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Charles Tiayon
November 19, 11:32 PM
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One grant will facilitate the adoption of underrepresented languages in new technologies; the other will train students in research methods related to conducting field work in those languages. "The two-year BCS grant provides $268,000 in funding to create automatic speech recognition systems that can transcribe oral data from Mauritian Creole, spoken predominantly in communities on the island off the west African coast and Guadeloupean and Martiniquan Creole, two languages spoken on islands in the Caribbean. These tools would replace the time-consuming task of manual transcription, which is largely responsible for their omission from many current devices. “I call these ‘critical languages’ because we’re talking about data and resources that are absent from what’s being used and developed in all kinds of AI technologies. We have data on European languages, but not for these underrepresented languages. Developing widely accessible tools like speech recognition requires training data from the target language,” says Henri, an expert in contemporary creole linguistics. “For a vast number of the world’s languages, this essential data simply doesn’t exist.” The OISE grant, a $686,700 project, is an expanded version of a two-year grant Henri previously received. Like its predecessor, the current five-year project is designed specifically for students to gain international research experience. The earlier grant had students working in Guadeloupe, but the current grant will involve five different countries (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Mauritius, and Seychelles) and will train both undergraduate and graduate students from across the U.S. The students will learn how to conduct linguistic fieldwork and will receive instruction on how best to write for publication and conference presentations. Each year, six U.S. students will conduct research in one of the five countries. Beginning in the summer of 2026, Henri will accompany students to Mauritius, where they’ll spend five weeks with an international team of mentors immersed in the local language. Each student will have an individualized research topic and will be trained in traditional documentary methods and modern computational approaches to create appropriate protocols to collect data related to that topic from native speakers. As part of the experience, students will participate in the UB Creolist Workshop. Developed by Henri when she arrived at UB in 2020, the workshop brings together scholars from across the U.S. with students to discuss new research in creole linguistics. “Projects like this provide valuable data while at the same time provide students with experience that can encourage them to continue working with these important underrepresented languages,” says Henri. “My first experience was super successful recruiting students from around the U.S. who later applied to UB.” It is all work for Henri that is driven by a personal passion. She’s one of those speakers — her native language is Mauritian creole. “These languages have been and still remain the object of prejudice. People don’t think of them as legitimate languages, a sentiment sometimes expressed by native speakers,” she says. “My goal has always been to demonstrate that these are complete and complex languages, worthy of serious study. Ultimately, they offer a unique window into human cognition. “These projects can help change the negative perception and raise awareness to the importance of creole languages.” Media Contact Information
Bert Gambini
News Content Manager
Humanities, Economics, Social Sciences, Social Work, Libraries
Tel: 716-645-5334
gambini@buffalo.edu"
https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2025/11/henri-inclusive-language.html
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
Researchers across Africa, Asia and the Middle East are building their own language models designed for local tongues, cultural nuance and digital independence
"In a high-stakes artificial intelligence race between the United States and China, an equally transformative movement is taking shape elsewhere. From Cape Town to Bangalore, from Cairo to Riyadh, researchers, engineers and public institutions are building homegrown AI systems, models that speak not just in local languages, but with regional insight and cultural depth.
The dominant narrative in AI, particularly since the early 2020s, has focused on a handful of US-based companies like OpenAI with GPT, Google with Gemini, Meta’s LLaMa, Anthropic’s Claude. They vie to build ever larger and more capable models. Earlier in 2025, China’s DeepSeek, a Hangzhou-based startup, added a new twist by releasing large language models (LLMs) that rival their American counterparts, with a smaller computational demand. But increasingly, researchers across the Global South are challenging the notion that technological leadership in AI is the exclusive domain of these two superpowers.
Instead, scientists and institutions in countries like India, South Africa, Egypt and Saudi Arabia are rethinking the very premise of generative AI. Their focus is not on scaling up, but on scaling right, building models that work for local users, in their languages, and within their social and economic realities.
“How do we make sure that the entire planet benefits from AI?” asks Benjamin Rosman, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and a lead developer of InkubaLM, a generative model trained on five African languages. “I want more and more voices to be in the conversation”.
Beyond English, beyond Silicon Valley
Large language models work by training on massive troves of online text. While the latest versions of GPT, Gemini or LLaMa boast multilingual capabilities, the overwhelming presence of English-language material and Western cultural contexts in these datasets skews their outputs. For speakers of Hindi, Arabic, Swahili, Xhosa and countless other languages, that means AI systems may not only stumble over grammar and syntax, they can also miss the point entirely.
“In Indian languages, large models trained on English data just don’t perform well,” says Janki Nawale, a linguist at AI4Bharat, a lab at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. “There are cultural nuances, dialectal variations, and even non-standard scripts that make translation and understanding difficult.” Nawale’s team builds supervised datasets and evaluation benchmarks for what specialists call “low resource” languages, those that lack robust digital corpora for machine learning.
