Metaglossia: The Translation World

18.04.2024

OLHA MUKHA  "Translation has consistently been a central focus at London Book Fairs. Translators’ and scouts’ perspectives shape publishing decisions for translations. Nonetheless, their impact on the UK publishing market is limited to 3-6% of the market, which mostly belongs to anglophone writers. Over the last two years, Japanese manga made it clear: the foreign literature segment is poised for growth.

In 2023, the UK witnessed a surge in popularity for manga and cozy novels, with Japanese writers leading the market for translated titles. Seventeen of the top 30 translated authors in Britain hailed from Japan, contributing to nine out of the 20 bestsellers being originally written in Japanese. Kentaro Miura, the manga creator who tragically passed away in 2021 at the age of 54, led the pack of translators. An overwhelming 95% of manga sales came from titles originally published in Japan. Among the top 10 authors in translation who generated over £1 million in sales last year, seven were Japanese, with five of them being manga creators. The only non-Japanese names in the top 10 were Thomas Erikson (3rd) and Andrzej Sapkowski (10th).

 

 

The top 20 lists featured familiar names such as Elena Ferrante, Jo Nesbo, Paulo Coelho, and Haruki Murakami. Additionally, new faces emerged in the charts, including Bulgarian author Georgi Gospodinov.

 

 

RELATED: Georgi Gospodinov: ‘We have to be better readers than Putin and his circle’ 

 

 

Other languages represented in the top 30 include Ancient Greek (Homer, 11th), Latin (Marcus Aurelius, 12th), Norwegian (Jo Nesbo, 13th), Hebrew (Yuval Noah Harari, 17th), Chinese (Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, 18th), Italian (Elena Ferrante, 24th), Portuguese (Paulo Coelho, 25th), Korean (Chugong, 26th), and French (Herge, 28th). Russian authors also made their mark on the chart, with Dostoevsky and Tolstoy ranking 23rd and 29th, respectively.

 

 

While Ukraine is not included in the top charts of translation but is continuing to expand in the market: Thames and Hudson is preparing a new edition of Alisa Lozhkina’s book on Ukrainian art, Oksana Lushchevska’s book “It’s a Silent Night, My Astronaut” will also be published in the UK, there are some movements on the children literature. 

 

 

“The full-scale invasion put contemporary Ukrainian literature on the map of translated literature in English”, confirms Dr Uilleam Blacker, Associate Professor in Ukrainian and East European Culture School of Slavonic and East European Studies University College London:

 

 

“Before February 2022, it was a challenge to get anglophone publishers, agents or journals interested in Ukrainian literature, as they simply had no conception of Ukraine’s literature, no reference points, no prehistory of translations. Translations were mostly done in academic or diaspora settings with limited reach. After February 2022, there was a jump in demand for Ukrainian literature in translation, which has led to many publications and a much greater familiarity among anglophone readers with Ukrainian literature. However, Ukrainian literature in this situation is rather limited to the war context, and the broader richness of Ukrainian literature (for example, classics, or Ukrainian genre fiction) remains under-explored. Interest in war literature will no doubt continue for some time – and Ukrainian war literature is remarkable and should be translated – but we should also think about how to provide the anglophone reader (and readers in other languages) with a more rounded picture of the richness of Ukrainian literature and its traditions.“

 

 

 

Emma Shercliff, Laxfield Literary Associates, British publishing consultant and book market researcher shares her own experience as a literary agent and advocate for Ukraine representations in translation:

 

 

“I continue to have a lot of interest in work by Ukrainian authors – both in work written since the full scale invasion, but increasingly in novels and non-fiction published before the war, such as Artem Chapeye’s “Weathering” and Oleksandr Mykhed’s “I Will Mix Your Blood With Coal,” both of which I have sold in English.

I continue to have had great success selling Ukrainian authors in translation, in partnership with my colleagues James Pusey and Nicole Etherington at Blake Friedmann Literary Agency. We have now sold rights to works by Artem and Oleksandr in France, Germany, Georgia, the Netherlands, Poland and Slovakia. I saw the direct impact of the UBI translation grant program, with offers from publishers in Georgia and the Netherlands in the days leading up to the Fair, before the application window closed. Our sales for Victoria’s “Looking at Women Looking at War: War & Justice Diary” continue strongly, with rights now sold in the UK, US, France, Georgia, Italy and Korea – and strong interest from other countries including Germany, Poland, Serbia and Sweden at the Fair. We’ve also had enquiries about Victoria’s poetry collection and in her novel “Dom’s Dream Kingdom” (now sold in five languages). I’m also agenting Volodymyr Vakulenko’s remarkable “Occupation Diary,” published by Vivat, in which there is considerable interest, and a close overlap with Victoria’s non-fiction work.”

 

It’s notable that Ukrainian books were primarily found among the exhibits of neighboring countries, particularly at the stands of Poland and Estonia, the latter being the guest of honor at LBF in 2018. Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million and just under a million Estonian speakers, boasted an impressive output of literature in 2022, with over 3,349 new titles released, albeit in limited volumes ranging from 500 to 800. This equates to nearly 12 Estonian books being published every day. Organizers acknowledge the demand for Ukrainian translations and showcased select titles.

 

However, it’s worth mentioning the absence of several countries at the fair this year, including Georgia (Sakartvelo), Latvia, Lithuania, as well as the Scandinavian and Nordic countries, which had shown interest in translations and support in the previous year. Additionally, there was no booth from Russian publishers, although several agents conducted working meetings in the rights sales hub."

#metaglossia_mundus

22 April, by Miguel Ángel Cabrera Gallego

John Keats at Guy’s Hospital, London, 2014

"As JEF’s Europe’s only English language magazine, The New Federalist (TNF) honors the English Language this week on the occasion of International English Language Day which falls on April 23rd of each year.

On this occasion I have been granted the privilege of writing in a relaxed way about a subject far from the dense and serious areas that I usually indulge myself in on this platform. Today I will talk to you about the English language. It is a fact that English is one of the world’s most important languages, if not the most important language, given its widespread use as a working language in international business and the world’s many international organisations. In diplomatic circles, where French used to prevail, it is gradually, if not already, being replaced by English.

If we ask ourselves what has brought us to this point, we must think back on one of humanity’s biggest empires in history, the British Empire. It managed to export its language to places far away from each other, where it was imposed upon the natives. Moreover, as the economic powerhouse of its era, the power of negotiation was being done in English. From then on, the decline of the British Empire was followed by the rise of the United States of America. Both the United Kingdom, heir to the British Empire, and the United States became members of the UN Security Council after winning World War II (1939-1945), which provided them the legitimacy to impose their language as the official language in most of the international organisations that have been developed since then. The United States, which to this day continues to maintain its position as the world’s leading economic, cultural and military power, has accelerated this process by promoting an aggressive cultural diplomacy through film, literature and technological means.

However, there is a certain particularity in the European Union regarding the stature of English; perhaps because neither American nor English citizens have the right to vote in our institutions. However, it still is considered an official and working language in the EU institutions. Evidently, it is the most spoken second language in the EU, with many as 43% of the European population able to comprehend it.

Many people consider it to be a simple language to learn, which would facilitate its learning and use, arguing that it has a more accessible grammar at the pronoun level and consequently less convoluted verb conjugations than other EU languages. It turns out, even if many people are not aware of the fact, that when you begin enjoying learning a language, you end up understanding that it is inevitable that along the way you will have to read classic literature in it to understand not only the roots of it, but also its mindset and world view. The weight of the way you see the world rests largely on your ability to describe it through language, which is nothing more than a reflection of the passage of time in society. It is something that has been studied again and again.

Many people discover it within themselves when they read the works of Shakespeare or other famous authors and artists. In my personal case it was when I read the poetry of John Keats, who still used the uncommon pronouns today of: thine, thy, thee, thou, etc, as in the following sentence: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Sonnet 18, Shakespeare.

These pronouns, whose use is currently reserved exclusively for poetry, religious texts and certain dialectal regions, bring certain nuances to texts that, from my point of view as a Spaniard, embellish them.

Nowadays, they have no place in modern English as they have been replaced by “you” “your” “yours” “you all” and so on, and we must accept it as a fact. It is not possible, as I once heard, to request for their use to be taken up again in Europe to make them similar to other languages or as a way of differentiation. Languages develop, or should develop autonomously from the nations they are from, as they are an active part of the culture and as such should be the property of the citizens, not the countries. Today, English is a global language whose use is essential for travel or work. That is why this short article is dedicated to the most spoken foreign language in the world.

“Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art," John Keats, Brights stars"

#metaglossia_mundus

Lundi, 22 avril 2024 00:00  "Nos dirigeants veulent protéger le français. Avec raison. Cependant, beaucoup d’entre eux ont encore une conception du 20e siècle de l’univers social dans lequel les Québécois évoluent.

Pourtant, la nouvelle réalité, ils la voient bien. Mais ils refusent d’en tirer les conclusions et les politiques qui s’imposent.

En 2022, selon Statista, 64% des sites web dans le monde étaient en anglais, pour 26% d’internautes de langue anglaise. Les autres langues n’occupaient qu’une place marginale dans le monde web. Ainsi, les sites en langue russe formaient 6,8% des sites mondiaux, pour 2,5% de locuteurs russes et l’espagnol, 3,6% des sites pour 7,2% des locuteurs. Le français arrivait en 4e position, avec 2,5% des sites pour 3,3% de locuteurs sur internet.

Toujours plus en anglais
Il est donc plus facile de trouver des sites web de qualité en anglais que dans toutes autres langues. Ceux qui veulent rejoindre le plus de personnes possible ont aussi intérêt à écrire en anglais.

Cette tendance à écrire en anglais est encouragée par les algorithmes de recherche et par les revenus que peut générer une fréquentation élevée d’un site web.

