Metaglossia: The Translation World

"How about if everybody spoke English and then we could hire more doctors and fewer translators in our country?”

"JD Vance labeled 'breathtakingly unlikable' for complaining about translators working in the ER
The Vice President made some controversial comments about hospitals employing too many translators, and said that everyone should just be able to speak English

US Vice President JD Vance made the comments during a town hall event for Fox News
Vice President J.D. Vance has been called “disingenuous” for complaining about too many translators in the emergency room during his visit to the hospital with his son.

Speaking at a town hall event broadcast by Fox News, Vance said he visited the emergency room for one of his children recently, adding that it was “all totally fine” and just “young parents being panicky”.

“And I’m sitting in the emergency room, and there are like nine different translators for nine different languages while I’m worried about a medical problem that my son has, and I’m just thinking to myself — how about if everybody spoke English and then we could hire more doctors and fewer translators in our country,” Vance said, to a reaction of cheers from the studio audience...

Bulwark journalist Tim Miller also chimed in, adding, “In this story JD shares that he panicked & took his kid to the emergency room when he was totally fine. Instead of being relieved by that good news, he got upset that there are translators in the hospital helping the sick. This must’ve been before he was Catholic.”

Vance, whose parents-in-law are Indian-born, has faced stark criticism for his comments regarding other cultures recently. The Vice President was also branded a "pathetic embarrassment of a son-in-law" following remarks at a Montana rally earlier in October, where he claimed he "couldn't even pronounce" names and countries in the Middle East and Asia.

Vance was unhappy with the number of translators in the emergency room
"I remember driving to a local gas station to wait hours in line for gasoline that was now, of course, more expensive because of a region of the world made up of countries and names that I cannot even pronounce," he told the hushed venue.

Responding to Vance’s words, journalist Mehdi Hasan wrote on X, "JD Vance's in-laws' names are Radhakrishna Chilukuri and Lakshmi Chilukuri. I wonder if he tells them this stuff, too. To their faces. Or does he just save it for white MAGA rallies? Truly a racist, pathetic embarrassment of a son-in-law to his brown Indian immigrant in-laws.”

Immigration has remained a central pillar of the Trump administration, with deportations and detentions climbing sharply over the past year since he came back into power in 2025."
Hannah Broughton
10:16 ET, 30 Oct 2026
https://www.irishstar.com/news/politics/jd-vance-labeled-breathtakingly-unlikable-37827356
#metaglossia #metaglossia_mundus

As part of our Phoenix Poets series, we have the privilege of publishing amazing works of translated poetry. This season, we have a new bilingual Romanian and English edition of Radu Vancu’s The Rope in Bloom, translated by Paula and Cyrus Console-Șoican. This edition of Vancu’s celebrated and devastating 2012 collection marks the full-length English translation of his work. To get to know the collection and the process behind it, bringing it into English, we spoke with Paula and Cyrus Console-Șoican, and here they share about getting to know the world of Radu Vancu, about poetry and translation in the age of AI, and about the regional linguistic quirks they encountered along the way.

Tell us a little about yourself and your relationship to poetry.

We met in a shared office in the English Department (Kansas University) in 2008; Cyrus, guessing correctly that Paula spoke French, pretended to be having trouble with some lines of Astruc’s “Olympia, la fille des îles.”

What made you excited to work with translating this poet’s work?

The excellence of his book—although there are other reasons for excitement about Vancu. He is a central figure in the poetry community of Romania and beyond: public intellectual, editor of leading Romanian critical journal Transilvania, translator of Pound and Whitman, former president of PEN Romania, organizer of one of the country’s best poetry festivals (Poets In Transylvania, which each year brings writers from all over the world to Sibiu for several days of readings and colloquy). Vancu is a poet for whom poetry means integration into a whole sphere of life—social, political, familial—so that to come to know his work is also to feel you’ve entered the community of people and ideas on which the production of a vital national poetry depends.

Above all, though, we were excited about The Rope In Bloom. It’s an amazing book—the kind of poem that enlarges your model of the human condition even as it reaffirms your solidarity with it. Its themes are among those that exert almost universal fascination: suicide, love, addiction, life after death. The Rope In Bloom tells the story of one generation of a family torn apart by loss, even as the next generation of that family comes into joyous being; the poem’s first person is father to the young family, bereaved to the old. This story spoke intimately to us, who had our own fairly young children with us when we first read Vancu’s poem. We were susceptible to the complex emotion it unforgettably portrays: the crushing love and tenderness (and speechless gratitude) of the young parent, a feeling backed darkly by dread & terror of what might now be taken away.

To us, this mingling of hope with desperation felt timeless but also historically specific. We had both lived through periods of national exuberance—the Romania of the ‘89 revolution; the US of the later 90s when its middle class felt prosperous and destined for a limitless future. We translated the poem during what felt like a generational upheaval of this order. In 1997, the year Vancu discovered his father hanging in the family home, Zbigniew Brzezinski laid out the vision of a “benign” global American domination stretching indefinitely into the future; by the time our translation went to press, criminal wars had broken out, escalated, and metastasized from the key “geopolitical pivots” Ukraine and Iran on which Brzezinski’s formula was to depend. Europe was burning. Global surface temperature had blown irrecoverably past the 1.5º limit set by the Paris Agreement, which now seemed like the final exhalation of that optimistic former life.

Translating Rope In Bloom together, often with the children in the next room, gave us the feeling of being brought not only into the ambit of Vancu’s own family or familial personae, but also into a larger collective of Romanian poets and intellectuals working together in service of the true statement—this was a source of excitement and, in the deepest sense, recreation to us.

How would you describe the significance or role of literary translation today?

Maybe the only thing we can say is that literary translation’s significance is suffering profound, rapid change. Large language models produce excellent, sometimes stunningly creative literary translations without apparent time or effort. (We note here, without sanctimony, our commitment to translating without AI assistance. Given the trend toward compulsory AI—the fact that already you can’t look up the meaning of a word or phrase, let alone write an email or text to someone, without receiving suggestions from a machine intelligence—this may require restricting our reference process to dictionaries and other books.)

Why shouldn’t we use AI to translate? We expect it to upend (among many other systems) the entire literary value system. In the world to come it’s conceivable that “handmade” poetry might take on new relevance and cultural weight, but not as an absolute benchmark of literary excellence (we might look to AI for that, just as those interested in absolute excellence in chess look to Stockfish or TCEC—totally legitimate and exciting interests, Cyrus says). Instead, handmade poetry might gain value as a document and register of specific, individual human voices and subjectivities. It’s possible that literary translation will enjoy a similar promotion in status. The practice will remain extremely interesting as a document of one human mind encountering another; people like us will be committed to it because it advances our own literary intelligence and literary relationships. Our own priorities as writers and translators seem to be migrating toward exploration/development/expression of this register, and toward correspondence with a small number of other reader/writers—maybe above all between ourselves.

Tell us a little about your process for translating poetry—are there aspects of the original rhythm or voice you focus on preserving, is there a particular routine or practice you work with, or are there any rules you set for yourself?

Paula writes a detailed literal gloss or trot, which Cyrus then versifies (in the sense of establishing the line as a unit of measure—not in the sense of applying a fixed meter, not for this poem anyway).

Both steps cause infinite problems; the third and longest stage of our process demands lengthy, face-to-face argument of as many potential solutions as one or the other can propose. These discussions most often take place at a table in a cafe. Much of The Rope in Bloom was hammered out at Tucano (Piața Unirii), Harmony (Blvd. Copou), Crows (51st St), and Front Range (Gregory Blvd).

We don’t take avoidable liberties with the denotative content of the original, but decisions about how to put things must serve the goal of producing a poem in English. We want to find the most precise transformation of a Romanian poem into an English one.

What’s something surprising you learned about a language during the translation process?

It’s not surprising for a language to exhibit regional variation around plant and animal names, but it shocked us all the same to hear Vancu use mămăruță instead of buburuză to refer to a ladybird beetle.

Do you see your work in a conversation with a community/communities of other translators or poets?

There are a number of Romanian–English translators we’d like to think of ourselves as working among—Sean Cotter (his version of our other favorite volume of Vancu, Kaddish, now out from Zephyr Press); Monica Cure (Dan Sociu’s Deep Fakes forthcoming from World Poetry); Mihaela Moscaliuc (translator of Carmelia Leonte and Liliana Ursu). Vancu himself is a translator of note.

David Larsen’s Names of the Lion and Mark Alexander’s A Little Book of Du Fu (particularly his use of glosses) expanded our sense of what literary translation can do. Stanley Lombardo is a mentor and inspiration to both of us.

Anything else you’d like us to know?

There are even some who, instead of buburuză, say Boul-lui-Dumnezeu, “God’s Ox.”

Photo credit: Donnelly College
Paula Console-Șoican is a lecturer at the University of Kansas and translator, with Cyrus Console-Soican, of Mircea Ionescu-Quintus’s The Devil’s Grinder: Poems of Hope and Despair from the Forced Labor Camps of Post-WWII.

Photo by Ashley Story
Cyrus Console-Șoican teaches at the Kansas City Art Institute. He is the author of the poetry collections Brief Under Water, The Odicy, and The Wayfarer. He is translator, with Paula Console-Șoican, of Mircea Ionescu-Quintus’s The Devil’s Grinder: Poems of Hope and Despair from the Forced Labor Camps of Post-WWII.

Radu Vancu is university professor of arts and letters at the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu. He is the author of eleven volumes of poetry and numerous books of prose. He has also contributed important translations into Romanian, including volumes by W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound, and John Berryman. Vancu is editor of Poesis International and Transilvania, founder and organizer of the annual international poetry festival “Poets in Transylvania,” and former president of PEN Romania.

The Rope in Bloom is available on our website. Use the code UCPNEW to take 30% off when you order directly from us."

https://pressblog.uchicago.edu/2026/10/30/translating-grief-paula-and-cyrus-console-soican-on-radu-vancus-the-rope-in-bloom.html
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

A clear goal but no single correct answer: translation

Leslie Roberts on Translation, Gamelan, and 1980s New York
By Leslie Roberts
October 30, 2026 11:21 am

Roberts’s solo exhibition at Iowa Projects, is up through November 8.

READ: Kate Briggs's This Little Art, (Fitzcarraldo Editions 2017).
I would love to be a translator if I knew another language well enough. Failing that, I feel lucky to be able to read translator Kate Briggs on that puzzling process, which has a clear goal but no single correct answer. In this engagingly digressive book, she sometimes lets translation become paradigmatic for creative processes in literature and art—all of which, she notes, are mediated by inherent constraints and parameters. As an artist who makes rule-based paintings, this makes perfect sense to me..."

https://www.artforum.com/lists/leslie-roberts-on-translation-gamelan-and-80s-new-york/listen-the-heavenly-orchestra-of-bali-gamelan-semar-pegulingan-saih-pitu-1991/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"‘A privilege, a responsibility and a curse’: The art of literary translation

André Chumko
October 30, 2026

Professor Marco Sonzogni, from Victoria University of Wellington’s school of languages and cultures, co-translated the Canadian poet and essayist Anne Carson's 2000 book Men in the Off Hours into Italian. Carson was this year awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. The Post caught up with Sonzogni about the translation process...

Hey Marco! So first things first, how did you connect with Anne?

While I have devoted years to immersing myself in Anne Carson’s literary world, my point of contact with her was her agent via my publisher. My connection is rooted in a deep, scholarly engagement with her writing. The more I read her work, the more I felt the pull to translate it into Italian - even more because Carson is a literary translator herself. That shared vocation created a powerful intellectual bond, even without a direct physical meeting.

