number of other Sinitic languages—for example, Cantonese or Hokkien—are also spoken by tens of millions, as are scores of entirely unrelated non-Sinitic languages… such as Sarikoli.
Sarikoli—which may also be spelled Sariqoli, Selekur, Sarikul, Sariqul, or Sariköli—had an estimated 16,000 native speakers in 2000, although this number has likely grown as the number of ethnic Sarikolis has blossomed, currently sitting at around 50,000. Of course, living in China, most Sarikoli speakers also learn Mandarin to communicate with others in their communities. Many also speak Uyghur, making the majority of Sarikoli speakers trilingual. Unfortunately, like many other minority languages in China, Sarikoli stands on shaky ground, threatened by the ubiquity and prestige of Mandarin. Few translation companies are willing to work with minority languages like Sarikoli, but we at TranslationServices.com are proud to—which is why we’re debuting our new Sarikoli translation team today.
Would you like to see a free quote for our Sarikoli translation services? Ask for one today!
Sarikoli: the unique language known as “Chinese Tajik”
Most Sarikoli speakers are concentrated in the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County, China’s only Tajik autonomous county, which is located in Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang. Tashkurgan, also spelled Taxkorgan, directly borders several neighboring countries: the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan, Gorno-Badakhshan Province of Tajikistan, Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan, and Ladakh of India. Most notable is Tajikistan, as Sarikoli is often called Tajik within China, even though it’s quite far removed from the Tajik of Tajikistan. Tajik is considered a form of Persian, while Sarikoli is a Pamiri language that’s more closely related to Ossetian than Persian.
Sarikoli is an Indo–European language, which means it’s technically related to English—but while English is one of the westernmost languages in the family, Sarikoli is among the easternmost. Its closest relatives are Wakhi, Pashto, and particularly Shughni. While Sarikoli’s vocabulary is generally quite similar to other languages in the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo–European family, it features several unique words only found in Sarikoli and Shughni. Sarikoli has no official orthography and can be written in both the Latin alphabet and the Arabic script. Languages like Sarikoli can be difficult to render translation services for, but our translators are native-speaking experts.
We’ll provide the kind of Sarikoli translation services you want—no matter your needs.
If you’re looking for customization in your Sarikoli translation services, you’ve come to the right translation agency. We’ve hired native-speaking Sarikoli translators from all over Taxkorgan, and if you want to specify the particular region or dialect, you’re free to. We also offer our translation services both to and from Sarikoli, allowing people to overcome the language barrier from both sides. Our translators are passionate and hardworking, happy to accommodate the various needs of our diverse clientele.
Anyone looking for specialized translation services for Sarikoli is in luck, too. We have specialists on our team who can provide translation support for academic, corporate, and creative purposes, opening up opportunities for various types of Sarikoli translation. Of course, since the number of Sarikoli speakers is relatively low, we may not always be able to accommodate niche requests, but we’ll always do our best. In addition to academic translation services, business translation services, and literary translation services, we also have Sarikoli translators who are experts in different subject matters, so if your text is esoteric, just let us know.
Our Sarikoli translators are eager to help with your translation project—just contact us to place your first order now!