Within the colorful landscape of multicultural Africa, Kenya is no exception in the ethnic makeup of its population—the country is inhabited by more than 120 distinct ethnic groups that speak more than 65 separate languages. To ensure smooth communication on a national level, Kenyan authorities have established Swahili and English as lingua francas, but these are the native languages of only a small minority of Kenyans. Most use minority indigenous languages at home and in their local community, with one example in western Kenya being Tugen.
Tugen is one of the many languages native to western Kenya, constituting the native language of roughly 140,000 people. Living among various other ethnic groups, the culture and language of the Tugen people have been shaped by numerous outside influences, and today, the continued vitality of the Tugen language is threatened by major languages like English and Swahili. This has led to a scarcity of resources in Tugen—but at TranslationServices.com, we’re proud to serve this proud minority language with our dedicated Tugen translation team.
Send us a message now if you’d like a free quote for our Tugen translation services.
What exactly is the Tugen language like?
Hailing from western Kenya, a particularly highly densely populated area of the country, the Tugen people are a subtribe of the Kalenjin people. Tugen speakers can be found in Baringo County as well as some parts of Nakuru County and Elgeyo-Marakwet County. Within the Tugen tribe are two distinct groups, the Arror and the Samor, with the Lembus previously considered a Tugen people until they adopted an independent identity. The Arror harbor a close affinity with the Marakwet people, while the Samor are close with the Lembus and Nandi.
Tugen is one of the many Kalenjin languages, a cluster found within the Nilo–Saharan language family. Though it bears a close resemblance to most other Kalenjin languages, it’s particularly closely related to Kipsigis and Nandi, two of the biggest languages in the grouping. Tugen and its cousin languages exhibit a number of unique linguistic features, including a verb-subject-object word order, used by only about 9% of languages in the world. Its case markings are limited to the nominative (subject) case, which is generally left unmarked in other languages with cases. Tugen is also a tonal language, with tone often used to distinguish grammatical meaning, including marking plural nouns. If this all sounds complicated, don’t worry—it’s not for our native-speaking Tugen translators.
Tugen translation services customized to fit your needs
Though most translation firms don’t provide translation services for Tugen at all, we’re not interested in simply providing Tugen translation services. We want to ensure that every client who comes to us for Tugen translation services leaves satisfied, with a high-quality translation carefully tailored to fit their needs. That’s why we’ve hired Tugen translators from both the Arror and Samor subtribes, as well as translators from the Lembus tribe. This way, whether you’re looking for translation to or from Tugen, we’re confident we have the right specialist for your project.
Our Tugen translators also cover a wide range of domains and disciplines. For starters, we’ve tried to hire translators who are skilled in other fields, as this allows us to cater to clients whose documents contain esoteric language. But we’ve also included numerous translators specialized in academic translation, business translation, literary translation, and more on our team, so if you’re looking for translators specialized in a particular domain, all you have to do is ask. Our Tugen translators are passionate about helping their fellow Tugens connect with the rest of the world, whether by spreading their messages abroad or by helping outsiders communicate with Tugen speakers—so whatever your project is, don’t hesitate to reach out.
We’re ready to take on your Tugen translation project—so why not place an order now?