It’s not just a question of grammar or vocabulary. “The meaning often lies in the implication,” says Vukosi Marivate, a professor of computer science at the University of Pretoria, in South Africa. “In isiXhosa, the words are one thing but what’s being implied is what really matters.” Marivate co-leads Masakhane NLP, a pan-African collective of AI researchers that recently developed AFROBENCH, a rigorous benchmark for evaluating how well large language models perform on 64 African languages across 15 tasks. The results, published in a preprint in March, revealed major gaps in performance between English and nearly all African languages, especially with open-source models.
Similar concerns arise in the Arabic-speaking world. “If English dominates the training process, the answers will be filtered through a Western lens rather than an Arab one,” says Mekki Habib, a robotics professor at the American University in Cairo. A 2024 preprint from the Tunisian AI firm Clusterlab finds that many multilingual models fail to capture Arabic’s syntactic complexity or cultural frames of reference, particularly in dialect-rich contexts.
Governments step in
For many countries in the Global South, the stakes are geopolitical as well as linguistic. Dependence on Western or Chinese AI infrastructure could mean diminished sovereignty over information, technology, and even national narratives. In response, governments are pouring resources into creating their own models.
Saudi Arabia’s national AI authority, SDAIA, has built ‘ALLaM,’ an Arabic-first model based on Meta’s LLaMa-2, enriched with more than 540 billion Arabic tokens. The United Arab Emirates has backed several initiatives, including ‘Jais,’ an open-source Arabic-English model built by MBZUAI in collaboration with US chipmaker Cerebras Systems and the Abu Dhabi firm Inception. Another UAE-backed project, Noor, focuses on educational and Islamic applications.
In Qatar, researchers at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and the Qatar Computing Research Institute, have developed the Fanar platform and its LLMs Fanar Star and Fanar Prime. Trained on a trillion tokens of Arabic, English, and code, Fanar’s tokenization approach is specifically engineered to reflect Arabic’s rich morphology and syntax.
India has emerged as a major hub for AI localization. In 2024, the government launched BharatGen, a public-private initiative funded with 235 crore (€26 million) initiative aimed at building foundation models attuned to India’s vast linguistic and cultural diversity. The project is led by the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and also involves its sister organizations in Hyderabad, Mandi, Kanpur, Indore, and Madras. The programme’s first product, e-vikrAI, can generate product descriptions and pricing suggestions from images in various Indic languages. Startups like Ola-backed Krutrim and CoRover’s BharatGPT have jumped in, while Google’s Indian lab unveiled MuRIL, a language model trained exclusively on Indian languages. The Indian governments’ AI Mission has received more than180 proposals from local researchers and startups to build national-scale AI infrastructure and large language models, and the Bengaluru-based company, AI Sarvam, has been selected to build India’s first ‘sovereign’ LLM, expected to be fluent in various Indian languages.
In Africa, much of the energy comes from the ground up. Masakhane NLP and Deep Learning Indaba, a pan-African academic movement, have created a decentralized research culture across the continent. One notable offshoot, Johannesburg-based Lelapa AI, launched InkubaLM in September 2024. It’s a ‘small language model’ (SLM) focused on five African languages with broad reach: Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, isiZulu and isiXhosa.
“With only 0.4 billion parameters, it performs comparably to much larger models,” says Rosman. The model’s compact size and efficiency are designed to meet Africa’s infrastructure constraints while serving real-world applications. Another African model is UlizaLlama, a 7-billion parameter model developed by the Kenyan foundation Jacaranda Health, to support new and expectant mothers with AI-driven support in Swahili, Hausa, Yoruba, Xhosa, and Zulu.
India’s research scene is similarly vibrant. The AI4Bharat laboratory at IIT Madras has just released IndicTrans2, that supports translation across all 22 scheduled Indian languages. Sarvam AI, another startup, released its first LLM last year to support 10 major Indian languages. And KissanAI, co-founded by Pratik Desai, develops generative AI tools to deliver agricultural advice to farmers in their native languages.
The data dilemma
Yet building LLMs for underrepresented languages poses enormous challenges. Chief among them is data scarcity. “Even Hindi datasets are tiny compared to English,” says Tapas Kumar Mishra, a professor at the National Institute of Technology, Rourkela in eastern India. “So, training models from scratch is unlikely to match English-based models in performance.”
Rosman agrees. “The big-data paradigm doesn’t work for African languages. We simply don’t have the volume.” His team is pioneering alternative approaches like the Esethu Framework, a protocol for ethically collecting speech datasets from native speakers and redistributing revenue back to further development of AI tools for under-resourced languages. The project’s pilot used read speech from isiXhosa speakers, complete with metadata, to build voice-based applications.
In Arab nations, similar work is underway. Clusterlab’s 101 Billion Arabic Words Dataset is the largest of its kind, meticulously extracted and cleaned from the web to support Arabic-first model training.
The cost of staying local
But for all the innovation, practical obstacles remain. “The return on investment is low,” says KissanAI’s Desai. “The market for regional language models is big, but those with purchasing power still work in English.” And while Western tech companies attract the best minds globally, including many Indian and African scientists, researchers at home often face limited funding, patchy computing infrastructure, and unclear legal frameworks around data and privacy.
“There’s still a lack of sustainable funding, a shortage of specialists, and insufficient integration with educational or public systems,” warns Habib, the Cairo-based professor. “All of this has to change.”