Les chercheurs académiques, qui carburent au nombre de publications scientifiques et au nombre de citations, sont irrésistiblement incités à publier en anglais pour gonfler leurs statistiques et ainsi recevoir davantage de subventions.

Les influenceurs, qui s’enrichissent grâce aux clics, préfèrent souvent s’exprimer en anglais.

Tous ces gens, par leurs activités internet, augmentent jour après jour la part de l’anglais dans les réseaux sociaux.

Débordements dans le monde réel
Les réseaux sociaux occupent une telle place dans la vie quotidienne, qu’il n’est que normal que ceux-ci débordent dans le monde réel et qu’ils s’imposent de plus en plus dans les interactions physiques entre les gens. Les expressions anglaises les plus diverses se répandent ainsi rapidement dans plusieurs langues, dont le français.

Pourtant, cette influence de l’anglais dans internet pourrait bientôt changer. Les logiciels de traduction automatique ont atteint des niveaux de performance extraordinaire. Au point où les articles scientifiques n’ont plus vraiment de raison d’être publiés initialement dans la langue de Shakespeare.

Reste que les vidéos ne sont pas faciles à traduire ni les interventions sur la plupart des réseaux sociaux.

Au fond, les politiques de préservation du français touchent notre mode de vie avec internet, dans internet et en dehors d’internet. Toute politique de défense du français doit obligatoirement toucher ces trois modes de vie pour être efficace. Trop souvent, seul le dernier est visé par les gouvernements.

Des solutions existent, mais elles requièrent un peu d’audace et d’imagination. J’y reviendrai dans une autre chronique. En attendant, vos contributions sont plus que jamais les bienvenues!"

#metaglossia_mundus

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#metaglossia_mundus

Author links open overlay panelNicolas B. Verger a, Julie Roberts b, Jane Guiller a, Kareena McAloney-Kocaman a

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101527Get rights and content

 

Highlights

• •

  Both parents from the United Kingdom and France view creativity as a desirable phenomenon linked to originality and problem solving.

• •

  The parents distinguished between two types of creative activities: craft activities like drawing, in which children can develop their competence and ability; and imaginative activities like pretend play, in which children can express themselves.

• •

  The parents reported that members of the dyad needs to be motivated in the creative activity in order to fully be immersed in it and make meaningful moments that can contribute to their bonding.

• •

  The parents used creative activities as a diversion strategy to help their children to regulate their emotions, or promote positive affect and vitality.

• •

  Creative activities appear to be valuable both as a process – for the effects they can yield on children's development – as well as for the products they yield, and they can contribute to hone the child's development of their creative self-concept and personality.

Abstract

Although creativity research increasingly documents how parents support their children's creativity at home, previous work has been mostly quantitative in nature, while qualitative studies almost exclusively report data from mothers. Thus, we conducted online qualitative interviews of 14 parents (9 mothers and 5 fathers) of children aged between 4 and 6 years, who were living in France or in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through a cross-cultural reflexive thematic analysis, we explored questions around what views of early childhood creativity parents shared; whether (and if so why) they are motivated to engage in dyadic home creative activities with their children; and their perceptions of the benefits of these activities, both on themselves, and on their children. The parents shared views and definitions of creativity in line with creativity research. Moreover, they explained how they used creative activities to teach their children social rules, self-expression, independence, and skills development. They also appreciated creative activities as a strategy to help their children vent and calm down or, in contrast, to foster in them a sense of joy and vitality. Parents also reported the extent to which creative activities contribute to parent—child relationship quality. We discuss these findings through the lens of Self-Determination Theory.

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Keywords

Creativity support

Creative activities

Early childhood

Self-determination

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#metaglossia_mundus

"Taking as its starting point Amin Maalouf’s conception of identity in Les Identités meurtrières (1998), this article will study francophonie from a translational perspective. Translation will be analysed as a linguistic transfer but also as a contact zone that brings out the alterity present in francophone texts and reveals their intrinsic plurality. Thus, translation will also be envisaged as a constitutive part of francophonie, whereby a monolingual understanding of French will give way to ‘francopolyphonies’, that is an intricate, relational space in which translation not only helps to voice polyphony, but also functions as a ‘métier à métisser’, as René Depestre puts it. While some texts will be studied as acts of self-translation, questioning the potential pitfalls of (self-)exoticism and assimilation for the francophone writer/translator, others will be analysed through a process of ‘unhoming’ French language and culture. Thus situated at the crossroads of cultural and linguistic encounters, translation will offer a transnational and translinguistic reading of francophonie, which will potentially lead to ‘franco-reciprocities’."

#metaglossia_mundus

"Jung So-yeon 2024.04.22 12:05

SK Telecom (SKT) announced on April 22 that it has launched TransTalker, an AI simultaneous interpreting solution that supports 13 languages. 

TransTalker supports 13 languages, including English, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Vietnamese, German, and Russian, in addition to Korean. SKT plans to add more languages based on customer responses and requirements.

When a foreign tourist asks a question in their own language into the microphone installed in front of the transparent screen, a Korean translation is displayed on the screen of the information desk representative. The representative then answers in Korean, which is translated into the tourist's language in real time and displayed on the monitor.

TransTalker consists of a transparent LED display, a 'directional microphone' that transmits only the sound in front of the microphone to maximize ambient noise, and a PC. For AI-based simultaneous interpreting, it has applied features such as Speech to text (STT), Neural Processing Unit (NPU), translation engine, and Large language model (LLM) with AI specialist Conan Technology, a member of the K-AI Alliance.

Lotte Department Store signed a contract with SKT to introduce the solution to improve shopping convenience for foreigners, and installed TransTalker at the information desks on the first floor of Avenuel Jamsil and the first basement floor of Lotte World Mall. Starting with Lotte Department Store, SKT plans to secure various corporate customers who need simultaneous interpretation services.

SKT explained that TransTalker can be used in public transportation, hotels, government offices, tourist attractions, shopping malls, and restaurants frequented by foreigners, as well as general businesses.
 

저작권자 © Korea IT Times 무단전재 및 재배포 금지"

#metaglossia_mundus

"As "The Chosen" Season 4 release date comes closer, the Come and See Foundation announced its latest translation milestone.

The Come and See Foundation hit a translation milestone

Published: April 21, 2024, 9:30 p.m. MDT By Hanna Seariac

Hanna is a reporter for the Deseret News where she covers courts, crime, policy and faith.

The Come and See Foundation announced it had accomplished a milestone release of more than 50 language translations for the show “The Chosen.”

The foundation has the goal of translating and dubbing the show into 600 languages so the vast majority of people across the globe can watch the show in their own language. Earlier this month, it completed its efforts in more than 50 of those languages with the help of subject matter experts.

So, some of the languages the show has either been translated into and/or dubbed include Swedish, Slovak, Romanian, Punjabi, Malagasy, Korean, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Greek and Czech.

Stan Jantz, the foundation’s CEO, spoke with the Deseret News on the phone to talk about the translation efforts — it’s something he says “speaks to a heart level.”

On translating ‘The Chosen’

Jantz said translating a show into someone else’s primary language speaks to their hearts because it’s the language they grew up speaking. In fact, he used the term “heart language” when speaking about it.

When translating the show, the foundation is careful to ensure that “the translations have the same meaning.” Jantz said the foundation ensures that the meaning of particular words is preserved. Sometimes when doing a one to one translation of a show or book, the one to one translation does not account for language specific idioms or other differences.

Wendi Lord, who oversees translation, wrote on the foundation’s website, “There are some tricky lines to localize!”

“In Season 3, Episode Two, Atticus exclaims, ‘Quintus is going to come out of his sandals when he sees this!’ How do you translate that?” Lord wrote.

Jantz said the goal of the Come and See Foundation’s translation efforts is to ensure that the meaning of the show is preserved and localized.

‘The Chosen’ premiere in theater

Referencing the show’s premiere in São Paulo, Jantz said thousands attended the premiere in the theater and it was shown at hundreds of theaters around the country that weekend. It made him happy to hear the impact the show had on the people there.

The U.S. is the largest market for “The Chosen,” but it’s followed by Brazil, which also has a large number of viewers of the show.

In Warsaw, Poland, the show also was translated. There it wasn’t dubbed or translated with closed captions, Jantz said, it was a voiceover that brought the show to life for the people there.

The impact of translation

The translation work matters to Jantz because of how people relate to the show. Jantz said that when you translate the show, it reaches more people (the 600 language goal covers around 95% of the world) and it also has special meaning for them.

As the Come and See Foundation progresses on its goal, the foundation has invited people to pray for its efforts. “Pray for Come & See as it provides the resources, technology, ministry connections and expertise to further translation of ‘The Chosen’ into 600 heart languages.”"

#metaglossia_mundus

"mardi 23 avril 2024 Mardi 23 avril, 18h30 Collège International des Traducteurs Littéraires (CITL) Arles, Place Félix Rey, 13200 Arles ATLAS invite Josée Kamoun à l'occasion de la parution du  »  Dictionnaire amoureux de la traduction  »"

#metaglossia_mundus

"Depuis près de quarante ans, elle « passe » des livres en anglais aux lecteurs français. Et non des moindres : Philip Roth, George Orwell, Richard Ford… Une aventure qui a débuté presque par hasard, comme on peut le lire dans son « Dictionnaire amoureux de la traduction ».

Josée Kamoun : « Traduire me démultiplie »

Depuis près de quarante ans, elle « passe » des livres en anglais aux lecteurs français. Et non des moindres : Philip Roth, George Orwell, Richard Ford… Une aventure qui a débuté presque par hasard, comme on peut le lire dans son « Dictionnaire amoureux de la traduction ».

Par Raphaëlle Leyris

Publié hier à 08h00, modifié hier à 12h00

Temps de Lecture 6 min.