How would you describe Men in the Off Hours to someone who’s never read it before?

Layered, complex and extraordinarily beautiful. Even though it was published a quarter of a century ago, it feels as if it were written specifically for our contemporary moment. It represents literary language at its finest, demonstrating everything that literature is capable of when used to express deep feelings, voice radical ideas, and claim new cultural spaces. Anne Carson is one of those writers who extend the possibilities of language.

And how do you actually translate a book, given no two languages are exactly the same?

Translation is an act and a leap of faith. Or, as I like to tell my students, the fattest lie you can tell - that the target text is equivalent to the source text. If it is a lie, and it is, we must tell it in the most convincing way. So, we must acquire and keep honing a cross-cultural mindset and a multilingual skillset.

Literary translation is one of the most challenging but also most rewarding experiences one can have, both as an ordinary or specialised reader. Not only do you get to read literature; you also get to re-write it. A privilege, a responsibility and a curse all at once! So, yes, getting someone else - especially a trusted fellow translator or a trusted reader - to share the love and check your work is the smartest and safest move any translator can make.

What are the most challenging aspects of being a translator?

The most difficult moments occur when linguistic, cultural and literary differences push you into a corner you feel you’re never going to come out of - and if by luck or skill you managed to, it would be to meet many a finger pointed at you by one person or another and for one reason or another. This feeling never leaves you, really, no matter how experienced or seasoned you are, or think you are. Every new translation makes you understand the process more deeply and more holistically - and, one hopes, it also makes you a better translator along the way. Remaining intellectually and emotionally in one piece when faced with the most challenging literary passages in verse or prose is both gruelling and gratifying. Translating a book like Men in the Off Hours was like being on a relentless rollercoaster.

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Nobel Prize winner Anne Carson pictured in 2024.
Photo: Jay Dixit / WikiPortraits
What are the most rewarding parts?

There is a profound joy in seeing an author you have translated receive recognition. What matters is that you’ve contributed to gifting the author and their book new readers, new interpretations, new emotions - an afterlife, as Walter Benjamin would argue. This is the human chain of translation - which can be, perhaps must be, the closest of close-readings and at the same time the most distant of distant (re)writings.

The translator is poised between these two poles, trying to balance objectivity and subjectivity across languages, cultures, traditions, values and audiences. This tension requires that the translator be ready to go the very limit of their intellectual and emotional capabilities.

How is AI affecting the world of translation?

I am an obstinate optimist, and that includes AI. I reject the idea that it will render translators obsolete. Instead, I advocate for human-centred AI. Digital fluency is rapidly becoming the contemporary driver’s licence - a prerequisite for professional life all over the world. AI is a tool, not a substitute for critical thinking. And while AI can provide speed and open new possibilities in the workflow, it must be tempered by the accuracy of human judgment. My current work in AI is guided by human rights and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We must ensure technology respects cultural specificity and the rigour of human thought.

Finally, what’s something not many people know about you?

To wind down and relax, I love watching videos of trains from all over the world."
https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/361106110/privilege-responsibility-and-curse-art-literary-translation
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"How a Brock researcher is rethinking translation in the AI era
Friday, October 30, 2026 | by Gillian Min

Associate Professor of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures Nicholas Hauck is researching experimental forms of translation and writing in the age of generative artificial intelligence. During a recent conference at Brock University, Hauck gathered international experts in the field including Michael Cronin, Professor of French at Trinity College Dublin.
Nicholas Hauck is sparking dialogue around experimental forms of translation and writing in the age of generative artificial intelligence (AI).

The Associate Professor of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures’ (MLLC) explores translation as more than a method of transferring meaning from one language to another. For him, the process about exploring new ways to communicate ideas and understanding cross-cultural contexts.

Hauck, who specializes in French, focuses his research focuses on translation as an interconnected creative practice between text, body, mind and the environment.

“With the advancement of technology and AI, it is more important than ever to consider the ways in which the task of language translation can, or can’t, be done by a computer,” he says.

While AI might be successful at translating instructions for everyday activities, Hauck says it falls short when it comes to translating nuances and meaning found in creative texts such as poetry, one of his research interests.

Hauck says that gap also applies to conversational contexts and the subtleties of local dialects, colloquialisms and expressions that don’t translate easily.

“Translation does not always have to produce an exact equivalent. It can involve emotions, sounds or movement. Translation can also be multimodal and what AI cannot yet do is engage in the playfulness and experimental nature of the practice,” he says.

A poem might be best translated through movement, dance or another visual medium, Hauck says, using creative practices to enrichen the experience of understanding the language.

To move beyond conventional notions of translation, it’s essential to understand how the process has evolved over time, says Dante Ognibene, who works alongside Hauck as a research assistant.

“Considering the premise of writing and translation is intriguing, especially when thinking beyond traditional definitions of both practices. Our research explores how meanings are translated through multimodal ways, including in the media, for example,” says the fifth-year Concurrent Teacher Education and French Studies student.

Motivated to add more perspectives to the conversation, Hauck and Ognibene recently gathered scholars, writers and translation experts from across Canada as well as the United Kingdom and United States at Brock to further explore the practice of experimental translation.

Presented by MLLC, the New (and Old) Experiments in Translation (and Writing) Conference took place at Brock’s main campus and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts from Oct. 22 to 24.

Themes explored included non-conventional forms of writing and translation, multimodal methods of translation, eco-translation and non-human writing.

A key theme discussed was transcreation, a portmanteau of “translation” and “creation” that refers to the process of reimagining texts in different languages and cultures instead of translating word for word and focusing solely on meaning.

“Our goal is to foster dialogue that shifts away from the framework of translation as a transactional model between languages towards recognizing and attempting to account for the multidimensional, multimodal negotiations that occur in and through translation,” Hauck says.

It’s clear, Hauck notes, that the conversation surrounding translation and AI is here to stay — but translation encompasses so much more.

“Translation is really about care and hospitality for others, for our environment and for all the living worlds we cohabitate. If we want to keep living in and with these worlds respectfully, ethically, then we’re going to need translation to develop relationships.”"
https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2026/10/how-a-brock-researcher-is-rethinking-translation-in-the-ai-era/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Translation across theoretical, historical, methodological, and empirical dimensions, assessing how marginality informs, challenges, and redefines the discipline and practice

CFP: (Re)Thinking the Margins of Translation
Submission deadline: January 20, 2027
Conference date(s):
May 20, 2027 - May 21, 2027

Conference Venue:
Department of Translation and Language Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Barcelona, Spain

Topic areas
Philosophy of Language
Details
This symposium invites scholars to re-examine the notion of the “margin” in relation to translation across theoretical, historical, methodological, and empirical dimensions, assessing how marginality informs, challenges, and redefines the discipline and practice of translation. At the same time, the symposium also seeks to open discussions about the very notion of “margin”, its significance, and whether conventional ideas and locations of “the marginal” must be reassessed in light of current global transformations.

For full information and CfP, please visit: https://www.upf.edu/web/traduccio/w/international-symposium-re-thinking-the-margins-of-translation

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

Luis Pegenaute (Universitat Pompeu Fabra)

Rosario Hubert (Trinity College, Hartford)

Key dates

Deadline for submissions: 20 January 2027

Notification of acceptance: 12 February 2027

Deadline for registration (no fees applied): 28 February 2027

Symposium dates: 20-21 May 2027

Submissions

All proposals must include title, abstract (200-300 words) and a short bio (max. 100 words).

Send the abstract to: marginstranslat@outlook.com

Scientific Committee: Regina Galasso (University of Massachusetts Amherst), Marta Pacheco Pinto (Universidade de Lisboa), Carles Prado-Fonts (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya), Mario Santana (University of Chicago), Cheng Yiyang (Fudan University), Florence Xiangyun Zhang (Université Paris Cité)

Venue:

Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona

Department of Translation and Language Sciences

Campus Poblenou, Carrer Roc Boronat, 138

08018 Barcelona

Room: 55.309 (Tànger building)

Convenors: Esther Gimeno Ugalde & Manuel Pavón-Belizón

Organized by: Department of Translation and Language Sciences

Grup de Recerca en Traducció, Recepció i Literatura Catalana (TRILCAT)

https://www.upf.edu/web/traduccio/w/international-symposium-re-thinking-the-margins-of-translation
Supporting material
Add supporting material (slides, programs, etc.)"
https://philevents.org/event/show/155529
#metaglossia #metaglossia_mundus

"Why Christians are racing to translate Scripture before Iran’s political future changes

Iran (MNN) — AI is helping translate the Bible into Iran’s ethnic languages faster, at a lower cost, and with less risk to translators. This is exciting news because speed matters.

“The race really is to get ready for an open Iran,” says Lana Silk, president and CEO at Transform Iran, “because we are fully anticipating that God is going to shake that nation further and open it up to the gospel in a way that it has never been before.”

You may have heard that Iran has one of the fastest-growing churches in the world. But Silk says it is mostly happening among Farsi speakers, who have access to Scripture in their language. Today, dozens of languages spoken in Iran have no Scripture available in them.

“There’s a real Bible poverty happening across these other [ethnic] people groups,” Silk says. “And the evidence is seen in the impact of the gospel.”

She says they envision having Bible translations completed and Bibles printed and ready for distribution within Iran — before Iran opens up.

“I believe it will be too late for the regime to fall, and then for the Church to say, ‘Oh, we want to go into Balochistan. We want to go into Kurdistan. Oh, let’s get a Bible. They don’t have a Bible.’ That will be too late,” says Silk. “By the time we have organized ourselves, we will have lost that prime time window of opportunity to establish the church and to reach the lost when they’re really open to it.”

Transform Iran’s new AI tool is projected to shorten the time needed to complete a New Testament from 18 months to one year. Silk says AI alone could do it in six months, but the ministry is allowing more time.

“We want humans to be involved in the process and make sure that the end result is something that will serve church planting and church formation, and not just be a translation that would sit on a shelf,” Silk says.

One more strength of Transform Iran’s AI tool is that it can be used without internet access. That helps translators in dangerous areas protect their safety and privacy.

Will you help prepare for an open Iran by investing in Bible translation today? Silk says a few translation teams already have funding and are underway, “but we have several other New Testaments that have teams ready to go that are waiting for enough of a funding boost for us to be able to bring them together and get going.”

Because of AI-driven streamlining, the cost of translating one verse of Scripture has dropped from $35 to $15.

“I would be really inviting the listeners to consider how many verses could you sponsor to get translated,” says Silk.

Visit transformiran.com to learn more and join these translation efforts."
By Katie O'Malley
October 30, 2026
https://www.mnnonline.org/news/why-christians-are-racing-to-translate-scripture-before-irans-political-future-changes/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus: ????!!!🤔🤔🤔

"Court Interpreter Shortages Leave Defendants Waiting for Justice

Without courtroom interpreters, language gaps can lead to confusion, misunderstandings and wrongful trial outcomes. Cook County’s court interpreter workforce is chronically understaffed, with low pay, stressful working conditions and the psychological toll of the job contributing to recruitment and retention challenges.

Fewer than 30 full-time court interpreters work across the entire county, according to Elsa Prado, a Cook County Court Interpreters Union representative.

“It’s critical to have language access because that [can] make the difference between probably convicting a person, having a person taken into custody,” Prado said.

The county relies on contract interpreters to fill in the gaps, but Prado said the court system realistically needs to double its certified interpreter workforce to function effectively.

