Many people think that all Chinese people speak the same language: Mandarin, commonly referred to simply as “Chinese.” While, yes, most Chinese people do speak Mandarin—it’s generally necessary for daily life in the country, being used in education, administration, and media—and while it is the native language of most Chinese citizens, that doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds of millions who don’t speak Mandarin as their first language. Hundreds of minority languages make up the complex linguistic landscape of China, including several “Chinese” languages—and one of those is Fuzhounese.
Fuzhounese—which you may see alternatively called Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhou—is the native vernacular of the city of Fuzhou and its vicinity, used by some 10 million native speakers. Like most other minority Chinese languages, it’s commonly referred to as a dialect, but this terminology is rejected by linguists because Fuzhounese is not mutually intelligible with other “varieties” of Chinese spoken in the region. However, being classified as a “dialect” stunts the language’s growth and sharply reduces the number of resources and translation services available. We at TranslationServices.com would like to help—so we created our own Fuzhounese translation team.
Just send us a message if you’d like to see a free quote for our Fuzhounese translation services!
What is Fuzhounese, and why is it special?
Fuzhounese hails from Fuzhou, the capital of China’s southeastern Fujian Province. Fuzhounese is additionally spoken in the Matsu Islands of Taiwan, as well as areas of Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, as well as, more recently, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It’s classified as a variety of Eastern Min, also known as Min Dong, making it closely related to other regional languages like Fu’an, Fuqing, and Manhua.
Fuzhounese is written in Chinese characters, like most other Sinitic languages, but that doesn’t mean written Fuzhounese is the same as, for example, written Mandarin. For one thing, words as basic as pronouns can be written in different characters—“you” and “he/she” both use different characters from Standard Mandarin. Other basic words, like “eye,” “look,” and “feed,” also differ in the characters they use. Additionally, in some cases, characters that mean one thing in Mandarin may have a completely different meaning in Fuzhounese. That means you definitely can’t rely on a Mandarin translator for your Fuzhounese translation project—but you can count on our native-speaking Fuzhounese translators.
We provide Fuzhounese translations to anyone who needs them.
If you’re looking for quality in your Fuzhounese translation services, you’ve come to the right place. Our translation experts are passionate, well versed in the many differences between Fuzhounese and other Sinitic languages, and they hail from different parts of the Fuzhounese-speaking world—many from Fuzhou itself and its surrounding areas, but also some from Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and major Western countries like the US and the UK. We can translate both to Fuzhounese and from Fuzhounese, so just let us know what you need for your project.
Perhaps you need specialty translation services for your Fuzhounese project—academic translation, business translation, literary translation, localization services, or something else. No problem—with a team as big and diverse as ours, it’s easy to find Fuzhounese translators who can accommodate your individual needs. That even applies if you’re looking for a translator with knowledge in a particular technical field. So, whether you’re a researcher, professor, student, educator, businessperson, entrepreneur, CEO, marketer, blogger, novelist, poet, software developer, filmmaker, or anyone else who needs high-quality Fuzhounese translation services, just reach out to our friendly and passionate team.
Our Fuzhounese translators can transform your project for a new audience. Why not send us a message with the details of your project today to get started?