The dominant language in Taiwan is Mandarin, which is used in government, education, media, and public life in the island nation. It’s not necessarily the native language of the majority of the Taiwanese population—many speak Taiwanese Hokkien as their first language, with a smaller percentage learning Taiwanese Hakka as their native tongue. But the linguistic landscape in Taiwan stretches far beyond these Sinitic languages, which only landed on the island’s shores in the 12th century. For thousands of years before that, dozens of indigenous peoples inhabited the island, speaking various languages—including Atayal.
Atayal, and the other Formosan languages that make up Taiwan’s indigenous tongues, is endangered, with the widespread use of Mandarin slowly eroding the proud and vibrant native languages of the country. Today, around 10,000 people still speak Atayal as their first language, making it one of the biggest aboriginal languages in Taiwan, and though many Atayal people are bilingual in Mandarin, use of the Atayal language remains vigorous. Conscious efforts by the Taiwanese government to promote the island’s indigenous languages are helping improve the outlook for Atayal, but still, few companies are willing to translate the language. We at TranslationServices.com, however, have put together our own Atayal translation team, and we’re proud of it.
If you’d like to see a free quote for our Atayal translation services, you can simply reach out and ask!
A closer look at the intricacies of Atayal
Atayal’s 10,000 or so speakers live in northern-central Taiwan, inhabiting the lands around the Hsuehshan mountain range. Notable settlements include Ulay District and Smangus in Jianshi Township, which has become a popular tourist destination. Atayal is split into two main dialects, Squliq and C’uli’ (Ts’ole’), with two varieties of C’uli’ using different vocabulary for men and women. Like all other languages indigenous to Taiwan, Atayal comes from the Austronesian language family, which originated on the island.
Grammatically, Atayal is entirely unlike English. For one thing, the language features four noun cases, drawing a distinction between proper nouns and common nouns (at least in Mayrinax Atayal). Aspect markers are preferred to tense markers in conveying information about verbs, with several verbal affixes resulting in complicated verbal morphology. In Mayrinax Atayal, some of these affixes are only used by male speakers. Perhaps most notable, however, is Atayal’s focus system, similar to that found in Tagalog. Atayal sentences are formed around a particular focus—the agent, patient, location, instrument, or beneficiary—which informs various aspects of the language’s grammar.
We promise high quality in all our Atayal translation services.
Despite the ever-growing influence of Mandarin, the Atayal people still proudly speak their indigenous language, and many of them are also eager to help people from across Taiwan and the world translate to and from their native tongue. We’ve found the best Atayal translators in Taiwan—speakers of both Squliq and C’uli’—and invited them to our Atayal translation team, where they proudly translate both from English to Atayal and from Atayal to English.
We’ve worked hard to build a diverse team of Atayal translators. That doesn’t only mean sourcing translators from different parts of Taiwan who speak different dialects of Atayal—it also means working with translators from different translation backgrounds. Some of our Atayal translators are well acquainted with the business scene and can easily translate business or marketing documents to and from Atayal, whereas others on our team are better suited for academic translation, with expertise in a range of fields. We have team members who can translate traditional stories or historical documents in Atayal into English, readying them for international distribution, and we have translators specializing in converting English-language novels, poems, websites, apps, games, and more into Atayal, expanding the domain of usage for Atayal and helping the language maintain a strong presence in the community. The bottom line is that we can cater to just about any Atayal translation needs.
Atayal translation services can give your project a powerful boost. Message us today if you’re ready to get started!