Ce quartier de Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) est encore en construction. L’appartement, lumineux, meublé avec une sobriété portée sur les couleurs claires. Josée Kamoun s’y est installée il y a six mois. Il jouxte le fameux marché aux puces de la ville, voisinage qui prend tout son sens quand, dans le cours de la ­conversation, la traductrice, expliquant son rapport au monde et son enthousiasme à n’être « qu’une partie du tout », développe : « J’adore les choses de seconde main, porter des vêtements ou des bijoux qui ont appartenu à d’autres, me rouler dans une poussière qui n’est pas la mienne. C’est quelque chose de structurel pour moi. » Ce qui la conduit à aimer les brocantes comme à trouver tant de joie dans le fait de « passer » les textes écrits par d’autres, à se glisser dans leur imaginaire et leur rythme, depuis une quarantaine d’années – jusqu’à sa retraite de l’éducation nationale, elle exerçait cette activité parallèlement à son travail de professeure d’anglais en classes prépa­ratoires puis d’inspectrice générale. « Ce travail me démultiplie, il me met des ­bottes de sept lieues. »

Après une cinquantaine de traductions, publier un livre où son nom serait seul sur la couverture ne la travaillait pas exagérément : « J’écris de la fiction un peu comme tout le monde, j’ai commis des nouvelles pendant le confinement, mais ça a vocation à rester dans mes tiroirs », dit-elle avec une tempérance en matière d’espoirs éditoriaux à laquelle un journaliste littéraire a rarement affaire. Mais, début 2021, elle déjeune chez des amis avec l’écrivain et éditeur Jean-Loup Chiflet, qui travaille pour les éditions Plon et a signé, entre beaucoup d’autres choses, les drolatiques bréviaires de traduction Sky my husband (1978-2016). « Je lui ai dit qu’il devrait s’atteler à un “Dictionnaire amoureux de la traduction”. Il m’a renvoyé la balle : “Ça vous revient.” » Quinze jours plus tard, elle signe son contrat. « C’est un livre que je me sentais légitime à écrire, sentiment que j’éprouve rarement. » Elle s’empresse de préciser : « Mais je pense que bien d’autres l’auraient été tout autant que moi, même si le résultat aurait été différent. »

Curiosité tous azimuts

Le résultat, en l’occurrence, est ce texte à la fois savant et d’une fringante accessibilité ; « un “dictionnaire amoureux” ne s’adresse pas aux spécialistes mais aux amateurs, il fallait être claire », dit l’ancienne prof. Y transparaissent l’intelligence solaire, joueuse, de l’autrice et sa curiosité tous azimuts, qui a autant trait à la littérature et à la linguistique qu’à la musique, à la langue des signes ou à l’anthropologie sociale – elle a étudié cette matière entre son agrégation d’anglais et son doctorat de littérature, consacré à Henry James, et voit ce « pas de côté » comme « presque plus crucial pour une aventure traductive ». On trouve des anecdotes personnelles dans ce Dictionnaire amoureux, mais il serait excessif de prétendre qu’elle s’y dévoile outre mesure. « Je suis une obsessionnelle, pas une hystérique », tranche-t-elle en partant d’un rire cristallin, pour justifier sa légère réticence à s’exposer dans son texte – « mais tout ce que j’y écris parle de moi »..."

#metaglossia_mundus

7:32 - April 19, 2024

Code de l'info: 3488257

IQNA-Cette traduction française du Coran d’Albert Kazimirski connut un grand succès dès 1840, notamment du fait de l’attention particulière portée à la langue poétique de ce texte fondateur. Elle est en outre précédée de la Vie de Mohammed d’Aboû l-Fidâ', traduite par Noël Desvergers. Le paratexte contextualise les enjeux de la traduction du Coran et propose un cadrage historique sur Mahomet.

 

Ce volume contient la traduction française du Coran publiée pour la première fois en 1840 par Albin de Biberstein Kazimirski (son nom a été écrit de diverses façons par les éditeurs successifs, mais c’est là l’orthographe qu’il avait lui-même adoptée). Les qualités de cette traduction lui ont valu de très nombreuses réimpressions. Un islamisant arabophone, le R. P. G. C. Anawati, la déclarait, il y a quelques années, « excellente » et estimait que, mieux qu’une autre, elle savait « sauvegarder le souffle poétique de nombreux passages du Coran » (Revue du Caire, no 237, mai 1960, p. 411, 417). Plus récemment, passant en revue, souvent avec une juste sévérité, une dizaine de traductions françaises du Coran, Jamal Eddine Bencheikh, arabophone, francophone et spécialiste très compétent de la théorie du langage poétique, déclare, après quelques critiques, que « cette traduction reste honorable et, pour quelques formules heureuses, recommandable ». Il ajoute : « Il est regrettable pour les successeurs de Kazimirski qu’on puisse encore écrire cela de sa traduction, un siècle et demi après sa parution » (Analyses, théorie, Saint-Denis, 1980, no 3, p. 32).

Kazimirski, né à Korchow dans la province de Lublin en Pologne, en novembre 1808, émigré en France, fut un savant modeste et consciencieux, doté d ’ une connaissance approfondie des langues arabe et persane. Il fut interprète de la légation française en Perse, puis traducteur-interprète 8au ministère des Affaires étrangères (1851) et secrétaire-interprète de l ’ Empereur pour les langues orientales (1858). Il a publié, outre sa traduction du Coran, un dictionnaire arabe-français qui est encore le principal instrument de travail des arabisants français, et une remarquable traduction du poète persan du xie siècle Menoutchehri, accompagnée de l’édition du texte, de très savantes et abondantes notes ainsi que d’une très copieuse introduction historique. Ce gros volume parut l’année de sa mort, le 22 juin 1887, à Paris. Je passe quelques autres ouvrages estimables.

Dans sa préface à Menoutchehri, il exprime ainsi son idéal de traducteur : « Rendre fidèlement l ’ original sans se départir du génie de la langue dans laquelle on traduit, c ’ est là l ’ A.B.C. du devoir d ’ un traducteur ; ce but, qui n ’ est pas difficile à atteindre quand il s ’ agit d ’ un livre d ’ histoire ou de science, devient très difficile lorsqu ’ on traduit un poète. Une fidélité excessive, un simple décalqué (sic) du texte original créerait des monstruosités ; la préoccupation excessive de faire honneur à la langue du traducteur aurait pour résultat d ’ effacer, peut-être trop, la physionomie, le ton et la manière de l ’ original ; le milieu est certes difficile à trouver ; l ’ indulgence du lecteur doit m ’ être acquise si je n ’ ai pas complètement réussi dans cette tâche » ( Menoutchehri, poète persan…, Paris, Klincksieck, 1887, p. vii). Rappelons que le Coran peut être considéré comme un ouvrage poétique au premier chef.

Les notes discrètes dont Kazimirski a muni sa traduction conservent leur valeur. On a résisté à la tentation de les développer ou de les améliorer à l ’ occasion. On a maintenu aussi naturellement sa transcription des noms et mots arabes.

On a fait précéder le texte de Kazimirski de la Vie de Mahomet, par Aboû l’Fidâ’, dans la traduction qu’en a donnée en 1837 Noël Desvergers. J’ai exposé, dans la 9notice par laquelle j’ai introduit à ce texte, la biographie de l’auteur. On a respecté également la transcription que Desvergers a adoptée.

On a reproduit, au début du volume, une courte chronologie où j ’ ai situé dans le temps les faits les plus marquants de la vie du Prophète, avec (en italique) les événements contemporains qui peuvent servir de cadre ou de repère par rapport à l ’ histoire du Proche-Orient et à celle de l ’ Europe. De même pour les dates essentielles de la recension, de l ’ étude et de la traduction du texte coranique. Ensuite viennent deux notices où j ’ avais condensé à l ’ intention d ’ une encyclopédie ce qu ’ on peut considérer comme les acquis des études scientifiques sur Mahomet et sur le Coran respectivement. Comme Kazimirski et Desvergers, j’ai été très soucieux de respecter la foi des musulmans croyants. On remarquera, par exemple, qu’on a supprimé l’indication que portaient beaucoup d’éditions au moins de cette traduction comme de certaines autres et qui donnait « Mahomet » comme nom d’auteur. On avait : « Mahomet : le Coran » comme on a « Corneille : Le Cid ». C’est là, quoi qu’on pense soi-même, choquer violemment d’entrée de jeu la sensibilité de tout croyant musulman pour qui le Coran est l’œuvre de Dieu dont Mahomet ne fut qu’un transmetteur. Néanmoins le point de vue des non-musulmans ne peut être le même puisque, par définition, ils ne peuvent croire que le Coran soit la Parole de Dieu, et ce serait pure hypocrisie que de le dissimuler sous des formulations équivoques.

Comme on l ’ a dit, on ne pouvait changer les transcriptions de Kazimirski et de Desvergers. J ’ ai seulement corrigé, dans mes notes au texte de ce dernier (où je donne aussi quelques explications qu ’ il n ’ avait pas jugées nécessaires), ce qui n ’ est pas simple variante du système de transcription adopté, mais carrément une fausse lecture. Quant au 10premier, l ’ éditeur d ’ une des nombreuses réimpressions de sa traduction du Coranavait déjà adapté partiellement et discrètement sa transcription aux notations modernes qui suivent l’arabe de façon plus cohérente, avec notation des voyelles longues, etc. On a maintenu ces adaptations qui ne touchaient pas réellement au corps des mots et qui rapprochaient leur forme de celle que j’ai adoptée.