The shortage can leave a single interpreter responsible for multiple courtrooms at once, forcing them to juggle simultaneous proceedings. When a contract interpreter cancels or fails to show, there may be no available replacement, potentially delaying hearings and leaving people waiting for the language assistance they need to participate in their cases.

The recently sworn-in Chief Judge Charles Beach is prioritizing staffing the Interpreters’ Office, Abdon Pallasch, director of communications at Cook County Circuit Court told TCR, with 10 new full-time interpreters hired in recent months, bringing the total to 28.

Cook County’s diverse language needs

Approximately 1 million Illinois residents speak English less than “very well” and may require language assistance to access state services, and a quarter of Illinoisans—totalling nearly 3 million—speak a language other than English at home.

Limited-English-Proficiency (LEP) residents have risen substantially in recent years due to migration from Venezuela and Ukraine.

Pallasch said between 2025 and 2026 there were close to 70,000 requests for interpretations in Spanish, and nearly 2,000 in Polish, as well as Arabic. More than 3,000 other requests spanned other languages, including Russian, Ukrainian, Urdu, and more.

Waiting to be understood

People who depend on an interpreter can face real consequences when one is unavailable. Delays force them to miss work, pay for additional child care or spend hours waiting for their case to be heard. In some cases, Prado said, leaving before a case is called can result in a warrant for failing to appear in court, potentially accompanied by the forfeiture of bail. Scheduling delays can last months. 

“Why should they have to wait another month, or why would people have to be postponed in such a manner because [courts] don’t provide the service that they need to provide?” Prado said. “That is a constitutional right.”

A growing problem

The shortage of qualified interpreters is a nationwide problem, Middlebury Institute of International Studies professor Holly Mikkelson told TCR. The profession is aging as interpreters and translators retire, while younger workers may be less inclined to enter the field amid the rise of artificial intelligence, she said.

But Mikkelson warned AI cannot reliably replace human interpreters—particularly when attorneys depend on the precise interpretation of witness testimony—which can be critical to a case. Mikkelson said she regularly sees notices for openings in federal courts and hears about shortages of certified interpreters across the country. “I don’t think there’s a shortage of people who want to work as interpreters, but there’s certainly a shortage of certified interpreters,” she said.

Communication challenges go beyond translating words from one language to another—interpreters must be able to use and explain legal terminology, understand regional dialects, slang, context, and the way people actually speak under the stress of testifying in court.

“Interpreting testimony, interpreting—really, I don’t think oral proceedings in general can be handled well enough with AI,” Mikkelson said. “It’s getting better, but when you’re talking about going from one language to another, there are too many complexities for AI to deal with.”

No justice without communication

When qualified interpreters are unavailable, courts can be forced to compromise the quality of interpretation, potentially affecting defendants’ due process rights, jurors’ perceptions and the public’s faith in the judicial system.

“It’s fundamentally a due process issue–meaningful participation in courts,” Noor Alawawda, the Senior Program Manager for Language Access at the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts (AOIC) said. “When someone’s civil liberties are at risk, it’s not just convenience.”

The problem persists despite decades of federal guidance intended to improve language access. In 2000, President Bill Clinton signed an executive order directing recipients of federal financial assistance – including state and local governments –  to take reasonable steps to ensure meaningful access to services for people with limited English proficiency and warning that inadequate access could constitute discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act.

The interpreter shortage is particularly acute for languages other than Spanish, which is the most commonly requested language in U.S. courts. Illinois’ oral court-interpreter exam is offered in 22 languages, while interpreters of other languages may have to qualify through an oral proficiency interview, making it difficult for courts to find qualified interpreters for less commonly spoken languages, Mikkelson said. Remote interpretation services can fill some gaps, but courts may have to rely on companies’ assurances that interpreters are qualified.

“The courts can’t do their job without qualified interpreters,” Mikkelson said. “And the Supreme Court has found there are lots and lots of legal cases demonstrating that proper interpretation is a matter of due process.”

Because Illinois is a non-unified court system, each county hires and schedules their own interpreters. Some are unionized and shortages vary by county, but rural areas like Hancock, with populations of 18,000 or less, face some of the steepest shortages in qualified interpreters, Alawawda said.

Languages of limited diffusion–languages spoken by a relatively small or geographically concentrated population, making qualified interpreters harder to find–require at least 48 hour notice to get an interpreter on the phone, Alawawda said.

A nationwide problem

According to Robert Joe Lee, a member of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators’ (NAJIT) Advocacy Committee, courts across the country face bottlenecks at nearly every stage of the process. Recruitment, certification, scheduling, compensation and retention can all contribute to shortages of qualified interpreters, he said.

About 14 percent of Illinois residents have some type of hearing loss, and about 3 percent are deaf, according to the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission.

Communication can be more complex for people who use other sign languages, such as Mexican Sign Language. In those cases, Wohlmuth said, the court may use a relay in which an interpreter familiar with Mexican Sign Language communicates through a certified deaf interpreter and a hearing interpreter. For deaf people with limited formal language instruction, interpreters and court personnel may also need to establish signs or use drawings and concrete examples to ensure meaningful access.

Being bilingual does not necessarily qualify someone to interpret in court. Court interpreters must understand legal terminology and courtroom procedure, know how to interpret simultaneously and consecutively, and be able to convey legal concepts accurately between languages, Mikkelson said. Using an unqualified interpreter can distort testimony and, in serious cases, force a retrial to ensure a reliable record and due process.

The same principle applies to sign-language interpretation. Wohlmuth said there can be substantial linguistic variation within the deaf community, and courts cannot assume that a person will automatically understand an interpreter simply because both people use sign language.

In the past 20 years, Chicago has seen a surge of people from Mexico and Central America who speak indigenous languages that the courts have never heard before, presenting a unique problem, Lee said. Video remote interpreting and telephone interpreting has been adopted for such less spoken languages. Lee added that when staff interpreters are unavailable, the system relies on contract interpreters, and the quality is not guaranteed in the same way.

Prado attributed Cook County’s interpreter shortage to five factors: compensation, heavy workloads and understaffing, working conditions and burnout, a limited recruitment pipeline, and certification requirements.

Lee added that working conditions in the courts are not conducive to mental health. Court interpreters can also face a psychological toll from the work itself. A 2023 systematic review of research on interpreters working in domestic violence and other traumatic settings found that repeated exposure to victims’ accounts of violence can lead to distress, anxiety, sadness, helplessness and vicarious trauma — a form of trauma response that can develop through empathetic engagement with another person’s traumatic experiences.

On top of mental health concerns, interpreters sometimes find higher pay in the private sector, and find few avenues for professional development in the public court interpreting world. Lee said three basic levels exist in public courts; a probationary level, an entry level, and a master level.

“There’s a huge reluctance in the public sector to understand and treat court interpreting as a bona fide profession that deserves respect and appreciation,” Lee said.
More Reads by TCR"
by Jack Austin
October 30, 2026
https://www.chicagoreporter.com/court-interpreter-shortages-leave-defendants-waiting-for-justice/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

“La hice re larga”: Messi olvidó al traductor y protagonizó un divertido momento en la Messi Cup
El argentino dio un extenso discurso en español durante la inauguración de su torneo juvenil y recién al terminar recordó que debían traducirlo al inglés
27 octubre, 2026

Lionel Messi puede dejar a los defensas sin respuestas, pero esta vez quien tuvo que esperar fue su traductor. El campeón del mundo protagonizó una escena tan espontánea como divertida durante la inauguración de la Messi Cup, el torneo juvenil que lleva su nombre y que reúne a equipos de Europa y América en Miami.

Todo ocurrió cuando el capitán argentino tomó el micrófono para darles la bienvenida a los futbolistas de la categoría sub-16. Messi empezó a hablar en español y se extendió con un mensaje sobre la importancia de disfrutar la competencia, hacer amigos y llevarse recuerdos que duren toda la vida.

El problema llegó al final: mientras los asistentes escuchaban atentamente, el traductor esperaba su turno para pasar las palabras al inglés. Leo terminó su intervención, miró hacia el intérprete y cayó en cuenta de que se había olvidado de darle espacio para traducir.

“Perdón, me olvidé que vas a traducir, la hice re larga, ¿no?”, soltó entre risas.

La frase provocó las carcajadas de los presentes y convirtió el discurso inaugural en uno de los momentos más comentados de la jornada.

Lionel Messi tuvo un divertido momento en Estados Unidos (Fuente: ESPN MX)
Messi: la respuesta del traductor también hizo reír
El intérprete no se quedó callado y respondió con una salida igual de oportuna:

“Sí, pero la vamos a hacer cortito porque tampoco queremos que los chicos se queden bajo la lluvia”.

La ocurrencia terminó de redondear la escena. Messi había querido dejarles un mensaje especial a los jóvenes, pero su entusiasmo lo llevó a olvidarse por completo de los tiempos de la traducción. Al final, el pequeño despiste terminó robándose parte de la atención de la ceremonia."
https://caretas.pe/deportes/la-hice-re-larga-messi-olvido-al-traductor-y-protagonizo-un-divertido-momento-en-la-messi-cup/
#metaglossia .
#metaglossia_mundus

Use “plain English” to avoid confusing international students

"A style guide issued by the University of Oxford advises staff to use “plain English” to avoid confusing international students. The style guide is designed to ensure clear communication from University staff.

In the guide, which was published earlier this year, the University suggested that staff “be mindful of idioms that may not be familiar to international readers”. Phrases and idioms to avoid include “learn the ropes” and “find your feet”.

This guidance is intended to benefit international students. A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “As a global university with staff and students from around the world, we write for a wide international audience. The guide provides practical advice for written University communications, from punctuation to choosing language that readers will readily understand.” International students make up 43% of Oxford students overall and 60% of graduate students.

While recognising the advice’s intention, some international students have criticised the guide as “a bit overdone”. Speaking with Cherwell, one student said that “idioms [sic] are integral parts of the English language. It makes Oxford, Oxford.”

Another student, Juniper Chan, told Cherwell: “It’s kind of anti-integration, anti-naturalisation… to baby people. When I first got to the UK, I didn’t get a lot of stuff, but you have to kind of pick it up.”

Students have acknowledged the difficulties language barriers create at university. Chan told Cherwell: “There is a certain level of shame that comes with it [but Oxford] is a very international place.You could always ask your friends for help.”

Oxford requires non-native English speakers to prove their proficiency when they apply, requesting evidence of C1 or C2 level ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. The British Council defines C1 as the ability to “understand a wide range of more difficult, longer texts” and to  “recognise implicit meanings”, a skill that should enable students to understand the idioms the University advises against.

The guidance has created controversy online. For example, Lord Young of the Free Speech Union said: “One of the reasons international students come to Oxford is so that they can immerse themselves in our culture and master colloquial English.”

The University also added that its style guide is non-proscriptive. A University spokesperson told Cherwell: “Its writing guidance is advisory and supports staff in exercising their own judgement about the language they use and the audience they are writing for.”
Miriam Ilderton
28th October 2026

https://cherwell.org/2026/10/28/oxford-style-guide-criticised-international-students/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

More than words: what is lost when a language dies
Language diversity 28 October 2026 text: Tim Senden image: Jan-Joseph Stok / DoBeS Yurakare

"When languages die, more is lost than words alone: knowledge, traditions and community also come under pressure. In his inaugural lecture, Professor by Special Appointment Rik van Gijn explains why linguistic diversity matters and what language tells us about the past.

Van Gijn spent years in the Bolivian interior searching for a ritual mourning language. The grandparents of the people he spoke to had still used this language, but they no longer did. Then, one day, a Yurakaré man suddenly said to him: ‘Sit down and get your recording equipment ready.’

