Looking for expert Shan translation services? Since 2003, Green Crescent has been providing professional translation services between English and Shan to clients worldwide. We specialize in various sectors, including legal, business, community, and marketing. Our team ensures precise, high-quality translations tailored to your specific needs. Get a fast, free Shan translation quote today!
Our Comprehensive Shan Translation Services
Green Crescent’s skilled team of Shan translators includes subject matter experts for industry-specific needs. We provide translations tailored to the linguistic intricacies of Shan, ensuring cultural and contextual accuracy across its different dialects.
- Standard Shan
- Southern Shan
- Northern Shan
We specialize in both English to Shan and Shan to English translations, offering the following services:
Simple Translation
Our simple translations in the English/Shan language pair are designed for basic communication needs. These translations are completed by a single Shan translator without the involvement of an editor or proofreader, and therefore should not be considered final or polished work for most professional or formal use cases. While they are typically of high quality, simple translations are essentially "rough drafts" that do not go through additional editing, proofreading, or other quality control processes. These translations are ideal for personal letters, informal communications, initial drafts that will later be revised, or for situations where you need to quickly understand the general meaning or "gist" of a Shan text.
Standard Translation (TEP)
Our Standard Shan Translation service is designed to provide high-quality translations for everyday use, including business correspondence, websites, reports, presentations, and similar content. This service includes translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) to ensure the highest level of accuracy and clarity in your Shan communications.
Organization Critical Translation (TEP+)
Our Organization Critical Shan Translation service is designed for situations where precision is essential. This option is recommended for texts intended for large-scale printing, legal contracts, medical documents, or any case where an error could be critical or costly. Each translated line is reviewed by a minimum of three linguists, with multiple rounds of proofreading. Subject matter experts (SMEs) may be involved as needed throughout the Shan translation, editing, and proofreading (TEP) process.
Bilingual Editing
Bilingual Editing for Shan Translation is the process of editing a translated text by comparing both the source and target texts in the English/Shan language pair. The editor, fluent in the source language and a native speaker of Shan, ensures that the translation is accurate, consistent, and faithful to the source text while also maintaining clarity and fluency in Shan. This step occurs after the initial translation in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard Translation services. We also offer this service as a standalone option for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Proofreading
Our proofreading service for English to Shan and Shan to English translations involves reviewing a single-language text to identify and correct surface-level errors, such as spelling mistakes, grammar issues, punctuation errors, and formatting inconsistencies. This step is the final phase in our TEP (Translation, Editing, Proofreading) Organization Critical and Standard translation services. We also offer proofreading as a standalone service for translations completed by individuals or organizations not affiliated with Green Crescent.
Legal Translation
Green Crescent's elite team of linguists, each with subject matter expertise in legal fields, is ready to assist you with the translation of a wide range of judicial, administrative, and private legal documents between Shan and English. We can also implement enhanced security measures to ensure strict confidentiality upon request.
Technical Translation
Technical translations involve any text that features specialized vocabulary or language registers, necessitating additional research and terminology verification. Common technical subject matter includes legal, medical, scientific, and IT topics. These translations require the expertise of linguists with in-depth knowledge of the relevant technical field in both Shan and English.
Medical Translation
Green Crescent provides professional Shan medical translations with a focus on accuracy and confidentiality. Our team of skilled linguists, specialized in medical terminology, ensures that your translations are both precise and secure.
Localization
Our translation services are tailored for specific target markets that require localized varieties of the Shan language. Green Crescent ensures that your content resonates with the intended audience. Our experienced linguists provide translations that are not only accurate but also culturally relevant and engaging.
Back-translation
Back-translation is a crucial component of quality control, particularly for critical translations in the Shan/English language pair. This process involves translating a previously translated text back into its original language, either Shan or English, and comparing the result to the original translation for accuracy.
Peer Review
Green Crescent offers professional peer review services where one or more linguists not involved in the original translation process assess the quality, style, and overall fitness of the translation for its intended purpose.
SME Review
Subject Matter Expert (SME) review is a specialized form of peer review conducted by non-linguist professionals with expertise in specific fields. This process ensures that Shan to English or English to Shan translations of highly technical texts are both linguistically accurate and technically precise.
Transcreation
Our Shan Transcreation Service adapts your content creatively to resonate with Shan-speaking audiences. We ensure that your brand’s messages maintain their original intent, emotional impact, and tone while aligning with the cultural and linguistic nuances of the target market.
MTPE-Full (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Full)
MTPE-Full involves comprehensive post-editing of machine-generated translations to meet the highest standards of linguistic quality. This includes correcting grammar, syntax, and terminology to ensure the text flows naturally in Shan or English.
MTPE-Light (Machine Translation Post-Editing - Light)
MTPE-Light is a streamlined version of post-editing designed for situations where speed and cost-efficiency are prioritized. The human editor fixes major errors, ensuring the overall meaning is clear and understandable.
Additional Language Services and Options for Shan
Certified Translation
Green Crescent provides certified translations of a wide range of legal documents, including birth, marriage, and death certificates, diplomas, school transcripts, passports, and much more, in both Shan and English. Our certified translations are recognized for their accuracy and compliance with legal standards, making them suitable for official use. You can receive hard copies of our standard certificate of translation mailed directly to your home or business.
Rush Service
If you require expedited service, Green Crescent can usually accommodate such requests. However, please note that rushing translations may come with trade-offs, which could affect both price and consistency. Please consult with a project manager for more details.