A different vision for AI
Despite the hurdles, what’s emerging is a distinct vision for AI in the Global South – one that favours practical impact over prestige, and community ownership over corporate secrecy.
“There’s more emphasis here on solving real problems for real people,” says Nawale of AI4Bharat. Rather than chasing benchmark scores, researchers are aiming for relevance: tools for farmers, students, and small business owners.
And openness matters. “Some companies claim to be open-source, but they only release the model weights, not the data,” Marivate says. “With InkubaLM, we release both. We want others to build on what we’ve done, to do it better.”
In a global contest often measured in teraflops and tokens, these efforts may seem modest. But for the billions who speak the world’s less-resourced languages, they represent a future in which AI doesn’t just speak to them, but with them."
Sibusiso Biyela, Amr Rageh and Shakoor Rather
20 May 2025
https://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2025.65
#metaglossia_mundus
"Workshop for Legal Language Professionals – De la traduction des lois à la corédaction, l'avènement d'une jurilinguistique canadienne
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 12:00to13:30
Online
Language of Delivery: French
In this series of workshops, the Graduate Diploma in Legal Translation at McGill University invites you to discover different dimensions of professions at the crossroad of law and languages. We offer both introductory workshops to key professions, such as legal translation and court interpreting, as well as workshops on highly specialized issues that will better meet the needs of experienced jurilinguists.
Legal translation stands apart from all other forms of translation in one key respect: it is governed by the binding force of the law itself. In translating legal texts such as acts, regulations, judgments and contracts, translators must also contend with the specific challenges inherent to these documents. The first of these challenges arises from the law and legal system itself. Between English and French, and vice versa, we enter the realm of comparative law, in which two very different systems coexist. By nature, the legal translator is a comparatist, obliged to render the law faithfully within the framework of its own rules. The second challenge lies in the readability and clarity of the target text. And the third and final challenge resides in the form of the target text, which varies between systems depending on the culture in question. This is especially true of the common law–civil law pair, with each system expressing, sui generis, its culture and its rules through writing. This mode of expression—whether verbose or concise—immediately signals to readers the distinctive nature of each legal culture. These observations apply to the three main types of legal texts—acts, judgments, and contracts—each of which has its own distinctive features. Our analysis focuses primarily on the act, the “window on the law,” and on the translation process leading to the emergence of a Canadian legal language, as revealed through the co-drafting of legislation.
This initiative is supported by Justice Canada's Access to Justice in Both Official Languages Support Fund.
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Workshop for Legal Language Professionals
Last updated: Tue, 11/25/2025 - 20:18
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Atelier pour jurilangagiers – De la traduction des lois à la corédaction, l'avènement d'une jurilinguistique canadienne
Mardi, 13 janvier, 2026 12:00à13:30
En ligne
Langue: Français
Dans le cadre de cette série d’ateliers, le programme d’études supérieures en traduction juridique de l’Université McGill vous invite à découvrir différentes facettes des métiers spécialisés dans le domaine du langage du droit. On propose à la fois des ateliers d’introduction aux professions phares, comme la traduction juridique et l’interprétation judiciaire, ainsi que des ateliers sur des questions très pointues qui répondront davantage aux besoins des jurilangagier.ère.s d’expérience.
La traduction juridique se distingue de tous les domaines où s’exerce la traduction par un trait qui lui est propre : le droit est porteur de règles contraignantes. Aussi traduire des textes juridiques tels que lois, règlements, jugements et contrats expose les traducteurs aux difficultés singulières de ces textes. La première d’entre elles est posée par le droit lui-même et son système. C’est ainsi que, de l’anglais au français -- et réciproquement --, on entre dans le droit comparé, deux systèmes très différents étant en présence. Le traducteur juridique est, par essence, comparatiste et tenu de rendre le droit dans le respect de ses règles. La deuxième difficulté réside dans la lisibilité du texte d’arrivée, sa clarté. La forme, enfin, du texte d’arrivée, qui diffère d’un système à l’autre selon la culture en jeu. Tel est le cas du couple common law – droit civil, chaque système exprimant dans l’écrit sa culture et ses règles de façon sui generis. Cette expression, prolixe ou concise, révèle immédiatement aux yeux des lecteurs le caractère de chaque culture juridique. Ces constats s’appliquent aux trois principaux types de texte juridique que sont la loi, le jugement et le contrat, chacun d’eux présentant ses propres particularités. Notre analyse porte essentiellement sur la Loi, « vitrine du droit », et le parcours de la traduction conduisant à l’avènement d’une jurilinguistique canadienne révélée par la corédaction des lois.
Cette initiative est soutenue par le Fonds d’appui à l’accès à la justice dans les deux langues officielles de Justice Canada.
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École d’éducation permanente
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Atelier pour jurilangagiers
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Dernière mise à jour : mar, 11/25/2025 - 20:17
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https://www.mcgill.ca/continuingstudies/channels/event/workshop-legal-language-professionals-de-la-traduction-des-lois-la-coredaction-lavenement-dune-369317
"Macquarie Dictionary, considered the standard reference on Australian English, has announced that 'AI slop' has been chosen by its committee and voted by the public as the Word of the Year for 2025.
