When you think of France, you likely picture Metropolitan France, the Western European nation home to the iconic city of Paris. But in fact, French territories span the globe, with a presence in every continent on Earth. Even way out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, we find the French territory of French Polynesia, which houses well-known tourist destinations such as Tahiti or Bora Bora. The northernmost islands of the territory are known as the Marquesas Islands, and that’s where our drive to build the most comprehensive translation services on the internet has brought us today.
Across all of French Polynesia, including the Marquesas Islands, French is the sole official language, and as many as 97% of Marquesan residents reported on the 2017 census that they could speak French. But nonetheless, the indigenous language of the archipelago, Marquesan, remains the dominant language of everyday life in the Marquesas Islands, with more than 65% of the population speaking Marquesan at home. Altogether, around 8,700 people speak Marquesan. While these figures are encouraging, they’re gradually falling as French influence grows across the island chain, and that’s one of the reasons most translation agencies overlook Marquesan. But not us here at TranslationServices.com—we’ve just launched a new team dedicated to translating to and from Marquesan!
We offer free quotes for our Marquesan translation services, so how about reaching out and requesting one?
Marquesan: the unique language of the Marquesas Islands
Though French has firmly established itself as the official language of French Polynesia, the native languages of the islands, including Marquesan, are worlds apart from the European tongue. Marquesan comes from the Polynesian branch of the expansive Austronesian family, sharing roots with languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, and Samoan. What sets Marquesan apart is its replacement of the /l/ or /r/ phonemes of other Polynesian languages with a glottal stop.
Marquesan, like other Polynesian languages, is a heavily isolating language with almost no inflection. Rather than the complex verb conjugations found in many European languages, Marquesan uses a series of verbal particles to indicate the tense, aspect, and mood of a verbal construction. Pronouns in the language differ starkly from English, not only because they come in three numbers—singular, dual, and plural—but also because there are multiple words for “we” depending on whether the listener is included. Marquesan’s possessive markers also pack a wealth of nuance, with different particles used depending on whether the possessor is in control of the thing they possess.
We’re excited to help you with your Marquesan translation projects.
Marquesan is a beautiful and unique language, and we believe it deserves the same recognition and respect as the other languages we translate. That’s why we’ve proudly put together a Marquesan translation team consisting of the best translators across the island chain, all proud native speakers of Marquesan. They represent the various dialects spoken on the different islands in the archipelago, particularly Northern Marquesan and Southern Marquesan, and they’re skilled at both translation directions, so we can help clients whether they’re looking to translate into Marquesan or from the language.
Our Marquesan translators have built up their translation expertise by working on diverse projects, equipping them with the skills necessary to accommodate a variety of translation needs. Indeed, we can help businesspeople who want Marquesan translations of their promotional materials in order to better connect with customers in the Marquesas Islands, and we can translate pedagogical content into Marquesan so educators can provide local kids with a native-language learning experience. Anyone with literary works or historical documents in Marquesan can entrust them to our team for a seamless translation into English, and similarly, we can also translate literary works or other media into Marquesan to enrich the literary scene of this precious Pacific Island language. Whatever kind of Marquesan translation services you need, we’re happy to oblige.
Don’t wait to get started with your Marquesan translation project! Our team is ready and waiting for your message.