Metaglossia: The Translation World

For a younger generation of secular Jews, Yiddish is acquiring a new appeal.

 

"Published: May 15, 2025 6.33pm SAST

Nadia Valman, Vivi Lachs, Queen Mary University of London

Yiddish is a familiar presence in contemporary English speech. Many people use or at least know the meaning of words like chutzpah (audacity), schlep (drag) or nosh (snack).

 

These words have been absorbed into English from their original speakers, eastern European Jews who migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, through generations of living in close proximity in areas like London’s East End.

 

Linguistics scholars have even theorised that elements of a Yiddish accent may have influenced the cockney accent as it evolved in the early 20th century. Phonetic analysis of cockney speakers recorded in the mid-20th century suggests that East Enders who grew up with Jewish neighbours spoke English with speech rhythms typical of Yiddish.

 

A distinctive pronunciation of the “r” sound is thought to have originated among Jewish immigrants and spread into the wider population.

 

 

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

 

But, as we explore in our new podcast, cockney reshaped the Yiddish language too. This can be seen in surviving texts from the popular culture of the Jewish immigrant East End, including newspapers and songsheets, where songs, poems and stories dramatise the thrills and challenges of modern London.

 

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Support our cause

The Yiddish music of London’s East End brought together the Yiddish language and Jewish culture of eastern Europe with the raucous, irreverent style of the cockney music hall. Theatres and pubs overflowed with audiences eager to see the immigrant experience in Whitechapel represented in all its perplexity and pathos, with a good measure of slapstick comedy.

 

A Yiddish music hall song from around 1900 jokes that East Enders live on “poteytes un gefrayte fish” – a Yiddish version of the cockney staple fish and chips. The song lists the many novelties that immigrants encountered on arriving in the metropolis: trains running underground, women wearing trousers and people speaking on telephones.

 

 

Yiddish music hall song ‘London hot sikh ibergekert’ (London has turned itself upside down) performed by the author’s (Vivi Lachs) band Katsha'nes.

Yiddish was also the language of street protest in the Jewish East End. During the “strike fever” of 1889, when workers throughout east London were demanding better pay and working conditions, the Whitechapel streets resonated with the voices of Jewish sweatshop workers singing:

 

In di gasn, tsu di masn fun badrikte felk rasn, ruft der frayhaytsgayst (In the streets, to the masses / of oppressed peoples, races / the spirit of freedom calls).

 

This song was penned by the socialist poet Morris Winchevsky, an immigrant from Lithuania who spoke Yiddish as a mother tongue but preferred to write in literary Hebrew. In London he switched to writing in the vernacular language of Yiddish in order to make his writing more accessible to immigrant Jewish workers. The song became a rousing anthem in labour protests across the Yiddish-speaking world, from Warsaw to Chicago.

 

The decline of Yiddish

Yet from the earliest days of Jewish immigration to London, the Yiddish-language culture of the East End was a focus of anxiety for the Jewish middle and upper class of the West End. They regarded Yiddish as a vulgar dialect, detrimental to the integration of Jewish immigrants in England.

 

While they provided significant philanthropic support for immigrants, they banned the use of Yiddish in the educational and religious institutions that they funded.

 

In 1883, budding novelist Israel Zangwill was disciplined by the Jews’ Free School, where he worked as a teacher, for publishing a short story liberally sprinkled with dialogues in cockney-Yiddish.

 

By the 1930s Yiddish had begun to decline. As Jews moved away from the East End, local Yiddish newspapers folded and publications dwindled.

 

The Yiddish writer I.A. Lisky, who wrote fiction for a keen but diminishing readership in the London Yiddish newspaper Di tsayt, movingly described a young woman and her grandmother who each harbour complex hopes and worries but cannot communicate: “Ken ober sibl nit redn keyn yidish un di bobe farshteyt nor a por verter english. Shvaygt sibl vayter.” (But Sybil spoke no Yiddish, and her grandmother knew only a few words of English. So she remained silent.)

 

 

Yiddish-language newspapers like Der Fonograf flourished in the early 20th century East End. Courtesy of Jewish Miscellanies website.

Jewish writers of the postwar period were haunted by the sense of a lost connection to the Yiddish language and culture of previous generations.

 

The novelist Alexander Baron, who grew up in Hackney, remembered his grandparents reading Yiddish literature and newspapers, and his parents speaking Yiddish when they did not want their children to understand what they were saying.

 

In his novel The Lowlife (1963) the narrator’s vocabulary is peppered with Yiddish words. But these fragments are all that remains of his link to the East End where he was born. When he returns to these streets, he feels that “my too, too solid flesh in the world of the past is like a ghost of the past in the solid world of the present; it can look on but it cannot touch”.

 

Yiddish in London today

If you walk through the north London neighbourhood of Stamford Hill today, you’ll hear Yiddish on the streets and see new Yiddish books on the shelves of the local bookshops. Although they have no connection to the Victorian Jewish East End, the ultra-orthodox Hasidic community who live there speak Yiddish as their first language.

 

And for a younger generation of secular Jews, Yiddish is also acquiring a new appeal. They look to past traditions of Jewish diasporism to forge an identity rooted in language, culture and solidarity with other minorities rather than nationalism.

 

London is one centre of this worldwide revival: the Friends of Yiddish group established in the East End in the late 1930s is now flourishing in its contemporary incarnation as the Yiddish Open Mic Cafe. And Yiddish is once again a language that anyone can learn.

 

The Ot Azoy Yiddish summer school is in its 13th year, and new Yiddish language schools are thriving, including east London-based Babel’s Blessing, which teaches diaspora languages including Yiddish and offers free English classes to refugees and asylum seekers. The annual Yiddish sof-vokh hosts an immersive weekend for Yiddish learners.

 

Yiddish culture too is being rejuvenated. Projects we have been involved with include the Yiddish Shpilers theatre troupe, the Great Yiddish Parade marching band, which has brought Winchevsky’s socialist anthems back onto London’s streets, and the London band Katsha’nes, which has reimagined cockney Yiddish music hall songs for the 21st century.

 

If Yiddish was once reviled as a debased, slangy mishmash, full of borrowings and adaptations, it’s precisely for those qualities that it is celebrated today."

https://theconversation.com/cockney-yiddish-how-two-languages-influenced-each-other-in-londons-east-end-252779

##metaglossia_mundus 

For a younger generation of secular Jews, Yiddish is acquiring a new appeal.

 

"Published: May 15, 2025 6.33pm SAST

Nadia Valman, Vivi Lachs, Queen Mary University of London

Yiddish is a familiar presence in contemporary English speech. Many people use or at least know the meaning of words like chutzpah (audacity), schlep (drag) or nosh (snack).

 

These words have been absorbed into English from their original speakers, eastern European Jews who migrated to Britain in the late 19th century, through generations of living in close proximity in areas like London’s East End.

 

Linguistics scholars have even theorised that elements of a Yiddish accent may have influenced the cockney accent as it evolved in the early 20th century. Phonetic analysis of cockney speakers recorded in the mid-20th century suggests that East Enders who grew up with Jewish neighbours spoke English with speech rhythms typical of Yiddish.

 

A distinctive pronunciation of the “r” sound is thought to have originated among Jewish immigrants and spread into the wider population.

 

 

Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences.

 

But, as we explore in our new podcast, cockney reshaped the Yiddish language too. This can be seen in surviving texts from the popular culture of the Jewish immigrant East End, including newspapers and songsheets, where songs, poems and stories dramatise the thrills and challenges of modern London.

 

We’re 10! Support us to keep trusted journalism free for all.

Support our cause

The Yiddish music of London’s East End brought together the Yiddish language and Jewish culture of eastern Europe with the raucous, irreverent style of the cockney music hall. Theatres and pubs overflowed with audiences eager to see the immigrant experience in Whitechapel represented in all its perplexity and pathos, with a good measure of slapstick comedy.

 

A Yiddish music hall song from around 1900 jokes that East Enders live on “poteytes un gefrayte fish” – a Yiddish version of the cockney staple fish and chips. The song lists the many novelties that immigrants encountered on arriving in the metropolis: trains running underground, women wearing trousers and people speaking on telephones.

 

 

Yiddish music hall song ‘London hot sikh ibergekert’ (London has turned itself upside down) performed by the author’s (Vivi Lachs) band Katsha'nes.

Yiddish was also the language of street protest in the Jewish East End. During the “strike fever” of 1889, when workers throughout east London were demanding better pay and working conditions, the Whitechapel streets resonated with the voices of Jewish sweatshop workers singing:

 

In di gasn, tsu di masn fun badrikte felk rasn, ruft der frayhaytsgayst (In the streets, to the masses / of oppressed peoples, races / the spirit of freedom calls).

 

This song was penned by the socialist poet Morris Winchevsky, an immigrant from Lithuania who spoke Yiddish as a mother tongue but preferred to write in literary Hebrew. In London he switched to writing in the vernacular language of Yiddish in order to make his writing more accessible to immigrant Jewish workers. The song became a rousing anthem in labour protests across the Yiddish-speaking world, from Warsaw to Chicago.

 

The decline of Yiddish

Yet from the earliest days of Jewish immigration to London, the Yiddish-language culture of the East End was a focus of anxiety for the Jewish middle and upper class of the West End. They regarded Yiddish as a vulgar dialect, detrimental to the integration of Jewish immigrants in England.

 

While they provided significant philanthropic support for immigrants, they banned the use of Yiddish in the educational and religious institutions that they funded.

 

In 1883, budding novelist Israel Zangwill was disciplined by the Jews’ Free School, where he worked as a teacher, for publishing a short story liberally sprinkled with dialogues in cockney-Yiddish.

 

By the 1930s Yiddish had begun to decline. As Jews moved away from the East End, local Yiddish newspapers folded and publications dwindled.

 

The Yiddish writer I.A. Lisky, who wrote fiction for a keen but diminishing readership in the London Yiddish newspaper Di tsayt, movingly described a young woman and her grandmother who each harbour complex hopes and worries but cannot communicate: “Ken ober sibl nit redn keyn yidish un di bobe farshteyt nor a por verter english. Shvaygt sibl vayter.” (But Sybil spoke no Yiddish, and her grandmother knew only a few words of English. So she remained silent.)

 

 

Yiddish-language newspapers like Der Fonograf flourished in the early 20th century East End. Courtesy of Jewish Miscellanies website.

Jewish writers of the postwar period were haunted by the sense of a lost connection to the Yiddish language and culture of previous generations.

 

The novelist Alexander Baron, who grew up in Hackney, remembered his grandparents reading Yiddish literature and newspapers, and his parents speaking Yiddish when they did not want their children to understand what they were saying.

 

In his novel The Lowlife (1963) the narrator’s vocabulary is peppered with Yiddish words. But these fragments are all that remains of his link to the East End where he was born. When he returns to these streets, he feels that “my too, too solid flesh in the world of the past is like a ghost of the past in the solid world of the present; it can look on but it cannot touch”.

 

Yiddish in London today

If you walk through the north London neighbourhood of Stamford Hill today, you’ll hear Yiddish on the streets and see new Yiddish books on the shelves of the local bookshops. Although they have no connection to the Victorian Jewish East End, the ultra-orthodox Hasidic community who live there speak Yiddish as their first language.

 

And for a younger generation of secular Jews, Yiddish is also acquiring a new appeal. They look to past traditions of Jewish diasporism to forge an identity rooted in language, culture and solidarity with other minorities rather than nationalism.

 

London is one centre of this worldwide revival: the Friends of Yiddish group established in the East End in the late 1930s is now flourishing in its contemporary incarnation as the Yiddish Open Mic Cafe. And Yiddish is once again a language that anyone can learn.