‘For five minutes I listened spellbound to what was believed to be a lost ritual language.

I didn’t understand a word of it because it was so different from the everyday language’, Van Gijn recalls of a memorable moment during his fieldwork. ‘I’d gained their trust, and it was an incredibly emotional moment.’

‘People don’t give up their language for the fun of it’

The disappearing language of the Yurakaré
For over 20 years, Van Gijn has studied the disappearing language of the Yurakaré, an indigenous group of a few thousand people living in small communities across an area the size of Belgium. They live along the Isiboro and Sécure rivers and in Chapare Province in central Bolivia, and make their living from agriculture, fishing, hunting and seasonal work. In many of these small communities, Spanish has become the common language, placing Yurakaré under increasing pressure. And that has consequences.

Language loss is closely linked to the breakdown of communities, says Van Gijn. ‘People don’t give up their language for the fun of it’, he says. People hope that another language will give them a better life or shield them from racism. But relinquishing a language comes at the expense of cultural heritage and social cohesion, to the point where a grandfather can no longer speak with his grandchild.

Knowledge disappears with language
As a language disappears, so does knowledge, for example about traditional medicine. Among the Tsimane, neighbours of the Yurakaré, treatment of a disease was less effective in a village where traditional knowledge of medicinal plants had been lost than in a village where it had been maintained.

Languages, says Van Gijn, contain small, efficient units of information about the environment in which they originated, which children naturally absorb as they learn the language. When people switch to Spanish, these distinctions disappear. The same applies to ritual language and the knowledge needed to weave traditional Yurakaré tunics.

Your own language is a human right
Van Gijn does not want to dictate which language people should speak. ‘If I were Yurakaré, I would also learn Spanish. The question is: should you give up your own language or can you continue to use it alongside Spanish?’

More countries are recognising that the right to your own language, and to education in that language, is a human right. According to Van Gijn, it helps if children are taught all their subjects in Yurakaré at primary school. ‘It’s a valuable language, and that in turn boosts cultural self-confidence.’

He does not see it as a problem that traditions change. The problem is that ‘there’s a hard break’, and that people, often out of necessity, distance themselves from those traditions.

Traces of the past
Language also tells us about the past. Anyone who migrates or comes into contact with other groups leaves traces in the language, such as loanwords and grammatical changes. Van Gijn compares that with what genetics and archaeology reveal.

A workshop on the history of Bolivia, involving anthropologists, archaeologists and geneticists, highlighted the deep history of both cultural diversity and contact in the region. In languages, this is reflected in the many small language families that share grammatical features.

Sometimes disciplines contradict one another. Genetics and archaeology place the first human crossing from Siberia to Alaska and the Americas at around 20,000 years ago, while some linguists argue that so many language families could not have emerged in such a relatively short time. ‘Then you have a mismatch, and that makes it all the more interesting because you have to resolve that paradox.’ To unravel that early human history, he believes further collaboration between disciplines is needed.

Influence on research
Van Gijn also wants to break down the barrier that still exists between researchers and the linguistic communities they study. ‘We come from a tradition where the professor goes into the field, collects data, returns home and then publishes in academic journals. That is changing.’ Speaker communities are gradually gaining more influence over research agendas. ‘More research based on co-creation and collaboration, so that it also benefits them, seems like a positive development to me.’

Rik van Gijn gave his inaugural lecture, ‘Linguistic Diversity Forever!’ in the Academy Building on Friday 23 October at 16.00."
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/news/2026/10/more-than-words-what-is-lost-when-a-language-dies
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"CfP: Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis
International Association for Translation and Intercultural Studies

9th International Conference

University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
Christchurch, New Zealand
7-10 December 2027

Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis

Conference Theme
Language, hospitality, and crisis are, and always have been, historically and globally intertwined concepts.

The notion of hospitality is deeply rooted in complex and long-standing histories of encounters; of conflict and persecution; but also of travel and adventure. The specular relationship between alterity and subjectivity is at its core, and so too is the very fabric of sociability. The closest Te Reo Māori equivalent to hospitality, manaakitanga, echoes this dynamic, as it implies the collective nurturing of relationships in which the mana (dignity, prestige, and spiritual power) of all those involved is upheld and elevated. From these histories and terms, we are confronted with the (unwritten) rules, obligations, and laws related to hospitality which encapsulate examples on a micro- and macrostructural level: from welcoming guests into a nation—as immigrants or refugees—to providing shelter and support in the community in times of crisis, right down to individual acts of kindness and aid, such as welcoming a friend, family-member or stranger into one’s home. However, not all guests and hosts are created equal, and hospitality is not always synonymous with kindness and welcoming. The (de)colonial perspectives evident from Latin America to Oceania and beyond, where indigenous peoples were constructed as ‘unwelcome guests’ in their own land, offer fruitful examples of how historically, as well as in contemporary contexts, hospitality has often functioned as a lens through which asymmetrical power relations can be understood.

Several linguists and philosophers have scrutinized the ambivalence inherent to hospitality, elucidating its semantic and pragmatic conceptions, as well as its etymological misunderstandings and polysemy. Paola Zaccaria summarizes this dynamic as follows: “In Latin, the guest, being a stranger, was called both hospes (whence the etymological root of hospitality) and hostis, which means “enemy.” [Émile] Benveniste argued that the notion of favorable stranger evolved into guest, while a hostile stranger was considered an enemy" (Zaccaria, 2022, p. 182). Such etymological linkage led Jacques Derrida to coin the neologism “hostipitality” (Derrida & Dufourmantelle, 2000), suggesting that welcoming the Other can lead to a host’s vulnerability, and that embedded within hospitality are the very seeds of its own potential destruction. Welcoming the guest—the Other, a frenemy, AI—can lead to the host’s sovereignty unravelling, where sovereignty can be understood in its broadest conceptual sense possible: one’s space (or home) as well as one’s identity and integrity. This intersubjective blending is even more apparent when we take into consideration that Derrida writes in French where the term hôte can denote, depending on the context, either guest or host. Interpretations and translations of hospitality continue today: whether it be as a pragmatic form or an abstract, philosophical construct, the concept will (and arguably should) never be laid to rest.

While the very notion of hospitality, the givenness of its communal veracity is obviously enabling, we do not need to look too far in our current climate to witness how conceptually, at least, it has been called into crisis. ‘Crisis,’ at its very root, indicates a turning point and a decision. Not all crises are therefore inherently bad or negative, and yet the term is rarely shrouded in positivity. In a post-truth era; as we explore the use and limits of AI; as we further communicate through the semiotics of emojis; as teeter-tottering governments modify language policies, and as institutional settings regulate and enact the boundaries in which we work and live, we must ask: is language—and are languages—in crisis? And can the same be said of hospitality? Translation, Interpreting, and interculturality are at the very heart of both hospitality and crisis, as the latter inevitably creates contexts of language contact due to globalization, as well as chosen and forced migration.

With this conference topic, there are two potential thematic avenues for presenters to explore in relation to Translation, Interpreting, as well as Intercultural Studies: one more aligned with the multifaceted notion and voices of ‘hospitality’ and the other with ‘crisis.’ This conference therefore calls on scholars, educators, and practitioners to reflect and present on these disciplines and their interaction with these themes as they play out in their professional, creative, and scholarly reflections and important work.

Possible subthemes to explore include:
·           T&I and the guest-host dynamic
·           Violence in/and T&I
·           Language(s) in crisis
·           Hospitality and crisis
·           Regional and minority languages
·           Data Sovereignty and indigenous languages
·           AI and/in crisis – trust, machine translation, and language access in crisis situations
·           T&I in hospitality & tourism
·           T&I in regional conflicts
·           T&I in natural disasters
·           Hospitality and ethics in relation to volunteer translation, AI-assisted translation, and the sustainability of the profession
·           The translation/non-translation of literature as examples of hostipitality
·           Rethinking T&I and sovereignty through Indigenous Knowledges
·           The ethics and politics of translation and intercultural studies research, education, and practice: a turning point?
·           (Feminist) ethics of care
·           Disability Studies and the Politics of language(s) in translation and interpretation – who gets to speak?
·           Lost languages – linguistic preservation, hospitality, and ethics
·           Resisting the status quo – rethinking dissemination of translations as a question of the commons

Language Policy

·      All abstracts/proposals for individual papers (20 minutes each) and panels must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Advisory Board, and all papers will be presented in English or Te Reo Māori. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.

·      Workshop proposals must be submitted in English or Te Reo Māori for peer-review by the Scientific Committee; however, presentations during workshops in languages other than English or Te Reo Māori are welcome. A minimum of two presenters is required for workshops. Interpreting will be provided contingent on available funds.

Key Deadlines

·      15 November 2026: Deadline for potential convenors to submit panel, workshop, roundtable or artistic initiatives

·      20 December 2026: Announcement of the accepted proposals (panels, workshops, roundtables and artistic initiatives) & call for papers and performances.

·      20 March 2027: Individual abstract submission to accepted panels and general sessions

·      5 June 2027: Notification of acceptance of proposals (all formats).

·      5 June 2027: Registration opens

·      1 August 2027: Closing date for early registration

Registration

·      5 June 2027: Registration opens

·      1 August 2027: Early-bird registration closes

Link to registration: to be provided soon.

 

Solidarity Fund and Bursaries for Band 3 & 4 Countries

More information to be provided soon.

 

CALL FOR PANELS

Panels

Panels will serve as the cornerstone for structuring the conference programme. Panels are thematic, integrated discussions for 6 to 12 sessions on a clearly identified theme or topic within the larger theme of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”). They should provide attendees with an opportunity to hear presenters engage in dialogue amongst themselves as well as with attendees about cutting-edge research, practice, theory building, and/or policy development.

Important: at this stage, you do not need to have a list of speakers or abstracts. Your panel proposal will be assessed by the Scientific Committee. If accepted, your panel will then be posted on the IATIS website and turned into a thematic call for papers open for anyone to submit. Panel convenors will be in charge of reviewing all abstracts submitted to their panel. The members of the scientific committee will review panel convenors’ selection before a notification of acceptance of abstracts can be issued.

Timeline for Panels

·      Submission of panel proposals: 15 November 2026
·      Announcement of accepted panel proposals: 20 December 2026
·      Submission to accepted panels: 20 March 2027
·      Acceptance notification: 1 June 2027

Link to the submission platform: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iatis9

The following information will be required:

·      Details about the convenor(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (approx..100 words) and contact address

·      Details about the proposal: abstract (approx. 500 words)

·      Optional: Tentative list of speakers and subtopics covered, if any. Please note that even if you have a list of possible speakers, all accepted panels remain open to submissions by interested IATIS delegates

See examples of IATIS panels in previous conferences:

·      Oman Panels 2025

·      Barcelona Panels 2021

·      Hong Kong Panels 2018

CALL FOR WORKSHOPS

Pre-conference workshops run for a day or half a day on Dec 6 (or Dec 7, subject to enrolment numbers). These workshops are designed to be training sessions on a topic of interest to conference attendees, such as teaching and professional development, with a special emphasis on learning or developing new skills.

Timeline for Workshops

·      Submission of workshop proposals: 15 November 2026

·      Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026

·      Workshop Registration: 5 June 2027

 

Link to the submission platform: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iatis9

CALL FOR ARTISTIC INITIATIVES

These initiatives will reflect the cultures of the world. Artistic initiatives come from conference delegates and can be about or across cultures. They should address the topic of the conference (“Interculturality and Hospitality in Times of Crisis”).

