There are more language families in the world than you’re probably aware of. Indo–European is the best known, encompassing most languages in Europe, as well as many across parts of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia. Niger–Congo and Austronesian are two more big names, boasting the highest number of languages. But most language families are far smaller, some only containing a handful of languages. Our newest language, Wounaan, comes from one such family.
With around 10,000 native speakers (and some estimates as high as 23,000), Wounaan hardly boasts the massive presence that Spanish does in the countries it’s spoken in (Colombia and Panama), but it’s spoken by many of the ethnic group, who have held onto their traditions and culture even in the face of European colonization. Unfortunately, Wounaan speakers face ever-increasing pressures from Spanish and the mainstream culture in Colombia and Panama, which threatens the vitality of their proud language. At TranslationServices.com, we know translation services can help support vulnerable languages, so we’re proud to introduce our Wounaan translation services.
Contact us now if you’d like to see a free quote for our Wounaan translation services.
Wounaan: one member of a tiny South American language family
On the Colombian side of the border, Wounaan speakers live in the municipalities of Litoral de San Juan, Istmina, Pizarro, and Juradó, and on the Panamanian side, they’re concentrated in the Emberá-Wounaan indigenous territory in Darién Province. The language family that Wounaan hails from is the Chocoan family, of which the only extant members are Wounaan and Emberá (Chocó)—historically, an additional four branches of the family existed, but they have since died out.
Wounaan, which also goes by the names Noanamá and Woun Meu, is a subject-object-verb language that heavily prefers suffixes over prefixes. The language uses suffixes to show tense and aspect on verbs and case on nouns, and nominal suffixes are also Wounaan’s strategy for pluralizing nouns. Wounaan speakers also use a negative suffix to negate verbs, with no independent negation words like “not” present in the language. A key aspect that renders Wounaan tricky is its ergative alignment, wherein intransitive subjects (e.g., “I” in “I go) and transitive objects (e.g., “me” in “You see me”) receive the same grammatical treatment. But if you’re worried about the grammatical difficulties hampering the accuracy of your Wounaan translation, don’t be: our translators are native speakers and can seamlessly translate to and from the language.
Serving a diverse range of Wounaan translation needs
We’re here for clients all over Colombia, Panama, and the rest of the world who want access to high-quality Wounaan translation services. Indeed, thanks to our diverse and well-rounded team, consisting of passionate Wounaan native speakers eager to share their knowledge of their language, you can access Wounaan translation services for different local varieties, available both to and from Wounaan. We’ve recruited the best translators from across the Wounaan-speaking world, and they can’t wait to work with you.
We happily offer general translation services for any kind of Wounaan translation project, but we also offer specialized services for projects that require specific translation competencies. Our team is filled with specialists in academic translation, business translation, literary translation, and more, ready to translate academic papers, research questionnaires, lesson plans for kids, business plans, corporate newsletters, press releases, ad copy, books, short stories, poems, songs, apps, games, blogs, websites, and more to or from Wounaan. And don’t worry if your text deals with complex or technical topics—just tell us, and we’ll try to set you up with a Wounaan translator familiar with your area of expertise.
We aim to provide the most well-rounded, most reliable Wounaan translation services out there. To take advantage of our skills, reach out and place an order today!