 

The Ot Azoy Yiddish summer school is in its 13th year, and new Yiddish language schools are thriving, including east London-based Babel’s Blessing, which teaches diaspora languages including Yiddish and offers free English classes to refugees and asylum seekers. The annual Yiddish sof-vokh hosts an immersive weekend for Yiddish learners.

 

Yiddish culture too is being rejuvenated. Projects we have been involved with include the Yiddish Shpilers theatre troupe, the Great Yiddish Parade marching band, which has brought Winchevsky’s socialist anthems back onto London’s streets, and the London band Katsha’nes, which has reimagined cockney Yiddish music hall songs for the 21st century.

 

If Yiddish was once reviled as a debased, slangy mishmash, full of borrowings and adaptations, it’s precisely for those qualities that it is celebrated today."

https://theconversation.com/cockney-yiddish-how-two-languages-influenced-each-other-in-londons-east-end-252779

##metaglossia_mundus 

 

How Language Evolved Out of Cultural Exchange Between Europe and the Near East

Laura Spinney on the Development of Early Human Civilization Across Eurasia

By Laura Spinney

May 15, 2025

 

The justly named Golden Sands resort, north of Varna on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast, boasts warm, shallow waters where children can paddle while their parents look on tranquilly from the beach. The continental shelf is wide here, protruding around fifty kilometers (thirty miles). It is submerged today, but there have been times when the sea level was lower and the shelf was exposed. For most of the past two million years, in fact, the Black Sea was not a sea but a lake, a large fresh or brackish pond cut off from the Sea of Marmara, the Mediterranean and oceans beyond. Periodic warming caused the Mediterranean to rise and spill over the rocky sill of the Bosporus, injecting a mass of salty water into the lake and reconnecting it to the world ocean.

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The lake was most recently cut off during the last ice age, when much of the world’s water was locked up in glaciers. The glaciers melted, the oceans rose, and the moment when the Bosporus plug could no longer hold back the Mediterranean came, in one telling, between nine and ten thousand years ago. Water roared over that giant weir with the force of two hundred Niagara Falls, triggering a tsunami that surged through estuaries and lagoons and flooded an area the size of Ireland.

The Black Sea, always a valuable resource in itself, now became a conduit for other resources, including genes, technology and language.

The manner of the reconnection, if not the fact of it, is debated. Some say that it happened gradually, as the Black Sea overflowed into the Caspian Sea, the Caspian Sea regurgitated the excess and the oscillation between them eventually subsided. Others say that the water level in the Black Sea rose ten meters as opposed to sixty. If it “only” rose ten meters, the area of land flooded would have been smaller, the size of Luxembourg rather than Ireland. Still others suggest that, because that prodigious wall of water had to pass through the slender bottleneck of the Bosporus, it would have taken time for the sea levels to equalize. The Bosporus Valley might have roared at full spate for decades rather than months, a wondrous sight and sound in itself.

The two American geoscientists who proposed the deluge theory in 1997, William Ryan and Walter Pitman, speculated that the tales told by traumatized eyewitnesses might have been passed down orally over generations, until eventually they inspired the flood myths of the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh. “He who saw the deep” are the first words of Gilgamesh’s poem, written four thousand years ago in Mesopotamia, while Noah witnessed “all the fountains of the great deep broken up.” There’s no way of testing Ryan and Pitman’s theory, as compelling as it is (and flood myths are not unusual). But perhaps the more profound impact of those events on humanity was that the Black Sea, always a valuable resource in itself, now became a conduit for other resources, including genes, technology and language.

By the time it was reconnected, it was roughly the shape and size that it is today. The Greek geographer Hecataeus of Miletus likened it to a Scythian bow, with the southern coast representing the string and the northern one the curved staff. The Greeks called it the “inhospitable sea” (Pontus Axeinus), until they colonized its bountiful shores in the first millennium BCE and renamed it the “hospitable sea” (Pontus Euxinus). It teemed with fish that had been pursued through the Bosporus Valley, now Strait, by dolphins, seals and minke whales. It was probably Turkish mariners who, pursuing the fish, encountered its treacherous squalls and dubbed it “black.”

 

To the north of the sea lay the steppe, known there as the Pontic steppe in a nod to the Greeks. To the east lay the rugged peaks of the Caucasus, to the south the mountains and high plateaus of the Turkish peninsula or Anatolia, to the west the wooded hills of the Balkans and the Danube flood plain. Each was a world unto itself, but they met at the Black Sea, and whatever was exchanged between them could be ferried back deep into the interior via the great rivers that empty into it: not least the Don, Dnieper, Dniester and Danube. (Hold on to that recurring D, a linguistic tale to which we’ll return.)

Ten thousand years ago, the Balkans were inhabited by the hunter-gatherers who had seen out the ice age in Europe. Another group of hunter-gatherers had moved west from the Caspian Sea as the world warmed, settling around the marshes and lagoons of the northern Black Sea coast and the rivers that feed them. At that time, a stretch of river south of modern Kyiv consisted of a series of rocky cataracts and lakes known as the Dnieper Rapids. Archaeozoologists, people who study animal bones including those retrieved from old rubbish dumps, say there were catfish in those rapids the size of baby whales. The Eastern hunter-gatherers squatted the riverbanks, spears poised over the brooding megafish.

(The catfish of the Dnieper were up to two and a half meters or over eight feet in length, and three hundred kilograms—over six hundred pounds—in weight. Catfish approaching that size still swim in European rivers. They terrorize archaeologists diving for Roman relics in the murky River Rhone, whom they have been known to catch by the flippers, only letting go when they realize that archaeologists are too big to swallow. They are wels catfish, where wels, the common name of the species in German, shares a root with English “whale.”)

To the south of the Black Sea, in the Fertile Crescent, the farming revolution was underway. “Revolution” is a somewhat misleading term, in fact, since the set of practices that we call farming came together over a long period of time, in different places, through trial and error. The hunter-gatherers living at the western edge of the Iranian Plateau, in the Zagros Mountains, were probably the first to domesticate the goat (only the second animal to be domesticated after the dog, whose wolfish origins lie deep in the ice age).

They likely grew wheat and barley too. To the west of them, in Anatolia and the Levant—modern Lebanon, Israel and Jordan—other hunter-gatherers began penning sheep and cultivating chickpeas, peas and lentils. In time the aurochs, a wild ox with long, curved horns, joined the domestic herd. The first farmers would have needed new words to describe these plants and animals, and the tools they invented to harness them. They would have acquired a vocabulary of agriculture.

 

Farming became a true revolution when its practitioners started expanding out of the Fertile Crescent. Throughout the twentieth century, archaeologists argued over whether the farmers themselves had migrated, or it was just their inventions that had traveled—whether other populations had simply embraced their ideas. Genetics showed that the farmers had moved, and on a massive scale. But theirs was in no way a conscious empire-building project; with each passing generation they simply needed more land to feed the growing number of mouths. It was colonization by leapfrog: an advance guard traveling on foot identified a promising new site up to several hundred kilometers ahead, and others gradually settled the land in between. They took their languages with them.

Farmers from Anatolia entered Europe via two routes. One stream crossed the Bosporus, reaching the eastern Balkans by 6500 BCE and then following the Danube inland. Within a thousand years they were building villages in the Carpathian Basin—the depression, centered on modern Hungary, that is bound by the Carpathian Mountains and the Alps. A second stream island-hopped across the Aegean and along the northern Mediterranean seaboard by raft or boat (rowing, not sailing), then headed north from France’s azure coast. The two streams met in the Paris Basin, the lowlands before the Atlantic, and there they mingled before fanning out again.

By 4500 BCE, descendants of the Anatolian farmers were all over Europe, as far west as Ireland and as far east as Ukraine. These movements took place over many, many generations, but the distances covered are still extraordinary when you think that, apart from the sea crossings, they happened on foot. There was as yet no donkey or other docile pack animal, no horse that wasn’t wild, no wheel and hence no wagon.

As the farmers advanced, the indigenous hunter-gatherers retreated. They were so few, and their footprint in the landscape so light, by comparison, that the immigrants might have had the impression that they were encroaching on virgin territory, at least to begin with. Some of the displaced hunter-gatherers headed for the Baltic Sea; others may have joined those skewering catfish on the Dnieper (who would certainly have spoken a language that was foreign to them). Still others stayed in their ancestral lands but sought refuge in the hills, or in the densest parts of forests: places that didn’t lend themselves to cultivation, meaning the farmers passed on by.

By 4500 BCE, the physical and genetic barriers that had divided Eurasian populations for tens of thousands of years had begun to come down, but a new divide had opened up.

Occasionally, in a forest clearing, a farmer and a hunter-gatherer must have come face to face. The encounter would have been a shock for both. Roughly forty thousand years had passed since their ancestors had parted ways during the exodus from Africa, enough time for them not only to behave and sound different but to look different too. The farmers were smaller, with dark hair and eyes and, probably, lighter skin. The hunter-gatherers had that now rare combination of dark hair and skin and blue eyes. They had no language in common, and they likely had different ideas on just about everything, from child-rearing to death to the spirit lives of animals.

 

From what archaeologists can tell, such encounters did not typically end in violence. Sometimes the parties exchanged knowledge and objects. Sometimes they interbred. In time, many hunter-gatherers converted to the new economy, ensuring that some of their genes, perhaps even some of their beliefs and words, were passed on. But in general they couldn’t compete. Their way of life and their languages were on a fast track to extinction.

From the Zagros Mountains, the Iranian farmers expanded east across the Iranian Plateau, in the direction of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, and north towards the Caucasus. Not even the formidable Greater Caucasus range, with its “gloomy, mysterious chasms, into which the mists crept down, billowing and writhing like serpents” deterred them, though they may have hugged the Caspian coast where the mountains tumble to the plain. Soon farming settlements dotted the foothills of the North Caucasus. North of those hills lay the band of wetlands called the Kuma-Manych Depression. This might have held the revolution up for a while, but before long it had penetrated the flatlands we call the steppe. And since you couldn’t grow crops in the steppe—at least not in that part of it, where conditions were often too dry—the steppe-dwellers selected the one component of the farming package that worked for them: herding. The idea might have percolated in from the west as well, from the direction of the Carpathians.

At first the steppe tribes kept only small herds, for the purposes of ritual sacrifice, and they continued to live off hunting and fishing. In time the herds became a source of food and textiles for them too. And as the herds grew, those people were forced to make occasional forays out of their valleys in search of fresh pasture. They strayed into the open steppe, but never far, and they always returned.

By 4500 BCE, the physical and genetic barriers that had divided Eurasian populations for tens of thousands of years had begun to come down, but a new divide had opened up. This one was cultural. It separated herders from farmers, those whose wealth was mobile from those whose wealth was immobile. The two economic models bred two different mindsets: one that prized self-sufficiency and lived for the present, the other that valued collective decision-making and planned for the future.

Both the Bible and the Qur’an recount how this clash of worldviews led to the first murder, that of the shepherd Abel by his farmer brother Cain, but the clash is much older than the Abrahamic scriptures. In the Black Sea region it started more than six thousand years ago, when farmers and herders found themselves cheek by jowl at two steppe boundaries: one in eastern Europe, the other in the North Caucasus. That encounter marked the beginning of a dance of death that, for millennia to come, would bind the two in mutual hostility and dependence. Each grew and attained new heights of sophistication thanks to the other, but any malaise that affected one affected the other too, and climate change periodically rolled the dice. It was against this backdrop that the Indo-European languages were born.

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Savez-vous que le peuple Cia-Cia, de l'ile de Buton, dans le sud-est de la Sulawesi, utilise le Hangeul (écriture coréenne) pour écrire sa langue ? Explications.

