China is a remarkably linguistically diverse nation, although outsiders may not perceive it as such. What is commonly known as Chinese is actually Mandarin, the most prominent of the Sinitic languages known collectively as “Chinese.” These languages are even more different from one another than Romance languages are, with the differences manifesting both in pronunciation as well as in grammar and vocabulary. Among the many Chinese languages spoken around the country is Teochew, a language of the Min subfamily.
Teochew is an important cultural asset of the Teochew people, who number around 25 million and reside in southeastern China. Teochew has a stronger footing than many minority Chinese languages, which have largely been pushed out in favor of Mandarin, whose nationwide use is promoted by the government. Nonetheless, knowledge of Teochew outside of China has effectively been erased by classifying all Sinitic languages as a single language, and therefore, translation companies typically don’t have translation teams for Teochew. At TranslationServices.com, we want to legitimize Teochew by offering dedicated Teochew translation services to anyone who needs them.
Get the ball rolling today by reaching out and requesting a free quote for Teochew translation services.
So, what is Teochew, anyway?
It’s difficult to estimate the number of Teochew speakers, but the number of ethnic Teochew people reaches up to 25 million. The language is spoken in the southeastern Chinese provinces of Guangdong and Fujian, most notably in the city of Chaozhou (or Teochew). Belonging to the Min language subfamily, Teochew shares a particularly close relationship to Hokkien, although the languages still exhibit significant differences. Teochew is considered one of the most conservative Chinese languages, having retained a number of pronunciations and vocabulary from Old Chinese that most other languages have lost.
Pronouns in Teochew differ from those of Mandarin, with everything but the first-person singular using a different character. To denote possession, Teochew uses noun classifiers, which may change depending on the noun—this differs from Mandarin, which uses a dedicated possessive particle. Demonstratives and interrogative pronouns are vastly different from their Mandarin counterparts as well. For passive constructions, Teochew not only uses an entirely different passive particle from Mandarin, but its passive particle also cannot be used without specifying the agent. In Mandarin, specifying the agent is not necessary. The comparative construction is also entirely different.
This is all to say that Mandarin speakers cannot understand Teochew even in text. That’s why it’s so important to offer Teochew translation services, which we do with pride.
We’re happy to translate Teochew for any content.
At TranslationServices.com, we don’t discriminate—no matter what your needs are, we’re confident our Teochew translation team can help. To accommodate a maximum number of clients, we’ve compiled a team that can work both with translations into Teochew and translations from Teochew. This means that you can hire our team to translate historical documents, literature, academic papers, or even personal notes in Teochew and publish them for an international audience. You can also hire us to translate surveys, business materials, and creative content like books, games, and apps into Teochew, allowing Teochew speakers to access more content in their language and helping promote use of this precious Chinese language.
So, if you want to get started with Teochew translation services, all you have to do is get in touch with us.