Indonesia has the fourth-largest population of any country on the planet, and it’s remarkably multiethnic, with 1340 different recognized ethnic groups populating the island nation. To communicate with people from other parts of the country, Indonesians need a lingua franca, and the government has designated Indonesian to play this role. Locally, however, most Indonesians speak their native language, especially if it’s one of the bigger ones. In the case of Palembang, hailing from southern Sumatra, it is.
There are around 3.1 million speakers of Palembang, and the language is prominent enough that it’s even used as a local lingua franca in major cities in the province of South Sumatra. The government of South Sumatra has recognized Palembang as an important indigenous language of the region and is taking efforts to preserve it against the growing pressure Palembang speakers face from Indonesian, recently implementing Palembang-language content in schools. Translation companies haven’t joined the trend—most don’t offer Palembang translation services. But TranslationServices.com does. We’re proud of our Palembang translation team, which offers translation both to and from Palembang.
If you want to see a free quote for our Palembang translation services, don’t hesitate to reach out.
What is the Palembang language like?
Palembang speakers are concentrated along the Musi River in the province of South Sumatra, located, naturally, in southern Sumatra. There are two key dialect groups—Musi and Palembang—but they’re mutually intelligible. In the past, speakers used to write Palembang in a modified Arabic script, but today, most people use the Latin alphabet, which is widely used throughout Indonesia. Palembang occupies the Malayo–Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, as do most languages in Indonesia. Palembang vocabulary has been heavily influenced by Javanese, another Malayo–Polynesian language.
Like many other Austronesian languages, Palembang uses reduplication—the full or partial repetition of word roots—for various grammatical purposes. Full reduplication of Palembang nouns results in the plural form, which applies even to compound nouns. Reduplication of verbs can indicate a habitual or repetitive action, or it could serve the purpose of delimiting the verb, making the action “smaller.” Palembang pronouns are interesting in that they feature clusivity in the first-person plural. That means there are two separate forms: one that includes the listener and one that doesn’t.
Reduplication isn’t the only tricky grammatical feature of Palembang, but it is a major one. However, our Palembang translators eagerly accept the challenge of translating between Palembang and English.
Ultimate flexibility in Palembang translation services
To Palembang or from Palembang—that is the question. Luckily for you, our team is equipped to handle both directions, so we can translate just about anything you need. For instance, we’ve helped clients translate old documents written in the Arabic script. We’ve also assisted clients with the translation of Palembang literature into English, spreading the stories to people around the world. Going further, our team has worked with academic, governmental, and business clients to translate surveys and questionnaires into Palembang, and we’ve helped language activists translate interesting books, poems, apps, websites, games, and more into Palembang—a superb way to help cement Palembang’s future as a strong language.
To get started with your Palembang translation project, send us a message and tell us what you need.