 

Une langue sans écriture propre

Le cia-cia est une langue austronésienne parlée par plusieurs milliers de personnes. Jusqu’à récemment, elle ne disposait d’aucun système d’écriture codifié. La seule trace écrite traditionnelle : le Kutika, une sorte de code symbolique gravé sur du bois, détenu par les anciens et utilisé pour des prédictions ou des transmissions orales rituelles. Ce système, cependant, restait hermétique à la transmission écrite moderne, et donc inadapté à un enseignement généralisé.

 

Une rencontre improbable avec le Hangeul

Il faut remonter à 2005 pour trouver une première utilisation de l'écriture coréenne. Chun Taihyun, linguiste malaisien et président du département Hunminjeongeum de la Société coréenne, visite la région et déclare à la presse que les sonorités de la langue cia-cia lui rappellent le coréen. Il ajoute en plaisantant que le Hangeul pourrait parfaitement convenir à cette langue menacée. L’idée séduit aussitôt le maire de Baubau.

 

Quatre ans plus tard, en 2009, l’adoption devient officielle : le Hangeul est choisi comme système d’écriture du cia-cia. Le script Cia-Cia est né, avec le soutien de la Société linguistique Hunminjeongeum.

 

Du Hangeul dans les écoles et dans les rues

Depuis cette adoption, les résultats sont visibles :

 

Certains panneaux de signalisation dans la région de Baubau sont désormais écrits en caractères coréens.

Le Hangeul est enseigné dans plusieurs écoles locales.

Un dictionnaire cia-cia/hangeul a même vu le jour grâce à la coopération coréenne.

Ce script facilite l’alphabétisation des jeunes, donne un support écrit à la culture orale du peuple Cia-Cia, et ouvre la voie à la préservation de leur patrimoine immatériel : œuvres littéraires, contes, traditions, histoire... 

 

Le script Cia-Cia permet d'éradiquer l'analphabétisme, l'apprentissage de l'écriture Hangeul est inclus dans le programme scolaire locale de certaines écoles de la région. 

 

Malgré les bienfaits apparents, l’initiative n’a pas fait l’unanimité. Certains s’inquiètent de voir des mots coréens infiltrer le lexique cia-cia, craignant une influence culturelle progressive. D'autres pointent du doigt une dépendance extérieure ou le risque d’abandon du projet faute de soutien étatique.

 

Mais même les critiques reconnaissent l’essentiel : la préservation de la langue cia-cia est une priorité commune.

 

Écrit par Odyl Devaux-Zeller

Publié le 14 mai 2025, mis à jour le 15 mai 2025"

 

https://lepetitjournal.com/jakarta/comprendre-indonesie/quand-lecriture-coreenne-sauve-une-langue-indonesienne-410999

#metaglossia_mundus

"Comment l’Algérie tente de bannir la langue française de ses universités

À partir de septembre 2025, les cours de médecine seront dispensés en anglais en Algérie. De l’école primaire aux radios publiques en passant par les billets d’Air Algérie, le français est méthodiquement évincé du pays dans un contexte de relations diplomatiques toujours plus tendues avec Paris.

 

Les relations franco-algériennes ne risquent pas de se réchauffer avec cette annonce… À partir de la rentrée universitaire de septembre 2025, les filières médicales, dont les enseignements étaient jusque-là en français, seront désormais dispensées en anglais. Soixante ans après la fin de la colonisation, Abdelmadjid Tebboune poursuit l’offensive contre la langue de Molière entamée dès l’indépendance par le président Ahmed Ben Bella – puis poursuivie par son successeur, le colonel Houari Boumediene. Ainsi, ces cinq dernières années, le ministère de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche scientifique a produit plusieurs circulaires dans ce sens.

 

Depuis la rentrée universitaire 2022-2023, les professeurs sont obligés de se mettre à l’anglais. « Après 37 ans d’enseignement en français, on m’oblige à dispenser des cours en anglais. Je préfère prendre ma retraite », confiait à l’époque un professeur de physique à Marianne.

 

Dans la foulée, à l’été 2023, le gouvernement algérien a élargi cette politique linguistique à l’enseignement primaire : l’anglais a été introduit dès la troisième année, en même temps que le français, jusque-là seule langue étrangère enseignée à ce niveau. Les deux langues se partagent désormais le volume horaire hebdomadaire, qui diffère d’un niveau à un autre, rappellent nos confrères. Des professeurs d’anglais ont été recrutés et formés dans l’urgence.

 

Le français, chassé de partout

L’effacement du français dépasse les frontières de l’école. Dans l’espace public, de nombreux bâtiments officiels — civils comme militaires — arborent désormais des enseignes en arabe, en berbère… et en anglais. Le français, jusque-là omniprésent aux côtés des deux langues nationales, disparaît peu à peu.

 

La compagnie Air Algérie a retiré le français de ses billets d’avion. La Société de distribution des eaux d’Alger, créée avec le concours de l’entreprise française Suez, l’a rayé de ses factures. Une décision jugée « irrespectueuse pour les clients qui ne comprennent que le français », a dénoncé sur les réseaux sociaux le syndicaliste Nouredine Bouderba.

 

Même la musique francophone – pourtant très écoutée en Algérie – est ciblée : depuis les dernières tensions diplomatiques entre les deux pays, les chansons françaises sont quasiment absentes des radios publiques… dont l’une des principales continue, ironie du sort, d’émettre en français"

Par Audrey Senecal

15/05/2025

https://www.lejdd.fr/International/comment-lalgerie-tente-de-bannir-la-langue-francaise-de-ses-universites-158086

#metaglossia_mundus 

Dans Ma France on reçoit Rozenn Milin, ardente défenseuse du maintien des langues régionales non seulement à l'école, mais aussi à tous les âges de nos vies. Pour que le Breton, le Corse, le Basque ou encore l'Alsacien continuent de résonner dans nos oreilles.

 

 

 

 

"Les langues régionales sont un patrimoine vivant" défend la sociologue Rozenn Milin

 

Rozenn Milin publie "langues régionales - idées fausses et vraies questions" Héliopoles

 

Manuelle Calmat, 

 

Wendy Bouchard

 

15 mai 2025 à 13:15

 

Dans Ma France on reçoit Rozenn Milin, ardente défenseuse du maintien des langues régionales non seulement à l'école, mais aussi à tous les âges de nos vies. Pour que le Breton, le Corse, le Basque ou encore l'Alsacien continuent de résonner dans nos oreilles.

 

 

 

 

"Les langues régionales constituent un véritable patrimoine vivant qu'il convient de développer" affirme la co-autrice et sociologue Rozenn Milin qui publie "Langues régionales : idées fausses et vraies questions" aux éditions Héliopoles. " Il y a encore des centaines de milliers de personnes voire des millions qui parlent des langues régionales en France" poursuit-elle, " près de 120 000 élèves bénéficient d'un enseignement bilingue, et il n'est plus à prouver les bénéfices d'apprendre deux langues très jeunes d'un point de vue cognitif".

 

 

 

 

Le 19 février dernier, la commission de la culture, de l’éducation, de la communication et du sport du Sénat a désigné le Biarrot Max Brisson rapporteur d'une mission d’information sénatoriale consacrée à l’évaluation de la loi du 21 mai 2021 dite" Molac" du nom de l'auteur de la proposition de loi. Selon Paul Molac, « il faudra apprécier l’application de la loi dans les diversités régionales, avec un travail nécessaire sur la question de la formation des enseignants ».

 

Les défenseurs de ce "patrimoine vivant" comme le qualifie Rozenn Milin, s'inquiètent du ralentissement de la diffusion tant à l'école que de l'image souvent caricaturale voire erronée de ces langues. "On dit des choses hallucinantes, que ce ne sont pas des langues mais du patois, des dialectes, des petites choses, des parlers qu'on peut mépriser, qu'elles n'ont pas de grammaire, mais c'est absurde ! les langues ont forcément une grammaire", s'exclame l'autrice. Et de défendre la qualité d'une littérature méconnue et peu diffusée.

 

Le basque est encore parlé par environ 20 % de la population et compris par 9,4 % de plus. Par ailleurs, c’est la langue maternelle de plus de 80 % d’entre eux, et 20 % déclarent être plus à l’aise en basque qu’en français. En Alsace, 46 % des habitants déclarent parler assez bien ou très bien l’alsacien. En Lorraine, 44 % de la population déclare parler assez bien ou très bien le francique (ou platt). Dans le département des Pyrénées-Orientales, le catalan est parlé couramment par 20 % de la population, et plus ou moins bien par 35 %, un chiffre qui monte à plus de 45 % dans les zones montagneuses du département.

 

Avec ce livre documenté et pédagogique, Rozenn Milin entend démonter les idées reçues qui vont de la négation du statut de langue aux accusations de communautarisme, en passant par le mythe de l’inutilité contemporaine."

 

https://www.francebleu.fr/emissions/ma-france-le-journal-des-regions/ma-france-l-invite-de-wendy-bouchard-2531585

 

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Penser les différences: Un colloque international au cœur des enjeux contemporains
12/05/2025

Colloque international enjeux contemporains Penser les différences

Dans un monde traversé par des cloisons culturelles, religieuses, ethniques, sociales et autres formes de segmentation, la question de la différence est plus que jamais d’actualité.
Comme le rappelle bien Amin Maalouf, déjà notre vie elle-même est « créatrice de différences ». La différence est à la fois une donnée naturelle et culturelle du monde, mais suscite tour à tour fascination et rejet. La différence est même inscrite aussi bien dans l’identité que dans la culture.

Son rejet conduit au « naufrage des civilisations », dirait Maalouf et à des dérives inquiétantes qui menacent d’anéantir la valeur essentielle du vivre-ensemble. Penser les différences s’avère en effet être une réhabilitation du dialogue, de l’interculturel et du lien. La différence est une expérience charnelle. Ses enjeux sont existentiels. Loin de supposer que ce concept se caractérise par une seule réponse, logique et rationnelle, la différence est une notion complexe qui concerne tous les domaines de la vie.
Et c’est précisément autour de cette thématique qu’a été organisé dernièrement le colloque international « Penser les différences », par le Laboratoire de recherche « Sciences du Langage, Art, Littérature, Éducation et Culture » (SCALEC) de l’ENS – Université Moulay Ismaïl de Meknès. Ce laboratoire, particulièrement actif, avait déjà accueilli, lors de journées d’études l’an passé, l’écrivain Abdelfattah Kilito, et cette année El Mostafa Bouignane, confirmant ainsi sa vitalité et son ouverture. Il s’agit de diversifier les moyens d’enseignement et surtout de former chez les étudiants un esprit critique et ouvert. Un tel esprit permet de faire barrage aux formes de violence et de xénophobie. L’ouverture d’esprit est un pas vers la construction d’un rapport authentique au savoir.

Les participants, ainsi que les organisateurs, ont rappelé à maintes reprises que l’identité et la culture se construisent souvent dans l’entre-deux. Aucune culture n’est pure : toutes sont traversées, façonnées et enrichies par l’échange, la rencontre et parfois la confrontation. L’humain brasse la différence, s’en imprègne et se transforme. La différence est au cœur de l’existence : sa reconnaissance et son respect sont les conditions d’une véritable cohésion sociale.

Penser la différence, c’est donc favoriser une meilleure compréhension de l’autre et lutter contre toutes les formes de rejet, de racisme et d’assimilation. C’est aussi une manière de respecter l’opacité propre à chaque culture.

En matière de littérature, les intervenants ont également souligné que la référence littéraire et culturelle ne peut être unique ni classificatoire. La littérature, comme les autres disciplines, ne doit pas être appréhendée en termes de centre et de périphérie, mais plutôt en termes de complémentarité et de réciprocité, d’autant plus que les politiques de la relation sont à l’origine de la littérature. Toute littérature est plurielle, car elle est une mosaïque de littératures. Il s’agit d’une acception de la littérature-monde qui met l’accent sur la pluralité de toute littérature, et qui consiste à faire sortir celle-ci d’une conception réductrice pour l’aborder dans une perspective inspirée par la pensée de la différence.

