“The Shona language is one of the few languages in the world that is standardized across a plethora of dialects and sub dialects”
Shona Translation Services: Introduction to the Shona Language
The native speakers of the Shona language reside in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Botswana. They are referred to as the Shona people. The geographical spread of the Shona people gives a hint as to how widespread the language is in Africa. Indeed, the Shona language or Chishona or Swina, is considered the most dominant of all African languages with the number of native speakers ranging from fourteen to fifteen million. This huge number of Shona native speakers indicates the need for Shona translation services.
Shona Translation Services: Unique Features of the Shona Language
The Shona language is one of the few languages in the world that is standardized across a plethora of dialects and sub dialects. These are spoken by people who live in a geographical region marked by the Kalahari Desert to the west, the Limpopo River in the south and the Zambezi to the north. The main dialects of the Shona language include Karanga, Korekore and Zezuru. Providers of Shona translation worth their salt have native translators who speak and write in these dialects with ease. The sub dialects of the Shona language include Chikaranga, Shangwe, Goba, Budya, Tavara, Njanja and Tsuva just to mention a few. Despite the existence of many sub-dialects, a standardized version of the Shona language is recognized. Shona translation services are usually based on this standardized version.
The Shona language is one of the few African languages that is closely related to other vernacular languages. This is not surprising considering it is a branch of the Niger-Congo family of Bantu languages. The languages that are closely related to the Shona language include Ikalanga, Tewe, Tawara, Ndau, Nambya and Manyika. This relation means that providers of Shona translation services can easily translate these other languages provided they have a strong understanding of the standard Shona language.
The Shona language is also a tonal language. A tonal language is one where pitch is deemed to be a part of speech. Pitch can therefore change the meaning of a word. Providers of Shona translation services need to be aware of the high and low tones that are used in the Shona language.
The writing system of the Shona language is the Latin system of writing. In addition to the Latin script, there is also a Braille script of the Shona language. Long strides have been made in the Shona language ever since it was first codified in the twentieth century. The first book in the Shona with the title ‘Feso’ by Solomon Mutswairo was published in 1957.
Shona Translation Services: The Gist
Shona translation services refer to the services that entail translation of the Shona language to other languages or vice versa. Providers of Shona translation services usually have a team of native Shona speakers to help in the translation. The scope of Shona translation services includes website translation, brochure translation, legal translation, financial statements translation, medical translation and engineering translation. These ranges of services reflect the needs of people and organizations in today’s global village. Great providers of Shona translation services know how to match their services to clients’ needs.
