“동남아의 소수 민족 언어, 하카어를 소개합니다”

blog main banner

“동남아의 소수 민족 언어, 하카어를 소개합니다”

앞서 카렌어에 대해 소개해 드렸는데요, 이번에는 하카어에 대해 소개해 드리려고 합니다. 하카어라는 언어에 대해서 들어본 적이 있으신가요? 여러 글로벌 기업의 현지화 프로젝트를 서포트하는 한샘글로벌의 리소스매니지먼트 부서는 소수 언어에 대한 요청을 받을 때가 많습니다. 하카어도 그런 경우인데요, 중국어의 방언 중 하나로, 미얀마에 사는 친족 등 소수 민족이 사용하고 있습니다. 카렌어의 경우와 마찬가지로 최근 미얀마 정부의 탄압으로 인해 이 소수 민족이 인근 국가로 망명을 가면서 현지화 요청이 증가하는 추세라고 하는데요, 한샘글로벌의 동남아 언어를 담당하고 있는 한샘 베트남에서는 고객사에 이러한 요청에 부응하기 위해 하카어 번역가도 발굴하고 있다고 합니다. 하카어 소개와 리소스 발굴 상황에 대한 영문 블로그 게시물을 확인해 보시죠.

Scripted by
Bich Tram & TuongVi

HAKHA CHIN: THE TRANSLATION DEMANDS AND RESOURCE SITUATION

I. Brief Overview of Hakha Chin:

It is important to be aware that Hakha Chin is a separate language, and is not to be confused with Burmese or Chinese Hakha (客家). It is commonly referred to as “Lai” and is spoken by the Chin people. This languageis from the Kuki-Chin branch, one of more than 50 branches of the Sino-Tibetan language family.

Hakha Chin speakers number approximately 450,000 in total, mostly from the Chin State in western Myanmar, Mizoram in northeastern India, and a small number are from southeastern Bangladesh. The Hakha Chin people use both the Latin and Burmese script as for writing.

Estimated Number of Chin people basing on region

II. Translation demand for Hakha Chin:

According to BBC News, “The Chin people… are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma.” Internal conflicts in Myanmar are usually ethnic-based. The predominant religion in Myanmar is Buddhism, however, the Chin people are largely Christian. The Chin people, suffering from persecution from the Burmese Army, have had to scatter to western countries (the US, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) with the help of American, British, and Swedish church groups (mostly Baptist and Lutheran). Most of the refugees are uneducated and from small villages. Therefore, there is a demand for Chin people to learn English for resettlement in Western or English-speaking countries, and thus there is a demand for translation. English – Hakha Chin translation fo church groups is used in attempts to help them relocate, and translation for statements from the government, often policies to support them while living in another country where Chin people are fleeing to before they can communicate in English.

Alliance of Chin Refugees (ACR) in Malaysia

Why is it difficult to translate and localize Hakha Chin?

+ Different writing systems: Burmese script requires specific typesetting and fonts which usually causes font corruption.
+ Different structure: Hakha Chin uses the Subject-Object-Verb structure, which might become a barrier for the translator to fully convey the meaning from one language to the other.
+ Few reliable resources: the number of native speakers is much fewer than that of other minority languages, and the majority of them are illiterate.

Bible in Hakha Chin – written in Latin script

III. Hakha Chin resource situation:

Approximately 60,000 Chin people are living in the western world, a much smaller number compared to other minority groups. Therefore, the resources eligible for localization settings for Hakha Chin are quite limited.

Banner of The Chinland Post written in both EN and Burmese script

Recently, the pandemic makes it harder to reach reliable resources for English – Hakha Chin translation, especially when the demands for translation have also decreased since all the social and political activities are limited. This shortage of reliable and experienced resources might cause certain setbacks for some Language Service Companies, however, Hansem Global has been prepared for a long time. We have set up local offices in Southeast Asian and Western countries, which gives us an advantage in finding reliable resources for this lesser-known language. In addition, our in-house linguists and team members have experience in localizing nearly 60 languages, including Burmese, a relative of Hakha Chin. Hansem Global maintainsr stable quality by having our translators pass specific sample tests before being approved to be in charge of tasks.

About Hansem Global

Hansem Global is an ISO Certified and globally recognized language service provider. Since 1990, Hansem Global has been a leading language service company in Asia and has been helping the world’s top companies excel in the global marketplace. Thanks to our local production centers in Asia along and our solid global language network, Hansem Global offers a full list of major languages from around the world. Contact us for your language needs!

Sources:

+ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chin_people
+ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8626008.stm
+ shorturl.at/dxKNX
+ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_languages

LIST

  • Hansem Story

    중국 우한팀의 오피스 이전

    중국 우한팀의 오피스 이전

    5. 8, 2019

  • Hansem Story

    2019 World IT show 컨퍼런스 참관기 1

    2019 World IT show 컨퍼런스 참관기 1

    5. 3, 2019

  • Posts

    Developing Quality Technical Information_2. 사용자 중심으로 잘 만들어졌는가

    Developing Quality Technical Information_2. 사용자 중심으로 잘 만들어졌는가

    4. 30, 2019