Coordonné par les professeurs Mohammed Dekhissi et Abdelouahed Hajji, le colloque a mobilisé des champs disciplinaires variés : littérature, art, éthique, religion, critique, sociologie, anthropologie, politique… Autant d’approches qui ont permis de penser et de repenser la différence dans ses multiples manifestations et implications, des expériences humaines à ses constructions sociales, en passant par ses dimensions symboliques ou conflictuelles.

L’événement a réuni 65 chercheurs marocains et étrangers, dont 35 doctorants. Il a compté dix séances, dont quatre panels parallèles les après-midis. Chercheurs confirmés et doctorants y ont abordé la question de la différence dans le but de sensibiliser l’audience — notamment étudiante — à l’importance de la formation d’un esprit critique et ouvert.

Certains intervenants ont insisté sur l’humanisme et l’éthique comme fondements essentiels d’un rapport authentique au savoir. Car un savoir sans savoir-être n’a pas de véritable portée !

La question de la différence a été abordée également à travers divers filtres, révélant sa polysémie et sa présence dans tous les domaines. Les organisateurs ont rappelé les valeurs fondatrices du Maroc : altérité, ouverture et respect des fondements de la nation. Le Maroc a toujours été, et demeure, un pays d’accueil et de tolérance. Le colloque s’inscrivait ainsi dans cette tradition, en affirmant que le respect de la différence est un pas essentiel vers la cohabitation avec autrui. La philosophie de la différence devient alors un enseignement de la reconnaissance de l’autre. Il s’agit d’une aspiration difficile à réaliser complètement, mais cette aspiration est salutaire ; elle indique la voie à suivre pour arrêter le désastre qui traverse le monde d’aujourd’hui.

Étudiants comme grand public ont bénéficié de communications riches et d’échanges stimulants. Le débat a été nourri par la présence d’écrivains et de chercheurs de renom tels que Marc Gontard, Bernoussi Saltani, Jean-Paul Deremble, Abderrahim Kamal, Cédric Cagnat, Bernadette Mimoso-Ruiz ou encore Bouchaib Saouri. Une attention particulière a été accordée à la participation des jeunes chercheurs, encouragés à prendre part activement à cette réflexion collective.

Le choix assumé de la pluralité des approches a fait de ce colloque un véritable carrefour d’échanges constructifs, reflet des orientations actuelles de la recherche, qui valorisent l’interdisciplinarité et le décloisonnement du savoir. Une manière concrète de servir l’un des objectifs phares de l’Université Moulay Ismaïl : faire de l’UMI un pôle d’excellence.

Penser la différence, c’est aussi interroger les formes de l’altérité dans nos sociétés, les conditions de son émergence et ses enjeux politiques, sociaux et symboliques. C’est mobiliser les outils critiques pour mieux comprendre ce qui nous sépare, mais aussi ce qui nous relie. La diversité culturelle est une valeur suprême qui peut souder le monde. Il faut rappeler à cet égard que l’humanité n’est pas innée mais acquise. Continuons à cultiver notre humanité par la célébration et la cristallisation des valeurs de l’amitié, de l’amour et du respect de l’autre.

Le désir d’identité est inséparable du désir de l’altérité. La pensée de la différence n’est pas en ce sens une stratégie pour activer l’assimilation, mais plutôt une manière de réactiver le souci de l’autre dans le respect de la différence culturelle ; une façon d’opter pour le multiple ou le divers, comme le rappelle justement l’écrivain Marc Gontard dans sa communication sur Victor Segalen. Celui-ci écrit : « C’est par la différence et dans le divers que s’exalte l’Existence. / Le Divers décroît. / C’est là le grand danger. »

Dans la même dynamique, le Laboratoire SCALEC a organisé une rencontre littéraire avec le théoricien et professeur à la Sorbonne Maxime Decout. Celui-ci y a retracé l’histoire de la lecture à travers l’histoire littéraire, avant de présenter sa propre théorie de la « mauvaise lecture » : une lecture audacieuse, capable de faire surgir l’inédit à partir des textes, remettant en cause le « lecteur modèle » théorisé par Umberto Eco. Une initiative supplémentaire qui témoigne du dynamisme de l’équipe de recherche et de la volonté des responsables de promouvoir, au sein de l’université marocaine, une recherche vivante, ouverte et exigeante.

Par Abdelouahed Hajji
Université Moulay Ismaïl de Meknès"
https://m.libe.ma/Penser-les-differences-Un-colloque-international-au-coeur-des-enjeux-contemporains_a153379.html

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Pope Leo shared his thoughts in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, and more..."

""Peace be with you all! This is the first greeting spoken by the Risen Christ, the Good Shepherd. I would like this greeting of peace to resound in your hearts, in your families, and among all people, wherever they may be, in every nation and throughout the world," reads his message, which was shared on the Pontifex account, previously manned by Pope Francis, on all social media outlets..."

 

https://www.hola.com/us/celebrities/20250514832134/pope-leo-xiv-first-post-social-media/

#metaglossia_mundus 

As translation technology improves, companies are cashing in on a boom in Chinese web literature worldwide, but the trend poses concerns for human editors and copyright protections.

"AI Translation Is Helping Chinese Literature Go Global
As translation technology improves, companies are cashing in on a boom in Chinese web literature worldwide, but the trend poses concerns for human editors and copyright protections.
By Jiang Xinyi
May 15, 20253-min read #literature#artificial intelligence

AI translation is accelerating the global reach of Chinese online literature — that’s the conclusion of an annual industry report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and culture and entertainment group China Literature.

The report released last Friday found that overseas readership of Chinese web novels surged from 230 million in 2023 to 352 million in 2024.

By the end of last year, the overseas market for Chinese online literature reached 5.07 billion yuan ($700 million), up more than 25% year over year. Over 808,400 works have reached readers in more than 200 countries and regions, the report states.

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Spanish-language translations saw a 227% increase, while German, French, and Portuguese releases grew from nearly zero to hundreds. Japan recorded the fastest-growing user base with a 180% year-over-year increase in registered users on Chinese literature platforms. Other top-growing markets in terms of readership included Greece, Spain, and Brazil.

At a press conference coinciding with the report’s release, Yang Chen, vice president and editor-in-chief of China Literature, highlighted that AI has significantly lowered the barriers to translating Chinese web novels.

With AI assistance, China Literature translated more novels in 2024 than in all previous years combined, domestic news outlet Caixin reported.

A subsidiary of tech giant Tencent, China Literature operates Qidian, one of the country’s largest web fiction platforms. Its international version, WebNovel, launched in 2017, was the first channel to distribute officially licensed Chinese web literature overseas.

State-run People’s Daily noted that as of November 2024, 42% of the top 100 bestsellers on WebNovel were translated using AI. Around 70% of web fiction translation teams were reported to use a hybrid model in 2024, generating drafts with AI that editors then polished. This approach cut translation costs by over 90%.

However, critics warn that AI still struggles with culturally nuanced language. Its growing role has also driven down market rates, pushing many human translators into lower-paid proofreading roles and, in some cases, slashing incomes by up to half.

The report also outlines how Chinese web literature’s influence is growing beyond online reading platforms. In 2024, China Literature’s overseas licensing deals surged by 80% year over year, while adaptations of its works reached a combined 1.237 billion views on YouTube, a 35.4% increase over the previous year.

“AI-generated video could trigger the next revolution in visual content,” Yang said at the conference. “Once the technology matures, the vast trove of market-tested web fiction will become the ideal source material.”

The report goes on to caution that improper use of AI could violate copyright protections.

On April 28, 16 major web fiction platforms, including China Literature, Jinjiang Literature City, iReader Technology, and ChineseAll, jointly issued a self-regulation pact for responsible AI-assisted content creation, stressing that technological applications must respect original authorship.

Last year, the Chinese web fiction market reversed a recent slowdown in domestic sales, reaching a value of 43.06 billion yuan ($6 billion) — up 6.8% year over year. That compares to previous growth rates of 8.8% in 2022 and 3.8% in 2023.
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1017094

#metaglossia_mundus 

The indigenous African archive is a living culture that cannot be turned into a record that is fixed in time. The continued existence of the oral traditions of Africans can be maintained through storytelling rather than being archived.

"12 May 2025 - 13:15
SA marked “National Archives Awareness Week” from May 5 to 9 with the theme “Digital Footprints: Archives and Records Management in the Digital Era”.

The celebration coincided with Africa Month. While it highlighted archives from a Western viewpoint, indigenous archives were noticeably left out of the discussion. Oral traditions have historically been vital in archiving the social, political and economic aspects of the African people...

While it is important, the absence of an indigenous African archive in archival discourses has alarmed archivists trained in Western pedagogues. As a result, archivists have gone on a documentation binge of oral traditions. Others have even coined catchphrases to describe these decolonisation efforts. Our view is that documenting oral traditions and storing them in archival institutions will not save them but will only worsen their situation.

This is so because the indigenous African archive may only survive through its use and ritual performance, as evidenced by the resilience of African tradition against the onslaught of religions such as Christianity. Archivists should advocate for the indigenous African archive's continued use and performance rather than its documentation and domestication in archival repositories.

Once archived and locked into archival repositories, oral traditions cease to exist as they are no longer indigenous African archives but just something else, as they have lost their saltiness (orality). The indigenous African archive is a living culture that cannot be turned into a record that is fixed in time. The continued existence of the oral traditions of Africans can be maintained through storytelling rather than being archived.

The orality of this verbal legacy remains its preservation strength. This means archivists need to come up with archival theories that promote the management of this orality.

Disruptive technologies as reflected in the archive’s week theme, are providing a platform where this basic provenance of the indigenous African archive, which is orality, can be promoted, used, disseminated and archived. In this regard, the storytelling or narrative nature of the African oral traditions can be maintained through gamification, filming and animation.

Oral traditions, including traditional literature, are didactic, as they have been used and can be used as teaching tools for children and even adults. There is nothing stopping the African government from reintroducing oral traditions into the school curricula, especially for the early education cohorts.

Tapping into the 4IR technologies, oral traditions can be preserved through their use in the modern-day classroom. Gamification can be employed to achieve that. Smart technologies such as mobile apps and social media-centred solutions, including gamification, are likely to revive the use of oral traditions by schoolchildren. The time is now for African countries to focus on transformation in line with Africa’s Agenda 2063 so that archives can reflect the history of Africans as told by Africans.

* Prof Ngoepe is the executive director for library and information services at Unisa, while Dr Bhebhe is a lecturer in the School of Information Studies at Charles Sturt University in Australia"
https://www.sowetanlive.co.za/opinion/2025-05-12-opinion-africas-oral-traditions-need-to-be-preserved-not-archived/

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Gulf and Maghrebi Arabs struggle to understand each other due to linguistic, cultural, and historical differences, with little effort made to bridge the gap, according to Arabic language experts.

 

Qatar’s multicultural society, where around 90% of residents are expatriates, hosts a wide blend of languages and dialects. But even within the same language can be fraught with challenges.

 

Gulf and North African Arabic is one of them. From rapid-fire Moroccan Darija to Algeria’s Tamazight-infused Arabic, Maghrebi dialects are often met with confusion to local’s ears.

 

This disconnect stems not only from linguistic differences but also from historical, cultural, and social dynamics that shape how dialects are perceived in the Gulf, according to several Arabic language experts Doha News spoke with.

 

Linguistic distance and phonological differences:

Studies of mutual intelligibility demonstrate that phonology is the primary barrier.

