Looking for expert Amharic translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been delivering professional translation services between English and Amharic to clients globally. We specialize in sectors including legal, government, NGO, business, and educational fields. Our team ensures accurate, high-quality translations tailored to your specific needs. Get a fast, free Amharic translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Amharic Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Amharic translators includes subject matter experts for industry-specific needs. We provide translations in the standard Amharic dialect, which is the official working language of Ethiopia. Our services cover Amharic as spoken in various regions of the country.
We specialize in both English to Amharic and Amharic to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Amharic language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Amharic translator without the involvement of an editor or proofreader, making them suitable for informal communication or understanding the general meaning of a text. Simple translations are ideal for personal correspondence, casual reading, or early drafts, but they are not recommended for professional or formal use without further revision.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Amharic Translation service offers high-quality translations for everyday use, such as business correspondence, websites, reports, and presentations. This service includes translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) to ensure that your Amharic documents are accurate, fluent, and professional. It is the best choice for documents that require precision and clarity.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Amharic Translation service is ideal for sensitive or technical documents where accuracy is essential, such as legal contracts, technical manuals, or medical documents. These translations undergo multiple rounds of proofreading by expert linguists, with input from subject matter experts (SMEs) when necessary, ensuring the translation is both technically accurate and contextually appropriate.
Bilingual Editing
Our Bilingual Editing service ensures that your Amharic translation accurately reflects the source text while maintaining clarity and fluency. The editor compares both the original and translated texts to ensure consistency, accuracy, and cultural relevance. This service is particularly useful for business, legal, or academic documents where precision is key.
Proofreading
Our proofreading service for Amharic translations focuses on correcting surface-level errors such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation mistakes. This service is typically the final step before finalizing a translation for publication or submission, ensuring that the document is polished and ready for professional use. We also offer proofreading as a standalone service for translations that have already been completed.
Legal Translation
Green Crescent provides expert legal translation services for Amharic, handling a wide range of documents, including contracts, court documents, and official certificates. Our legal translators are experienced in Amharic legal terminology and ensure that your documents are translated with the highest level of accuracy, suitable for submission to legal entities and government bodies.
Technical Translation
Technical translations in Amharic require expertise in specialized fields such as IT, engineering, and science. Our technical translators and subject matter experts ensure that industry-specific terminology is accurately translated and that the meaning is preserved, even for the most complex content. This service is ideal for technical manuals, engineering documents, and scientific reports.
Medical Translation
Our medical translation services in Amharic are designed for translating medical reports, clinical trial documents, pharmaceutical information, and other health-related content. We ensure that medical terminology is accurately translated and that all documents adhere to regulatory standards. Our translators have experience working with sensitive medical content to ensure high levels of accuracy and confidentiality.
Localization
Our localization services for Amharic ensure that your content is culturally adapted and linguistically accurate for Amharic-speaking audiences. Whether it's marketing materials, software, or websites, we tailor your translations to resonate with the cultural and linguistic nuances of the Amharic-speaking population.
Website, App, and Software Localization for Amharic
We offer comprehensive website, app, and software localization services for Amharic-speaking users. This includes translating text, adapting user interfaces, and ensuring that your software or application is optimized for Amharic-speaking regions. Whether for mobile apps or desktop software, our localization services ensure that your digital content is accessible and relevant to your target audience.
Back-translation
Back-translation is a quality assurance process where we translate the Amharic text back into the original source language to ensure accuracy and consistency. This service is particularly useful for legal, medical, and technical documents where precision is critical. Back-translation helps ensure that the intended meaning is fully preserved in the final translation.
Peer Review
Our Peer Review service for Amharic translations involves an independent linguist reviewing the translation for accuracy, consistency, and adherence to stylistic guidelines. This additional layer of quality control ensures that your translation is error-free and meets the highest standards of linguistic quality.
SME Review
Subject Matter Expert (SME) review is essential for specialized Amharic translations in fields such as law, medicine, engineering, or technology. Our SMEs work closely with the translation team to ensure that technical terminology is accurately translated and contextually appropriate. This service is particularly useful for complex documents that require expert knowledge.
Transcreation
Our Amharic Transcreation service goes beyond literal translation to creatively adapt your content for the Amharic-speaking audience. Whether it's for marketing, advertising, or branding, we ensure that your messages are not only accurately translated but also culturally engaging and resonant with the target audience, preserving the original intent and emotional impact.
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full)
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full) involves a detailed review of machine-translated content between Amharic and English. This service ensures that the final translation is accurate, fluent, and meets high-quality linguistic standards. MTPE-Full is suitable for business-critical documents or any content requiring a polished, professional result.
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light)
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light) is a quicker, more cost-effective service where our editors focus on fixing major errors in machine-translated text. While it may not reach the level of polish as MTPE-Full, it ensures that the translation is clear and understandable, making it suitable for internal documents or content where full linguistic accuracy is not required.