 

Timeline for Artistic Initiatives

·      Submission of artistic initiative proposals: 15 November 2026

·      Announcement of acceptance: 20 December 2026

 

Link to the submission platform: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=iatis9

 

CALL FOR PAPERS

 

These are individual presentations that form the backbone of the conference's parallel sessions. Researchers can send abstracts to be presented as papers in thematic panels (accepted panels, see above) or independent of any panel in the conference. Papers are given the same amount of time given to panel session papers, and they may be added by the conference scientific committee to an established conference panel, if relevant, and in consultation with the convenor.

 

Timeline for Papers

·      Call for individual papers: 20 December 2026

·      Deadline for potential presenters to submit abstracts for papers in and beyond thematic panels: 20 March 2027

·      Announcement of accepted papers: 1 June 2027

 

The following information will be required:

·      Details about the presenter(s): name, surname, affiliation, bionote (100 words approx.) and contact address

·      Abstract (250 words approx.)

 

See examples of IATIS papers in previous conferences

·      Oman Papers 2025

·      Barcelona Papers 2021

·      Hong Kong Papers 2018

IATIS https://www.iatis.org/9th-conference-christchurch-2027

Why There Can Never Be a Perfect Bible Translation

Cy Kellett welcomes Jimmy Akin to discuss the upcoming Catholic American Bible. Jimmy explains the complexities of translating biblical texts and why no translation can be considered perfect, highlighting the challenges that arise from language differences.

Transcript:

Cy Kellett: Will, thank you for waiting. Go ahead with your question.

Caller: Hey, Jimmy. And it sounds like we’ve got a new version of the Bible coming up or a new edition. Excuse me. The Catholic American Bible. And I’m excited about it. Sounds great. And I looked at the panel and the people that have contributed to the Midwest Theological Forum. I think it looks great. Looks like new translation of the Greek and updating the Old Testament as well from the Nabre version and a new version of the Psalms. But you know, looking at the Catholic American Bible when it comes out, you know, how should we compare or assess, a new translation when it comes out?

Jimmy Akin: Well, I guess the first thing is, we should be realistic in what we expect because there are no perfect translations. Languages, just can’t be mapped onto each other in a one to one fashion. an example I often use is, for example, the translation of idioms. for example, in English we have this idiom. And Cy knows, I’m sure Where I’m going, we have this idiom in English, roll out the red carpet, which does not mean. Does not mean there is a literal red carpet that needs to be rolled out. It’s a way of saying we need to take great pains because a dignitary is visiting if we need to roll out the red carpet for someone. But if you translated that literally into Spanish, it wouldn’t mean anything. People would think there is a literal red carpet because that expression is not, is not one that is found in Spanish. There is a Spanish equivalent idiom, though, and I wonder if Sa Kellet remembers what that one is. Do you happen to remember the Spanish equivalent of roll out the red carpet,

Cy Kellett: Throw everything out the window?

Jimmy Akin: Yeah, throw the house out.

Cy Kellett: Okay, yeah.

Caller: Yeah. Okay.

Jimmy Akin: Yeah. So that’s one example. And it doesn’t just operate on the level of expressions like that. It also operates even on the level of individual words. And we’ve seen two examples of that already in today’s show. Cy Kellett.

Cy Kellett: Yes, sir?

Jimmy Akin: When you asked me the question about, women teaching, what terms exist in Greek now, I’m not asking for the word, but what are their English equivalents that translators have to make a choice. Do we translate it this way or that? Just about 40 minutes ago, like wife

Cy Kellett: Or woman, husband or man?

Jimmy Akin: Exactly. When you encounter gune, which is the Greek word for woman or wife, you’ve got to make a choice. Which way do I translate it? And when you encounter the word aner, which means either man or husband, you’ve got to make a choice. How do I do it? We also saw another example of that in our most recent call, because we hit the word Torah, which you could translate law like the Septuagint translators did, or you could translate it instruction. So even just on the level of individual words, you’ve got to make choices. And humans, you know, most of them are human. Wouldn’t you agree? Psychalic? Most humans are human.

Cy Kellett: I’ve noticed most are, yes.

Jimmy Akin: Well, they have to make these tough calls, and there’s not a single right choice. You know, like in the previous call, if you go with the Septuagint translation and say, we’re going to translate Torah as namas or law, well, then that’s going to suggest something to the reader that’s slightly different than would be suggested by instruction. You’re going to lose some of the connotations and you’re going to create other connotations that the word law has so, there’s always a trade off and different translators make different trade offs and sometimes they make mistakes. So there are no perfect translations. As they say, in Italian, translator, traitor. In other words, every time you translate, you in some sense betray what was said in the original language. So we shouldn’t expect perfection, but how much can we expect? Well, we actually can expect a good bit these days. In fact, all professionally published translations by major publishers, they’re all pretty good. There aren’t any that are just horrible. Now there are, some translations that are just horrible, like the Jehovah’s Witness New World translation, that’s just a bad translation, but it’s not a professionally published one. when you have actual scholarly committees that are doing these things, scholars today are very competent and they use the best scholarship that we have available. And so all the translations are pretty good. What they differ on is the choices they make in translation. And there are a variety of these. Kind of at the top level you have to make a decision of are we going to use what’s called a formal equivalence translation philosophy or a dynamic equivalence translation philosophy. Formal translation tries to stick to the word order as closely as possible in the language you’re translating into, which, so it’s kind of a word for word translation. Whereas dynamic equivalence tries to focus on the thoughts, but allow the word order and such to vary. And so it’s often described as not a word for word translation, but a thought for thought translation. Well, both of those have advantages. The word for word translation is going to preserve details from the original language that dynamic equivalence won’t preserve. On the other hand, that makes it a little more obscure and harder to read. Whereas with dynamic equivalence it’s easier to read and maybe more clearly understood, but it does mean sacrificing some of the detail. So there’s no right or wrong here. Personally, for Bible reading I have no just absorbing text in bulk. I have no problem with dynamic equivalence. But for Bible study where you’re focusing more on details, I would use formal equivalence rather than dynamic. Then there are other translation choices that have to be made. Like one that’s been controversial in recent years is what’s called inclusive language, where there are some translations, like the New Revised Standard Version, that will try to avoid gendered language whenever possible. so they will not say he or she. In many cases, the opposite of that would be using traditional gendered language, which just uses he as the default for everything. And then there’s kind of a middle position that says what we’re going to try to do is use the language that, that’s there in the original. So if we won’t, we won’t fuzz away he’s and she’s when they’re in the original. But when it uses a neutral, a gender neutral term like human, you know, the Greek word for which is anthropos, it’s different than gune, which means woman, and it’s different than anair, which means man. But. But anthropos just means person or human. Well, we’ll just translate it as person or human there without assuming he as the default. And so there’s kind of a range of translation choices on this level. And I would say that since they’re all basically good these days, if they’re professionally published by teams of scholars, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I would. Rather than asking, is it okay to use this? I would try to find out what translation choices, did the translators make. And one of the ways to find that out is by reading the literature that is released with the Bible translation, either as an introduction, like a preface, in the translation itself or in publicity material. it’ll say, we did this and we did this. And you can get a sense of it and decide do you like it or not? And in individual verses, you will find things that are just wrong or arguably wrong. But, for me, if I’m evaluating a new translation, I’m not looking for perfection. And I am more thinking about what would this be useful for? Because to me, the best is to go straight to the original languages. But if you’re going to be using translations, which I do, because I can read English faster than I can read Greek and Hebrew. I mean, I can go to the Greek and the Hebrew when I need to, but it’s faster to just read English most of the time. And when I use translations, the best translation is actually having multiple translations. So I can see how different people read the same passage. And that can open up interpretive possibilities that might not have occurred to me otherwise. Like in the first question we had today, if all I’d ever seen are translations of, First Timothy 2:12 that say woman and man, and had never seen a translation that uses wife and husband, I might have entirely missed that translation option and that interpretive option. So it’s valuable to have not just one translation, but multiple translations that all can be consulted.

Cy Kellett: Will, I got to leave it there because I got to get to the break."
Jimmy Akin • 10/27/2026
https://www.catholic.com/video/why-there-can-never-be-a-perfect-bible-translation
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

UNIGE scientists reveal in mice, the role of a small brain structure in holding information in mind so it can be used a few moments later.

Reading a sentence, following a conversation, solving a problem or deciding what to do next: all of these rely on working memory. It allows the brain to hold information in mind for a few seconds, even after the stimulus has disappeared, to be able to compare it with new information, manipulate it and use it to guide our behaviour. It therefore plays an essential role in the transition from perception to thought, and from thought to action. UNIGE scientists show that this function relies in part on a small, deep brain structure, the claustrum, whose neurons help keep a trace of information for tens of seconds. Moreover, inhibiting the claustrum leads to a marked drop in working memory performance. These results, published in Nature Communications, add a piece to the puzzle of the circuits underlying thought, a key issue for disorders in which working memory is impaired, notably ADHD and schizophrenia.

Without working memory, it would be difficult to think, understand, decide or adapt our behaviour. Indispensable, it is also extremely demanding for the brain. Sensory information vanishes within moments once the stimulus ends, yet its representation must remain stable enough to be used later.

How does the brain manage to retain information that is no longer there? We now know that working memory does not depend on a single brain region, but on the interaction of vast networks involving, among others, the prefrontal cortex, sensory regions, the parietal cortex, the thalamus and other subcortical structures. However, how these networks maintain a representation of information over time remains largely unknown.

To decipher these mechanisms, the teams led by Alan Carleton, Full Professor in the Department of Basic Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medicine, and Ivan Rodriguez, Full Professor in the Department of Genetics and Evolution at the Faculty of Science, set out to explore the role of the claustrum in working memory. This thin structure lies deep within the brain, between the insular cortex and the striatum. “Its neurons are connected to almost all regions of the cortex, which puts it in a good position to receive and influence information from very different networks,” explains Alan Carleton.

A trace that outlasts the wait

To test this, the scientists studied mice that received a first piece of information, either an odour or a tactile stimulation. They then had to wait several seconds before receiving a second stimulus and determine whether it was identical to or different from the first one. During this interval, the initial stimulus had disappeared. Yet to succeed at the task, the mice had to keep an internal representation of it. “Our live recordings of claustrum neuron activity showed that a trace of the initial information persisted throughout the entire waiting period,” describes Ivan Rodriguez. “Far from being a static memory, neuronal activity changed over time. Nevertheless, the identity of the stimulus remained sufficiently present to be decoded up to 30 seconds later.”

Without the claustrum, memory falters

To determine whether this structure is truly necessary for working memory, or merely accompanies it, the scientists temporarily reduced the activity of claustrum neurons. The team notably used optogenetics, a technique that makes certain neurons sensitive to light through specific proteins, allowing their activity to be controlled with an optical fibre at precise moments of the task. When this neuronal activity was disrupted, the mice’s working memory performance was halved.

“The result was similar regardless of the type of stimulus, olfactory or tactile, and regardless of when the disruption occurred during the waiting period between the two stimuli,” adds Alan Carleton. “Moreover, disrupting the claustrum specifically impairs the ability to use temporarily held information to guide behaviour, without affecting perception itself.”

What does this mean for cognitive disorders?

Working memory thus relies on the dynamic activity of neuronal networks, which must preserve information while allowing the brain to keep perceiving, thinking and acting. The claustrum plays a central role in this complex architecture thanks to its connections with many of the cortical regions involved.