 

Arabic exists as a dialect continuum, in which neighbouring varieties overlap and are known as mutually intelligible, but geographically distant dialects become more difficult to understand.

 

And Maghrebi dialects have also undergone phonological shifts, most notably in vowel quality and syllable structure, that set them apart from Gulf speech and make their dialects harder to understand.

 

“All Arabic dialects have diverged from Classical Arabic in one way or another. The only way to reconnect is through intellectual and cultural production. But we’ve stopped engaging in that,” Hamza Ettanania, a Moroccan linguistic researcher and Arabic teacher, told Doha News.

 

Historical and geographical separation

Geographical distance between North Africa and the Gulf underpins both linguistic and cultural separations.

 

Dr Rola AlQattawii, a Palestinian PhD researcher specialised in Arabic linguistics and lexicography, explained that the Maghreb’s Amazigh foundation and distinct colonial histories – French and Spanish, which are non-Semitic languages – have shaped its dialects differently from the Gulf’s experiences, which fell under Persian and South Asian influences.

 

“There is a cognitive barrier, as there is a stereotype among people in the Gulf about Maghrebi dialects, that they are difficult and different from the more familiar dialects. This perception exists because Maghrebi culture isn’t widely spread in the East or the Gulf region,” AlQattawii told Doha News.

 

This historical divergence is reflected in language attitudes, where Qataris largely perceive non-Gulf dialects as less approachable, reinforcing mental distance.

 

Social and cultural barriers

Mutual effort is crucial for bridging dialect gaps, but social attitudes can hinder this effort.

 

Gulf speakers, Ettanania, the linguistic researcher and Arabic teacher, said, don’t make an effort to learn about North African cultures or dialects. “Perhaps because of the physical distance, which makes them feel it’s not worth the trouble,” he said.

 

This lack of curiosity is mirrored by some Maghrebi expatriates in Qatar, who seldom promote their own dialects.

 

“Very few people genuinely make an effort to understand Maghrebi dialects,” Ettanania said. “They assume it’s just a mix of Amazigh, Arabic, French, and Spanish and therefore too complex to grasp.”

 

Educational factors and media exposure

Educational systems across the Arab world prioritise Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), relegating colloquial dialects to informal contexts. While MSA serves as a unifying medium, it offers little direct preparation for understanding regional dialects.

 

Media exposure likewise skews towards certain dialects. Egyptian and Levantine dramas dominate satellite and streaming platforms, making their accents widely recognisable.

 

Gulf audiences, including Qataris, are more accustomed to hearing Levantine and Gulf speech on television and radio, further marginalising Maghrebi varieties.

 

“We grew up watching their films and TV shows. From a young age, Maghrebi people have been exposed to their culture. We learned how they pronounce words and engage with the language,” Ettanania said.

 

Without significant representation of Maghrebi dialect content, Gulf listeners seldom develop the listening strategies needed to decode its rapid speech and unique phonemes.

 

Qatar, where English is a lingua franca

In Qatar’s multinational environment, English often supersedes colloquial Arabic as the practical medium of inter-expatriate communication.

 

This trend reduces incentives to negotiate dialect differences, as speakers default to English rather than bridge dialectal gaps. Moreover, class dynamics influence willingness to engage: expatriates in professional settings may opt for English to project competence and avoid social friction, according to Arabic language experts.

 

Even the Qatari dialect itself has been influenced by the country’s international workforce and mercantile history, blending Gulf Arabic with borrowings that even native Qataris sometimes misrecognise.

 

Sustained exposure and active inquiry into the roots of language development can improve comprehension across dialects.

 

“It just takes effort and curiosity, asking what a word means and how it’s pronounced. We explain and simplify our dialect, so next time they’ll recognise it better. It’s just a matter of choice not difficulty,” Ettanania said.

 

Dr. AlQattawii also reinforced this by citing her own experience in Qatar.

 

“I began to recognize the features of Maghrebi dialects, and it became clear that they’re actually quite similar to other dialects and can be understood,” she said. “Focusing on phonological patterns and recurrent lexemes enhances comprehension over time.”"

Nassima Babassa May 12, 2025

https://dohanews.co/why-north-african-arabic-poses-comprehension-challenges-in-qatar/

 

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Monash University Translator and Interpreter Training Package
12 May 2025

During the catastrophic 2022 flooding event in the Greater Shepparton region, volunteers from local multicultural communities played a key role in helping non-English speakers to evacuate safely and access support. This project features an innovative training package, providing residents of the Greater Shepparton region access to introductory translator and interpreter training. A major focus is 'interpreting in natural disasters', as well as a ‘working with interpreters’ session for key stakeholders in the region, ensuring that service providers in areas such as health, justice and emergency management learn how to apply best practice in their work with interpreters assisting members of the multicultural community. The project includes the first ever Thriving in Regional Communities Industry Expo, which brings together key stakeholders from the language services industry and regional communities. We aim to build a mentoring program of future trainers from the regions and roll out similar training in other regional areas in Victoria. The project is funded by the Australian and Victorian Governments in response to the October 2022 flood event which impacted Victorian communities in Greater Shepparton.

Research team: Dr Leah Gerber, Dr Shani Tobias, Prof. Rita Wilson, Mr Alex Avella

Funding received: $44,620.00"

https://www.monash.edu/arts/languages-literatures-cultures-linguistics/news-and-events/articles/monash-university-translator-and-interpreter-training-package
#metaglossia_mundus

To Hussain, literature, and translation especially, is inherently political...

"The Translation Studies Hub (TSH) held its second annual “Literary Translator Residency” event May 6, inviting prominent Arabic translator Sawad Hussain to speak on her experiences and the trials faced throughout her career.

 

Hussain works primarily on translating works from Arabic to English, with translations spanning many different genres and reading levels. Her body of work includes titles such as “The Djinn’s Apple” by Djamila Morani, “Black Foam” by Haji Jabir, and her newest translation "The Book Censor's Library" by Bothayna Al-Essa, which was a finalist for the 2024 National Book Award ...

 

To Hussain, literature, and translation especially, is inherently political...

 

“Indeed, I have appreciable agency as a translator to choose… what makes its way into the English language sphere,” Hussain said. “To choose how Arabic literature and countries where Arabic is spoken are represented.”

 

This “sense of guardianship,” as Hussain describes, is a responsibility that has followed her throughout her career. To fight against the stereotypical understanding of Western publishers and consumers, a translator must be prepared to break the mold. 

 

“I do act as a gatekeeper in deciding … which voices or narratives need to be elevated or amplified,” Hussain said. 

 

To provide an example of this gatekeeping, Hussain spoke on a recent translation of three excerpts for an award pamphlet. The excerpts chosen, she believed, were problematic due to the way a disabled character was portrayed. Hussain decided to change some of the words and provide suggestions for the final editor to implement. Her suggestions went unheeded. 

 

“The sections I had flagged to the commissioning individual as problematic were not addressed,” Hussain said. “They were left in the English exactly as they appear in the Arabic, and are jarring for me to read.”

 

Hussain’s experiences are unfortunately commonplace in the translation and publishing industry. Anecdote after anecdote was provided in the final half of the lecture of changes made in the name of sales, realism, and Western sensibilities. 

 

“How much of a right, if any at all, do we have to alter another culture's literary tradition just to suit our own?” Hussain said...

 

Hussain’s insights on translation went beyond the technical level, with guidance given to aspiring translators at UW as well. Her first piece of advice? Be prepared for rejection. 

 

“Rejection and resilience is the name of the game,” Hussain said. “You're going to be rejected … But I would also say to create a community of translators … find a community, ideally, find someone who can mentor you informally or formally.”...

By Nathaniel Chen

https://lnkd.in/e2wg3Xym

#metaglossia_mundus

Le dictionnaire Le Petit Robert 2026 s’offre un détour par Marseille avec l’entrée officielle de trois expressions bien de chez nous : tarpin, gâté et tanquer. Des mots du quotidien qui font leur révolution linguistique.

"...C’est officiel : tarpin, gâté et tanquer font leur entrée dans le Petit Robert 2026. Trois petits mots mais une grande victoire pour les amoureux du parler marseillais. Le sociolinguiste Médéric Gasquet-Cyrus, spécialiste du coin et conseiller pour le dico, exulte : c’est une « trilogie exceptionnelle ». Parce qu’avant de finir en pleine page, un mot doit avoir fait ses preuves à l’oral comme à l’écrit, et surtout, avoir dépassé les limites de sa ville d’origine. C’est donc un vrai game-changer pour la langue française.

 

De la rue au dictionnaire : un sacré parcours

Pas de place pour les expressions jetables. Pour rejoindre les rangs du Petit Robert, les mots doivent vivre leur meilleure vie dans les conversations, la presse, les réseaux… bref, s’installer dans le paysage linguistique. Les équipes du dictionnaire analysent les usages avec une rigueur scientifique et une dose d’intuition. C’est comme ça que tanquer, utilisé aussi bien dans un match de foot que sur un terrain sableux, a fini par être validé. Et si gâté a explosé grâce à SCH et son « Oui ma gâtée » dans Bande organisée, c’est finalement une citation littéraire marseillaise plus sage qui a été retenue. Carré.

 

Marseille, mais pas que : un lexique en mouvement

L'arrivée de ces trois mots dans le dico s’inscrit dans une vague plus large : chaque année, environ 150 nouveaux termes viennent remplacer ceux tombés en désuétude. Pour 2026, chill, dinguerie, VAR, chakchouka ou encore se capter viennent compléter la playlist linguistique. Des mots dans l’air du temps, qui montrent que le français est vivant, vibrant, et surtout influencé par les usages de la rue, du net, des régions. Bref, le français s’enrichit, et Marseille y met clairement sa sauce."

par Marion Santiago

14 mai 2025

https://www.lebonbon.fr/marseille/news/3-mots-marseillais-font-leur-entree-petit-robert-2026/

#metaglossia_mundus 

MyAsli Calls For Official Recognition Of Sign Language Interpreters As Professionals. GEORGE TOWN, May 14 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Association of Sign Language Interpreters (MyAsli) is calling on the government to recognise sign language interpreting as a professional career in the country...

https://www.bernama.com/en/region/news.php?id=2422839

#metaglossia_mundus 

 

"Interpreter Job
Posted on May 13, 2025...

Job details
Location Remote based in Winnipeg, MB
Workplace informationRemote
Salary
27.00 to 30.00 hourly (To be negotiated) / 5 to 40 hours per week
Terms of employment
Casual employment
Part time leading to full time
Day, Evening, Night, Weekend, Shift, Overtime, On Call, Flexible Hours, Early Morning, Morning
Starts as soon as possible
vacancies8 vacancies
SourceJob Bank #3304252
Various locations
Overview
Languages
Bilingual

Education
No degree, certificate or diploma
Experience
Experience an asset

Remote
Work must be done remotely. There’s no office space provided.

Asset languages
Spanish
Georgian
Lao
Responsibilities
Tasks
Interpret oral communication from one language to another aloud or using electronic equipment
Interpret for persons speaking an Aboriginal or foreign language
Interpret language for individuals and small groups
Experience and specialization
Interpretation specialization
Conference interpreter
Additional information
Security and safety
Criminal record check
Own tools/equipment
Cellular phone
Personal suitability
Accurate
Client focus
Excellent written communication
Excellent oral communication
Who can apply for this job?
You can apply if you are:

a Canadian citizen
a permanent resident of Canada
a temporary resident of Canada with a valid work permit
Do not apply if you are not authorized to work in Canada. The employer will not respond to your application"

https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/jobsearch/jobposting/44205280?source=searchresults&wbdisable=true
#metaglossia_mundus

From supporting her parents from afar, celebrating religious events, to deciding on a surname—this is the story of an Indonesian-Australian navigating life in an intercultural marriage.

