Tajik translations and interpreting
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TRANSLATIONS INTO TAJIK / TRANSLATE INTO TAJIK
Skrivanek Translation Agency works with document written translations, technical translations of various complexities, notarised translations, proofreading and stylistic improvement of texts.
For business clients, we most often translate websites, e-commerce content and advertising slogans, as well as cooperation agreements and documentation. For individuals – translations of identity documents, marriage and birth certificates, education and medical documents to and from Tajik.
10 PHRASES TO LEARN IN TAJIK
- Хуш омадӣ! – Hush omady! (Welcome!)
- Салом! – Salom! (Hello!)
- Шумо чи xeл? – Shymo chi hel? (How are you?)
- Хеле вакт шуд надида будем. – Hele vakt shud nadida budem. (Long time no see.)
- Hоми шумо чист? – Nomi shumo chist? (What’s your name?)
- Ман аз … хастам. – Man az … hastam. (I’m from … .)
- Барори кор! – Barori kor! (Good luck!)
- Рахмат! – Rahmat! (Thank you!)
- Лутфан – Lutfan (Please!)
- Рӯзи хуш! – Ryzi hush! (Have a good day!)
TAJIK LANGUAGE IN THE LANGUAGE FAMILY
Tajik, a member of the Indo-European language family, is based on the Samarkand dialect of north-western Tajik. So closely related to Persian spoken in Iran and Afghanistan that it is sometimes considered a dialect of Persian.
The differences between Tajik and Persian can also be seen in the lexicon – Tajik borrows words related to politics, culture and technical terms from Russian, while Persian is more influenced by Western European languages. At the same time, due to the natural isolation of Tajik speakers in the mountains of Central Asia, Tajik has also retained a number of archaic lexical items that are no longer used elsewhere in Persian and its dialects.
WHERE TAJIK IS SPOKEN?
According to WorldData, 8 million people speak Tajik, with 6 million of them in Tajikistan, where Tajik is the official language, and 1.5 million in Uzbekistan. Tajik is also an official regional language in Afghanistan.
TAJIK LANGUAGE VARIATIONS
Tajik has several dialect groups: northern dialect, central dialect, southern dialect, south-eastern dialect. Tajik is a literary language based on the northern dialect spoken in northern and western Tajikistan, and southern Uzbekistan.
TAJIK ALPHABET
Until 1920, the Tajik script used the Persian alphabet due to Islamic influence. After Tajikistan joined the USSR, the Soviet Union began simplifying the Persian alphabet and later tried to introduce the Latin script. The introduction of Cyrillic began in the late thirties of the 20th century, with the development of the Russification programme in Central Asia. The alphabet remained in Cyrillic until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 1989, as Tajik nationalism grew, Tajik was adopted as the national language, calling for the gradual restoration of the Perso-Arabic alphabet. However, Cyrillic is still the de facto standard, while only a very small number of Tajiks read and write in Arabic. Recently, the Tajikistan government is trying to return to the Latin alphabet.
TAJIK LANGUAGE HISTORY
The roots of the Tajik language can be traced back to modern Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, where the Persian language developed, and later to the various forms of Persian spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.
When the Arabs conquered Iran and most of Central Asia in the 8th century, Arabic temporarily became the language of the court, while Persian and Iranian were used only in the private sphere. The Perso-Arabic script also begins at this time. For a long time, New Persian language became the language of communication in Central Asia, but as more Turkic tribes migrated to the region from the east, it lost its influence and came under pressure from Turkic languages from the 16th century onwards.
In parts of Turkmenistan where Tajik was once spoken, it no longer exists. As a result of the Russian Empire’s Turkification, Tajik was also replaced in parts of Uzbekistan, but it remained in much of what is now Tajikistan.
During the Soviet period, Tajik was preserved to some extent with the creation of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Tajikistan, because Tajik was an official language alongside Russian.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of Tajikistan, its government has made considerable efforts to promote the use of Tajik in both public and private life, as Tajikistan is one of the most heavily Russified territories. Even now, in Tajikistan, Russian is also the official state language alongside Tajik.
TAJIK LITERATURE
Tajik literature and poetry has developed through contradictory historical turns, but today it is one of the most vivid and beautiful expressions of Tajik culture. The history of local poetry and prose is inextricably linked with the literature of Iran, India and Uzbekistan. The region’s divisions began in the 16th century, when Shia Muslims came to power in Persia and Sunni Muslims continued to rule in Central Asia. At this time, Tajik literature began to separate from Persian literature to develop its own style.
