No one language dominates the African country of South Sudan. This is a common phenomenon in Africa, where indigenous languages remain strong and vigorously spoken, but nonetheless, the creeping influence of official languages and lingua francas pose a serious threat to Africa’s minority languages. In South Sudan, only a handful of native languages are officially endangered, and some of the country’s languages are spoken by large populations, such as Bari—but in an increasingly globalizing world, all minority languages are under threat.
The Bari language boasts some 770,000 native speakers and an additional 180,000 second-language speakers, rendering it one of South Sudan’s biggest languages. It’s spoken by most members of the Bari ethnic group as well as other, closely related tribes, including the Pojulu, Kakwa, Nyangwara, Mundari, and Kuku. Each ethnic group speaks its own dialect, leading some to call the language Karo or Kutuk, meaning “native language,” instead of Bari. The language is in strong standing, even boasting a sizable community of second-language speakers, but of course, major languages like English still pose a threat. Bari translation services are rare, but we at TranslationServices.com are thrilled to present our own Bari translation team, ready to serve all your Bari translation needs.
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Bari, one of South Sudan’s most important indigenous languages
Bari is native to South Sudan’s southern state of Central Equatoria, specifically Juba County, which is home to the national capital, also called Juba. This gives Bari a certain level of influence that most of the country’s indigenous languages don’t have. Smaller communities of Bari speakers can also be found abroad in northwestern Uganda and bordering regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bari comprises numerous dialects, but some of the main ones include the following:
Bari proper (Beri)
Pöjulu (Pajulu, Fadjulu, Fajelu, Madi)
Kakwa (Kakua, Kwakwak)
Nyangbara (Nyangwara, Nyambara)
Mandari (Mondari, Mundari, Chir, Kir, Shir)
Kuku
Nyepu (Nyefu, Nyepo, Nypho, Ngyepu)
Ligo (Liggo)
Bari uses a word order of subject-verb-object, like English, although many other languages in the Nilo–Saharan family start sentences with the verb. It’s a tonal language with vowel harmony, meaning that the vowels in prefixes and suffixes can change depending on the other vowels in the stem word. Nouns precede adjectives, numerals, and demonstratives (e.g., “this” and “that”) alike. Bari is a far cry from English, so it can be difficult to translate. But don’t worry—we work with native Bari speakers to ensure the utmost translation quality.
A diverse array of Bari translation services for a diverse array of client needs
Whoever you are, wherever you are, and for whatever reason you need Bari translation services, we’re determined to help you. We’ve hired native-speaking Bari translators from all over Central Equatoria and elsewhere in South Sudan and its neighbors, ensuring coverage of all major dialects. Our translators work to provide English-to-Bari translations as well as Bari-to-English translations, so whatever side of the language barrier you fall on, you can count on our team to help.
We’re proud to help clients from a wide range of domains, too. Academic specialists, such as professors, students, researchers, and educators, can take advantage of our academic translation services, regardless of the field. Business owners, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and marketers can trust our Bari business translation team for top-notch corporate translations. Creatives, whether novelists, poets, short story authors, or scriptwriters, can easily carve out an international audience or a localized one in South Sudan thanks to our literary translation services. We can even work with texts that contain technical jargon—all you have to do is request a translator who’s familiar with your field.
Our team can’t wait to help you with Bari translation services. Contact us today so we can discuss your translation needs!