Additional Language Services and Options for Amharic
Certified Translation
Green Crescent provides certified translations of official documents, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, diplomas, passports, and legal documents in both Amharic and English. Our certified translations are accepted by government agencies, legal bodies, and educational institutions.
Rush Service
We offer rush translation services for Amharic documents when fast delivery is essential. While we strive to maintain quality, expedited services may come with trade-offs in pricing and consistency. Please consult with a project manager to discuss the details of your request.
Discounts
Volume discounts are available for large projects, long-term clients, and organizations such as non-profits, NGOs, charities, and government entities.
Minimum Fee
There is a minimum project fee of $75.00 USD per language, which can be reduced or waived for regular clients or special projects.
Additional Language Services
In addition to translation, Green Crescent offers other Amharic language services, including interpretation, transcription, website design, and desktop publishing.
About the Amharic Language
Amharic, known locally as "አማርኛ" (Amarəñña), is the official working language of Ethiopia and the second most spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic. With over 32 million native speakers and millions more who use it as a second language, Amharic plays a crucial role in government, education, and daily life throughout Ethiopia. As a language deeply tied to the cultural and historical identity of Ethiopia, it is used in media, literature, and religious practices, particularly in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
The Cultural Context, History, and Linguistic Features of Amharic
Amharic has a rich history dating back to the 12th century, emerging as the court language of the Ethiopian Empire. It has since become the dominant language of governance and communication in Ethiopia, reflecting the country’s unique cultural and historical heritage. Amharic is integral to Ethiopian literature, music, and religious texts, particularly in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, where it is used alongside Ge'ez, an ancient liturgical language.
Linguistically, Amharic is a member of the Afro-Asiatic family and belongs to the Semitic branch, making it closely related to languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, and Tigrinya. Amharic is known for its complex verb system and use of root patterns, where words are built from a core set of consonants with added affixes to convey tense, mood, and aspect. The language is also distinguished by its use of the Ge'ez script, a unique feature among the Semitic languages.
The Writing System: Ge'ez Script
Amharic is written using the Ge'ez script (also known as Fidel), which is an abugida, meaning that each character represents a consonant-vowel combination. The script has 33 base characters, each of which changes shape depending on the vowel sound that accompanies the consonant. The script is written from left to right, and it is widely used in all forms of written communication in Ethiopia.
Vowels and Consonants: Amharic has seven vowel sounds, and the Ge'ez script reflects these vowels through modifications of the base characters. The language also includes several consonants that are unfamiliar to English speakers, such as ejective and pharyngeal consonants.
Amharic Alphabet (Ge'ez Script)
The Amharic alphabet includes a total of 33 base characters that are modified to represent different vowel sounds. Below are examples of base consonant characters and their associated vowels:
- አ (ä), ኡ (u), ኢ (i), ኣ (a), ኤ (e), እ (ə), ኦ (o)
- ቀ (qä), ቁ (qu), ቂ (qi), ቃ (qa), ቄ (qe), ቅ (qə), ቆ (qo)
Key Linguistic Differences Between Amharic and English for Translation
When translating between Amharic and English, several linguistic features must be considered:
Verb Conjugation and Root System: Amharic verbs are built from root consonants with a range of prefixes and suffixes that indicate tense, aspect, and mood. English uses auxiliary verbs to achieve similar meanings, so translators must carefully handle these affixes to accurately reflect the meaning in English.
Word Order: Amharic typically follows a Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) word order, while English follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) structure. Translators must adjust the word order to ensure clarity while preserving the original meaning and emphasis.
Gender and Pronouns: Amharic marks gender in its pronouns and verbs, distinguishing between masculine and feminine forms. English does not have this level of gender marking, so translators must ensure that gender distinctions in Amharic are correctly conveyed in English.
Script and Pronunciation: The Ge'ez script is unique to Amharic and other Ethiopian languages, and pronunciation can vary significantly from English. Translators must be mindful when transliterating names and key terms to maintain accurate pronunciation.
Tone and Politeness Levels: Amharic uses different levels of politeness depending on the social context, with formal and informal forms of address. Translators must accurately convey these levels of politeness, as they are critical in expressing respect or familiarity.
By addressing these linguistic and cultural nuances, Green Crescent ensures that translations between Amharic and English are accurate, culturally sensitive, and reflective of the unique characteristics of the Amharic-speaking community.
An Insight into Amharic Expression
This passage is inspired by a traditional Amharic proverb that reflects the wisdom and resilience of the Ethiopian people, emphasizing strength and determination in facing life’s challenges.
- Amharic: "በጨለማ ውስጥ እንኳን ብርሃኑን ያገኛል ያለ እምነት ሰው ፍቅሩን ያድርጋል ብርሃኑን ለማግኘት የተነሳ አሻራ።"
- English Translation: "Even in darkness, the one who carries hope will find the light."