On trouvera donc, dans les différents textes qui forment ce livre, les mêmes mots ou les mêmes noms arabes écrits sous des formes légèrement différentes. On les reconnaîtra aisément. Aucun système de transcription n ’ est en soi plus « scientifique » qu ’ un autre. Tous ceux qui sont cohérents sont valables. Pour les textes de ma main, j ’ ai suivi des règles courantes dans le monde orientaliste. Les lettres pointées indiquent des « emphatiques », c ’ est-à-dire des phonèmes prononcés avec un certain effort d ’ articulation par rapport à ceux que rendent les mêmes lettres non pointées. De même le q par rapport au k et le ç par rapport au s. Ce qui est noté th doit être prononcé comme le th anglais dans thing et dh comme le même th anglais dans l ’ article the, kh comme l ’ allemand ch dans ach ou la jota espagnole. L ’ accent circonflexe indique une voyelle longue. Le n après une voyelle ne doit jamais se prononcer comme dans les voyelles nasales françaises, mais comme -ann, -inn, -onn, etc. (de même chez Kazimirski et Desvergers). La finale du nom d’Aboû Sofyân ne doit pas se lire comme dans « maman », mais comme dans « cabane ». Les espèces d’apostrophes qu’on verra (de même dans le texte de Kazimirski) représentent, l’une tournée vers la gauche une attaque glottale comme celle qu’on trouve devant les mots allemands commençant par une voyelle (Atem), l’autre une consonne particulière, à peu près le bruit qu’on émet quand le médecin dit « faites a » afin de voir le fond de la gorge. Le r devrait se prononcer 11« roulé » comme dans le Midi de la France, tandis que le son transcrit ici gh, traditionnellement, doit se lire à peu près comme le r parisien dit grasseyé. C’est pourquoi le mot arabe ghazwa a donné en français « razzia » et le nom d’une ville libyenne connue s’écrit tantôt Ghadamès, tantôt Rhadamès, sur les cartes et dans les dictionnaires.

Kazimirski et Desvergers ont suivi aussi une partie de ces conventions. On peut remarquer que l ’ un et l ’ autre employaient souvent c pour le k emphatique que je note q. Desvergers écrit Saad, Caaba, etc., là où j ’ écris Sa ‘ d, Ka ‘ ba, etc. Comme il a été dit, l ’ éditeur d ’ une des réimpressions de la traduction de Kazimirski a adapté un peu sa transcription aux notations modernes. Dans les notes de cette traduction, il a écrit le nom du Prophète Mu ḥ ammad, là où Kazimirski avait laissé Mahomet et où j ’ écris Mo ḥ ammad. L ’ intention est de suggérer la prononciation Mou ḥ ammad ( avec ou bref ) , non moins valable que celle qu ’ indique ma propre transcription.

Les voyelles brèves arabes sont en effet fluctuantes suivant les prononciations, leur position, etc. On ne s ’ étonnera donc pas de trouver les mêmes noms transcrits de façon différente dans ces trois textes et ailleurs.

Maxime Rodinson"

#metaglossia_mundus

Sous la direction de Jerzy Brzozowski

Published: 2023-06-15

• •  PDF

Introduction

• Avis au lecteur

  Jerzy Brzozowski, Marzena Chrobak

  7-8

  •  PDF

Articles

• Jalons pour une historiographie de l’aire traductologique francophone

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/MOaP.29.2023.60.01

  Yves Gambier

  9-42

  •  PDF

• Georges Mounin, pionnier de la traductologie française

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/MOaP.29.2023.60.02

  Christian Balliu

  43-56

  •  PDF

• Henri Meschonnic : un maître sans école

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/MOaP.29.2023.60.03

  Jerzy Brzozowski

  57-68

  •  PDF

• Histoire, théorie, didactique : la traductologie de Michel Ballard

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/MOaP.29.2023.60.04

  Mickaël Mariaule

  69-84

  •  PDF

• Contributions de Christian Balliu dans la recherche en traduction médicale

  DOI: https://doi.org/10.12797/MOaP.29.2023.60.05

  Tatiana Musinova

  85-100

  •  PDF

Back Matter

• Back Matter

   

  •  PDF

   

  #metaglossia_mundus

"LITERARY NOTES: Iqbal’s Asraar-o-Rumooz translated into 13 languages

Rauf Parekh Published April 22, 2024  

 

ALLAMA Iqbal’s two Persian masnavis, or kind of long poems, Asraar-i-Khudi (1915) and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (1918), were later on published in one volume (1923) and are often jointly referred to as Asraar-o-Rumooz.

Both Asraar-i-Khudi and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi sparked great interest among the poetry buffs and scholars alike. Aside from a controversy that lasted for quite long, both the masnavis were well-received and translated into several languages. Here is a brief intro to the translated versions.

According to Rafiuddin Hashmi, Iqbal’s Urdu and Persian works have been translated into 41 different languages of the world. Asraar-i-Khudi and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi, too, were rendered into many languages, wholly or partially. But here we would list only the complete translations:

English: Prof Reynold A. Nicholson (1868-1945), a renowned English scholar of Islamic mysticism and Islamic literature, translated Asraar-i-Khudi in 1920, titled The Secrets of the Self. Interestingly, Allama Iqbal pointed out many errors or misconceptions and corrected the translation. Nicholson accepted the corrections, except for a few. The second revised edition was published in 1940 and many editions of the corrected version appeared from Lahore. Saeed Akhter Durrani discovered the original copy that had Iqbal’s corrections and its facsimile was published by University of Karachi in 2001.

Prof A. J. Arberry, another renowned orientalist, translated Rumooz-i-Bekhudi under the title The Mysteries of Selflessness. It was published from London in 1953. Other English translations include the ones by Abdur Rahman Tariq and Maqbool Ilahi.

Arabic: Aside from other works by Iqbal, Abdul Wahab Azzaam published versified Arabic translation of Asraar-o-Rumooz from Cairo in 1956. Sameer Abdul Hameed Ibrahim published its another Arabic translation from Cairo in 2005.

Bengali: Syed Abdul Mannan translated Asraar-i-Khudi into Bengali, published from Dhaka in 1940. Mirza Sultan Ahmed translated Asraar-i-Khudi and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi and separately published them from Dhaka in 1954.

Bhasha Indonesia: Bahrum Rangkuti translated Asraar-i-Khudi into Bhasha Indonesia and published it from Jakarta in 1976.

Chinese: Liu Shuxiong rendered Asraar-i-Khudi into Chinese and it was published from Peking (now Beijing) in 1999.

French: Jamshed Murtazvi and Meyerovitch translated Asraar-o-Rumooz into French and it appeared from Paris in 1989.

Kashmiri: Ghulam Ahmed Kulgami translated Asraar-i-Khudi into his native Kashmiri and it was published from Karachi in 1969.

Malayalam: Abdul Qadir translated Asraar-i-Khudi into Malayalam and Cochin’s Iqbal Library published it in 1941.

Pashto: Samandar Khan Samandar translated Asraar-i-Khudi (1954) and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (1952) into Pashto and both were published from Karachi.

Punjabi: Ahmed Husain Qureshi Qaladari rendered Asraar-i-Khudi into Punjabi and in 1976 Lahore’s Meri Library published it. A year earlier, Khalil Aatish had translated Asraar-o-Rumooz into Punjabi and Sang-i-Meel was the publisher.

Sindhi: Lutfullah Badvi rendered Asraar-i-Khudi and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi, separately, into Sindhi and both were published in 1956 from Karachi. Muhammad Baksh Vaasif, also translated Asraar-i-Khudi, and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi separately and both were published from Karachi (year not mentioned).

Turkish: Ali Nihad Tarlan rendered Asraar-i-Khudi and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi, both were published from Istanbul in 1958. Ali Yuksel rendered Asraar-i-Khudi into Turkish and published it from Ankara in 1990.

Urdu: Aside from partial translations, complete translations into Urdu include the ones by: Dr Hamid Husain, Asraar-i-Khudi (Bhopal, 1978); Ahmed Isaar, Asraar-o-Rumooz (Bangalore, 2008); Asraar-i-Khudi, versified translation, Iqbal Husain Mehdi Rizvi (Muradabad, 1975); Khwaja Hameed Yazdani, Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (Lahore, 1994); Justice S.A. Rahman, versified Urdu translation of Asraar-i-Khudi, (Lahore, 1967); Ismat Javed versified translation of Asraar-i-Khudi (Delhi, 1991) and versified translation of Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (Delhi, 1998); Ghulam Dastgeer Shahab, Asraar-i-Khudi (Poona, 1989) and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (Poona, 1991); Abdur Rasheeed Faazil, versified translation of both Asraar-i-Khudi (Karachi, 1956) and Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (Karachi 1984); Mehr Taqvi Jaipuri, versified translation of Rumooz-i-Bekhudi (Hyderabad, Sindh, 1962).

Recently, a translation of Asraar-o-Rumooz has been published from Lahore. Though published earlier, this new edition has been recomposed and elegantly produced. The translator has used easy to understand Urdu and the meanings have been made quite clear. Its translator Mian Abdur Rasheed was a prominent scholar who translated several of Iqbal’s works and they include Urdu translations of: Armaghaan-i-Hijaz, Pas Che Bayad Kard Aye Aqvaame-i-Mashriq, Payam-i-Mashriq, Javed Nama, Zuboor-i-Ajam, Kulliyaat-i-Iqbal Farsi and Asraar-o-Rumooz. These books have run to several editions over a long period of time.

Mian Abdur Rasheed was born on Jan 1, 1915, in a village near Gujranwala, Punjab. Having passed his BA from Lahore in 1935, he worked as reporter at Punjab Legislative Assembly. Mian Abdur Rasheed wrote regular columns in Nawa-i-Waqt and Pakistan Times. He also broadcast a weekly programme from Radio Pakistan. Mian Abdur Rasheed died in September 1991.

Most of the info contained in this piece is derived from Kitabiyaat-i-Iqbal, a work by Prof Dr Rafiuddin Hashmi. Hashmi Sahib, considered Pakistan’s foremost expert on Iqbal, died on Jan 25, 2024, in Lahore. Though barely few newspapers reported his demise, a tribute to this great scholar of Iqbal Studies is well in order while remembering Iqbal on his death anniversary, which fell on April 21.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2024"

#metaglossia_mundus

"A crayon drawing depicting doves soaring around the Olympic rings connecting Beijings Temple of Heaven with the Eiffel Tower in Paris under a clear blue sky captivated visitors at UNESCO headquarters.

