
There’s no one language called “Tibetan”—the idea that there is derives from Classical Tibetan, spoken between the 9th and 11th centuries, from which most of the 50-odd modern-day Tibetic languages developed. Classical Tibetan was so influential that the spelling system has remained unchanged for more than 1200 years, granting modern-day Tibetan languages the unofficial title of “hardest languages to spell.” Tibetic languages today are still spoken by more than 6 million people, with Khams Tibetan accounting for roughly 2 million of them.
Khams Tibetan is one of the three primary languages of “traditional” Tibetan, the other two being Ü-Tsang Tibetan (or Central Tibetan) and Amdo Tibetan. Khams Tibetan shares 80% of its vocabulary with Ü-Tsang Tibetan, and the two exhibit basic mutual intelligibility with one another, but both are completely mutually unintelligible with the much more conservative Amdo Tibetan, which retains various features of Classical Tibetan that have been lost in Khams Tibetan and Ü-Tsang Tibetan. Even though Khams Tibetan is a widely spoken language with cultural importance for the Tibetan people, it’s often overshadowed by Ü-Tsang Tibetan, whose Lhasa Tibetan dialect is the basis of Standard Tibetan. But we at TranslationServices.com want to cater to Khams Tibetan—so we’ve launched our own, dedicated Khams Tibetan translation team.
Anyone who would like to see a free quote for our Khams Tibetan translation services can reach out anytime!
Khams Tibetan: a modern-day variant of the Classical Tibetan language
Khams Tibetan is mostly spoken exactly where you’d expect: Tibet. Specifically, it’s concentrated in Kham, one of three traditional regions of the Tibetan Plateau, which today comprises the eastern part of Tibet, as well as parts of Qinghai, Sichuan, and Yunnan. Since it’s spoken over a wide geographical area, it’s only natural that Khams Tibetan features various dialects, with relatively low mutual intelligibility, as follows:
Central Khams (spoken in Dêgê County and Chamdo [Changdu])
Southern Khams (spoken in Dêqên [Diqing] Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)
Northern or Northeastern Khams (spoken in Nangqên [Nangchen] County and Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture)
Eastern Khams (spoken in Kangding)
Hor or Western Khams (spoken in Nagqu Prefecture)
Khamba
Tseku
Like other Tibetic languages, Khams Tibetan is grammatically complicated. It employs a subject-object-verb word order, and the noun generally comes before modifiers—adjectives, numerals, and demonstratives (e.g., “this” or “that”) all come after the noun, as do prepositions, thus making them postpositions. The language also features several noun cases that can significantly confuse an English speaker. Fortunately, Khams Tibetan isn’t so hard to translate if you work with native-speaking translators like ours.
High customization in our Khams Tibetan translation services
We’re determined to bring you the Khams Tibetan translation services you want, no matter your requests. You can work with our translators from all over Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and elsewhere, and we’re happy to accommodate requests for particular locales or dialects. Our translators provide services both from English to Khams Tibetan and from Khams Tibetan to English, ensuring you can break down the language barrier from either side.
There’s more to our flexibility—many of our translators are specialized in specific types of translation, such as academic translation, business translation, literary translation, or localization. So, if you’re a researcher who needs to translate your surveys into Khams Tibetan or the leader of an organization looking to catering to a Khams Tibetan-speaking community, you can count on our team. If you’re a creative content producer who wants to share the beauty of Khams Tibetan stories with the world or who wants to bring creations from around the globe to Khams Tibetan speakers, our team can help. If your text contains technical jargon, don’t worry—just require a subject-matter expert from our team.
Whatever you need in terms of Khams Tibetan translation services, we’re here to help. Place your first order today by sending a message!