Turkana interpreting and translation

Turkana interpreting for clinics, casework and fieldwork

Most Turkana speakers who went to school also know Swahili or English, yet many older and rural people are only truly at home in Turkana. The language is tonal, and tone can separate words and grammatical forms, so for medical consultations, public health research and legal casework we book a first-language interpreter. Ateker speakers often understand one another well, but we only use a Karamojong or Toposa interpreter where the client agrees.

Telephone and video come into their own when the speaker or the interpreter is far from the appointment, and we test connection quality in advance. Telephone interpreting can be booked at any hour, and video sessions run in the SILA Linguists® app or on your organisation's platform. Relay through Swahili is possible, but we discuss it first, because every extra step adds a risk of meaning being lost. Face-to-face and consecutive interpreting suit community meetings, focus groups and programme evaluations, and a woman or man can interpret if the client asks.

Written Turkana, audio versions and certified papers

Turkana is written in the Latin alphabet, often with ŋ, and tone is sometimes marked with accents, but conventions vary between publications. For leaflets, consent forms and programme information we check with the intended readers whether a written text or a recorded audio version will be more useful, and we can produce both.

Kenyan official documents are issued in English or Swahili. When a Turkana speaker's case needs certified Swahili translation, or a Turkana statement must be presented in English, we certify the work with a signed confirmation of its accuracy, accepted by UK authorities such as immigration officials, courts and universities, and by employers.

Transcribing and translating field recordings

Our Turkana transcribers are prepared for field recordings: interviews with herders, health surveys and programme evaluations. Transcripts are time-coded, tone-sensitive passages are checked carefully, and English translation is supplied ready for analysis. For asylum claims involving the Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan borderlands, SILA Linguists® can arrange language analysis for determining origin (LADO).

Sectors we support in Turkana

Our vetted, trained and qualified Turkana linguists can support humanitarian agencies and development programmes in northern Kenya, health researchers, universities, and immigration and legal practitioners. One coordinator oversees every assignment, our linguists are vetted, and recordings and data remain confidential under NDAs and UK GDPR.