Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries, with more than 169 million people sharing just 148,000-odd square kilometers. Accordingly, Bengali, which is spoken natively by 99% of the population, is one of the world’s biggest languages. But you might be surprised to know that Bangladesh is also home to dozens of minority languages. Some of the country’s minority languages are sometimes considered dialects of Bengali, which pushes them further into obscurity and threatens their vitality in the future. Surjapuri is one of those languages.
Surjapuri had around 2.2 million native speakers in 2011, up from the 1.2 million estimated in 2001. Languages like Surjapuri—ones that are often considered dialects of bigger, more prestigious languages—often lack reliable data because governments conflate them with the dominant language, so the current number of Surjapuri speakers is unclear. What is clear is that it’s a big language, one that generally lacks the support, resources, and translation services that it needs to help it thrive in the globalized 21st century. We at TranslationServices.com are passionate about supporting underserved languages like Surjapuri—so we put together our own Surjapuri translation services.
Contact us today for a free quote to see how much our Surjapuri translation services cost!
Taking an in-depth look at the Surjapuri language
Surjapuri is closely related to Bengali, not Hindi, so you’d think the majority of speakers live in Bangladesh—but in fact, the biggest Surjapuri-speaking region is the Indian state of Bihar (particularly the Kishanganj, Katihar, Purnia, and Araria Districts of Purnia Division). West Bengal is also home to many Surjapuri speakers, specifically the districts of Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, and Darjeeling in Jalpaiguri Division). In Bangladesh, you’ll find Surjapuri speakers in Thakurgaon District, and in Nepal, you’ll find communities in the Jhapa and Morang Districts.
Surjapuri is closely related to Rangpuri, another language often considered a Bengali dialect, as well as Assamese, Maithili, and, of course, Bengali. From an English speaker’s perspective, the language is complex right off the bat—it uses a subject-object-verb word order and includes not a gender distinction but a distance distinction in its third-person pronouns (i.e., you use a different pronoun for someone depending on how physically close they are to you). Another tricky feature of Surjapuri is its noun classifiers, which are like grammatical gender when counting objects—and Surjapuri’s noun classifiers also attach to adjectives, not just nouns, which is a rare linguistic phenomenon. Surjapuri is a unique language that presents translation challenges, but that’s why you should work with our native-speaking translators.
A dynamic team with flexible Surjapuri translation skills
Our Surjapuri translators are proud to be on our team, helping clients from across South Asia and the rest of the planet overcome the language barrier between English and Surjapuri. We’ve made sure to hire native speakers from all over Bihar, West Bengal, Bangladesh, and Nepal, which ensures the different regional varieties of the language are well represented. Whether you’re looking to translate into Surjapuri or from Surjapuri, our team is always eager to help you communicate with new audiences.
If your project requires specialty translation services, such as academic translation, business translation, literary translation, or localization, don’t worry—we’ve built our team to be as robust as possible. We work with academic translators who can help scholars craft research questionnaires or educational materials in Surjapuri, just as we have business translators who can help company owners translate business documents or ad copy into this local language. As for literary works, our literary translators can help both Surjapuri authors and foreign writers spread their stories farther than ever with careful translation. We also work with digital content, such as websites, apps, and games, helping Surjapuri to flourish in the age of technology.
If you’re interested in Surjapuri translation services, we’re here to help—why not place your first order today?
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