• Friday, April 19, 2024 9:53AM IST (4:23AM GMT)

 

PARIS, France:  

A crayon drawing depicting doves soaring around the Olympic rings, connecting Beijing’s Temple of Heaven with the Eiffel Tower in Paris under a clear blue sky, captivated visitors at UNESCO headquarters. Inscribed with the word “world” in five languages, this artwork by international youth embodies hopes for a future enriched by intercultural dialogue. It serves as an opener to an international symposium on the concept of intercultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, a collaborative effort between China’s State Council Information Office, UNESCO, and the China’s National Commission for UNESCO, held on April 15 in Paris.

 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240418269051/en/Exchanges and Mutual Learning (Photo: Business Wire)

The symposium unfolded both inside and outside the venue with vibrant displays and rigorous discussions. The Future World International Youth Art Exhibition encircled the entrance, offering a tapestry of cultural perceptions and exchanges as envisioned by young artists from around the globe. Inside, experts and scholars discussed the theme of “Intercultural Dialogue and Mutual Learning: Shared Horizons”, and commended China’s significant contributions to these global exchanges.

 

In his keynote speech, Zhang Jianchun, vice minister of the Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, revisited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s seminal 2014 speech at UNESCO headquarters that has since spurred the widespread embrace of intercultural exchanges and mutual learning. This doctrine, Zhang noted, has shaped a decade of international dialogue, offering “Chinese wisdom and solutions” for global betterment. These collaborative efforts have cultivated a robust “tree” of cultural exchange, bearing fruit in the form of enhanced global understanding and cooperation.

 

Speaking at the event, UNESCO Deputy Director-General Qu Xing quoted Édouard Glissant, the former editor of the UNESCO Courier, as saying, “always with the same horizon, recall our common humanity and promote the ‘Tout-monde’.” He added that today, as in the past, the UNESCO Courier continues to be a forum for the voices of intellectuals, experts, and artists from around the world.”

 

Euan Mackway-Jones, a UNESCO program specialist in the Section for Intercultural Dialogue, told Xinhua that dialogue is instrumental in mutual learning, fostering trust and cooperation essential in addressing global challenges like climate change, regional conflicts, and digital governance. Despite rising protectionist rhetoric, he observed, cultural integration is intensifying through digital interconnectivity, fostering innovative and collaborative expressions across cultures.

 

During a panel discussion themed on “Silk Roads: A Movement of Cultural Dialogue and Exchanges”, Susan Denyer, a senior world heritage advisor of International Council on Monuments and Sites, reflected on the harmonious relationship and cooperation facilitated by the ancient Silk Road, drawing parallels with contemporary global dynamics. Zhao Shengliang, chairman of the Academic Committee of Dunhuang Academy, discussed Dunhuang’s role as a crucial nexus on the Silk Road, where diverse civilizations historically converged and thrived.

 

The symposium also showcased the “Silk Road Young Scholars Grant Program”, with awardees presenting their insights on civilizational exchanges via video, underscoring a commitment to fostering a global dialogue among emerging scholars.

 

The day was rounded out by the Tracing the History of The UNESCO Courier exhibition, alongside the Chinese Culture: Elegant Gathering exhibition and reception. International guests experienced an array of activities including viewing the “Future World” international youth performance hosted collaboratively by China Intercontinental Communication Center, the UNESCO Community Association (UCA), Centre d’Echanges Culturels et Artistiques franco-chinois, UNESCO Member associations and clubs: International Association for Cultural Diplomacy.

 

They also explored exhibitions of calligraphy, painting, paper-cutting, quilling, as well as creative products from Chinese museums. Attendees also enjoyed a fusion of Eastern and Western artistic performances by Chinese-French children’s choirs, French singer, Chinese dancer, martial artist, and traditional musicians. Attendees also savored a variety of regional Chinese delicacies, such as Fujian and Shanxi cuisines and Jingmai Mountain Pu’er tea, appreciating the rich depth and exceptional allure of Chinese culture.

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240418269051/en/"

#metaglossia_mundus

"Polémique  Plus de 200 locuteurs de la langue tahitienne ont assisté au séminaire organisé par l’Académie tahitienne à la Présidence, vendredi 19 avril. Objectif : recueillir l’avis de la population au sujet de la reconnaissance de la lettre K dans l’alphabet tahitien, avant de statuer définitivement sur la question.

Mélodie Uhilamoafa-Sione, Heiarii Tahiata, Mereini GAMBLIN • Publié le 20 avril 2024 à 10h57, mis à jour le 20 avril 2024 à 11h04

Dans le public ce vendredi, des visages connus dans le milieu de la culture : Jacky Bryant, Etienne Raapoto ou encore Heremoana Maamaatuaihutapu... Ils sont enseignants, politiciens, artistes, étudiants, employés d’administrations ou encore représentants des différentes confessions religieuses au fenua, plusieurs centaines de locuteurs quotidiens du reo Tahiti, engagés dans la réflexion, avec chacun leur avis sur la question. La lettre K doit-elle officiellement faire partie de l'alphabet tahitien ? 

"C'est déjà dans l'usage, tous les jours ! Il vaut mieux valider les choses pour que cela soit accepté de tous", rétorque Mareto Hauata, de l'Église de Jésus Christ et des Saint des derniers jours. Mais ce n'est pas aussi simple...

Une lettre qui appartient au Paumotu ?

L'académicien Winston Pukoki, lui, pense que cette lettre n'appartient qu'à l'alphabet Paumotu et qu'il faut le distinguer du Tahitien. "Tous les mots qu'on entend avec les K ne sont pas des mots tahitiens. Or, on s'occupe de la langue tahitienne. Ce sont des importations. Le fait d'introduire la lettre K dans le tahitien, ce n'est plus le tahitien qu'on parle, c'est un néo-paumotu ou un néo-tahitien qu'on est en train de parler ou d'inventer" dit-il.

Parole à laquelle adhère, en quelque sorte, Heiotiu Tehevini, porte-parole de l'Église Protestante : "quand un Tahitien s'exprime au travers d'un 'ōrero dans sa langue, il n'y a pas de K. Aujourd'hui, on veut ajouter cette lettre à l'alphabet tahitien. Pour nous, l'Église protestante Maohi, la langue doit rester pure, comme elle a toujours été parlée par le peuple Maohi."

"Effacée" par les Européens ? 

Mais la lettre K n'aurait-elle pas été effacée avec l'Évangélisation ? Si l'on reprend l'idée de "pureté" du reo Tahiti, le K en aurait fait partie à un moment donné de l'Histoire.

"Ce n'est pas l'introduction d'une lettre nouvelle. C'est la réintroduction d'une lettre qui a existé dans la langue tahitienne, bien avant l'arrivée des Européens. Parce que dès lors que les Occidentaux sont arrivés, ils ont figé les mots par l'écriture" défend Emmanuel Nauata, directeur de l'Académie tahitienne.

Analyse linguistique 

Aujourd'hui la lettre K s’est tout naturellement imposée dans le tahitien parlé, avec un rôle "d'opposition" selon Jacques Vernaudon, maître de conférences en linguistique océanienne à l'Université. "D'un point de vue systémique, dans la langue contemporaine, on voit que le son "k" permet d'opposer des mots. Par exemple quand on dit kava, par opposition à 'ava : le kava c'est la plante alors que le 'ava est devenu un mot spécialisé pour désigner l'alcool. Alors que 'ava vient lui-même du kava. Mais dans la langue contemporaine les deux mots coexistent de manière complémentaire pour désigner deux choses différentes. Cela veut dire que le son "k" sert à distinguer deux mots différents et donc devient fonctionnel" analyse le linguiste.

La décision finale de l’Académie tahitienne est attendue vers la fin du mois de mai."

#metaglossia_mundus

"Tout savoir sur Resemble AI : fonctionnalités et avis des utilisateurs. Resemble AI est un générateur de voix assisté par IA à destination des entreprises.

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Resemble AI est un générateur de voix assisté par IA à destination des entreprises. L’outil peut être utilisé dans le cadre de jeux vidéo, de publicités, de centres d’appels, de livres audio, de bots conversationnels et bien d’autres.
L’outil est accessible en ligne depuis un navigateur web.

Resemble AI est équipé des fonctionnalités principales suivantes :

• Clonage vocal : la solution permet de cloner sa propre voix en enregistrant seulement 25 phrases. Il est possible de confier le clonage à une équipe dédiée qui rendra un résultat en quelques jours, ou bien d’utiliser la solution en libre-service pour avoir un résultat plus rapide.
• Détection de deepfakes : l’outil est capable d’analyser un audio et d’identifier si un contenu a été généré ou modifié artificiellement.
• Doublage en langues étrangères : la voix enregistrée et clonée peut ensuite être doublée dans une centaine de langues.
• Modification de l’audio : une bande-son peut être modifiée de manière réaliste en remplaçant, ajoutant ou supprimant une partie de l’audio.

La solution Resemble AI propose différentes offres :

• 0,006 $/seconde : 1000 secondes gratuites par mois, puis 0,006 $/seconde, 3 clones vocaux, text-to-speech et speech-to-speech, 3 langues de localisation, 40 voix sur le marketplace, accès à l’API, téléchargements illimités.
• 29 $/mois : toutes les fonctionnalités précédentes, 10 000 secondes gratuites par mois, 5 clones vocaux, 1 clone vocal professionnel.
• 99 $/mois : toutes les fonctionnalités précédentes, 80 000 secondes gratuites par mois, 25 clones vocaux, 3 clones vocaux professionnels, 68 langues de localisation.
• 299 $/mois : toutes les fonctionnalités précédentes, 200 000 secondes gratuites par mois, 100 clones vocaux, 5 clones vocaux professionnels.
• 499 $/mois : toutes les fonctionnalités précédentes, 320 000 secondes gratuites par mois, 500 clones vocaux, 10 clones vocaux professionnels, 149 langues de localisation, voix personnalisées par API, programme partenaire.

