What languages do they speak in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia? Well, Thai, Lao, and Cambodian (Khmer), of course! While this is certainly true, it obscures the bigger picture, the dozens of indigenous languages that span these Southeast Asian countries. This region of the world is highly linguistically diverse, but these minority languages tend to be overlooked, especially on the global stage. But some of them are still spoken by large numbers of people—such as Kuy.
Kuy is a major Southeast Asian minority language spoken by some 450,000 people as a native language. There are several accepted alternative spellings for the name, including Kui, Kuay, Koay, and Kouy, as well as alternative names: Souei (or Suay), Yeu, and Nanhang. But in the end, they all represent the same language—one that struggles for recognition in the shadows of Thai, Lao, and Khmer. Resources and translation services for Kuy are limited, but we at TranslationServices.com are dedicated to providing high-quality translation services for this minority language. That’s why we’re proud to introduce our new Kuy translation team today.
Don’t hesitate to reach out and request a free quote for our Kuy translation services today!
Discovering an important minority language in Southeast Asia: Kuy
The majority of Kuy speakers—namely, more than 300,000—reside in Thailand, particularly in the northeastern region known as Isan. Specifically, Kuy speakers can be found in the Thai provinces of Buriram, Surin, Sisaket, Ubon Ratchathani, Roi Et, Maha Sarakham, and Nakhon Ratchasima, where they typically also speak Thai, Lao, Isan, or Surin Khmer. Tens of thousands more Kuy speakers live in the Salavan, Savannakhet, and Sekong provinces of Laos, leaving the remaining minority of speakers in the Preah Vihear, Stung Treng, and Kampong Thom provinces of Cambodia.
Kuy features several different dialects. The two main dialects in eastern Thailand are Kuuy and Kuay, although a number of divergent varieties of Kuy are spoken in Thailand’s Sisaket province: namely Kui Nhə, Kui Nthaw (Kui M’ai), and Kui Preu Yai. In Cambodia, a further four dialects have been identified: Ntua, Ntra (with subdialects Auk and Wa), Mla, and Thmei. Kuy belongs to the Austroasiatic language family, making it related to Vietnamese and Khmer but not Thai and Lao. However, the relation is distant, with Kuy occupying the Katuic branch as the largest member; Vietnamese and Khmer are on the Viet and Khmer branches, respectively. Kuy is worlds away from English, both geographically and linguistically, so translation can be tricky—but that’s why we hire native Kuy speakers.
Flexible Kuy translation services that align with your needs
You want superb Kuy translation services—and we want to help break down the language barriers between the English- and Kuy-speaking worlds. We’ve scoured northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, and northern Cambodia to bring you a diverse and robust team of passionate Kuy translators eager to leverage their linguistic knowledge to help you advance your translation project. We translate both from Kuy to English and from English to Kuy, and if you’re seeking a particular dialect, just let us know!
Similarly, don’t hesitate to inform us if you’re looking for specialty translation services, such as academic translation, business translation, literary translation, or localization. We have specialists of all kinds on our team, so we’ll do our best to match you with the right Kuy translation expert. For researchers and educators, we can translate academic and educational documents on a wide variety of subjects. For business leaders and CEOs, we can translate internal corporate documents and marketing materials for companies of all industries. For novelists and storytellers, we can translate a diverse array of literary genres across different types of media. For software developers, we can translate everything from websites to mobile apps.
Whatever kind of Kuy translation services you’re looking for, let us help. Contact us now to get started with your first Kuy translation order!