The Caucasus is one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the planet, with countless remarkably diverse languages spoken indigenous in the region. The Caucasus is home to three indigenous language families not found anywhere else (Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian, Kartvelian) and two larger language families that cover broader areas (Turkic and Indo–European). Within this region, Dagestan is the most linguistically diverse part, with 12 official languages and more non-official languages. One of Dagestan’s official languages, Lak, is the focus of our article today.
The number of modern-day Lak speakers clocks in at roughly 150,000, accounting for around three-quarters of the total ethnic Lak population, most of whom live in Dagestan. Lak is one of Dagestan’s six literary languages and thus holds more prestige than many of the republic’s other indigenous languages, but naturally, Russian is the most prestigious, since Dagestan is located in Russia. Russian’s ubiquity constitutes a threat to Lak, which is classified as vulnerable to extinction, leading many translation firms to avoid the language. Not us at TranslationServices.com, though—we’re proud to offer our Lak translation services to anyone who needs them.
Reach out today and inquire about a quote for Lak translation services, if you’re so inclined—quotes are free!
Lak is unique within its language family.
Lak is native to Lakia, the ethnic territory of the Lak people, made up of the Laksky and Kulinsky districts of Dagestan, an autonomous republic in Russia’s North Caucasus region. Before 1928, Lak was written in the Arabic script, as were many other languages in the region, but then speakers transitioned to the Latin alphabet. After only 10 years, a Cyrillic alphabet was introduced and is still used today. Lak’s language family is the Northeast Caucasian family, with Lak solely occupying its own branch due to its divergence from other Northeast Caucasian languages.
The most notable difference between Lak and its cousin languages is that it marks verbs for person, as is common in European languages like Spanish or Italian. Most Northeast Caucasian languages, despite making heavy use of verbal inflection, do not mark person on verbs. Interestingly, however, Lak uses the same verbal markers for the first- and second person. Like other Northeast Caucasian languages, Lak is ergative, using one case for intransitive subjects and transitive objects and a different one for transitive subjects.
Lak is a unique language that our native-speaking Lak translators are proud of. Don’t worry about the complexities—they’re experts.
Translation to Lak, translation from Lak: we do both!
In our quest to accommodate as many client needs as possible, we’ve compiled our team to handle translation both to and from Lak. Our diverse and experienced translation team is capable of translating all sorts of content, including historical Lak documents written in the Arabic script or cherished Lak literature that requires particular care in its translation. Our translators are also happy to translate content into Lak, including pedagogical materials that will facilitate education in Lak or content like books, poems, games, websites, and apps that will allow Lak speakers and learners to more deeply enjoy the language.
We can handle all kinds of Lak translation projects, so why not reach out and tell us what sort of Lak translation services you’re looking for?