Today, professional Basque translators are on the rise. The Basque Country is a territory with a rich industry and abundant commercial relationships which require specific translation services. On top of this, current Basque linguistic-development policies are also driving this reality. So, what do the best specialists in this field look like?
Translating Basque and working in the Basque Country
The Euskaltzaindia, or the Basque-Language Academy, is the main authority for the defense and dissemination of this language. In the eighties, this institution promoted the birth of the EIOPE (School for the Basic Training of Basque Translators), which has since fallen under the management of the Basque Government and is located in Martutene. Its role was to train and accredit professional Basque translators. However, it was limited by several administrative and economic changes, and so other courses and teaching formats were later developed.
Today, the Basque Government periodically organizes qualification tests to work as sworn Basque translators or interpreters, in Spanish, English and French variants. Generally, to access this assessment, you must have a diploma or degree.
Key characteristics of Basque translators
Basque translators find themselves faced with a complex language, full of unique characteristics. In fact, it has no clear connection to any other modern language family and may even be of pre-Indo-European origin. According to experts, it is the oldest living language in Europe.
As such, the best Basque linguists know how to get around the various difficulties it presents:
- Uniqueness. Basque is an isolated language, with no references in any other tongue.
- Geographically changing lexicon. There are six Basque dialects, each with its own uses and words. Depending on the area, nouns, adjectives, verbs, conjunctions and other elements may change.
- Order of speech. In Basque, the normal structure is subject-object-verb: in other words, the last two are inverted compared to English.
- Ergative case. The letter k is used to distinguish transitive sentences from intransitive ones.
- Verbal factors. The co-existence of two verbal forms—periphrastic (with one or more words) and synthetic (one-word only)—makes fluidity in the language hard to achieve, as the latter are very few in number. Likewise, the language’s four verbal systems makes everything even more difficult.
- Agglutination. This is a process through which suffixes are added to words to transform their meaning. This allows compound words to be created smoothly and efficiently, though it also makes certain linguistic tasks difficult.
A trusted professional Basque translator
Given all of the above, Basque translators must have extensive experience and mastery of their field, working with great attention to detail and consistency. Experience is, of course, a decisive factor.
Finally, in the Basque Country there is a very deep feeling of appreciation for the local language and a strong desire to share it. Communication in this language is promoted both within institutions and in the professional world. It’s almost essential if you want to ensure success in your markets!
As such, finding your perfect Basque translator can really make the difference. Want to guarantee you make the right choice? The team at blarlo will be delighted to help: call us and we’ll offer you the perfect service for your needs.
