Basque translation services

Basque translation is priced per word for text and per minute for audiovisual, depending on volume, subject matter and turnaround, with agreeing the form of address included as part of the brief rather than billed as an extra step. Send your files and we will come back with a free, itemised quote, backed by our Price Match Promise.

Yes. Native Basque linguists handle every translation, and a second native linguist independently reviews each text, checking that the agreed form of address holds for each pair of characters across every scene instead of drifting halfway through.

Yes — Basque translation, subtitling and voice over all come from one team, working to a single glossary throughout. It also means the form of address decided in the script is the one performed in the booth, rather than being reopened on the day.

Zuka is the neutral form of address. Hika is the allocutive: the verb itself marks who is being spoken to, and it splits by the listener's sex — toka for a man, noka for a woman. It appears even in sentences where the listener is never mentioned, which is why it cannot be added or removed afterwards.

For corporate video, training and public-information material, zuka. Euskaltzaindia records that the allocutive is avoided in formal settings, on radio and in institutional broadcasting, so that decision is usually quick. Fiction is where it takes real thought, because it has to be settled relationship by relationship.

Yes — audiovisual is our specialisation. We deliver spotted SRT/VTT and timed two-column voice-over scripts, plus translated text when you need it.

We ask, and if the answer is not settled yet we flag the lines it affects rather than choosing silently. It is a short conversation at brief stage and an expensive one after a recording session, because the allocutive is not something a studio can patch line by line.

No. Basque is not an Indo-European language and has no established relationship to the languages around it, which is part of why English source material maps onto it so differently. Its verb agrees with more than one argument at once, so a line taken out of context often cannot be assembled at all.

Most short documents are delivered within 24 to 48 hours. Word count, subject complexity and turnaround all move the date, and your project manager will confirm the timeline at the start.

Less than people expect: the document, script or subtitle file, its word count, what the text is actually for, and the date you need it by. A draft is fine — we would rather quote on what exists than wait for a final version that eats your deadline. A named project manager comes back with an itemised quote, normally within four working hours.

More than half of enquiries get a reply within thirty minutes during office hours (Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm UK time), and the itemised quote normally follows within four working hours. After that you have one dedicated project manager who owns the job from brief to final file — not a ticket queue, and not a different name on every email. If it is easier, call +44 207 095 5730 and ask for them by name.

Yes, and it is one of the commonest reasons people get in touch. Tell us it is for a pitch and you get a figure you can put in front of your own client, itemised so it stands up to being picked apart, with no obligation and no follow-up sales calls if the pitch goes elsewhere. If it lands, the quote still holds and we already know the project.