Une offre sur mesure est également envisageable pour d’importants besoins en entreprise."

#metaglossia_mundus

"Par Clément Peltier Avec L’AFP Le Avr 19, 2024

La SNCF vient de présenter officiellement TradSNCF, son outil de traduction instantanée. Ce dernier, grâce à l’IA, maîtrise 130 langues

 

La SNCF a présenté jeudi à Paris son outil de traduction instantanée capable de traduire en 130 langues qui équipera tous ses agents d’accueil en gare d’ici les Jeux Olympiques. « C’est une innovation qui va incarner ce que le groupe SNCF est capable de faire en termes de service d’hospitalité », a indiqué le PDG de SNCF Voyageurs, Christophe Fanichet, lors de la présentation de l’application.

Elle a été lancée le 4 avril et a déjà été adoptée par 4500 agents. L’objectif est que 50000 d’entre eux au contact direct des voyageurs soient connectés à TradSNCF – le nom de l’outil – d’ici les Jeux olympiques (26 juillet au 11 août). Le développement de l’application a coûté « quelques centaines de milliers d’euros » a précisé Christophe Fanichet. Une version bêta avait été testée pendant la Coupe du monde de rugby « mais on s’est rendu compte que dans certains cas, la traduction faisait des erreurs, donc ça ajoutait encore plus de stress » chez des passagers déjà perdus, a expliqué le patron de la compagnie ferroviaire.

Des annonces en gare traduites

L’application a donc été perfectionnée pour intégrer le langage propre au monde ferroviaire et aux transports. « C’est une marque d’hospitalité que nous souhaitons développer dans toutes les gares », a précisé la directrice des gares régionales et parisiennes, Eliane Barbosa. Les annonces en gare seront par ailleurs effectuées en français et en anglais et parfois dans d’autres langues européennes – allemand, italien, espagnol – en fonction des lieux.

Mais rien n’empêchera, en cas de bagage abandonné, d’utiliser TradSNCF pour diffuser un message dans la langue de la personne ayant oublié sa valise, s’il est possible d’identifier son pays d’origine, a souligné Christophe Fanichet.

Un « héritage des Jeux » pour la SNCF

TradSNCF est un outil qui restera comme « héritage des Jeux », a-t-il poursuivi, notamment à Paris, première destination touristique dans le monde. La RATP a elle aussi développé une application de traduction instantanée pour ses agents dans la perspective des JO. Elle est capable de traduire en 16 langues et a coûté 2 millions d’euros.

Environ 15 millions de voyageurs sont attendus en Ile-de-France pour les Jeux Olympiques et Paralympiques. En mars, la présidente de la région Ile-de-France Valérie Pécresse avait indiqué que parmi eux, un bon tiers seraient étrangers, d’abord Britanniques, ensuite Américains puis Européens non-anglophones."

#metaglossia_mundus

"The generative-AI boom looks very different for non-English speakers.

APRIL 19, 2024

 

Generative AI is famously data-hungry. The technology requires huge troves of digital information—text, photos, video, audio—to “learn” how to produce convincingly humanlike material. The most powerful large language models have effectively “read” just about everything; when it comes to content mined from the open web, this means that AI is especially well versed in English and a handful of other languages, to the exclusion of thousands more that people speak around the world.

In a recent story for The Atlantic, my colleague Matteo Wong explored what this might mean for the future of communication. AI is positioned more and more as the portal through which billions of people might soon access the internet. Yet so far, the technology has developed in such a way that will reinforce the dominance of English while possibly degrading the experience of the web for those who primarily speak languages with less minable data. “AI models might also be void of cultural nuance and context, no matter how grammatically adept they become,” Matteo writes. “Such programs long translated ‘good morning’ to a variation of ‘someone has died’ in Yoruba,” David Adelani, a DeepMind research fellow at University College London told Matteo, “because the same Yoruba phrase can convey either meaning.”..."

#metaglossia_mundus

"Language AI pioneer DeepL is targeting expansion in business users in APAC with the promise of more natural language translations.

AI-native language translation application DeepL Translate is launching into Australia and Singapore following regional forays into Japan and South Korea. Founder and CEO Jarek Kutylowski said it is targeting APAC businesses that require more natural language translations.

Tech employees in APAC know working in the region can involve struggles with language. While most cross-border business is conducted in English, there can still be difficulties communicating, which can lead workers to turn to offerings like Google Translate or ChatGPT for help.

Jarek Kutylowski, founder and chief executive officer of DeepL.

The same goes for enterprises looking to win business in the languages of the region. Jarek Kutylowski, founder and chief executive officer of DeepL, said the firm’s natural language processing AI model offers natural language translations in 32 languages, thanks to years of development and fine-tuning since launching in Europe in 2017.

With additional APAC languages on its roadmap for 2024, DeepL is expanding its footprint into Australia and Singapore, with key business use cases including translation for cross-border business growth. Its Pro subscription (starting at US$8.74 per user per month, rising to US$57.49 for an Ultimate package) and API Pro (beginning at $5.49 per month) allow businesses to translate documents at scale or integrate translations within their workflows.

DeepL is expanding its APAC languages and markets

Founded in Germany, DeepL’s globalisation drive saw it choose Japan and South Korea as its first markets in Asia. This was due to the countries’ strong economies and business connections with the rest of the world, as well as significant language barriers, which supported high volumes of translation use cases.

DeepL’s APAC push will see this market presence expand to Australia and Singapore. With a number of local languages under its belt, including Simplified Chinese and Indonesian, in addition to English, Japanese and Korean, Kutylowski said the firm was looking at adding “some of the bigger Asian languages where we don’t have coverage yet” soon.

SEE: How Australia is adapting fast to the world of generative AI

With over 900 employees globally, DeepL is currently used by 100,000 businesses and organisations worldwide, in addition to millions of individuals. With a growing business user base in Japan and South Korea, DeepL hopes its regional expansion will add to its revenue base of 1 million paid licenses.

DeepL’s model is trained for natural language translations

DeepL’s focus on providing natural language translations comes down to the difference between translation “accuracy” and “fluency” in language communication, according to the company.

“In a business setting, one main aspect is whether something I have written is correct. But it is not only correctness businesses want in communication; they want to persuade, motivate, communicate clearly and influence in the languages they communicate,” Kutylowski said. How native it feels, how natural, is super important.”

How DeepL achieves natural language translations

DeepL achieves a high level of natural fluency in target languages in two main ways:

• DeepL was one of the first companies to bring AI-based neural machine translation to the market in 2017. Since then, it has been active in academic research to ensure its models were not just translating but expressing themselves naturally in a target language.
• DeepL fine-tunes its AI translations by engaging more than 1,000 native-speaking trainers globally. They review the outputs that are being created by the model, and are able to train the model on how it can express itself more naturally in their language.

DeepL has Pro and API subscriptions for business translation

DeepL is available as a free web application on its website (Figure A) and can also be used as a browser extension. However, for businesses, DeepL’s growing presence in APAC is ultimately aimed at driving interest in DeepL Pro and API Pro subscriptions, which both offer advanced features designed to help local businesses scale and integrate translation securely.

Figure A

DeepL can be used on the web or upgraded with paid subscriptions.

In addition to natural language translations, DeepL’s Pro subscription offers:

• Data security: DeepL deletes all the text it processes from DeepL-operated servers after a translation is completed. The company promises that no customer text is ever passed to third parties or used as AI training data.
• Unlimited text translations: The DeepL Pro offering includes unlimited text translations. This includes the ability to translate more documents with larger file sizes, while preserving the original document formatting.
• Customisation control: Businesses can tailor AI outputs to maintain brand consistency and standardise messaging through customisation, which includes having control over things such as specified brand terminology.

DeepL’s API Pro subscription offers access to DeepL’s REST API along with data security and no volume restrictions, though users pay a usage charge of US$25 per 1 million characters. The subscription allows businesses to integrate DeepL’s translation functionality with things like websites, apps and internal communication tools with a few clicks.

DeepL has options for integrating within customer and user workflows

There are a lot of possible use cases for DeepL. “Potentially, there are so many different jobs that are being done by our users. They might be writing in Gmail, writing a note in Salesforce, or creating a document in Microsoft Office — the use cases are very broad,” Kutylowski explained.

The translator can be used on the website itself. However, it can also be accessed through browser extensions, which can immediately translate anything entered into a web browser that works with common software tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Office or Salesforce.

DeepL also works with customers to integrate translations into their own systems and workflows. Kutylowski gave the example of companies where DeepL is integrated and works in the background of customer service centres, providing customer service with instant translations.

•  

Two typical business use cases for DeepL’s translation products

DeepL is seeing two main groups of business use cases for its subscription offerings.

1: Businesses seeking to enter new markets in new languages

Companies that want to expand into new markets in non-native languages are able to use DeepL to support their activities. This can mean not having to immediately hire translators, or onboard agencies, representatives and customer support agents who are fully fluent in the native language.

“You can take your existing team and equip them with a tool that helps them to talk to customers or potential customers, and use this to enter new markets,” Kutylowski said. “For example, it can go as far as pre-translating whitepapers or materials for customers to get onboarded on their own solutions.”

2: Internally within international organisations with language barriers

Some multi-jurisdictional businesses find language barriers a problem internally. Kutylowski said the tool can make sure daily communications like emails are written quickly in a native language and translated immediately, with less effort and time necessary for users.