From “Shrimp-Jesus” to Mark Zuckerberg wood carvings and even Donald Trump’s crass content spewing, “AI slop” has permeated every corner of the internet in 2025, and we’re more zombified as a result.
The term has been named Macquarie Dictionary’s Word of the Year for 2025, and it is defined as “low-quality content created by generative AI, often containing errors, and not requested by the user”.
Generic, soulless and mind-numbingly ubiquitous, “AI slop” is ‘advanced’ internet spam and seems to be the perfect choice for 2025’s Word of the Year – as evidenced by it winning the people’s choice vote on top of the decision made by the committee of word experts.
“We understand now in 2025 what we mean by slop – AI generated slop, which lacks meaningful content or use,” the committee said in a statement announcing its decision.
“While in recent years we’ve learnt to become search engineers to find meaningful information, we now need to become prompt engineers in order to wade through the AI slop. Slop in this sense will be a robust addition to English for years to come.”
The committee added: “The question is, are the people ingesting and regurgitating this content soon to be called AI sloppers?”
“AI slop” is also an appropriate pick considering it reflects widespread anxieties about the flood of meaningless, low-quality AI-generated content and how we evaluate information online.
Macquarie’s choice joins other 2025 Words of the Year which collectively reflect wider concerns regarding the reach of AI, the way it regurgitates copyrighted material and threatens cognitive capacities, as well as the potentially damaging influence of social media.
Dictionary.com chose the viral TikTok slang “6-7” (read our explainer on the meaningless phenomenon here); Collins Dictionary crowned “vibe coding” (“making an app or website by describing it to (AI) rather than by writing programming code manually”); and last week, Cambridge Dictionary elected “parasocial” as its Word of the Year, highlighting the hollow, one-sided and “unhealthy” connections people feel between themselves and a celebrity, fictional character or an AI chatbot."
https://www.euronews.com/culture/2025/11/26/ai-slop-macquarie-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-is-a-sad-reflection-of-modern-anxieties
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
Alors que la recherche plaide depuis des décennies pour l’usage des langues nationales à l’école, leur intégration demeure inégale sur le continent. Dans la majorité des pays francophones, lusophones, hispanophones et même anglophones, l’école continue de reposer presque exclusivement sur les langues héritées de la colonisation.
"...L'UNESCO préconise au moins six années d'enseignement dans la langue maternelle pour améliorer durablement les apprentissages. Pourtant, malgré des décennies de recherches, de comparaisons internationales et de projets pilotes sur le bi-plurilinguisme, les progrès restent faibles en Afrique subsaharienne.
Dans la majorité des pays francophones, lusophones et même anglophones, l'école continue de reposer presque exclusivement sur les langues héritées de la colonisation. Ce choix se maintient alors même qu'il coexiste avec des échecs massifs : surpopulation des classes, faibles niveaux de lecture, décrochage, programmes inadéquats, enseignants peu formés au multilinguisme, pénurie de matériel didactique et de financements.
Dans plusieurs zones rurales, les langues maternelles demeurent le seul moyen de communication quotidien. Les enfants qui ne maîtrisent ni le français ni l'anglais entrent à l'école en situation de handicap linguistique, ce qui favorise l'échec et le décrochage.
Une réalité que l'Unesco souligne également : en Afrique subsaharienne, un enfant sur cinq n'a pas accès à l'école, et seuls 20 % des enfants scolarisés atteignent un niveau satisfaisant de lecture en fin de primaire.
Face à ces défis, l'organisation encourage les États à renforcer la production de matériels pédagogiques multilingues et à s'appuyer davantage sur la langue maternelle pour améliorer les apprentissages de base."
https://www.bbc.com/afrique/articles/c4gjnv024xeo
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Le traducteur – ambassadeur silencieux de sa propre culture
« La traduction de la littérature albanaise et l'accès des lecteurs étrangers aux œuvres albanaises » était le thème de la table ronde organisée mercredi au petit amphithéâtre du KCB, dans le cadre de la « Semaine des bibliothèques du Kosovo ».
Par: Sinan Berisha
9 octobre 2025 08:00
En tant que traducteurs, Nerimane Kamberi, Sébastien Gricourt et Robert Wilton ont partagé mercredi, lors de la table ronde organisée dans le cadre de la « Semaine des bibliothèques du Kosovo », leurs expériences avec cet art particulier, à la frontière des langues et des mondes. Ils ont essentiellement parlé de la traduction des lettres albanaises, la considérant comme un acte d'amour, d'amour pour le mot, pour la culture et pour la possibilité d'être compris par autrui. Mais, selon eux, la traduction est aussi un acte de responsabilité : chaque traducteur devient l'ambassadeur silencieux de sa propre culture, une voix qui s'efforce de préserver l'esprit de l'original.