“Our discovery could help us better understand cognitive disorders in which working memory is impaired, such as schizophrenia or ADHD,” explains Alan Carleton. “Identifying the brain circuits that allow information to be maintained over time is an important step towards understanding how these functions can be disrupted. We now need to determine how the claustrum communicates with cortical networks, and how this interaction preserves the fidelity of the representations held in working memory.”

Journal
Nature Communications

DOI
10.1038/s41467-026-78363-6"
26-Oct-2026
How the brain holds information in mind
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Université de Genève
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1149219
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Premios Nacionales a las mejores traducciones en 2026

"El jurado ha reconocido a Olivia de Miguel Crespo y a Pablo Martín Sánchez por sus traducciones.
Olivia de Miguel Crespo ha sido galardonada con el Premio Nacional a la Obra de un Traductor, correspondiente al año 2026 y Pablo Martín Sánchez con el Premio Nacional a la Mejor Traducción, correspondiente al año 2026, por la traducción de ‘Lugares’, de Georges Perec (Anagrama), a propuesta del jurado. Cada uno de los premios está dotado con 30.000 euros.

El jurado reconoce a Olivia de Miguel Crespo por “la fidelidad estética y la sensibilidad idiomática con la que captura el ritmo y los matices tonales del original. Olivia de Miguel, toda una institución de la profesión, tiene un curriculum abrumador en el que sobresale el rigor y meticulosidad con los que aborda la traducción de obras complejas de escritoras como Marianne Moore o Virginia Woolf, cuyas voces fragmentarias, innovadoras y a menudo herméticas plantean desafíos singulares al traductor. A ello se suma su asombrosa versatilidad para plasmar con idéntica maestría las ideas políticas y filosóficas de Chesterton o George Orwell”.

Asimismo, el jurado ha señalado que “en su dilatada trayectoria, De Miguel, maestra de traductores, ha sabido mantener la excelencia en su trabajo gracias a la reflexión rigurosa, el dominio de los recursos expresivos y una pasión inquebrantable por un oficio que entiende como una vía constante de búsqueda, curiosidad, descubrimiento y acceso al conocimiento”.

Por su parte, el jurado ha propuesto la traducción de Pablo Martín Sánchez de la obra ‘Lugares’, de Georges Perec “por la calidad, creatividad e ingenio con la que ha superado las múltiples dificultades que entraña transmitir un texto de enorme complejidad”.

Además, el jurado ha expresado que “el minucioso trabajo de Pablo Martín Sánchez destaca por la destreza para abordar una obra inacabada, lo que exige detectar y respetar con rigor sus inherentes incoherencias. Asimismo, la estructura recurrente de la obra obliga a un arduo y constante cotejo de fragmentos dispersos a lo largo de ochocientas páginas. A ello se suma la impecable conservación del rico aparato crítico de la edición original, plasmado en las abundantes notas e introducción que dan visibilidad al traductor y evidencian una profunda solvencia y conocimiento sobre el autor”.

Por último, el jurado ha destacado que “finalmente, ante el desafío de una obra de naturaleza oulipiana, Martín Sánchez demuestra una brillante capacidad para recrear los juegos de palabras originales, forzando los límites del propio idioma y enriqueciéndolo mediante la creación de neologismos. Un trabajo de excelencia que denota la trayectoria y el buen hacer de quien cree firmemente que su profesión va más allá del simple trasvase de palabras, convirtiéndola en un profundo proceso de investigación, documentación y transformación”.

Biografías

Olivia de Miguel Crespo (Logroño, 1948)Traductora y profesora en la Facultad de Traducción e Interpretación de la Universidad Pompeu Fabra. Licenciada en Filología Anglogermánica por la Universidad de Zaragoza, es asimismo doctora en Teoría de la Traducción por la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona con la tesis ‘La traducción del Modernismo norteamericano al castellano: el caso de Marianne Moore’.

En 2001 pone en marcha el Máster de traducción literaria y audiovisual y el Posgrado en línea en Traducción literaria del BSM/Pompeu Fabra, de los que ha sido directora hasta 2022. Actualmente sigue traduciendo literatura, dando cursos y conferencias.

Ha recibido el Premio Ángel Crespo de traducción 2005 por ‘Autobiografía’ de G.K. Chesterton (Acantilado, 2003), y el Premio Nacional de Traducción a la Mejor Traducción por ‘Poesía Completa’ de Marianne Moore, en 2011. Como traductora literaria ha trabajado con diversas editoriales, como Acantilado, Siruela, Alba, Tusquets, Destino, Hiperión, Galaxia Gutenberg, Edhasa, Ediciones del Bronce, Random House Mondadori, Global Rhythm, Tres Hermanas Editorial, Lamicro y J. Olañeta.

Pablo Martín Sánchez (Reus, 1977)Es doctor en Lengua y Literatura Francesas por la Université de Lille y doctor en Teoría de la Literatura y del  Arte y Literatura Comparada por la Universidad de Granada. Miembro del Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (Oulipo), trabaja habitualmente como traductor y profesor de escritura.

Como traductor, ha vertido al castellano obras de Marcel Schwob, Wajdi Mouawad, Marta Carnicero, Adeline Dieudonné, Édouard Louis, Delphine de Vigan, Yannick Haenel, Joan Benesiu, Violaine Bérot o Georges Perec. En 2022, ganó el premio de traducción Ángel Crespo por ‘La anomalía’, de Hervé Le Tellier.

Además, como autor ha publicado obras como ‘Fricciones’ (2024), ‘El anarquista que se llamaba como yo’ (Acantilado, 2012), ‘Tuyo es el mañana’ (Acantilado, 2016) y ‘Diario de un viejo cabezota’ (Acantilado, 2020), así como ‘Agatha’ (2017), una obra escrita en colaboración con Sara Mesa. Parte de su obra ha sido traducida al francés, inglés, checo y neerlandés.

Jurado

Los jurados de ambos premios, han estado presididos por María José Gálvez Salvador, directora general del Libro, del Cómic y de la Lectura del Ministerio de Cultura; como vicepresidente ha actuado Jesús González González, subdirector general de Promoción del Libro, la Lectura y las Letras Españolas, y han tenido como vocales a Arantzazu Etxebarria Iturrate, por la Real Academia de la Lengua Vasca/Euskaltzaindia; Xosé Antonio Palacio Sánchez (Antón Palacio Sánchez), por la Real Academia de la Lengua Gallega / Real Academia Galega; Joan Rafael Ramos Alfajarín, por la Academia Valenciana de la Lengua/ Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua; David Paradela López por la Asociación Colegial de Escritores de España. Sección Autónoma de Traductores (ACETT); José Ignacio Sánchez Sánchez (Ignacio Sánchez), por la Escuela de Traductores de Toledo y Carmen Francí Ventosa, por el Ministerio de Cultura.

Adicionalmente, el jurado del Premio Nacional a la Obra de un Traductor ha tenido como vocales a Montserrat Bacardí Tomàs, por el Instituto de Estudios Catalanes/Institut d’Estudis Catalans; Inmaculada Senra Silva, por el Centro de Estudios de Género de la UNED y Xabier Olarra Lizaso, traductor galardonado en la convocatoria de 2025.Probar traductor

Por su parte, el jurado del Premio Nacional de la Mejor Traducción ha tenido como vocales a Richard Mansell, por el Instituto de Estudios Catalanes/Institut d’Estudis Catalans; José María Díaz Lage, por el Centro de Estudios de Género de la UNED y a Marian Ochoa de Eribe, galardonada en la convocatoria de 2025."
Por Redacción Revista de Arte - 18 de octubre de 2026 0
https://revistadearte.com/noticia-destacada/premios-nacionales-a-las-mejores-traducciones-en-2026/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

The EMT (European Master’s in Translation) competence framework
The 2026 edition – updated to reflect the increasingly important role of AI and language technologies – sees translation competences as multidimensional

"Developed by academics and industry experts, the EMT competence framework defines what students need to learn and what universities should teach. The 2026 edition – updated to reflect the increasingly important role of AI and language technologies – sees translation competences as multidimensional.

The 2026 framework identifies 5 interdependent areas of competence:

linguistic and cultural competence
transfer competence
digital and technological competence
thematic and information research competence
(inter)personal and service provision competence"

"The European Master’s in Translation (EMT) is a quality label for university translation programmes at master’s level. It was created by the European Commission's DG Translation for programmes that meet agreed professional standards and reflect current market needs.

The EMT network includes 81 programmes offered by 79 universities across 24 countries in Europe and beyond.

Universities awarded the EMT quality label can use the EMT logo, which is a registered EU trademark.

EMT member universities are part of a network committed to high-quality translator training.

The main goal is to improve the quality of translator training in Europe and beyond, in all eligible countries. Highly skilled graduates have better job prospects in the competitive language services market, and are better able to adapt as the profession evolves."

https://translation.ec.europa.eu/get-involved-european-language-activities-and-initiatives/european-masters-translation_en
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Sublimé par la traduction d’Abdelkader Chaoui, Le roman de Youssef El Maimouni rappelle que la littérature possède un pouvoir singulier : celui de soigner les mémoires blessées

"Tous ces auteurs, et les traducteurs qui les font circuler d’une rive à l’autre, obligent le Maroc et l’Espagne à se regarder en face, dans toute leur complexité, leur douleur, mais aussi leur indéniable fraternité.

C’est pourquoi il faut appeler de nos vœux que les Chaoui, Lahchiri, Rajae Boumediane Metni, Akhrif, Bendriss, Limami et tant d’autres poursuivent leur œuvre de traduction et de transmission.

Chaque traduction est un pont jeté entre deux mémoires.

Sur le territoire de la littérature, les montagnes accepteraient enfin de marcher ensemble."
https://quid.ma/culture/les-montagnes-qui-marchent-la-litterature-pour-redresser-lhistoire-par-samir-belahsen
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Langues, traduction et engagement
Écrire en wolof : leurres, plaisirs et transmission
Boris Diop : la charge et les chemins de l’écriture

"Le mardi 27 octobre s’ouvre à 9h par une conférence de l’écrivain Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, intitulée « Comment tuer le père Boris ». Trois sessions suivent : « Langues, traduction et engagement », « Les chemins de l’histoire : tirailleurs, colonialité et dialogues transatlantiques », qui évoque un dialogue entre Diop et Senghor sur Thiaroye, puis « Écrire en wolof : leurres, plaisirs et transmission ».

La journée s’achève par une première table ronde, conduite en wolof, sur la création, l’innovation et la transmission dans l’écriture en wolof de l’auteur. Elle réunit notamment Sokhna Bao Diop, de l’Université Gaston Berger, et Adramé Diakhaté, président de l’association Fonk Sunuy Làmmiñ.

Le mercredi 28 octobre, la session 6, « L’écrivain dans la cité : de la fiction au débat public », examine l’engagement de l’auteur, ses prises de position face à des intellectuels comme Achille Mbembe ou Souleymane Bachir Diagne, et le roman La gloire des imposteurs, coécrit avec Aminata Dramane Traoré.

Deux tables rondes suivent. « Les écrivains lisent Boris » réunit Marouba Fall, Rahmatou Seck Samb, Djibril Diallo Falémé et Khalil Diallo. « Boris Diop, journaliste » rassemble Pape Samba Kane, Baba Diop, Massamba Mbaye et Aboubacar Demba Cissokho.