Ben Abbott

Ben is TechRepublic's local content lead for Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Based in Sydney, Australia, he has over two decades of experience as a B2B journalist and editor in Australia, Asia and the UK covering developments in technology across multiple industry verticals, including banking and finance, education and the law. He currently covers news and trends relevant to business technology buyers, from technology vendor and product updates, to analysis from local industry thought leaders on the challenges and opportunities organizations are facing in a areas like AI, digital transformation and cybersecurity."

#metaglossia_mundus

"19.04.2024  The Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators (LLVS) announced the winners of the competition “Best Translated Book of the Year.”

The winners were selected in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and young adult and children’s literature.

Fiction: “Life: A User’s Manual” by Georges Perec

The magnum opus novel “Life: A User’s Manual” (“Gyvenimas vartojimo instukcija”) by Georges Perec, translated by Akvilė Melkūnaitė, was named the best fiction translation. It was published by “Lapas” publishing house. The original novel came out in 1978 and is considered a classic of world literature.

 

Nonfiction: “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine” by Anne Applebaum

 

The nonfiction winner was Anne Applebaum’s “Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine” (“Raudonasis badas: Stalino karas prieš Ukrainą”), translated from English by Jolita Parvickienė and published by “Tyto alba” publishing house.

 

Children’s and young adult literature: “The Murderer’s Ape” by Jakob Wegelius

 

The best translation in this category was the sequel to Jakob Wegelius’s novel “The Murderer’s Ape” (“Žudiko beždžionė”), translated from Swedish by Raimonda Jonkutė and published by “Aukso žuvys” publishing house.

 

“2023 impressed us with a special harvest of translated literature for children and young adults and gave us quite a surprise. For the first time, it seems, the translated book of the year is a ‘representative’ of the literary classics – Georges Perec’s novel ‘Life: A User’s Manual.’ It is an incredible pleasure for a connoisseur of the classics, but, admittedly, a nightmarishly difficult job for its translators. In the nonfiction category, readers chose Anne Applebaum’s historical study ‘Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine,’ which clearly shows what topics are interesting and relevant today,” said Paulius Garbačiauskas, LLVS representative and competition coordinator.

 

Jury members, fiction and nonfiction:

• Vytautas Bikulčius
• Lina Buividavičiūtė
• Jūratė Čerškutė
• Dovilė Kuzminskaitė
• Donatas Puslys

 

Jury members, children’s and young adult literature: 

• Eglė Baliutavičiūtė
• Aiguste Vikantė Bartkūtė
• Inga Mitunevičiūtė

 

The “Best Translated Book of the Year” contest and the activities of the Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators are funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

 

As reported earlier, the publishing award K.A.2.0.2.4, initiated by the Lithuanian Association of Literary Translators, was granted to the translator Vitas Dekšnis, who translated Serhiy Zhadan’s book “Like a Fish to a Black Shore” and Oleh Lyseha’s book “The Great Bridge.”

 

The Lithuanian Council for Culture is accepting applications from Ukrainian artists who have found refuge in Lithuania for three-month grants of €1,800.

 

Translation: Olena Pankevych

Copy editing: Tanya Mykhaylychenko"

#metaglossia_mundus

"Acclaimed Author Ahmed Alshuwaikhat Makes Debut with "The American Translator": A Genre-Bending Exploration of War, Identity, and Hope

Friday, April 19th 2024, 5:45 PM EDT

 

Brace yourself for a literary adventure that shatters genre boundaries and stereotypes with the remarkable and amazing “The American Translator” by Ahmed Alshuwaikhat. This is a captivating novel that delves into the complexities of war, self-discovery, and the enduring power of hope and promises to be a captivating read for fans of literary fiction, war narratives, and anyone seeking a story that explores the depths of the human experience.

“The American Translator” follows the extraordinary journey of David Boccaccio, an eccentric Italian-American with a passion for art, culture, and the magic of translation. However, David's life takes an unexpected turn when he joins the American army in Iraq as a translator. Thrust into a world of danger and intrigue, David soon finds himself entangled in a web of cryptic mysteries while navigating the harsh realities of war both mentally and physically.

The American Translator is more than just a thrilling war drama. It's a multi-layered narrative that explores themes of:

Self-discovery: Witness David's journey of self-reflection as he grapples with his identity and purpose amidst the chaos of war.

Cultural clashes: Immerse yourself in the complex interplay between cultures as David navigates the complexities of communication and understanding in an entirely different culture from his.

 

The enduring power of hope: Even in the darkest times, David's story is a reminder that hope is always near the corner, celebrating the human spirit's resilience and unwavering determination to build a better future.

Moreover, Alshuwaikhat's unique background as a scholar with a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Language and Education adds depth and authenticity to the narrative. He masterfully portrays the transformative power of language and the importance of dialogue in fostering understanding and peace, from America to Iraq to foster a better world.

Here's what one reader said about this incredible novel:

“A Tale of Translation and Transformation is a captivating exploration of one translator's journey from the streets of San Francisco to the battlefields of Iraq. Through the protagonist's eyes, we witness the transformative power of language and the bonds that transcend cultural divides. A thought-provoking and timely read.” — Francesco Kunze.

 

About the Author:

Ahmed Alshuwaikhat is an accomplished author from Saudi Arabia. He holds a Master's degree in Multicultural Education and English and a Ph.D. in the field of the Sociology of Language and Education. After a brief academic career, Alshuwaikhat opted to pursue independent cultural projects and devote himself to writing and traveling. “The American Translator” is his debut novel in English, which is available on Amazon for purchase:https://www.amazon.com/dp/1917095880.

Book Name: THE AMERICAN TRANSLATOR: From San Francisco to Battlefields in Iraq
Author Name: Ahmed Alshuwaikhat
Website: https://ahmedmahdialshuwaikhat.com/
ISBN Number: 978-1917095884
Ebook Version: Click Here
Paperback Version: Click Here

Media Contact

 

Company Name:

Amazon Publishing Pros

 

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https://www.amazonpublishingpros.co"

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"By India New England News - April 19, 2024 By Sukant Deepak

New Delhi– When India was celebrating its 75th year of independence, author and former diplomat Navdeep Suri thought it was important that we realise the price we paid for it. He says in many ways ‘A Game of Fire’ (HarperCollins India), which his grandfather Nanak Singh wrote in Punjabi decades ago, holds more significance today.

‘A Game of Fire’ is a sequel to ‘Hymns in Blood’ by the same author, also translated into English by Suri, who believed that the stories of the pain of Partition should reach a wider audience conversant with the English language. And in the process of translating his grandfather’s books, he discovered more about the latter’s personality.

“Translating these two novels was a discovery and a journey at two different levels. The first was that I discovered my grandfather, you know, because he passed on when I was just 12. While translating, I got acquainted with his robust opposition to communalism, his staunch, almost iron cast, and uncompromising position for a secular India,” Suri said, adding that while Nanak Singh was a devout Sikh, for him, humanity took precedence over religion.

The Partition stories that a generation grew up with were always about the atrocities that were committed by Muslims on the Hindus and Sikhs, accounts conditioned by the refugee narrative, but his grandfather through the book acquaints us with what the other religious groups did to the Muslims at a time when a collective madness descended upon the sub-continent.

And that’s not a story that many of us are comfortable telling or listening to, Suri added.

When he was researching his subject, the translator came across the startling fact that the last Census before Independence, which was conducted in 1941, showed that 46 per cent of Amritsar’s population was Muslim, but, as Suri pointed out, “I grew up in a city where there were virtually none”.

Stressing that the exodus of Muslims left a big gap in the culture of Punjab, the author told IANS that the exodus of a large number of creative people — writers, artists and singers, who had been forced to go to Pakistan — affected the soul of the state. “Manto wrote passionately about his experiences. Of course, the same holds true for Lahore from where many Hindus migrated to India,” Suri pointed out.

For someone who has extensively translated works from Punjabi into English, Suri knows too well that it is never easy for a translator to be ‘invisible’. “Being a translator, you are bridging not just the language, but also the time and space set in a certain geographical context. And in a certain time context. One hopes to make it accessible to an audience that could be anywhere,” Suri said.

He continued by pointing out: “I personally feel it is very hard to stay invisible. Almost every translator will inject a piece of her or him into the translation. That is why today some people are saying, let’s call it transcreational. Yes. Because translation is as much of an art form as writing. One does leave her/his footprint as a translator. You’ll see that each one is different.”

Talking about his process, Suri said that as a translator he likes to ensure that the substance must retain fidelity to the original.

He noted: “But you have to ensure that it is also readable. You cannot do it line-by-line. You want to try and pick up a chunk and convey the context. It is important to make sure that the flavours of the original are retained to the greatest extent. You don’t want to over-explain. After all, one has to trust the reader’s intelligence as well.”

In the last 15 years, we have seen a revolution in translations from Indian languages into English, and the books getting major awards, Suri pointed out, emphasising that we have incredible literature in India.

“And everyone must be able to access it. What translators can do is really create bridges between different parts of the country,” Suri noted.

Currently taking a break, Suri plans to write something about the UAE, where he was posted as ambassador before his retirement from the IFS, and the momentous transformation in relations that we have seen between India and the emirate.

“Also, I am blessed that my grandfather left us this enormous corpus of 59 books, including 38 novels. So there’s plenty to choose from. The one that I have in mind, frankly, as the next one, is a masterpiece of his called ‘Ik Meyan Do Talwaran’, for which he won the Sahitya Academy Award in 1962,” Suri said.

And to pique our interest, he added: “That is a book about the Ghadar movement. And Nanak Singh did extensive research and even spoke with many of the ‘Gadhari Babas’ who were still around in the late 1950s and early 1960s.” (IANS)"

#metaglossia_mundus

"Following World War II, she returned to occupied Germany and became a civilian employee for the U.S. Army, working as a translator.

