From the westernmost point of Morocco to the farthest reaches of Egypt, Arabic is the dominant language all across North Africa. It wasn’t always, though. Arabic developed in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula—modern-day Saudi Arabia—and was spread to North Africa through the Arab conquest of the region. Prior to the Arab takeover, Berber languages dominated the vast desert landscape of North Africa, and while Arabic is the predominant language in nearly all aspects of life in North Africa today, the Berber languages are still alive and well. One widely spoken Berber language is Kabyle—and we’ve just launched translation services for it.
Between 5 to 7 million people in Algeria still speak Kabyle, concentrated in the historical region of Kabylia in northern Algeria. In parts of Kabylia, nearly the entire population speaks Kabyle. With Kabyle as the indigenous language of Algeria, it’s a culturally and historically important language to the region, but it took years of protests and activist campaigns to get the language recognized as a national and eventually official language of Algeria. Today, the North African country’s two official languages are Arabic and Tamazight, a term that comprises all Algerian Berber languages. As Kabyle continues to develop under its newfound recognition, we at TranslationServices.com wanted to launch our own Kabyle translation services.
Reach out now if you’d like to see a free quote for our Kabyle translation services!
Learning a bit about Kabyle
Kabylia, the sprachraum of Kabyle, is found east of Algeria’s capital of Algiers, comprising the provinces of Béjaïa, Bouira, Boumerdes, and Tizi Ouzou as well as parts of Bordj Bou Arréridj, Jijel, and Sétif. It belongs to the Berber language family but is believed to have broken off from the proto-Berber language quite early, making it distinct from other Berber languages. Since the Berber languages belong to the Afroasiatic macrofamily, just like the Semitic family from which Arabic hails, Kabyle is technically related to Arabic. However, it’s not written in the Arabic script—historically written in the Libyco–Berber script, Kabyle today is usually written in the Latin alphabet.
The verb of a Kabyle sentence usually comes at the beginning in a verb-subject-object word order. It’s a gendered language, with most feminine nouns both starting and ending with t. Forming plurals can be tricky, as there are various strategies, and they often involve changing vowels in the word. Kabyle features two cases—one unmarked and one marked (“annexed”), generally through changes to the vowel, depending on the word. The object of a sentence generally appears in the unmarked state, unless the object is also marked as a suffix on the verb. The subject of a transitive sentence is usually given the annexed state, unless it appears in front of the verb for extra emphasis.
Kabyle translation services for any occasion
As is clear from the protests and campaigns to have Kabyle codified as an official language of Algeria, Kabyle speakers are proud of their language, spoken in the land long before the arrival of the Arabs. Similarly, the translators on our Kabyle team are passionate about their language, and thanks to their long-standing experience and knowledge, they can help clients translate to and from Kabyle for a variety of needs. Below are just a few examples of the Kabyle translation services we offer:
Kabyle translation for businesses: With Tamazight now an official language of Algeria, translating business materials into Kabyle is more important than ever for organizations wishing to set up shop in northern Algeria. Our Kabyle translation team can help with ad copy, press releases, posters, financial reports, business proposals, and more. And, of course, we’re also here to help Kabyle-speaking companies grow their presence outside of Algeria!
Kabyle translation for academics: As Kabyle becomes more institutionalized, its role in academia also grows. Whether you want to translate your English-language paper or presentation into Kabyle to share with colleagues in Algeria or you’re looking to have your Kabyle-language notes or reports translated into English for the global community, our translators can help.
Kabyle translation for writers and developers: What better way to spread awareness of and appreciation for Kabyle culture than by translating Kabyle stories for international consumption? Whether traditional or contemporary, our Kabyle translators would love to help translate Kabyle literature into English. Anyone looking to translate their book or poetry into Kabyle can also turn to us—we love producing more content in Kabyle! We even work with digital content like websites, apps, and games.
Don’t wait to start your Kabyle translation adventure—get in touch with us today!