 

"From supporting her parents from afar, celebrating religious events, to deciding on a surname—this is the story of an Indonesian-Australian navigating life in an intercultural marriage.

 

 

 

 

'Learning from each other': How couple faces challenges of intercultural marriage

 

 

 

 

Love has never cared much about borders, languages, or cultural differences. But when you're building a life with someone from a completely different background, there's no denying it throws up some unique hurdles.

 

 

 

 

For Emma Dainona, a 44-year-old who works as a retail worker and a singer, navigating these differences has become second nature. She spoke with SBS Indonesia about her cross-cultural marriage to her husband, David Gum.

 

 

 

 

"I learn his culture, he learns mine. At home, we just apply what works for us," said Dainona, a Perth resident of Indonesian origin whose husband is from a different culture.

 

Dealing with stereotypes

 

It's no secret that mixed-culture relationships often cop their fair share of stereotypes and judgments. Dainona considers herself lucky to have avoided direct discrimination, though she's well aware many couples in her position aren't so fortunate.

 

 

 

 

"Look, I think if people have those assumptions, we can't control what they think or believe. What matters is that we stay true to ourselves," Dainona said.

 

Supporting parents in Indonesia

 

The "sandwich generation" phenomenon—where individuals bear dual responsibilities for parents and their immediate family, both financially and emotionally—represents a common reality for many Indonesian families.

 

 

 

 

Dainona's on board with this idea. In fact, she sees caring for her parents as an integral part of loving them. Though she can't physically care for her parents, as they're thousands of kilometres away from Perth, Dainona maintains caring by providing financial support and visiting them as often as they can.

 

Personal identity in the surname

 

One of the more personal cultural differences Dainona has grappled with is whether to take her husband's surname—a common practice in Australia but not typically done in Indonesia.

 

 

 

 

A surname, for Dainona, represents cultural identity and personal autonomy. So,"for now, I'm sticking with my original name. I haven't decided about taking his surname yet. I'm still weighing up the pros and cons, and I don't want to rush into anything," Dainona said."

 

By Anne Parisianne

 

Source: SBS

 

13 May 2025 7:04pm

 

https://www.sbs.com.au/language/indonesian/en/podcast-episode/learning-from-each-other-how-couple-faces-challenges-of-intercultural-marriage/fvf9st0le

 

#metaglossia_mundus 

Faith and mission put people in community, but linguistic challenges can quietly create rifts. Can these challenges offer opportunity?

"My first Sabbath at Valley View University in Ghana was remarkable. The church was packed, the choir sang beautifully, and the atmosphere was spiritually uplifting, but I could not understand a word. Everything was in English. The prayer, the sermon, the announcements—all of it in a language I had barely just begun to study. I sat silent, attempting to read the facial expressions of those around me, catching a word here or there, such as “Jesus” and “amen.” But somewhere deep inside, I felt disconnected. I was present, but I was not a part of what was happening. This is one of many such stories. 

 

Many Adventists in Cape Verde experience the same reality when attending union and division events. Cape Verde is a Portuguese-speaking island nation off the west coast of Africa belonging to the Sahel Union Mission of the West-Central Africa Division (WAD) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Our union includes a majority of French-speaking countries such as Senegal, Mali, and Mauritania. In contrast, those in The Gambia Region speak English. This makes Cape Verde and Guinea-Bissau the only two Portuguese-speaking countries in a predominantly Francophone and Anglophone region. In the WAD, language has become one of the biggest obstacles to the progress of the gospel, though the issue remains largely overlooked. This 22-country division is a melting pot of cultures, languages, and ethnicities, creating complexity that goes far beyond navigating official languages like French, English, and Portuguese. Hundreds of local dialects are spoken throughout the region. Though not impossible to overcome, this has led to difficulties that have not been fully addressed. 

 

Though Adventists are connected through mission and message, language can be a silent separator in the broader faith community. There are several challenges that come with being part of a French-speaking union. In situations where communication, training materials, and leadership programs are predominantly in French or English, Cape Verdean members—especially young ones—are frequently left behind. Interpretation is not always available at all union and division programs, leaving delegates from Cape Verde dependent on other members for clarification and informal translation. The communication issue becomes even more apparent in the information and materials made for evangelism, Sabbath School, women’s ministries, or youth services. The vast majority of official reports and policy documents first come out in English or French, and are then later—though not always—translated into Portuguese. This delay puts Cape Verde at a disadvantage, as local leaders and members of the Cape Verdean Church are unable to fit into the bigger programs of the union and division in real time. Church departments in Cape Verde, end up sourcing materials from Brazil or Portugal in order to access resources in their own language. And while this ensures that Portuguese-speaking members are eventually able to move forward, it is not as effective as being fully synchronized with the rest of the union. 

 

Looking at previous Pathfinder camporees, women’s ministries congresses, and union-wide conventions, Cape Verdean participation has been extremely low. It seems evident that this sparse attendance stems from the language barrier. We face linguistic isolation. The implications of this are greater than just delayed communication or trouble getting connected to programs. Members feel less included, less empowered, and less in touch with the larger mission. This silent barrier, although unintended, can make us feel like guests rather than family in our own spiritual house. 

 

Still, there is hope! We can turn this challenge into an opportunity. Would this be so if we had more Cape Verdean Adventists willing to learn a language such as English or French with the same intent and dedication they hold for mission? What if both the union and the division got creative and thought ahead in how to ensure multilingual access from the beginning? I am writing this out of concern. Although we are many, we are one body, one church, and one people with only one mission. True unity requires discipline and care, especially in a place as linguistically diverse as West Africa. 

 

One practical solution could be establishing a small team of trilingual Adventist communicators in Cape Verde who could translate essential material from French and English into Portuguese on an occasional basis, particularly for main events. Not only would this give us a stronger presence in our local churches, but it would also result in more personal ownership and commitment to the journey of our union and division.

 

With faith, creativity, and cooperation, we can ensure that what Cape Verde has to offer is not merely present, but fully mobilized in the mission we all share. It is not what we can not do that determines who we are, but what we can do. Our faith demands unity, not uniformity. We must remain engaged in this goal, even when it requires extra effort. Let us keep walking side by side, listening to each other, caring for one another, and sharing a common purpose. In this, we reflect the beauty of the gospel we preach: A message for all people, in every language!"

By Adnizia dos Anjos

May 14, 2025

https://spectrummagazine.org/views/columns/united-by-faith-divided-by-language/

One English-speaking woman says she did not have access to an intepreter during the birth of her first child, which left her hospitalized for a week. She says she does not feel as if staff made sure she understood what was going on.

 

"Marielle M’Bangha, who supports immigrant women, encourages patients to make official complaints to the hospital network if they feel they don’t have adequate access to interpreters. (Marika Wheeler/Radio-Canada)

Social Sharing

An organization that supports pregnant immigrant women in Quebec City says patients do not have enough access to interpreters during births in hospitals. The director of the organization that provides pre-natal accompaniment says she is concerned that women are receiving care without giving full consent.

 

Understanding what is happening during a birth is "the base," says Marielle M'Bangha, the director of the Service de référence en périnatalité pour les femmes immigrantes de Québec.

 

She wants to see staff at Quebec City's university hospital centre, the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, offer interpretation services "systematically" and provide translated versions of consent forms and other documents to patients.

 

"It's absolutely crucial. Consent to care is given. If it's unclear what we are signing or why, there's a problem when it comes to making a free and informed choice," she says.

 

According to the Act respecting health services and social services in Quebec, English speakers have the right to receive services in English. Social and health-care services networks can use a different language when delivering services if it's recognized by Quebec's language watchdog. However, access is conditional on the health institution's available staff, funding and organizational resources.

 

 

In 2024-25, 35% of requests for interpreters at the CHU de Québec were for Spanish speakers whereas 0.86% were for English interpreters. (Alban Normandin/Radio-Canada)

M'Bangha made a complaint to the CHU last year following the experience of an unaccompanied English-speaking mother who did not have access to a hospital-provided interpreter when she underwent an emergency caesarian and a subsequent week-long hospital stay.

 

The president of the regional access committee to health and social services for English speakers in the Quebec City area, Brigitte Wellens, says there is still a lot of work left to do. Wellens says staff are not well informed about the rights of English speakers and users don't insist on being provided with translators.

 

WELCOME TO CANADAWith translation service, Montreal clinic breaks down language barriers

Demand for interpreters doubled

The administrative responsibility to ask for an interpreter at the hospital falls on staff from the CHU de Québec. Since last fall, requests have been made to a provincial bank managed by Santé Québec, rather than a regional bank. In-person, virtual or telephone interpretation services are offered in more than 100 languages.

 

Situations are judged on a "case by case" basis, and "we do what we can to make sure to respond to the needs of users as quickly as possible," explains a spokesperson for the CHU de Québec.

 

In emergency situations or if an interpreter is not immediately available, staff can rely on "alternative methods" such as asking for help from a multilingual colleague, the use of "validated" translation applications, or agreements with private suppliers.

 

According to statistics provided by Santé Quebec, between 2020 and 2025, requests for interpreters doubled from 2,057 to 4,184 and were offered in 55 different languages.

 

 

Giving birth alone without a translator

Mary harbours painful memories around the birth of her first child. The single mother, who has no family in Canada, planned on giving birth accompanied by a doula. CBC is using a pseudonym to protect her identity because she fled her country for security reasons.

 

A routine check-up in May 2024 found the fetus was in distress and she was whisked away for an emergency C-section. Staff handed her French consent forms and warned her not to delay the potentially life-saving intervention when she asked to wait for her doula who could also act as an interpreter.

 

Mary, who speaks English but very little French, says she does not feel as if staff made sure she understood what was going on.

 

"I think they were not caring of anything, they didn't give me time to think twice for anything, maybe even understand what the form was talking about," she says.

 

Once the baby was born, she says she didn't know if he was dead or alive. Despite understanding that she would be able to see him, he was transferred to a specialized neonatal unit in another hospital before she could. Shortly afterward, doctors discovered Mary suffered from a severe health complication and was herself transferred to a third hospital.

 

Physicians were able to speak with her in English, she says, but other staff generally could not. The CHU de Québec did not provide her with an interpreter.

 

I think they were not caring of anything, they didn't give me time to think twice for anything.

- Mary

Helene Lepage, a volunteer with the organization that supports pregnant immigrant women, visited Mary regularly during her stay and acted as an interpreter when she was present.

 

Lepage saw staff make efforts to communicate with Mary in English, but some "provided care without really explaining what they were doing." She remembers feeling "very frustrated" and claims to have asked for the hospital to provide an interpreter and English documentation.

 

As 2 English family doctors retire, Quebec City Anglos worry about future of health care

Nearly a year later, talking about her experience still brings Mary to tears.

 

"Being hospitalized in the hospital where you can't explain what you want, especially in that critical situation, you don't have even the force to speak," she says, adding that making the effort to speak a language you don't know is a "huge barrier."

 

"Instead of treating the patient as if there isn't any other option, they have to do better."

 

Official complaint made

With Mary's approval, M'Bangha made an official complaint to the CHU de Québec. According to M'Bangha, staff from the complaint commissioner's office said during a phone call that mistakes had been made in Mary's care and that an interpreter should have been provided.

 

The CHU de Québec declined to comment, saying it can't speak to specific cases for confidentiality reasons. Mary's experience in May 2024 occurred before the province took over the bank of interpreters.

 

Despite the change, M'Bangha says her organization has not seen more access to interpreters for birthing mothers. "We would know," M'Bangha says, adding her organization accompanied families for more than 300 births last year.

 

"If there are obstacles for English [interpreters], what's the situation for a mother from the Central African Republic, for example?" she says.

