The dominant language in Peru is Spanish—that’s no secret. It’s well known, in fact, that most of Latin America speaks Spanish. But that certainly wasn’t always the case—for millennia before Europeans discovered the continent, the indigenous inhabitants were speaking their own languages. The original languages of the Americas persist to this day, albeit beneath the shadows of imported languages like Spanish, Portuguese, English, and French. But some of them are still spoken by vigorous communities, such as Aguaruna.
With roughly 53,000 native speakers (as of 2007), comprising nearly all of the 55,000-odd ethnic group, Aguaruna is a strong indigenous language of South America, used vigorously by the Aguaruna people in all domains of life. Unlike many indigenous languages, Aguaruna is also commonly used in writing, with the tribe exhibiting a high literacy rate in their native language. However, the vast majority of Aguaruna speakers are bilingual in Spanish, which puts Aguaruna at potential risk, even though the language’s status is currently stable. But with little presence on the global stage, Aguaruna translation services are rare, which is where we at TranslationServices.com come in with our new Aguaruna translation team.
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Discovering Peru’s secret language: Aguaruna
Aguaruna is native to northern Peru, situated along the eastern foothills of the Andes, with territory in Peru’s Amazonas, Cajamarca, Loreto, and San Martin regions. The language consists of two key dialects: a more conservative variety spoken around the Nieva River and second dialect spoken near the Marañón River. Aguaruna is the largest member of the small Chicham language family (also called Jivaroan), and it’s so similar to Huambisa, another member of the family, that speakers of the two languages can partially understand one another. The other two members, Shuar and Achuar-Shiwiar, are more distantly related, although still highly similar.
Like many other Amerindian languages, Aguaruna features a complex grammatical structure that differs dramatically from that of English and Spanish. Its subject-object-verb word order means the verb comes last in a sentence, although if the sentence contains an indirect object (e.g., “you” in “I give you an apple”), the indirect object may come after the verb. Aguaruna features numerous noun cases marked by inflectional suffixes to indicate a noun’s role in a sentence, but the suffix is usually applied to the end of the noun phrase, which may include modifiers or relative clauses, and not necessarily the noun itself. Translating to and from Aguaruna is no easy task, but our Aguaruna translators are passionate native speakers, making them the ideal candidates for the job.
Our Aguaruna translation services are carefully tailored to our clients’ individual needs.
We pride ourselves on providing bespoke Aguaruna translations that cater to the specific requests of our diverse clientele, covering both major dialects of the unique Aguaruna language. With us, you’ll work with native-speaking Aguaruna translators who are passionate about their language and eager to help clients from across Peru and the rest of the world access the Aguaruna translation services they need to make their project a success, whether that means translating into Aguaruna or from Aguaruna.
What if you need specialty translation services? Though we’re inherently limited by the relatively small size of the Aguaruna-speaking world, we’ve endeavored to build a diverse team of translators experienced in different domains. We can help researchers and educators looking to translate research surveys or educational materials in any field, just as we can assist CEOs and businesspeople seeking to promote their organizations in northern Peru. We’re also eager to help with literary projects, such as translating traditional Aguaruna stories into English to share with the wider world or translating foreign tales into Aguaruna to enrich the body of literature available in the language. Whatever you need Aguaruna translation services for, our team is ready to help.
Why not contact us today to get started with Aguaruna translation services? Our translators are eager to help!