Ce que signifie traduire la littérature albanaise, les bénéfices pour une œuvre, une culture et un lecteur lorsqu'un texte passe d'une langue à l'autre, tels étaient les thèmes abordés lors de la table ronde des traducteurs organisée dans le cadre de la 22e édition de la « Semaine des bibliothèques du Kosovo » à la Bibliothèque nationale du Kosovo. Cette table ronde, intitulée « Traduction de la littérature albanaise et approche des œuvres albanaises par les lecteurs étrangers », s'est tenue mercredi dans le petit amphithéâtre de la BKK. Elle a suscité des échanges sereins, mais chargés de sens profonds dans l'art de la traduction, ainsi que de la sensibilité culturelle, de l'interprétation et de la créativité que transmet le traducteur.
Trois traducteurs : Nerimane Kamberi, Sébastien Gricourt et Robert Wilton sont assis sur le même panel pour partager leurs expériences avec cet art particulier qui se situe à la frontière entre les langues et les mondes.
Animée par Saranda Krasniqi, la discussion a essentiellement sur la traduction des lettres albanaises, qu'elle considère comme un acte d'amour, d'amour pour la parole, pour la culture et pour la possibilité d'être comprise par autrui. Mais, selon eux, la traduction est aussi un acte de responsabilité : chaque traducteur devient un ambassadeur silencieux de sa propre culture, une voix qui s'efforce de préserver l'esprit de l'original.
À l'heure où les frontières culturelles se déplacent sans cesse, la traduction sert de pont entre les mondes et permet à la littérature albanaise de s'exprimer librement dans d'autres langues. Il ne s'agit pas seulement d'un processus linguistique, mais d'une forme de diplomatie douce, une façon de faire connaître, de rendre compréhensible et sensible la beauté d'une petite culture dans un vaste monde.
Pour la poète et traductrice Nerimane Kamberi, la traduction est bien plus qu'un simple procédé technique de transmission des mots. Pour elle, le traducteur est un médiateur entre deux mondes qui, par les mots, se rapprochent et se connaissent. Elle a insisté sur la nécessité pour les institutions de laisser plus d'espace aux traducteurs, car de nombreuses œuvres traduites avec passion restent inédites.
La traduction est un véritable pont entre les cultures et facilite la lecture. Elle est essentielle, car elle transmet la beauté du mot, les difficultés et les phénomènes d'une langue. C'est ce pont qui permet à ces œuvres de faire le tour du monde. Il faut faire davantage, une forme de diplomatie culturelle : nos gouvernements, des deux côtés de la frontière, doivent s'engager davantage pour soutenir non seulement la traduction de ces œuvres, mais aussi leur publication. Car, bien sûr, les traducteurs naissent d'un amour et d'une passion pour une œuvre ; ce sont souvent eux qui découvrent une œuvre ou un écrivain. Sans le soutien des institutions, l'œuvre reste dans les rayons et ne peut être appréciée par les lecteurs étrangers », a-t-elle déclaré.
Dans un contexte plus large, elle a également évoqué de nouvelles façons de promouvoir la littérature albanaise, notamment au sein de la diaspora. Selon elle, les réseaux sociaux créent un nouvel espace où la littérature ancienne et contemporaine peut renaître.
« Il est bénéfique pour les lecteurs de la diaspora de lire de la littérature albanaise dans leur langue maternelle afin de maintenir le lien avec leur pays d'origine. La promotion via les réseaux sociaux est possible. Nous avons constaté que TikTok fait revivre des auteurs classiques : lire un roman classique et le publier sur TikTok, qui devient viral, permet de retrouver une œuvre. Les réseaux sociaux, en particulier pour les jeunes, jouent un rôle essentiel dans la diffusion de la littérature, même au sein de la diaspora. Je crois et j'espère que, même si leurs familles parlent encore albanais, ils lisent dans la langue de leur enfance et de leur éducation. C'est très bénéfique pour eux de connaître un auteur et, grâce aux traductions, de découvrir l'histoire de notre pays », a déclaré Kamberi.
Traduire la poésie albanaise est considéré comme l'un des plus grands défis des traducteurs. Selon eux, contrairement à la prose, la poésie exige de préserver le rythme, le son, l'imagerie et les émotions, souvent étroitement liés à la langue d'origine. Ils s'accordent à dire qu'une belle métaphore en albanais peut perdre sa « lumière » dans une autre langue si le traducteur ne trouve pas un nouveau moyen de la rendre plus « lumineuse ».
Le traducteur et éditeur français Sébastien Gricourt, qui traduit la littérature albanaise depuis des décennies, la considère comme une forme particulière de communication culturelle. Il affirme ne pas choisir une œuvre pour son contenu littéraire, mais pour ce qu'elle révèle de l'époque et de la réalité albanaises.
Je pense que nous sommes à un moment où il est crucial de donner une variété créative aux lettres albanaises. Il y a donc certaines idées que je souhaite, par exemple, transmettre en français. Lorsque je choisis une œuvre, je ne la choisis pas nécessairement pour son contenu littéraire, mais pour ce qu'elle raconte de notre époque dans le monde albanais. L'essentiel est que le monde occidental comprenne le monde albanais.
« C’est un grand défi de faire cela », a-t-il déclaré.
D'après son expérience, le chemin de la traduction n'est pas aisé. Au début des années 90, lorsqu'il a commencé à traduire de l'albanais, ses traductions sont restées inédites pendant des années.
