Brazil is well known as a linguistic outlier in Central America, the only major South American country that doesn’t speak Spanish. (For the record, neither do Guyana or Suriname, but their influence on the global stage is significantly smaller.) Brazil’s main language is Portuguese, set against the backdrop of the nation’s numerous indigenous languages, such as Nheengatu or Xavante. But in fact, there’s more to Brazil’s linguistic landscape than that—and that’s where Hunsrik comes in.
Hunsrik goes by a number of names. You may hear it called Hunsrik, Hunsrückisch, Hunsrickisch, Riograndese Hunsrik, or Riograndenser Hunsrückisch—or, in Portuguese, Hunsriqueano or Hunsriqueano Riograndense—or even Katharinensisch. The language, though virtually unknown internationally, is spoken by some three million native speakers in southern Brazil, but its vitality is rapidly decreasing as Portuguese takes an ever-stronger hold over Hunsrik communities. At TranslationServices.com, we believe in the value of minority languages like Hunsrik, which is why we’re proud to present our new Hunsrik translation services today.
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Hunsrik: the Brazilian variant of German
Hunsrik, which is spoken primarily in the southern Brazilian states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná, as well as the Argentinian province of Misiones and some neighboring regions of Paraguay, originated from the Hunsrück region of Germany, brought to the South American country by immigrants in the early 1800s. The language has, in certain ways, diverged significantly from Standard German, due to heavy influences from not only Portuguese but also Plautdietsch, another German variant spoken in the Americas, as well as indigenous languages like Kaingang and Guaraní. Hunsrik has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from Portuguese, incorporated literal translations of Portuguese expressions, and even invented various compound words composed of one German and one Portuguese stem.
Today, Hunsrik is considered an important part of southern Brazil’s culture and history, earning the status as an intangible cultural heritage asset of Santa Catarina, but historically, Hunsrik speakers faced considerable oppression during Getúlio Vargas’s nationalist rule from in the early-to-mid 1900s. All German-language schools in Brazil were closed, and people were arrested simply for speaking German, a crime that eventually a whopping 1.5% of all inhabitants of Blumenau were imprisoned for. Today, Hunsrik is celebrated, but it still struggles against the ubiquity and prestige of Portuguese, which puts this unique language at risk. Hunsrik isn’t an easy language to translate, but our native-speaking translators are up for the challenge, eager to support clients looking for Hunsrik translation services.
We offer Hunsrik translation services how you want them.
We proudly hire a diverse range of native-speaking Hunsrik translators from across southern Brazil and neighboring regions of Argentina and Paraguay, able to cater to dialects from Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, and more. So, don’t hesitate to request a particular variety of Hunsrik. Our translators are passionate about their language and excited to help clients with their translation projects, whether that entails translating into Hunsrik or from the unique Germanic language.
Our team also covers a wide array of specialty Hunsrik translation services, so if you’re looking for academic translation services, business translation services, literary translation services, or localization services, we can help. No matter your field, we’re here to assist with your research surveys, educational materials, and other academic texts—and for businesspeople, regardless of the industry, we can assist with Hunsrik translation services for business plans, financial reports, white papers, press releases, and much more. For any type of literary works, from novels and short stories to poems, our team is eager to help, and we’re also here for any software developers looking to translate their apps, websites, games, or other digital media. In essence, we’re here for all your Hunsrik translation needs.
Why not get started with your Hunsrik translation project today? Contact us now to set the process in motion!