 

Quebec publishes new directive, clarifying old one, on use of English in health care

Very little documentation in English

Wellens isn't surprised to hear about Mary's situation, but says it shouldn't have happened.

 

"Someone somewhere should have raised a red flag and said, 'No, we have to make sure that this person understands completely what is going to happen,'" she says.

 

 

Brigitte Wellens, the president of the regional access committee for health and social services in English, says anyone can ask to receive health and social services in English. (Marika Wheeler/Radio-Canada)

According to Wellens, the 36 requests for an English interpreter made in 2024-25 is a testament to the difficulties in accessing care for English speakers, especially given that 17,000 people in the Quebec City region identify themselves as having learned English as a first language, or English-mother-tongue in the last Canadian census.

 

"It tells me people are not completely aware of their rights, it tells me the establishment, clearly, doesn't always make the request for an interpreter when it's in English", she says. Wellens believes government directives on when to provide services in English caused confusion among staff, and some of them opt not to offer it because they don't understand users' rights or fear of getting in trouble.

 

According to Wellens, very few documents such as consent forms, or pre- and post-procedure instructions at the CHU de Québec are translated. She believes poor access to care in languages other than French is a public health concern as patients will "inevitably" require more care if they misunderstand a diagnosis or how to care for themselves at home.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Marika Wheeler

Radio-Canada journalist

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/immigrant-women-better-access-interpreters-1.7534029

#metaglossia_mundus

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By Ellen Smith — May 14, 2025 — Tech
https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/ai-dubbing2
#metaglossia_mundus

"...Les lecteurs du livre « Langues et cultures - Introduction à l'ethnolinguistique et aux oralités africaines », qui a été lancé le lundi 12 mai, auront un aperçu de la relation entre la langue et la culture, a déclaré l'auteur de la nouvelle publication.

 

Dans ce livre de 204 pages, le père Bonifácio Tchimboto présente « la relation entre la langue et la culture d'un peuple donné et comme une méthode d'accès à l'oralité des cultures de l'Afrique subsaharienne, à travers laquelle on peut découvrir les archétypes de la pensée et de la science africaines concernant l'humanité ».

 

Dans sa présentation du livre lors du lancement le 12 mai, le père Tchimboto a décrit la culture comme « l'ensemble du patrimoine spirituel et matériel d'un peuple » et a indiqué que la langue facilite l'expression de ce patrimoine.

 

« La langue ne doit pas être comprise comme un simple moyen de communication, comme le veut la pensée commune », a-t-il averti, ajoutant que la langue a une signification plus large qui inclut « la connaissance d'un peuple, ses croyances, ses craintes, ses espoirs et sa façon de s'engager dans la vie ».

 

Le prêtre catholique angolais a ensuite souligné les deux parties du livre publié par Paulines Publications Africa (PPA). Alors que la première partie se concentre sur l'ethnolinguistique, définie comme le pont entre la langue et la culture, la deuxième partie traite de la littérature et des traditions orales, y compris les contes populaires, les proverbes, les devinettes et les chansons.

 

Le contenu de l'ouvrage, a-t-il déclaré, "est le fruit de plus de 10 à 15 ans d'enseignement des langues. J'ai rassemblé, édité et peaufiné des supports de cours, et cet ouvrage est né de ce processus".

 

Le livre, a expliqué le clergé du diocèse catholique angolais de Benguela, est conçu comme un outil permettant d'accéder aux « identités culturelles profondes ancrées dans la langue - des identités souvent négligées ou diminuées dans l'Afrique postcoloniale ».

 

Le prêtre catholique, qui enseigne les langues bibliques, les langues classiques, l'exégèse et l'ethnolinguistique dans plusieurs institutions, dont l'Istituto Madonna delle Grazie à Bénévent (Italie), le Grand Séminaire du Bon Pasteur à Benguela, l'Institut Jean Piaget et l'Université catholique de Benguela, ainsi que l'Université catholique d'Afrique de l'Est (CUEA) à Nairobi (Kenya), a ensuite abordé ce qu'il appelle les « zones d'ombre » dans le développement de l'Afrique après l'indépendance.

 

"L'une des vérités les plus gênantes est que, si nous avons acquis l'indépendance politique et peut-être une certaine autonomie économique, il reste encore d'autres libertés pour lesquelles nous devons nous battre. Il s'agit notamment de la liberté de nos langues et de nos cultures", a-t-il déclaré.

 

Le père Tchimboto a déploré qu'alors que le portugais est de plus en plus mis en avant dans le système éducatif, les langues nationales africaines restent négligées. « Ce livre sert de ressource pour aider à promouvoir et à préserver nos langues et cultures maternelles », a-t-il déclaré.

 

PLUS EN AFRIQUE

 

Dans un nouvel ouvrage, un prêtre angolais donne son point de vue sur les relations entre la langue et la culture

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Dans son discours lors du lancement du livre le 12 mai, le père Tchimboto a déclaré que le livre reposait sur trois piliers : l'importance de son titre et de ses thèmes, son origine et ses avantages potentiels. Il a expliqué l'origine du livre par la nécessité d'approfondir les perspectives africaines.

 

"Ce livre répond à une demande de longue date. Comme l'a dit un jour Kwame Nkrumah, nous avons obtenu l'indépendance politique, mais le reste viendra plus tard. Malheureusement, ce “plus tard” a duré plus de 50 ans et certaines choses ne sont toujours pas résolues", a-t-il déclaré.

 

Le prêtre catholique s'est inquiété de la persistance des mentalités coloniales dans de nombreux aspects de la vie africaine, notamment en ce qui concerne la langue et la culture. « La libération linguistique et culturelle est une étape essentielle pour parvenir à la pleine émancipation », a-t-il déclaré.

 

Le père Tchimboto a exprimé l'espoir que le livre suscite un regain de fierté pour l'identité africaine. Il a déclaré : « Ce livre est né d'un rêve : contribuer à la décolonisation de l'esprit, renforcer l'indépendance culturelle et philosophique en Afrique ».

 

"Ce que nous espérons, c'est que ce livre contribue à la prise de conscience linguistique et ravive l'amour de ce qui est national, de ce qui est angolais, de ce qui est africain. Bien que le titre parle de langues et de cultures, ne vous y trompez pas : il s'agit de cultures africaines", a déclaré le père Tchimboto.

Par João Vissesse

Luanda, 14 mai, 2025 / 12:30 (ACI Africa).

https://www.aciafrique.org/news/15119/dans-un-nouvel-ouvrage-un-pretre-angolais-donne-son-point-de-vue-sur-les-relations-entre-la-langue-et-la-culture

#metaglossia_mundus 

While Trump’s proposal to impose 100 per cent tariffs on foreign films may prove to be more bluster than policy, it reflects language ideologies that have long constrained the American film industry.

 

"Trump’s tariff threat to foreign films overlooks the value of multilingual cinema

 

Published: May 14, 2025

 

 

 

 

With the 78th Cannes International Film Festival underway this week, there is little doubt that one topic will be central to conversations among filmmakers, sales agents and journalists: United States President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100 per cent tax on foreign-made films.

 

 

 

 

On the opening night, Hollywood icon, Robert De Niro set the tone as he accepted his honorary Palme d'Or award. He used his podium to critique Trump’s actions in the arts, especially Trump’s proposal to tax foreign-made films. He said: “…art is the crucible that brings people together…. Art looks for truth. Art embraces diversity. That’s why art is a threat.” He also added: “you can’t put a price on connectivity.”

 

 

 

 

Amid an ongoing tariff war, Trump’s proposal — which may ultimately remain an empty threat — goes beyond economic protectionism. It is cultural protectionism. It also reflects language ideologies that have long constrained the American film industry and American engagement with multilingual cinema.

 

 

 

 

Experts have offered various theories about the motivations behind this threat, as well as why it may ultimately prove unwise. In the rush to brace for impact, we often forget the values behind these extreme positions aren’t new. More importantly, we must also remember why it’s vital to protect these cultural expressions.

 

 

 

 

As a linguist, I see a clear connection between this proposal and one of the administration’s actions earlier this year, when Trump signed an executive order designating English as the country’s sole official language. This move reflected a deeply rooted monolingual ideology that has long influenced both the U.S. language policy and education systems.

 

 

 

 

Monolingual ideology

 

Such language ideology reflects a belief in the superiority of monolingualism, a view that American linguist Rosina Lippi-Green links to the “myth of Standard American English.”

 

 

 

 

This myth is grounded in the subordination by one dialect, believed to be of higher quality and status, over other languages and dialects. According to Lippi-Green, the enforcement of this ideology follows a systematic process: language is mystified, authority is claimed and a series of negative consequences ensue. Misinformation is generated, targeted languages are trivialized, non-conformers are vilified or marginalized and threats are made.

 

 

 

 

Such authority and threats are recognizable in this most recent threat to make access to foreign films difficult. The issue is not just about the economic dimension of foreign-made films. It is also about the perceived threat posed by the presence and influence of other languages. At its core, this reflects a fear or rejection of linguistic diversity.

 

 

 

 

In the film industry, this monolingual ideology is closely tied to glottophobic attitudes, also referred to by some scholars as linguicism. These terms define the misrepresentation and negative stereotyping of speakers of languages other than English.

 

 

 

 

Hollywood, in particular, has a long history of portraying foreign or heritage languages in stereotypical and often derogatory ways. Consider, for instance, the German-speaking characters in Second World War films, or more recent depictions of Arabic, Mexican Spanish or Russian speakers.

 

 

 

 

These portrayals illustrate a tendency to depict other languages as menacing — a point that was also made in the American president’s claim that foreign films pose a “threat” because they constitute “messaging and propaganda.”

 

 

 

 

Linguistic stereotyping

 

It’s not just characters who speak other languages who have been misrepresented in American films. Those who speak English as a second language — that is with an accent or with a syntax that is marked by their first language — were often played by white actors and subject to similar derogatory stereotypes.

 

 

 

 

Linguists have identified patterns in these linguistic representations, referring to them as Injun English, Mock Spanish or yellow voices, among others.

 

 

 

 

Lippi-Green has famously argued that such linguistic depictions are ways to reinforce standard language ideologies through linguistic stereotyping in media, including popular Disney cartoons. They effectively teach American children how to discriminate.

 

 

 

 

In my work, I examined French-accented English to demonstrate that these representations reflect broader cultural anxieties. Ultimately, this rhetoric reveals more about the U.S. relationship with linguistic diversity than it does about the communities being portrayed.

 

 

 

 

Trump has made reference to “any and all movies coming into our country that are produced in foreign lands.” But it remains unclear how such measures would impact streaming platforms and the diverse range of films they currently offer.

 

 

 

 

Hollywood has come a long way since the heydays of linguicism, gradually embracing a more inclusive and multilingual cinematic landscape. Today, films that present a more diverse linguistic landscape are increasingly common. And audiences are accustomed to having access to a wide selection of international content.

 

 

 

 

The global success of the French series Call My Agent is just one example. Among others are popular French spy thrillers and romances, Swedish thrillers, Japanese anime and Korean dystopian series.

 

 

 

 

The pleasure of watching foreign films

 

For years, foreign language films have been recognized as an invaluable resource for language learning. This fact is supported by language learning apps that increasingly recommend users to view TV programs or movies to support learning. Movies and TV provide access to a variety of dialects as well as authentic forms of language.

 

 

 

 

As a professor of French media and linguistics, I often use films to teach students about French language and culture. But beyond their educational benefits, foreign-language films offer unique esthetic and emotional pleasures.

 

 

 

 

Watching a film is to engage with sound and image. The language itself enhances the immersive experience, contributing to the authenticity of the storytelling. For example, one of my students told me he enjoys turning on closed captions in French. These are also known as SDH: Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing. He does this not just for the dialogue but because they capture the full cinematic experience, including the naming of sounds.