Discounts
Volume discounts are available for large projects, long-term clients, and for non-profits, charities, NGOs, and government organizations.
Minimum Fee
There is a minimum project fee of $75.00 USD per language, which can be reduced or waived for regular clients.
Additional Language Services
In addition to translation, Green Crescent offers a range of other Shan language services, including interpretation, transcription, website design and development, and desktop publishing.
About the Shan Language
Shan, known locally as "Shan Tai," is a member of the Tai-Kadai language family and is spoken primarily in Myanmar (Burma), particularly in Shan State. It is also spoken in parts of Thailand, China, and Laos, where various Shan communities reside. The Shan language is closely related to Thai and Lao and shares many linguistic features with these languages, although it has its own distinct identity and cultural significance. Shan is spoken by approximately 4 million people, making it a crucial part of the linguistic landscape in the region.
The Cultural Context, History, and Linguistic Features of Shan
Shan has a deep cultural connection to the Shan people, an ethnic group with a long history in Myanmar. Historically, the Shan Kingdoms were influential in Southeast Asia, with Shan rulers playing key roles in the region’s politics. The language reflects the rich cultural heritage of the Shan people, with oral traditions, literature, and religious texts contributing to its development over centuries.
Linguistically, Shan is a tonal language like many others in the Tai-Kadai family, meaning that changes in pitch or tone can alter the meaning of a word. The language is also isolating, meaning that words typically do not change form based on tense, gender, or number. Instead, grammatical functions are conveyed through word order and the use of particles. This structure makes Shan relatively simple in terms of morphology but complex in terms of tonal and syntactic structure.
The Writing System: Shan Script
Shan is written using its own script, which is derived from the Burmese script but adapted to suit the phonology of the Shan language. The Shan script consists of 18 consonants and 12 vowels, and like many Southeast Asian scripts, it is syllabic, meaning that each written character represents a syllable rather than an individual sound. The script is written from left to right and features several tonal markers to indicate the pitch of a syllable.
Vowels and Consonants: The Shan script uses both vowels and consonants in combination to form syllables. There are also tone markers that are critical to proper pronunciation and meaning, as Shan is a tonal language.
The Shan Alphabet
The Shan language is written using the following script:
- 18 consonants: က, ၵ, င, ꩡ, ꩢ, တ, ထ, ဏ, ꩫ, ပ, ၸ, မ, ယ, ရ, လ, ဝ, ႁ, ၼ
- 12 vowels: အ, ဢ, ိ, ီ, ု, ူ, ေ, ႄ, ်, ႃ, ံ, း
The script is highly phonetic, meaning that words are generally pronounced as they are written. The use of tone markers is essential in differentiating meaning, as a single syllable can have multiple meanings depending on its tone.
Key Linguistic Differences Between Shan and English for Translation
Several linguistic features distinguish Shan from English, and these must be carefully considered during translation to ensure accuracy and cultural appropriateness:
Tonal Language: Shan is a tonal language with five to six tones (depending on the dialect). A change in tone can completely alter the meaning of a word. For example, the syllable "ma" can mean "come," "horse," or "dog," depending on the tone used. English, which does not use tones to distinguish word meaning, requires careful handling of tone in translation, especially in oral or poetic contexts.
Isolating Grammar: Shan uses an isolating grammar structure, meaning that words typically do not change form to express tense, gender, or number. Instead, these grammatical aspects are conveyed through word order and particles. English, on the other hand, frequently uses verb conjugations and plural forms, so translators must ensure that these grammatical elements are conveyed properly.
Word Order: Shan generally follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order, similar to English. However, the use of particles to indicate tense, aspect, and mood can add complexity to sentence structure. Translators need to carefully manage these particles to ensure that the correct meaning is conveyed in English, which may use auxiliary verbs or word reordering to express the same concepts.
Vowel Length and Tone Markers: In Shan, vowel length and tone are crucial to meaning. The script includes diacritical marks to indicate tone, and vowel length can also change the meaning of a word. Translators must pay close attention to these markers to ensure that the intended meaning is accurately conveyed in English, even though English does not rely on tone or vowel length in the same way.
Honorifics and Formality: Shan, like many languages in Southeast Asia, uses honorifics and polite forms of speech depending on the context and the relationship between the speakers. These cultural nuances must be carefully translated to English to maintain the appropriate level of respect and formality.
Loanwords and Indigenous Terms: Shan has borrowed words from Burmese, Thai, and Pali (the language of Buddhist scriptures), which are commonly used in religious and cultural contexts. Translators must be aware of these loanwords and decide whether to retain them in the translation or find appropriate English equivalents, depending on the target audience.
By addressing these linguistic and cultural differences, Green Crescent ensures that our Shan translation services are accurate, culturally sensitive, and linguistically precise. Our goal is to ensure that translations resonate with both Shan-speaking and English-speaking audiences while maintaining the integrity of the original text.
An Insight into Shan Expression
This passage is from the well-known Shan literary work “Lik Tai Kham”, which explores themes of wisdom, harmony, and community, values deeply rooted in Shan culture.
- Shan: "မၢတ်ႈၼႆႉတေႉပၼ်ၼၼ်ႇလိၵ်ႈမၢတ်ႈတၢင်းလိၵ်ႈ, ဢမ်ႇၵၼ်ပဵၼ်ၸႂ်သိုဝ်ႉဢမ်ႇလွင်ႈ။"
- English Translation: "A wise person does not seek wisdom for themselves but for the good of the community."