In Tajikistan, literature has always reflected local political and cultural climate, which has manifested itself in different ways over the centuries. Depending on the era, writers focused on the development of philosophical ideas, the extremism of rulers, the criticism of authorities and the discussion of ideas of enlightenment, and finally – the portrayal of reality and contemporary life. However, the defining feature of Tajik literature and poetry – the preservation of poetic traditions – has remained unchanged.
TAJIK FOLKLORE
Although folklore has been the basis of Tajik literature for more than 2000 years, its historical value is difficult to fully appreciate, as it only appeared in written form in the 19th century. Tajik folklore was first mentioned in Arabic chronicles dating back to 789.
Early folklore is influenced by a collection of sacred texts in Zoroastrianism called Avesta; the songs reveal the relationship between man and nature, the struggle between light and darkness, and the value of hard work. Over time, there emerged other genres such as poetry, ritual songs, parables and fairy tales.
ORIGINS OF TAJIK LITERATURE
The religious and political split between Sunnis and Shias in the 16th century brought monumental changes in Tajik literature, such as criticism of the feudal order in local works. As writing styles became more varied and even contradictory, the genre of satire emerged.
In the 17th-18th centuries, Tajik authors were strongly influenced by the Persian poet Abdul Bedil, who lived in India and whose works were imbued with the ideas of the Sufi branch of Islam – a philosophy based on the ideas of purification of the inner self and merging with the divine.
TAJIK PROSE AND POETRY NOWADAYS
The Soviet regime made adjustments to both the ideas of socialist realism and the influence of Russian language more widely in the second half of the 20th century. Although it is during this period that, for example, drama is developed, many local authors continue to stick to a classic Tajik style of writing, filled with folklore stories and mythical narratives.
After independence, the development of local literature stagnated for a few years, until authors gradually returned to writing in Tajik. As Tajik writers nowadays often cannot afford to publish books, their work is usually shared on social networks or posted on personal blogs. Today, the country offers a wide range of genres, historical novels being the most popular. Thanks to the similarities between Tajik, Dari and Persian language, Tajik prose and poetry have attracted attention in Afghanistan and Iran, too.
SOLUTIONS, WHICH WE MOST OFTEN PROVIDE IN TAJIK:
- translation of various documents into Tajik;
- urgent translations;
- notary-certified translation;
- website translation;
- proofreading of Tajik texts;
TAJIK LANGUAGE COMBINATIONS:
Tajik-Latvian; Latvian-Tajik; Tajik-Lithuanian; Lithuanian-Tajik; Estonian-Tajik; Tajik-Estonian; Russian-Tajik; Tajik-Russian; Polish-Tajik; Tajik-Polish; Ukrainian-Tajik; Tajik-Ukrainian; Czech-Tajik; Tajik-Czech; German-Tajik; Tajik-German; Spanish-Tajik; Tajik-Spanish; French-Tajik; Tajik-French; Italian-Tajik; Tajik-Italian; Danish-Tajik; Tajik-Danish; Swedish-Tajik; Tajik-Swedish; Norwegian-Tajik; Tajik-Norwegian; Finnish-Tajik; Tajik-Finnish; Tajik-Arab; Arab-Tajik; Tajik-Armenian, Armenian-Tajik; Tajik-Belarusian, Belarusian-Tajik; Bulgarian-Tajik, Tajik-Bulgarian; Tajik-Jewish, Jewish-Tajik, Tajik-Greek, Greek-Tajik; Tajik-Georgian; Georgian-Tajik; Tajik-Hindi; Hindi-Tajik; Tajik-Dutch; Dutch-Tajik; Tajik-Korean; Korean-Tajik; Tajik-Kurdish; Kurdish-Tajik; Tajik-Chinese; Chinese-Tajik; Tajik-Portuguese; Portuguese-Tajik; Tajik-Romanian; Romanian-Tajik; Tajik-Slovak; Slovak-Tajik; Tajik-Slovenian; Slovenian-Tajik; Tajik-Turkish; Turkish-Tajik; Tajik-Hungarian; Hungarian-Tajik, etc.