Did you know that around 70 languages are spoken in South Sudan, most of which are native to the country? It’s common in Africa for the population of countries to be divided across dozens or even hundreds of indigenous languages, united by national and regional lingua francas that people learn as second languages. South Sudan uses English as its official language but has no dominant native language, with different areas of the country speaking different languages. One of South Sudan’s many indigenous languages is Lopit.
Lopit isn’t the biggest minority language in South Sudan, but with around 120,000 native speakers, it’s still quite sizable, and since the language is spoken by most ethnic Lopit people, it’s not considered particularly vulnerable. Of course, its relatively small size juxtapositioned against all of English’s influence and power inevitably constitutes a threat, however. Most translation companies don’t bother working with minority languages like Lopit, but we at TranslationServices.com distinguish ourselves through our passion for endangered languages. We’re excited to present our new Lopit translation team, offering translation services both to and from Lopit.
How about reaching out to us today to ask for a free quote for our Lopit translation services?
Diving into the identity of the Lopit language
Lopit speakers are concentrated in South Sudan’s southeastern state of Eastern Equatoria, where they’re spread out across more than 50 villages. The Lopit-speaking area comprises five main administrative divisions, namely Imehejek, Ohutok, Obunge, Arilo, and Ongiro. Across all the different regions of the Lopit-speaking world, you’ll find different dialects, most notable of which are Ngabori, Dorik, Eastern Ngotira, Western Ngotira, Omiaha, Lohutok, and Lolongo. Ultimately, Lopit belongs to the Nilo–Saharan language family, specifically occupying the Lotuko–Teso branch, which it shares with languages like Lotuko, Turkana, and Maasai.
Grammatically, Lopit is a complex language. For one thing, it’s tonal, as are most other languages in the Nilo–Saharan family. It also features gender markers, both natural gender markers for animal and human nouns and abstract grammatical gender for inherently ungendered nouns. Male animal and human nouns often take the prefix lɔ-, with their female counterparts taking ɪ- or na-. Otherwise, grammatical gender is usually indicated on accompanying relative pronouns, demonstratives (e.g., “this” or “that”), and possessives rather than the noun itself. Lopit allows speakers to change the gender of a word to indicate its size, using the masculine for small objects and the feminine for large objects. Reflecting all the nuances of Lopit in translation can be tricky, so it’s worth it to hire native speakers to ensure high quality.
Rely on us for high-quality, flexible Lopit translation services.
We’re eager to help you access the Lopit translation services you need, no matter who you are or what your project is. Are you looking for translation from English to Lopit, or from Lopit to English? We offer both. Our team of native-speaking Lopit translators, who hail from different regions of the Lopit-speaking world and represent different dialects of the language, are passionate about translating their language and would love to assist you.
We’re also dedicated to offering specialist translation services to those who need them. To the best of our ability, we’ll set you up with skilled academic, business, or literary translators who are familiar with the discipline, industry, or genre you’re working in. Since Lopit is a relatively small language, we can’t necessarily guarantee a match for more niche areas, but we’ll always try our best. If your project contains esoteric terminology, just let us know, and we’ll try to set you up with a Lopit translator who has some knowledge in that area. If you have any special requests, don’t hesitate to let us know.
Our Lopit translators are waiting for your project—so why not put them to work today by placing your first Lopit translation order?