« Au début, lorsque j'ai commencé à traduire en Albanie dans les années 90, je l'ai fait parce que j'étais étudiant en albanais. J'ai traduit moi-même trois romans et je ne les ai jamais soumis. Bien plus tard, j'ai commencé à présenter mes traductions aux maisons d'édition, mais j'ai rencontré de nombreuses difficultés. Il m'a fallu beaucoup de temps pour surmonter ce genre d'obstacles, car je doutais de mes capacités, c'est une question de confiance en moi, mais j'ai persévéré jusqu'à ce que je réalise que toutes les maisons d'édition ont une politique », se souvient Gricourt.
Robert Wilton, traducteur et écrivain britannique, a vécu l'albanais de l'intérieur, une langue porteuse d'un riche univers émotionnel et esthétique. Il a évoqué ses efforts pour préserver le sentiment, et pas seulement le sens. Il a notamment mentionné que traduire des auteurs comme Visar Zhiti et Ag Apolloni représente un défi en soi, car l'univers psychologique et linguistique de ces auteurs est très complexe et requiert une intuition particulière pour le transposer dans une autre langue.
Bien que le vocabulaire anglais soit plus riche que celui de l'albanais, il y a des éléments d'élégance en albanais que je ne parviens pas à traduire en anglais. Zhiti, par exemple : son roman dépeint un univers psychologique et linguistique complètement dépravé, très difficile à saisir en anglais. En tant que traducteur, je m'efforce non seulement de permettre au lecteur anglophone de comprendre le sens des mots, mais aussi de ressentir la même émotion et la même émotion qu'un lecteur albanophone ressent en lisant de l'albanais », a déclaré Wilton, citant des cas concrets de difficultés à traduire des expressions poétiques, métaphoriques et idiomatiques dans les romans.
Selon eux, la traduction demeure le moyen le plus sûr pour la littérature albanaise de pénétrer l'esprit des lecteurs étrangers. L'exemple le plus frappant est celui de Kadare, l'auteur albanais le plus traduit, qui a profondément influencé le regard que le monde porte sur la littérature et la culture albanaises. Par ses nombreuses traductions en français, en anglais et dans d'autres langues, Kadare a prouvé que la littérature albanaise est indissociable de la littérature mondiale. Il a fait de la traduction une véritable fenêtre d'accès à la connaissance culturelle, non seulement pour le lecteur étranger, mais aussi pour les Albanais eux-mêmes, qui se voient à travers cette fenêtre avec un regard différent."
https://www.koha.net/fr/kulture/perkthyesi-ambasador-i-heshtur-i-kultures-se-vet
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Le Bureau de la traduction dément les affirmations d’interprètes parlementaires qui soutiennent que la qualité de la traduction baissera au Parlement en raison d’une décision du gouvernement de prioriser « le plus bas soumissionnaire » pour les interprètes pigistes.
Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada (SPAC) est en processus de renouvellement des contrats des interprètes parlementaires pigistes, qui prendront fin en décembre. Un peu moins de 50 % de ces interprètes sont des pigistes alors que le reste est employé au Bureau de la traduction, selon l’Association internationale des interprètes de conférence — Région Canada (AIIC-Canada).
Cette dernière avance qu’un nouveau processus de SPAC sacrifiera la qualité au nom du soumissionnaire au plus bas prix. L’AIIC-Canada soutient que seuls le prix et le fait d’être un interprète accrédité auprès du Bureau de la traduction seront pris en considération. Par le passé, c’est la qualité de l’interprète ou encore la disponibilité qui faisaient partie d’un ensemble de critères évalués.
« Cet indice de qualité n’est pas mentionné dans cette nouvelle version que l’on nous a présentée. On ne sait pas trop comment il (le bureau de la traduction) pense faire l’évaluation », a affirmé Alionka Skup, la présidente de l’AIIC-Canada lors d’une comparution au Comité des langues officielles mardi.
Les élus du comité font actuellement une étude sur le renouvellement du contrat de travail des interprètes parlementaires.
L’AIIC-Canada estime qu’une telle nouveauté pénalisera le français au Parlement, car la majorité de la traduction se fait de l’anglais vers le français et que les meilleurs interprètes seront écartés.
« On a des interprètes qui sont présents sur la colline depuis très longtemps et qui ont différentes spécialités, alors ça serait logique qu’ils soient affectés aux comités relatifs à leurs autres connaissances, au lieu de simplement prendre la liste et d’aller au moins cher », poursuit Mme Skup.
« Si on fonctionne de cette façon, les interprètes avec le plus d’expérience vont simplement ne plus être présents parce que leurs tarifs vont être trop élevés », statue-t-elle.
L’AIIC-Canada déplore aussi le fait que les nouvelles règles ne permettent pas de rémunérer le temps de préparation des interprètes, mais seulement celui passé au micro, à effectuer la traduction.
Le prix parmi un ensemble de critères
Le Bureau de la traduction affirme ne pas encore avoir pris de décision concernant le renouvellement des contrats en décembre des interprètes pigistes.
