There are a lot more languages spoken in South Asia than you probably realize. India is the fourth-most linguistically diverse country on the planet, and though Pakistan is only the 30th-most linguistically diverse nation, it’s nonetheless home to more than 70 languages. Pakistan and northern India are dominated by Indo–Aryan languages, such as Hindi, Urdu, Marathi, and Punjabi, while Dravidian languages, such as Tamil and Telugu, rule in southern India. But there’s one interesting outlier, a Dravidian language found all the way up in Pakistan, far away from the rest of its family, and that’s Brahui.
Brahui is spoken natively by approximately 2.8 million people, the vast majority of whom live in Pakistan. With entirely different roots from most other languages in Pakistan, Brahui is unique, but unfortunately, it’s also threatened with extinction. A 2009 UNESCO report classified the language as “vulnerable,” making it one of 27 languages in Pakistan that are considered endangered. A Brahui-language newspaper called Talár has been in publication since 2004 to promote the language, but few other resources, including translation services, are available for Brahui. Here at TranslationServices.com, we’re supporting Brahui in the way we know best: by offering professional translation services to and from Brahui.
Do you want to see a free quote for our Brahui translation services? Then just send a message and ask!
Brahui: a lone Dravidian language in Pakistan
The bulk of Brahui speakers live in Pakistan—in particular, the country’s southwestern province of Balochistan—although smaller communities of Brahui speakers can also be found in neighboring areas of Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. Within Balochistan, Brahui speakers form the majority in the districts of Kalat, Khuzdar, Mastung, Quetta, Bolan, Nasirabad, Nushki, and Kharan. Brahui can be written in both the Latin alphabet and the Perso-Arabic script, with the Latin alphabet gaining popularity in recent decades.
Located more than 1,500 km (930 miles) from the closest Dravidian language, Brahui is extremely isolated from the other languages in its family, which means its vocabulary and grammar differ from other Dravidian languages in various ways. In fact, a linguistic analysis has shown that only around 15% of Brahui vocabulary has Dravidian origins—the rest of the language’s lexicon comes from Persian, Arabic, Balochi, and other Indo–Aryan languages, with about 10% of Brahui’s vocabulary hailing from unknown origins. Brahui, like other Dravidian languages, is grammatically complex, with words undergoing significant inflection to express different grammatical information, which can make the language tricky for learners.
A proud Brahui translation team ready to help with a plethora of projects
Anyone looking for professional Brahui translation services has come to the right place. Not only are our Brahui translators proud native speakers of this unique Dravidian language, but they’re also highly experienced, boasting the skills to translate both to and from Brahui. To ensure a wide coverage of different Brahui dialects, we’ve hired translators from all over Balochistan, as well as elsewhere in Pakistan and nearby countries like Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Iran—so whatever specifications you have for your Brahui translation, we’re confident we can accommodate your needs.
Our flexible team of translators is also diverse in the types of translation skills they possess. While some of our translators are experts in the realm of business, others have developed their Brahui translation skills in more academic domains. Others yet specialize in the translation of literary works, carefully converting all the subtle nuances of Brahui into English, and vice versa. So, whether you’re the head of a company looking to connect with your Brahui-speaking customers in Balochistan, a Brahui speaker wishing to share traditional tales of your homeland with the wider world, or a Brahui language enthusiast seeking to promote the language and its continued vitality by translating books, poems, apps, and games into Brahui, our passionate Brahui translators can’t wait to get to work on your project.
Accessing quality Brahui translation services has never been easier. Just send us a message with your project details to get the ball rolling!