La cérémonie de clôture, de 16h45 à 18h30, comprendra une projection de film et une prise de parole de Boubacar Boris Diop. À partir de 21h, au Goethe-Institut de Fann Résidence, une soirée artistique proposera une création théâtrale mise en scène par Madiaw Ndiaye, des performances musicales inspirées de la bande-son des romans, avec le groupe Jàmm Jazz et DJ Torodo, ainsi qu’un cocktail de célébration du 80e anniversaire de l’écrivain."
https://www.seneplus.com/article/loeuvre-de-boubacar-boris-diop-au-coeur-dun-colloque-international
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Une orthographe unifiée pour intégrer les langues locales à l’école

La Bibliothèque universitaire centrale de l’Université Omar Bongo (UOB) a servi de cadre, le mercredi 21 octobre 2026, à la clôture du Symposium national sur l’Alphabet et l’Orthographe des Langues Gabonaises (AOLG). En réunissant universitaires, linguistes, responsables ministériels et acteurs éducatifs, l’événement a permis de franchir une étape décisive dans la préservation et la valorisation du patrimoine verbal du pays.

Face à l’érosion progressive de la transmission orale, la création d’un système d’écriture unifié et accessible s’imposait comme une urgence. Durant plusieurs journées intensives, neuf ateliers de travail ont passé au crible 53 parlers locaux. Les experts ont analysé avec rigueur les structures vocaliques, consonantiques et tonales pour dégager des convergences solides, sans pour autant gommer la richesse spatiale des spécificités locales.

S’inspirant des travaux fondateurs de l’abbé Raponda-Walker en 1932 et des réformes de 1989, ce symposium a permis d’harmoniser les propositions historiques. Le résultat se traduit par une feuille de route alphabétique simplifiée, conçue pour un usage pratique et quotidien par les pédagogues, les chercheurs, les médias et les locuteurs.

Des orientations stratégiques pour le système éducatif
Cette démarche scientifique résonne directement avec les recommandations des États généraux de l’éducation de 2010. Elle remet au centre du débat national l’intégration des réalités socioculturelles au cœur des programmes scolaires. Pour passer de la théorie à la pratique, les participants ont formulé cinq axes prioritaires notamment la définition d’une stratégie linguistique nationale claire et ambitieuse; l’introduction progressive des langues nationales de la maternelle à l’université; la formalisation de l’alphabet retenu par un décret officiel instaurant sa portée normative; la formation massive des corps enseignants et des relais communautaires et l’édition des manuels, des lexiques et le développement des supports numériques adaptés.

Ancrer la recherche dans le développement culturel
En orchestrant ces travaux, l’UOB réaffirme sa mission fondamentale d’éclairage de la société. Les langues ne représentent pas de simples véhicules de communication ; elles abritent la mémoire collective, les savoirs ancestraux et l’identité profonde du Gabon.

Comme le souligne le document de synthèse de la rencontre : « Ce document ne clôt pas la réflexion […] il en pose les bases renouvelées et consensuelles et ouvre la voie à une appropriation collective, condition indispensable à la préservation et à la valorisation du patrimoine linguistique national. » La réussite de cette entreprise reposera désormais sur la promptitude des pouvoirs publics à transformer ces avancées universitaires en outils d’enseignement pérennes."
Henriette Lembet
25 octobre 2026
https://gabonmediatime.com/gabon-luob-table-sur-une-orthographe-unifiee-pour-integrer-les-langues-locales-a-lecole/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Pourquoi écrit-on « monsieur » ce qui se dit « meussieu » ?

"Le dernier dimanche de chaque mois, le service de Correction du « Monde » propose sa sélection de curiosités, de trésors et de perles du français. Place, cette fois, à des mots du quotidien dont l’orthographe suscite l’interrogation des francophones, fait trébucher leurs enfants, et plonge les étrangers dans des abîmes de perplexité.

Vous souvenez-vous du jour où vous avez compris, sans doute au cours préparatoire, que ce mot que vous entendiez cinquante fois par jour et que tout le monde prononçait « meussieu », c’était celui-là, dans votre livre de lecture, et il s’écrivait « M.O.N.S.I.E.U.R. ». La maîtresse avait bien expliqué pourtant que O + N se lisait « on ». Ne parlons même pas de ce R final qui ne s’entendait pas. Vous avez peut-être demandé pourquoi, et l’on vous a sans doute répondu : parce que c’est comme ça. Voici la réponse à quelques « pourquoi » oubliés de notre enfance.

Pourquoi écrit-on « monsieur » ce qui se dit « meussieu » ?
« Monsieur » s’est un temps écrit en deux mots et prononcé naturellement, comme le possessif « mon » suivi du nom « sieur » – idem pour son équivalent féminin, « madame », qui a d’abord été « ma dame ». C’est d’ailleurs à l’entrée « sieur » que l’on retrouve « monsieur » dans le Dictionnaire historique de la langue française d’Alain Rey (éditions Le Robert).

« Sieur » descend du latin senior, comme sa presque-anagramme « sire » – qui, au passage, est aussi à l’origine du « sir » anglais. « Dans ses premiers emplois, “monsieur”, qui équivaut à “monseigneur” et à “messire”, est un titre d’honneur », explique le Dictionnaire historique, titre seulement attribuable à un noble, à un prince ou à un important..."
Muriel Gilbert
25.10.2026
https://www.lemonde.fr/la-matinale/article/2026/10/25/orthographe-francaise-mais-pourquoi-ca-s-ecrit-comme-ca_6799997_4866763.html

#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
https://www.lemonde.fr/la-matinale/article/2026/10/25/orthographe-francaise-mais-pourquoi-ca-secrit-comme-ca_6799997_4866763.html?lmd_medium=lm&lmd_campaign=partager
#metaglossia #metaglossia_mundus

"Plan to expand AI translation at courthouses halted after advocates find fault with lengthy pilot project

California’s Judicial Council has canceled a plan to roll out AI translation at court counters statewide, saying the service must undergo a review of its accuracy and efficiency.

San Diego Superior Court, one of more than 30 courts that piloted the voice-to-text tool, used it about once a month in its Civil Business Office from 2022 until this spring, but clerks preferred a telephone translation service, officials said.

The court collected informal feedback on the AI tool from staff, said Emily Cox, a spokesperson for San Diego Superior Court. Cox said staff reported that “it was difficult for the application to capture information from people who spoke quickly,” and that the tool occasionally required software updates that delayed service. In addition, she said the tool was unavailable in Mandarin and Haitian.

After a public records request, critics compiled numerous instances in which AI translation tools did not accurately depict statements by court workers or members of the public and provided alternative translations from human interpreters. (Times of San Diego illustration from photo by Thomas Murphy)
While the pilot has ended, staff at the San Diego court continues to use a telephone translation service offered through a private vendor, United Language Group, which Cox said uses human interpreters. The service was available throughout the pilot, alongside the tool.

The pilot program began in 2021 and ended in April 2026, according to public records obtained by legal aid groups. Before launching the pilot, a work group of the Judicial Council explored available technologies, including Google, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft. Google had the highest average score in tests the council ran for accuracy and responsiveness.

The Judicial Council, which oversees policymaking for California courts, released a request for proposals in late August seeking vendors to roll out AI translation statewide at public-facing service points such as clerk’s counters, with a contract starting Dec. 1. Vendors submitted proposals in late September, and the council was scheduled to announce its intent to award a contract Oct. 26. Instead, it published a notice of cancellation on Oct. 15.

A spokesperson for the Judicial Council said in an email that the request for proposals was cancelled, citing evolving technology as the reason.  The council plans to seek an internal review relating to “accuracy, efficiency, and effectiveness” before considering any new voice-to-text options.

The council has said, however, that it conducted a preliminary evaluation of the pilot but has not made the results public.

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The cancellation notice came the day before the council’s Friday, Oct. 16, meeting, where advocates raised concerns about the rollout after reviewing transcripts from the pilot project.

Legal aid groups, including the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles and California Rural Legal Assistance Inc., obtained hundreds of pages of transcripts of the program’s translations through public records requests. They said professional translators who reviewed the transcripts found multiple errors across different languages.

The transcripts do not identify which courts they came from, so the errors cannot be tied to San Diego or any other individual court"
Sophia Sleap
Oct. 24, 2026
https://timesofsandiego.com/tech/2026/10/24/ai-translation-california-courts-pilot-project-rfp/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Can AI really understand Arabic dialects?
Talking your language: UAE unveils AI tool designed to master Arabic dialects
Jais 3 has been developed by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence and Abu Dhabi's Inception42

A cutting-edge Abu Dhabi university has unveiled an Arabic AI tool designed to decode a variety of regional dialects and respond to rapid shifts in language.

Jais 3 – built by the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, in partnership with Abu Dhabi's Inception42 – is able to field queries and carry out tasks such as transcribing conversations and creating documents and presentations.

It features Jais speech, a voice recognition model for the Arabic language and its varying dialects from across the Gulf and North Africa.

The advanced AI platform was developed through the university's Institute of Foundation Models (IFM) with the goal of keeping pace with the nuances of a language spoken by more than 400 million people around the world. The tech is also able to deal with code-switching, which refers to when a bilingual person alternates from one language to another.

"Arabic AI needs to understand the language in its everyday context, which varies by geography and across generations," said Haonan Li, senior research scientist at IFM. "For example, we need to account for the many nuances in spoken Arabic, including when speakers slip into English or French mid-sentence and back again. We built Jais 3 for Arabic as it's really used."

High-tech training
Jais Speech transcribes Modern Standard Arabic and dialects spoken across 19 Arab countries. It follows speakers as they switch between Arabic and languages such as English or French, keeping those words in their original script. It also identifies the dialect being spoken and can add Arabic vowel marks to a transcript.

Paired with the language models, Jais Speech enables Jais 3 to take spoken instructions in Arabic or English and act on them.

Mr Li said the team worked extensively to ensure strong representation of the many forms of Arabic spoken in the region and beyond.

“One of the key challenges was ensuring broad and balanced representation across regional dialects," he said. "For Gulf dialects, this involved working with a more limited pool of existing open data and addressing the tendency of open models to default to Modern Standard Arabic rather than maintaining the requested dialect when generating synthetic data.

"This required additional work in data synthesis and filtering to ensure the quality and relevance of the resulting data set."

A similar challenge was faced by the Jais 3 team for Morocco, where available data tended to be heavily weighted towards Moroccan Darija, leaving other dialects in the region less represented.

Embracing technology
Richard Morton, vice president and executive director of IFM, said the launch of Jais 3 showed the importance of investing in rapidly evolving technology.

"Jais has shown what the UAE's long-term investment in open AI research can deliver for the Arabic-speaking world," he said. "With Jais 3, we are extending that foundation into speech and agents at a time when the UAE is putting AI to work across government and society – reflecting MBZUAI's commitment to the UAE National AI Strategy 2031 and to building the research capability and national talent that will carry it forward."

IFM and Inception42 evaluated the models on an audited suite of 24 Arabic benchmarks, which they are releasing publicly alongside the models. The results showed the largest Jais 3 model leads open models on agentic tasks and matches the strongest on Arabic understanding.

Jais Speech recorded the lowest average word and character error rates among all models compared, while the seven billion and 32 billion-parameter models earned the highest average Arabic scores among open models of comparable sizes.

"Jais 3 makes Arabic AI more practical for business use," said Dr Larry Murray, senior vice president of Applied Science at Inception42. "Stronger reasoning and instruction following, combined with tool use, provide a foundation for multi-step agentic workflows. With open models across a range of sizes, organisations can match these capabilities to their computing budgets and deployment needs.""
Salma Arafa
October 24, 2026
https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2026/10/24/talking-your-language-uae-unveils-ai-tool-designed-to-master-arabic-dialects/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Recognition for Words Without Borders and the work of literary translators and translation publishers

"Words Without Borders’ Elisabeth Jaquette Named Femmes de Culture Laureate

This international recognition for Words Without Borders and the work of literary translators and translation publishers highlights the importance of connecting the world through literature.