« Dire que c’est uniquement les soumissionnaire à bas prix, vous me permettrez de dire que je ne suis pas tout à fait en accord, a réfuté son président-directeur général, Jean-François Lymburner devant les députés fédéraux. On a besoin d’avoir des interprètes qui ont été certifiés par le Bureau de la traduction. Pour nous, c’est un gage de qualité certain. Tous les soumissionnaires ne seront pas accrédités. »
« De plus, avance M. Lymburner, des interprètes pigistes seront toujours sélectionnés en fonction de critères comme le fait d’avoir une cote de sécurité et d’habiter dans la région d’Ottawa. »
« À l’heure actuelle, les pigistes ont tous un indice de qualité identique », a indiqué Annie Plouffe, vice-présidente, Services au Parlement et Interprétation au Bureau de la traduction, qui précise qu’il n’est pas question d’avoir des interprètes non accrédités au Parlement.
Cette dernière soutient aussi qu’à l’heure actuelle, les expertises externes des pigistes, comme le fait d’être un ancien juriste, ne sont pas prises en compte dans leur assignation quotidienne.
L’organisme qui relève de SPAC a terminé ses consultations. Il se trouve maintenant à l’étape d’analyse de la rétroaction reçue des membres de l’industrie, ce qui est considéré comme « une étape normale » selon M. Lymburner.
Questionné à maintes reprises par le député conservateur Joël Godin, Jean-François Lymburner n’a pas divulgué le mandat confié au Bureau de la traduction par SPAC concernant le renouvellement des contrats des interprètes. Cette réticence a poussé l’élu à se tourner vers le président du comité pour demander « que le témoin puisse répondre à mes questions ».
« Évidemment, à un certain point, on est des gestionnaires et on a des pressions un peu comme tout le monde et on regarde le prix et la valeur », a lâché le dirigeant quelques minutes plus tard."
Pascal Vachon
Journaliste, correspondant parlementaire Chambres des communes
Publié le
07 octobre 2025
Mise à jour
11 novembre 2025
https://onfr.tfo.org/parlement-interpretes-bureau-traduction-langues-officielles/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Le secrétariat général du gouvernement consacre une partie de ses actions à la mise en œuvre du caractère officiel de l’amazigh au sein du système juridique marocain. Devant la Commission parlementaire de la justice, mardi 5 novembre 2025, Mohamed Hajoui a détaillé les avancées concrètes réalisées dans ce domaine. Deux conventions de partenariat ont été conclues avec l’Institut Royal de la culture amazighe et le ministère de la Transition numérique pour accélérer la traduction des textes législatifs et réglementaires. Le site web institutionnel publie désormais les ordres du jour et comptes rendus du Conseil du gouvernement en amazigh.
Mardi 5 novembre 2025, en présentant le budget sectoriel du SGG pour l’exercice 2026, Mohamed Hajoui a consacré un développement aux avancées réalisées dans la mise en œuvre du caractère officiel de l’amazigh. Cette initiative s’inscrit dans le cadre de la loi organique fixant le processus de mise en œuvre du caractère officiel de l’amazigh, ainsi que les modalités de son intégration dans l’enseignement et dans les domaines prioritaires de la vie publique. Le secrétaire général du gouvernement a souligné que l’approche adoptée était résolument «participative et collective». C’est dans cet esprit que deux conventions de partenariat et de coopération ont été conclues avec le ministère de la Transition numérique et de la réforme de l’administration, d’une part, et l’Institut Royal de la culture amazighe, d’autre part.
Une mutualisation des ressources pour accélérer les traductions
Ces conventions visent à «mettre en commun les ressources humaines, matérielles et morales pour travailler ensemble à l’accélération des mesures nécessaires» à la concrétisation des engagements de l’État en matière d’officialisation de l’amazigh. L’objectif est de «coopérer en vue de la publication progressive des textes législatifs et réglementaires à caractère général dans cette langue». Pour sensibiliser à l’importance de ce chantier et lui donner une impulsion forte, le SGG a réuni des compétences spécialisées dans la traduction vers l’amazigh et organisé une rencontre d’étude à laquelle ont participé des représentants de différents ministères et départements gouvernementaux. En coordination avec ses partenaires, le secrétariat général du gouvernement a déjà commencé à prendre «les mesures pratiques nécessaires pour traduire une première série de textes juridiques en amazigh», a précisé Mohamed Hajoui.
Une présence renforcée sur les supports numériques
Au-delà de la traduction des textes juridiques, le SGG a déployé des efforts considérables pour renforcer la communication et garantir la diffusion de l’information juridique en amazigh. Il est désormais possible de consulter, sur le site web du secrétariat général du gouvernement, les ordres du jour et les comptes rendus des réunions du Conseil du gouvernement en amazigh. La page amazighe du site web de l’institution publie également des annonces informant des numéros du Bulletin officiel publiés, ainsi que l’actualité concernant les activités quotidiennes de l’institution. Cette présence numérique renforcée témoigne de la volonté d’inscrire durablement l’amazigh dans le paysage institutionnel marocain, au-delà des simples déclarations d’intention."
