We live in a highly multilingual world. In fact, there are more than 7,000 languages spoken across the globe, with many people speaking multiple languages. Multilingualism is necessary in many countries, with most people speaking a minority language as their first and learning one or more lingua francas to participate in society. Such is the case in most African countries, where minority languages are flourishing. That brings us to today’s language: Mbay.
Mbay—also known as Sara Mbay—recorded around 90,000 native speakers in 1996, with the figure likely growing over the past 30-odd years. Since Mbay is a small language, most Mbay speakers have learned other, larger languages to communicate with people outside of their immediate community, particularly Arabic and French. Unfortunately, Mbay receives little recognition on the international stage and is generally overlooked by translation firms, but we at TranslationServices.com have proudly launched our very own Mbay translation services to address this gap.
How about messaging us to ask about a free quote for our Mbay translation services?
Discovering the Mbay language
Mbay is one of the 100+ languages in Chad and 70+ languages in the Central African Republic, with speakers concentrated in the southern Chadian region of Moyen-Chari. Smaller numbers of Mbay speakers also live in neighboring regions of the Central African Republic. Mbay is classified as a Sara language, a cluster of related languages in southern Chad and northern Central African Republic. The biggest Sara language is Ngambay, classified as West Sara, while Mbay falls into East Sara. Ultimately, Mbay and its Sara cousins belong to the Nilo–Saharan language family, occupying the Bongo–Bagirmi branch.
Mbay is a grammatically unique language. Its subject-verb-object word order—the same as in English—isn’t unusual, and its strong preference for suffixes over prefixes is also common among the world’s languages. Some of Mbay’s unique features include its lack of passive constructions and its lack of independent personal pronouns. In Mbay, subject and object suffixes are added to verbs, nouns, and even prepositions, allowing the reader to understand who’s involved in a statement even without dedicated pronouns. Mbay also uses certain nouns to take the place of pronominal-type words that would exist in other languages— yá̰a̰ (“thing”) is used for “something,” dèē (“person”) is used for “someone,” tàa (“speech”) is used for “something said,” and lòo (“place”) is used for “somewhere.” The unique circumstances of Mbay mean that it can be hard to translate, but don’t worry—when you work with native speakers like our team members, it’s a breeze.
Our team is ready to deliver top-notch Mbay translation services.
We’ve built a robust team of the best Sara Mbay translators we could find from across Moyen-Chari and elsewhere in Chad and the Central African Republic. If you need your Mbay translation services rendered in a particular dialect of the language, tell us—to the best of our ability, we’ll match you with a Mbay translator who fits your requirements. Our translators work with translation projects both to and from Mbay, delivering each translation with pride and care.
Even though the number of Mbay speakers is small, we’ve worked hard to build a diverse team capable of catering to a wide array of client needs. Our Mbay translators are skilled in various areas, including academia, business, and literature, so if you’re looking for tailored translation services in any of these domains, just tell us. Since many of our translators also have training or expertise in additional subject matters, if your text contains technical jargon, simply request a translator who understands your field. We can’t make any guarantees, but we’re committed to accommodating clients’ needs as best we can.
For high-quality, flexible Mbay translation services, turn to us! Why not message us today to place your first Mbay translation order?