(April 19, 2024 / JNS)

Ruth F. Lansing, who aided in the prosecution of leaders of the Third Reich and Nazi Germany at the Nuremberg trials, died on April 5. She was 105 years old.

She was born on Nov. 13, 1918, in a small town outside of Dusseldorf, Germany, to Friederike (“Ricka”) and Sigmund Oberlander.

On the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938, while visiting family in Dusseldorf proper, Lansing witnessed Kristallnacht (“The Night of Broken Glass”), when Jews across Germany and in parts of Austria were brutally attacked, and their stores and synagogues ransacked and burned.

 

Her sister Lucy and her husband were able to leave for the United States soon after that. Lansing later managed to get passage to England with the help of family–a move that would save her life. At the age of 18, she emigrated to British Mandatory Palestine.

In 1988, she recounted her experiences on Yom Hashaoh, Holocaust Remembrance Day, that “two stormtroopers came to arrest my host” and that “I believed they were going to shoot him then and there,” according to The Buffalo News. 

Lansing’s parents were rounded up and taken to Auschwitz in 1942. Another sister, Gerti, was taken to the same concentration camp years later, in 1945. All were murdered there.

Following World War II, Lansing returned to occupied Germany and became a civilian employee for the U.S. Army, working as a translator during the world-famous Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. She eventually managed to join her sister in the United States, moving there in 1948, where she met Eric Lansing, They married the next year and settled in Buffalo, N.Y., working for 20 years in real estate while raising their two children.

In 1955, Lansing and her husband became founding members of the synagogue now known as Congregation Shir Shalom in Amherst, Mass. She volunteered for Meals on Wheels; at hospitals and nursing homes; and was active with the Jewish Federation in Buffalo.

She and her husband traveled extensively, seeing 53 countries across six continents. Her husband died in 2014.

At her 100th birthday celebration in 2018, Lansing said: “We only have one life, so why not choose to make the world a better place. I think we would be a lot better off if we looked at our similarities, instead of focusing on our differences.”

Lansing is survived by a son and daughter, and two grandchildren."

#metaglossia_mundus

"Plateau d'Hauteville Une conférence sur les différences entre l’Allemangne et la France

Invité par le comité de jumelage Hauteville - Ronnebourg, Henri Reynaud ex-ambassadeur et ancien consul général de France à Stuttgart et à Francfort-sur-le-Main, qui réside désormais à Belmont Luthézieu, animera une conférence pleine d’enseignements sur ces deux différentes cultures. Rencontre avec ce diplomate de haut rang qui a vécu près de 17 ans outre Rhin.

De notre correspondant Guy Domain - 20 avr. 2024 à 19:03 -

Pourquoi avez-vous eu l’idée de proposer cette conférence au comité de jumelage hautevillois ?

« Quand j’ai eu connaissance de ce jumelage noué avec ce land de Thuringe, j’ai trouvé opportun de proposer cette conférence auprès d’un public qui a une connaissance directe de la réalité allemande et apporter un éclairage et une remise en perspective de ces relations qui ne sont pas si courantes. »

Sans déflorer le sujet quels sont les points de convergence entre ces deux pays ?

« Ils sont proches par leur taille, leur..."

 

#metaglossia_mundus

"The NYT’s Palestinian-Israeli Lexicon: Special Edition of the Ghoul’s Glossary

JUAN COLE04/16/2024

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – American humorist and, oddly, horror author, Ambrose Bierce (d. 1913), produced a serial, staccato newspaper column consisting of humorous and sardonic definitions of words, which he later published as a book, The Devil’s Dictionary. (He initially had to entitle it “The Cynic’s Wordbook,” which doesn’t have the same ring, because his pious editors wanted to avoid referring to Mephistopheles.)

Bierce often tweaked the white nationalist Establishment. For instance, consider this entry:

“ABORIGINIES, n. Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize.”

A more concise summation of the genocidal character of white settler colonialism would be hard to discover.

And I rather like this one, skewering pretensions of impartiality:

“ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one’s own opinion.”

My homage to Bierce at Informed Comment has been The Ghoul’s Glossary. I did mine as contextual, political satire, and some of the bons mots have faded. But there are a few I’d keep for a book. For instance, this one from 2008:

“Zionism: The theory that because Nazis hated Jews, the latter would be much better off all gathered together on disputed land in the midst of 300 million Arabs and Iranians.”

Or this:

“Palestinians: Dispossessed, displaced and stateless persons who are ungrateful for their condition and therefore vaguely dangerous.”

Or speaking of the American attempt to pivot away from the Middle East after causing a spot of bother earlier in the century:

“Withdrawal: A way to avoid the worst consequences of a moment of pleasurable conquest, which, however, often comes too late to avoid years of support payments.”

I bring all this up because the intrepid Jeremy Scahill and Ryan Grim at The Intercept have sprung the style guide of the New York Times for talking about Israel and Palestine. If it weren’t so serious, it would be hilarious. It is sort of a Devil’s Dictionary in reverse, which punches down rather than up. It more resembles Bierce’s forays into horror fiction.

So I thought I’d rearrange their fine column as a supplement to the Ghoul’s Glossary.

CARNAGE: When Israelis kill Palestinians this word should be avoided since it conveys more emotion than information. May be used when Palestinians kill Israelis. Example: “One Israeli said that being high on LSD during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7 prompted a spiritual revelation that helped him escape the carnage at a desert rave.” NYT, April 12, 2024. May also be used of peoples not under the Palestine Exception. E.g.: “As the war continues with no end in sight, Ukraine’s youngest are in increasing peril, at risk of being dragged toward the carnage of ground combat as they defend their homeland.” NYT, April 11, 2024.

DEADLY VIOLENCE: When Israeli settlers kill innocent Palestinian civilians. E.g.: “Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has also reached record levels,” NYT, Feb. 21, 2024. Contrast to TERRORISM, when Palestinians kill Israeli civilians.

ETHNIC CLEANSING: Large scale removal of a people other than the Palestinians from their homeland. With regard to Palestine (oops, see PALESTINE), it is “another historically charged term: If someone is making such an accusation, we should press for specifics or supply proper context.” May be used for other peoples not under the Palestine Exception. E.g.: “Another Ethnic Cleansing Could Be Underway — and We’re Not Paying Attention: Azerbaijan is blockading the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, and people are dying.” NYT, Sept. 2, 2023.

FIGHTERS. This term ordinarily refers to “those who fight,” but cannot be used of Palestinians lest it imply that they are regular soldiers with a state and an army, which they are not and never will be allowed to have. It may be used of non-Palestinian irregulars who are favored by the US government, and who do not fall under the Palestine Exception. E.g. “The fighters who have claimed responsibility for a rare assault just over the Ukrainian border in Russia’s Belgorod region are members of a volunteer unit made up of Russian citizens who have been fighting with Ukraine’s forces against their own country.” NYT, May 25, 2023. Note: Russian renegades who attack Russian targets in Russia from Ukraine are never to be referred to as TERRORISTs, since they are not Palestinian.

GENOCIDE: This is something that is definitely not being committed by Israel in Gaza, though it may be reported that some judges expert in international law make the mystifying charge that Israelis would ever do such a thing. Their charges should be explained away as a form of incomprehensible legal jargon not applicable to the real world. The term may, however, be used of peoples other than the Palestinians, who are not under the Palestine Exception. E.g., re: Rwanda, “one of the last fugitives charged in connection with the 1994 genocide.” NYT, June 7, 2023.

MASSACRE: When Israelis kill Palestinians this term should be avoided since it conveys more emotion than information. It may, however, be used when Palestinians kill Israelis. . Example: “‘It’s a Massacre’: Inside an Israeli Village Raided by Palestinian Fighters.” NYT Oct. 10, 2023.

PALESTINE: A word not to be used “except in very rare cases.” No such place has ever existed nor does it now. “Do not use in datelines, routine text or headlines, except in very rare cases such as when the United Nations General Assembly elevated Palestine to a nonmember observer state, or references to historic Palestine.” That is, other benighted organizations may use the word, but not the NYT in its own voice.

OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: Ordinarily this phrase refers to territories seized in war from another people, which are militarily controlled. However, because of the Palestine Exception, it should not be used of the situation in Palestine (oops, S.V. PALESTINE) “When possible, avoid the term and be specific (e.g. Gaza, the West Bank, etc.) as each has a slightly different status.” The term may be used of other occupied territories [which of course actually all have the same status under the 1949 Geneva Convention] E.g. ” the United States might establish what amounts to a military base in Ukraine or encourage Ukraine to retake the Russian-occupied areas of the Donbass by military force.” NYT, Nov. 24, 2021.

REFUGEE CAMPS: A term be avoided in favor of “refugee centers.” “While termed refugee camps, the refugee centers in Gaza are developed and densely populated neighborhoods dating to the 1948 war. Refer to them as neighborhoods, or areas, and if further context is necessary, explain how they have historically been called refugee camps.” The term may, however, be used for densely-populated, decades-old places for non-Palestinians such as Afghans, who are not under the Palestine Exception. E.g.: “Sarwar selling watches in a camp for Afghan refugees in Karachi.” NYT, Nov. 24, 2023.

SLAUGHTER: When Israelis kill Palestinians it should be avoided since it conveys more emotion than information. May be used when Palestinians kill Israelis. Example: Thomas Friedman: “Israel’s response to the Hamas slaughter.” NYT, October 29, 2023.

TERRORISM: When Palestinian guerrillas kill Israeli civilians. E.G. “It is accurate to use ‘terrorism’ and ‘terrorist’ in describing the attacks of Oct. 7, which included the deliberate targeting of civilians in killings and kidnappings.” When Israeli settlers kill Palestinians, the term of art is in contrast “deadly violence.” E.g.: “Deadly violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the West Bank has also reached record levels,” NYT, Feb. 21, 2024."

#metaglossia_mundus