Words Without Borders Executive Director Elisabeth Jaquette, 2026 100 Femmes de Culture Award ceremony

On October 12th at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Words Without Borders Executive Director Elisabeth Jaquette was named a 2026 100 Femmes de Culture laureate in the Publishing & Press category. This honor comes on the heels of Words Without Borders winning this year’s Aficionado Award at Frankfurter Buchmesse earlier this month.
Held under the patronage of the French Ministry of Culture, the 100 Femmes de Culture award celebrates the women who bring culture to life in all its forms. The 2026 edition of the award was co-organized with the J. Paul Getty Trust and Villa Albertine, and marks 250 years of French-American partnership. The 2026 jury was co-chaired by Katherine E. Fleming and Patricia Barbizet, and included Mélanie Biessy, Bonnie Brennan, Mati Diop, Tatyana Franck, Anne-Claire Legendre, Tania de Montaigne, and Marie Christine Saragosse. Other 2026 Publishing & Press laureates include novelist Anne Berest, artist and teacher Chouf, editor and publisher of New Directions Barbara Epler, novelist Lauren Groff, New Yorker Art Editor Françoise Mouly, novelist and co-founder of Transit Books Ashley Nelson-Levy, Translator Emma Ramadan, and Publisher of Archipelago Books Jill Schoolman.

In an email to Publishing Perspectives, Jaquette said, “This major international recognition for our organization shows the importance of the work Words Without Borders and literary translators do to connect the world through literature. And while the US may be retreating from the global stage, our vision of an interconnected, empathetic world is still deeply valued abroad.”

At the award ceremony in Paris, Katherine E. Fleming, President and CEO of the Getty, and Honorary Co-Chair of the Prix 100 Femmes de Culture 2026, said, “The 100 women honored this year demonstrate the extraordinary breadth of that leadership…They are forging new paths, building bridges, and expanding the role that culture can play in our societies.”

Jaquette is an Arabic-to-English literary translator whose work has been nominated for the National Book Awards, International Booker Prize, and other honors. She has served as executive director of Words Without Borders since 2024. Prior to joining the organization, Jaquette was Executive Director of the American Literary Translators Association from 2017-2024. In 2026 she was named a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellow.

“All of us at Words Without Borders are immensely proud to see Lissie recognized for bringing world cultures to life, both as an award-winning translator and as a talented arts administrator who has worked hard to strengthen the literary arts community in the USA for the past decade. This award is richly deserved,” said Samantha Schnee, WWB’s board chair and founding editor.

“This recognition uplifts the craft of literary translation. While often overlooked, translators are vital towards creating a richer, more inclusive world of letters—and a richer, more interconnected world,” said Jaquette.
By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
About the Author
Erin L. Cox is the Publisher of Publishing Perspectives...
https://publishingperspectives.com/2026/10/words-without-borders-elisabeth-jaquette-named-femmes-de-culture-laureate/
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Languages in fight to not get lost in AI translation
Nic Mitchell  23 October 2026
Despite the amazing advances in technology, which allow foreigners to get directions in another country without speaking the language or understand an alien restaurant menu through an app on their phone, there are still powerful reasons why learning another language is vital to avoid the true meaning of words being ‘lost in translation’, say campaigners fighting to reverse the decline in numbers studying foreign languages in schools and universities in the United Kingdom.

The ‘wake-up’ call to policymakers and university leaders comes after another cull of modern language programmes, which is now hitting the so-called ‘elite’ Russell Group of research-intensive universities, with the University of Nottingham being the latest to axe full degree programmes in foreign languages, as University World News reported this month.

The pace of closures and restructurings for modern languages across UK higher education is quickening, with the University of Exeter consulting on reducing its academic workforce by around 150 full-time roles, with modern languages among the disciplines reported as facing a reduction of up to 25% in teaching-related staffing, according to a soon-to-be-published 2026 update to a survey for the University Council For Languages (UCFL).

The report by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, emerita professor at Cambridge University and associate fellow at the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, will highlight how the previous relatively stable Russell Group picture (for languages), described in 2024 UCFL survey, has changed for the worse.

Fightbacks save some provision

Despite this, fight-backs by university staff and students have saved some provision.

At Cardiff University, for example, plans were announced in January 2025 to close Modern Languages and Translation. Following consultation, modern languages were absorbed within a new School of Global Humanities but with a smaller staff base, smaller cohorts and provision primarily in French, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese. However, German, Italian and Portuguese are not offered anymore.

The picture in other pre-1992 universities continues to worsen, says the UCFL, although often not with complete closures, including at the University of Leicester, where modern languages degree programmes closed to new entrants from September 2026, but “wider language learning will continue through Languages at Leicester” offering short courses in 16 languages at different levels.

Other pre-1992 universities announcing partial closures of their language provision include Bangor, Essex and Heriot-Watt.

The biggest decline in modern language degrees has already happened in the post-1992 (modern) universities, according to the report from Ayres-Bennett, “with Modern Languages degrees surviving in only a small number of institutions”.

Language learning in the age of AI

So what can be done to save foreign language learning, particularly in the age of AI where many people believe that everyone speaks some English and that Google Translate or some other app can save the day if one gets lost in some foreign parts?

Megan Bowler, a postgraduate student in Classics at the University of Oxford and lecturer in Ancient Greek Language and Literature at Oriel College, is among the language policy advocates leading the fight-back.

She has given evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages and written reports, including one for the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), titled ‘The Language Crisis: Arresting Decline’, sponsored by Duolingo, one of the world’s most popular language-learning platforms and mobile-first educational apps.

She told University World News: “‘There is a common misconception that Google Translate and now AI tools are making language capabilities redundant. On the contrary, the skills and intellectual values that a ‘linguistic mindset’ can instil are even more important in this age of rapid technological change.”

“It is the precisely close and critical analysis, cultural adaptability and precision and clarity that ChatGPT struggles to replace.

Human translator role shifting

“The role of the human translator continues to shift to that of a human linguistic consultant: making use of digital technology but providing crucial oversight in the form of imaginative flair, cultural nuance and geopolitical awareness.

“Human linguists also contribute trustworthiness in contexts where precise details are consequential, such as legal contracts or international policy and diplomacy.”

Bowler’s report for HEPI offers 13 reasons why the ‘linguistic mindset’ cultivated by learning languages is even more important in the age of AI.

These include cultivating lateral and creative modes of thinking in other languages; intercultural awareness by engaging thoughtfully with traditions, history and current affairs and international relations; and gaining different perspectives.”

Languages face vicious circle

However, Bowler warns that language disciplines are facing a vicious circle.

“For the majority of schools, problems with teacher recruitment are leading to even lower rates of participation in language learning.

“Low uptake in higher education is leading to cuts in university language provision and degree programmes.

“The shortage of language skills is holding employers back, and the teacher recruitment crisis continues to worsen. Intervention and investment are needed to prevent a critical skills deficit,” said Bowler.

Strengthening the pipeline

But all is not lost, as the examples from Leeds University and its new approaches to language learning demonstrate.

The University at Leeds runs one of the largest university language schools in the UK, with 165 staff teaching on degrees in ten foreign languages (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Portuguese and Arabic) and offering language modules in ten other languages through an institution-wide language programme called ‘Languages for All’ with 80 additional staff.

In an interview with University World News, Professor Emma Cayley, head of the University’s School of Languages, Cultures and Societies and chair of the University Council For Languages (UCFL), said: “We have a total of around 2,400 students studying one or more languages to degree level, with a further 1,600 taking modules as part of their degrees.

“But we’re not complacent and we are certainly not getting as many students coming through from schools, with the patchy provision of languages at A-level and negative public rhetoric about languages and the wider Arts and Humanities driving student choice.”

Among the tactics being employed at Leeds is to accept students starting language degrees from scratch, including those who have not been able to take an A-level in a language that they want to learn because their school didn’t offer it.

‘Languages for All’ hub

“Another initiative, which I think is fantastic, is the ‘Languages for All’ hubs, set up by the Reach Foundation and its director Michael Slavinsky.

This has so far seen two local universities work together with schools to help open access to language learning at A-level and beyond for pupils who otherwise wouldn’t be able to learn a foreign language.

“This helps to provide A-level language across a pool of schools in a region and inspire future linguists,” said Cayley.

The first hub was launched by Royal Holloway University working with a group of schools in Hounslow in London.

The second was in the Southwest in Devon with the University of Exeter, where a network of state schools in Cornwall and Devon have been working together to make advanced modern language study possible and normalised in one of the more remote regions of England.

Out-of-hours or online courses are on offer through schools working together to deliver A-level classes, and the universities involved offering access to events on campus and visits to major employers to explore the role of languages in various careers, trips to cultural and political institutions and an affordable residential experience in Europe.

“We're about to launch the third hub in Leeds this November,” said Cayley, who strongly believes novel thinking is required to turn round the fortunes of languages in UK schools and universities

“At Leeds, we’re not just teaching modern languages – but also Classics and Ancient History, Film Studies, Linguistics and Translation Studies.

Learning from the revival of classics

“I believe one of the answers to turning around the fortunes is to offer languages with social sciences, such as a language combination with international relations, politics, or business studies.

“These degrees are usually four years with a compulsory year abroad, but increasingly the year abroad is becoming optional for many degree programmes. That’s one way of meeting the challenge, particularly for those who haven't already got a language but are keen to become more employable through taking a joint honours degree.”

The UK rejoining the EU’s Erasmus programme from January 2027 should boost the attraction of learning a foreign language at university, with Cayley saying: “Erasmus could help access accessibility and include inclusivity and will mean more money will be coming into languages. Erasmus was one of the big selling points in a degree in a modern language before Brexit.”

Cayley’s department calls itself the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies and includes film studies, Linguistics and Classics to widen its appeal.

Cayley said: “The revival of Classics can show us how to re-invent and re-invigorate a discipline like Modern Languages with intense interest in Christopher Nolan’s new action film, The Odyssey, the big-screen adaptation of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem and the story of Troy and classical mythology and literature.”

As to why we still need languages in the modern age of AI, Cayley told University World News: “The economic cost to the UK of not speaking other languages is huge, as highlighted in a report called, ‘The economic value to the UK of speaking other languages’, which highlighted the importance of languages for diplomacy, security and trade.”

This point was emphasised in Megan Bowler’s report for HEPI and in her more recent contribution to a collection of ‘Linguists’ Voices’, published recently by the Chartered Institute of Linguists (COIL).

Bowler also said that for English-speaking people: “The study of languages invites the learner to step outside Anglophone perspectives and assumptions, something that is necessary if efforts at inclusion and decolonisation are to have meaningful depth.

“Gaining new perspectives and cultivating a global mindset encourages empathy and emotional intelligence towards people of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds.”

“In sum, a shift in how we ‘reframe’ languages subjects – in terms of irreplaceable and cognitive value, rather than merely an ability to convert words in one language to another – is needed to improve public perceptions of what languages offer.

“The value of a ‘mathematical mindset’, for example, is widely accepted. Even though we all have calculators on our phones and can now use AI to handle complex mathematical problems with accuracy, numeracy and the ability to ‘think mathematically’ remain relevant,” said Bowler.

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com"
https://www.universityworldnews.com/post-mobile.php?story=20261023181917197
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