 

 

 

 

Restricting access to these cultural products would trap viewers in an ideological echo chamber, where only one language is heard and validated.

 

 

 

 

Fictional representations play a powerful role in shaping and reinforcing real-world attitudes. Monolingual representations potentially foster linguistic discrimination and intolerance toward any word uttered with an accent or in another language. In short, such restrictions could pave the way for a partial and stunted society."

 

https://theconversation.com/trumps-tariff-threat-to-foreign-films-overlooks-the-value-of-multilingual-cinema-256323

 

#metaglossia_mundus 

Plusieurs organismes de la francophonie canadienne applaudissent le retour d’un ministre des Langues officielles. Un poste qui sera confié à Steven Guilbeault.

 

Ministre des Langues officielles, Steven Guilbeault aura du pain sur la planche

 

 

 

 

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Steven Guilbeault a été nommé ministre de l’Identité et de la Culture canadiennes et ministre responsable des Langues officielles.

 

PHOTO : LA PRESSE CANADIENNE / CHRISTINNE MUSCHI

 

Benjamin Vachet (Consulter le profil)

Benjamin Vachet

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Au lendemain du dévoilement du cabinet des ministres, mardi, plusieurs organismes de la francophonie canadienne applaudissent le retour d’un ministre des Langues officielles. Mais Steven Guilbeault aura aussi plusieurs autres dossiers importants à gérer.

 

M. Guilbeault fait partie des ministres qui ont conservé leur ministère, mardi. Il a été nommé ministre de l’Identité et de la Culture canadiennes et ministre responsable des Langues officielles. Mais ce n'est pas tout.

 

Même si ce n’est pas dans mon titre, j’ai gardé du ministère de l’Environnement toutes les responsabilités liées au dossier de la nature et de la biodiversité [...] je suis le ministre responsable de Parcs Canada. Je dis souvent que j’ai le meilleur des deux mondes, parce que j’ai adoré mon passage au Patrimoine de 2019 à 2021 [...] et je garde ainsi un pied dans l’environnement qui est la passion de ma vie professionnelle et personnelle, a réagi Steven Guilbeault en entrevue à l'émission Les matins d'ici, mercredi.

 

Steven Guilbeault : « Je me sens très gâté par le PM »

ÉMISSION ICI PREMIÈRELes matins d'ici

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Il reconnaît toutefois que cela représente beaucoup de dossiers, d'autant que parmi ses priorités, il y aura la gestion du financement de CBC/Radio-Canada. En campagne électorale, le Parti libéral s'est engagé à augmenter le budget du diffuseur public de 150 millions de dollars dès la première année, mais aussi à terme, de rattraper le retard pour amener le financement du diffuseur public par habitant au niveau de la moyenne des pays du G7.

 

AILLEURS SUR INFO : Action collective : « Une menace existentielle pour la Fonderie », plaide Glencore

 

Et puis, on veut légiférer pour que le budget du diffuseur public ne soit plus décidé par le cabinet - donc le gouvernement - mais par le Parlement. Ça demande des changements législatifs, ajoute M. Guilbeault.

 

Il y a beaucoup de pain sur la planche, mais il n’y a rien de tout ça que je vais faire seul.

 

Une citation deSteven Guilbeault, ministre de l’Identité et de la Culture canadiennes et ministre responsable des Langues officielles

 

Pour parvenir à remplir son mandat, M. Guilbeault rappelle toutefois qu'il ne sera pas seul.

 

PUBLICITÉ

 

 

 

C’est vrai que je fais maintenant ce que quatre personnes faisaient auparavant. Donc oui, il y a beaucoup de travail, mais il y a deux secrétaires d’État qui ont été nommés pour m’assister : Adam van Koeverden qui va s’occuper des sports et Nathalie Provost qui va travailler sur tout le volet nature pour m’aider à me dégager un peu. On va travailler tous les trois sur ces dossiers-là. Il est possible également - on le saura au cours des deux prochaines semaines - qu’il y ait des secrétaires parlementaires qui viennent nous épauler également.

 

Pour lui, regrouper tous ces dossiers au sein d'un même ministère est logique.

 

Notre identité, ce sont les langues officielles, les cultures autochtones, mais c’est aussi notre attachement au territoire.

 

Le retour d'un ministre des Langues officielles salué

 

Du côté des organismes de la francophonie canadienne, c'est toutefois la satisfaction : celle d'avoir de nouveau un ministre qui aura, dans son titre, la responsabilité des langues officielles.

 

Le rétablissement du titre de ministre des Langues officielles montre que le premier ministre Carney comprend l’importance de la dualité linguistique canadienne comme élément majeur de l’identité et de la souveraineté nationale de notre pays, a réagi la Fédération des communautés francophones et acadienne du Canada (FCFA), par voie de communiqué.

 

Durant la campagne électorale, la FCFA a mis beaucoup d’accent sur l’importance pour le Canada de miser sur le français et la francophonie pour tirer son épingle du jeu dans le conflit tarifaire actuel. Pouvoir faire affaire dans deux langues parlées sur cinq continents, c’est un avantage énorme pour diversifier nos marchés et nos alliances. Avec le rétablissement du portefeuille des Langues officielles, on a l’impression d’avoir été entendus, a déclaré la présidente de l’organisme porte-parole des francophones en contexte minoritaire, Liane Roy.

 

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L’organisme juge que le titre de ministre des Langues officielles est d’autant plus important que les règles d’application de la nouvelle Loi sur les langues officielles, adoptée il y a deux ans à peine, ne sont toujours pas définies, ce qui nuit à sa mise en œuvre.

 

PUBLICITÉ

 

 

 

L’Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) attend du nouveau cabinet des gestes concrets pour renforcer nos communautés en assurant l’accès aux services en français, soutenir le postsecondaire par et pour les francophones, et reconnaître pleinement la contribution de la francophonie ontarienne au dynamisme économique et social du Canada a lancé le président de l’organisme, Fabien Hébert.

 

De son côté, l’organisme Canadian Parents for French s’est réjoui de l’ajout des langues officielles au mandat du ministre Steven Guilbeault, invitant toutefois le gouvernement à combler les lacunes dans sa plateforme sur les langues officielles.

 

Bien que les engagements des libéraux prévoient un soutien essentiel pour les communautés linguistiques en situation minoritaire, ils manquent de mesures concrètes pour mobiliser la majorité linguistique et favoriser le bilinguisme à l’échelle nationale.

 

Une promesse électorale

 

En mars dernier, plusieurs organismes s’étaient inquiétés de l’absence d’un ministre des Langues officielles.

 

Si on ne le nomme pas, c’est que ce n’est pas important, commentait notamment le président de la Société nationale de l’Acadie (SNA), Martin Théberge.

 

Dans les faits, la responsabilité incombait déjà à Steven Guilbeault, ministre de la Culture et de l'Identité canadiennes. Mais pour la FCFA, la disparition du portefeuille des Langues officielles diluait énormément l’importance du dossier à un moment où on doit mettre l’accent sur tout ce qui fait la souveraineté nationale du Canada.

 

Ça lance le message qu’en termes d’identité canadienne, les langues officielles, ça n’existe pas, déclarait Mme Roy.

 

Cette situation rappelait celle survenue en 2015, quand Justin Trudeau, nouvellement élu, n’avait pas non plus fait figurer les langues officielles au nom d'aucun des portefeuilles attribués.

 

En campagne, lors du débat sur les enjeux francophones, le candidat libéral dans Gatineau, Steven MacKinnon, avait assuré que l'intitulé serait de retour dans le titre d’un ministre en cas de victoire aux élections.

 

Outre M. Guilbeault, les organismes de la francophonie canadienne comptent aussi sur plusieurs autres ministres pour faire valoir le dossier autour de la table. Composé de 28 ministres, dont 15 nouveaux visages, le nouveau cabinet des ministres compte 15 députés qui indiquent parler le français et l’anglais sur leur profil publié sur le site du parlement du Canada et 13 qui disent ne parler que l’anglais.

 

Benjamin Vachet (Consulter le profil)

https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/2164997/steven-guilbeault-langues-officielles-canada

#metaglossia_mundus 

"From Language to Language: The Hospitality of Translation

Review by Rebecca M. Alvin

Translation of books and texts from around the world into English, as well as from English to other languages has been an incredibly important aspect of dissemination of literary, scientific, political, and historical ideas for centuries, but the act of translation itself is a topic less often discussed, often seemingly an invisible, background endeavor. In his new book, From Language to Language: The Hospitality of Translation, philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne digs deeper into the process of translation to give us a multifaceted perspective on the relationship between translation and colonialism, first of all, but also what happens after decolonization. He extends his discussion beyond just linguistic translation to include objects, such as artistic works taken from countries of the Global South for museums in Europe and the United States. What happens when cultures lose these important elements of their history, but also what happens when they are repatriated to their original nations after decades of being housed in European museums, for example. There is again a need for translation back to the original culture, which has moved on and evolved since the object was originally removed. In this sense, both literature and artifacts are migrants that become a part of their new geographic location’s culture as well as maintaining their own heritage, belonging to neither world.

 

Diagne, who up until very recently was a professor of philosophy and French as well as director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University, has written several books..., especially focusing on Islamic and African philosophy. This short book, at just 100 pages, can go deep into academic territory, but is surprisingly accessible to those with only a cursory interest in philosophy and linguistics. Written by Diagne in French originally, it is itself a translation (by Dylan Temel), and therefore acts as evidence of its own subject.

 

His approach is a humanist one that both recognizes the challenges of historically eurocentric views in his field and sees how translation can be a tool of greater humanist evolution. In his introduction he writes: “Two main theses underly the arguments presented in [this book]. The first is that all human languages are of equal value. The second is that nothing manifests this equivalence better than translation. And I could add a conclusion drawn from these theses, which is ultimately the message of this book: that translation is a humanism.”

From Language to Language is a fascinating overview of Diagne’s philosophy of translation and a great instigator for further thought on this subject.

From Language to Language: The Hospitality of Translation by Souleymane Bachir Diagne (2025, Other Press) is available online..."

https://provincetownmagazine.com/2025/05/14/from-language-to-language-the-hospitality-of-translation/

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Traduire, est-ce seulement transposer des mots d'une langue à une autre, ou s'agit-il avant tout de saisir le sens profond d'un énoncé pour le restituer avec justesse dans la langue cible ? Entre fidélité au texte source, données extra-énonciatives, contraintes morphosyntaxiques et exigences sémantiques, le traducteur se trouve face à un défi constant : celui de concilier le dit et le vouloir-dire.

Dans cet ouvrage complet et jonché d'exemples, Thomas d'Aquin Tabi Nkoumavok explore l'approche sémantico-morphosyntaxique de la traduction, mettant en lumière l'impact retentissant du contexte et de la situation, des implicites et des structures linguistiques sur l'acte traductif. Il propose une réflexion approfondie sur la théorie inférentielle de la traduction, les spécificités du langage juridique, la notion d'équivalence et sa typologie, l'importance de la transposition et de la modulation, ainsi que sur le rôle fondamental de la révision dans la qualité finale du texte traduit. Destiné aux étudiants, aux traducteurs professionnels et aux chercheurs en sémantique, en linguistique contrastive et en traductologie, le présent ouvrage offre une approche didactico-pédagogique rigoureuse pour appréhender la traduction non plus comme une simple conversion linguistique, mais comme un processus d'interprétation et de réécriture ancré dans la sémantique et les réalités extralinguistiques."

 

https://www.fnac.com/a21526421/Thomas-D-Aquin-Tabi-Nkoumavok-De-la-semantique-a-la-traduction

#metaglossia_mundus