When you look at the official languages of West African countries, you’ll see they’re dominated by English and French. But that’s not the full picture—far from it. West Africa is one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the world, with hundreds of indigenous languages spoken by large communities. In fact, most people in West Africa only speak English or French as a second language, using their regional indigenous language as their primary language in day-to-day communications instead. Today, we’re zooming in on the West African language of Gourmanché.
Gourmanché is a language of many names, known also as Goulmacema, Gourma, Gourmantche, Gulimancema, Gulmancema, Gurma, or Gourmanchéma. Everything is derived from the language’s own name for itself: Migulimancema. In total, Gourmanché has about 1.5 million native speakers spread out across different West African countries, and although it’s spoken vigorously in its local communities, it must compete with the national lingua francas of English and French. This puts pressure on the indigenous language, for which few resources and translation services exist. At TranslationServices.com, we’re making a change with our new Gourmanché translation team.
Anyone who wants a free quote for our Gourmanché translation services is welcome to request one!
Let’s take a quick overview of the Gourmanché language.
Like many indigenous African languages, Gourmanché is transnational, with native speakers in several countries in the region. It’s the biggest language in the easternmost regions of Burkina Faso, with many speakers also found in the neighboring areas of Togo, Benin, Niger, Ghana, and Nigeria. It belongs to the massive Niger–Congo language family, specifically classified as an Oti–Volta language of the Gur branch. That makes it closely related to other major languages spoken in the region, such as Konkomba or Moba.
Grammatically, Gourmanché aligns with most other Niger–Congoo languages in that it employs a basic subject-verb-object word order. Gourmanché adjectives often merge with nouns like a suffix, creating a single word. Perhaps the most complicated aspect of Gourmanché grammar, however, is its noun class system, found in most Niger–Congo languages, including the Bantu subgroup. The classes are marked by suffixes, but class-specific particles may also precede nouns, serving as articles (“a”/“the”). There’s no doubt that Gourmanché’s grammar is complex, which means only skilled native speakers can deliver a high-quality translation—and luckily, that’s exactly who’s on our Gourmanché translation team.
Trust us for high-quality Gourmanché translations in all domains.
Our mission is to bring you the best Gourmanché translation services we can. To this end, we’ve recruited translation specialists from all over the Gourmanché-speaking region: Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, and Ghana. Our translators speak different dialects of Gourmanché as their mother tongue, so if you’re looking to work with a specific regional variety, all you have to do is tell us. Passionate about their native language, our team members provide careful translation services both to and from Gourmanché, catering to the unique needs of each individual client.
We’ve built a large team of Gourmanché translators that spans all sorts of different domains of translation, including academic translation, business translation, literary translation, and localization services. So, if you’re a researcher working with Gourmanché speakers in Niger, a business looking to tailor your marketing collateral to Gourmanché speakers in Burkina Faso, or a creative content producer eying a new, Gourmanché-speaking audience in Ghana, our team can help. The same applies, of course, if you’re looking to take your business abroad or spread your creative productions outside of the Gourmanché-speaking realm. And for technical content with esoteric vocabulary, we can assign the most suitable team member to your job—so just ask!
Your Gourmanché translation is just a few clicks away. Send us a message now to discuss your Gourmanché translation project!