Brahim Mokhliss
06 Novembre 2025 À 17:53
https://lematin.ma/nation/le-sgg-accelere-la-traduction-des-textes-juridiques-en-amazigh/312175/amp
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Upstage partnership fuels 500% traffic surge as global media cite Chosun Daily translations
Last September, Reddit, the world’s largest community site with 100 million daily visitors, was heatedly discussing a Korean issue. The debate centered on whether the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was justified in raiding Hyundai and LG Energy Solution factories in Georgia and detaining Korean workers. The original post cited a real-time AI-translated Chosun Daily article quoting this newspaper’s piece: . Over 300 participants joined the discussion, with 2,500 “likes.”
Chosun Ilbo’s English service, The Chosun Daily, has established itself as a global media platform reaching readers in 100 countries within three months of its AI-powered relaunch. Since September 3, The Chosun Daily has partnered with leading domestic AI company Upstage to provide real-time English translations of all Chosun Ilbo articles using a custom AI model. An average of 600 articles per day now reach global audiences. Page views and visitors have surged by over 500% compared to pre-launch levels.
Starting on the 24th, Chosun.com added a “View English Article” button at the bottom of all Hangeul articles, linking to their English translations. Similarly, all The Chosun Daily articles now include a button to access the original Hangeul version on Chosun.com. Readers can now seamlessly switch between Korean and English versions.
◇Global Media Actively Utilize The Chosun Daily
Over the past three months, the most-read article on The Chosun Daily was the translation of <“Is This Okay?” Young People Worried… K-Pop Heroine Steps In to Save the Day> (September 27 edition), which analyzed the phenomenon behind the K-Pop animation *KPop Demon Hunters*. It was read by over 300,000 people....
The New York Times cited a Chosun Ilbo column by Yang Sang-hoon in its October 27 article , criticizing U.S. government policies. Other frequent citers include Hindustan Times (India), Straits Times (Singapore), and Sports Illustrated (U.S.).
◇‘Clear and Confident Translations’ Praised
Previous translation AIs often produced awkward English and struggled with cultural nuances. However, The Chosun Daily’s AI translations are praised for their accuracy and ability to capture Korean subtleties. This is attributed to training on over 200,000 Chosun Ilbo English articles published since 2000.
Professor Lee Jun-ho of Chung-Ang University’s Advanced Interpretation & Translation Program stated, “Clarity is paramount in news translation, and The Chosun Daily’s AI articles feel natural and confident.”
For instance, while Google Translate and Naver Papago render the derogatory term “kkondae” (old fogey) simply as “Old Man,” Chosun Ilbo’s AI translates it as “Old Fogey,” preserving the sarcastic nuance."
By Yun Jin-ho,
Sung Yu-jin
Published 2025.11.25.
https://www.chosun.com/english/special-en/2025/11/25/GYV7767I4ZBRTPGO42YR4G2VWI/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Simultaneous interpreting, as a demanding discipline, requires advanced language competencies in both working languages, strong cognitive abilities, and a solid understanding of interpreting techniques. As a complex skill that requires thorough study, it is essential to shed light on its fundamental characteristics through a descriptive method. This paper aims to present the challenges and issues that may arise during the process of simultaneous interpreting. The primary focus of this work is an analysis of an interpreter’s performance while rendering a speech from English to Serbian at a United Nations conference. This research paper examines the challenges observed during the simultaneous (conference) interpretation provided on the national broadcasting service, with a focus on interpreting techniques, cognitive processing, and errors that impact message fidelity. Through a translational analysis based on a product-oriented view of quality, the study identifies errors in simultaneous interpreting and distinguishes them from interpreting techniques. The analysis focuses on the linguistic accuracy and completeness of the interpreted output. Linguistic accuracy refers to the correct and faithful rendering of both grammatical structures and semantic content, ensuring that the meaning and form of the source message are preserved. Completeness, in this context, is defined as the accurate transfer of the entire message, including key ideas, speaker intentions, and discourse structure. Delivery related features such as intonation, voice quality, and prosody fall outside the scope of this study. The descriptive analysis of the interpreted segments of the speech reveals that most problems stem from cognitive skill deficits, indicating that the interpreter’s insufficiently developed memory processes impeded delivery at a high level of accuracy."
Translational Challenges in Simultaneous Interpreting: A Case Study
Author(s): Marko E. Kukić
Subject(s): Translation Studies
Published by: Филозофски факултет, Универзитет у Приштини
Keywords: simultaneous interpreting; interpreting techniques; cognitive abilities; error analysis; translational analysis; descriptive method; memory processes.
Summary/Abstract
https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=1375592
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Rhona Amos will join the Editorial Board of Target. International Journal of Translation Studies from January 2026 as an Associate Editor. Rhona was selected for the role due to her expertise in Interpreting Studies, experimental methods and Psycholinguistics, and will take over from Agnieszka Chmiel."
https://www.unige.ch/fti/en/a-la-une/rhona-amos-editor-target
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was deeply troubled on the closing day of the G20 Summit in Johannesburg (South Africa) by an interpreter's unprofessional behavior. “Only [First Lady] Janja [da Silva] may whisper in my ear!” he stressed.
Lula interrupted his speech on Sunday to complain about the translator's low voice on the headphones. The South American leader asked the language expert to move closer to a journalist asking a question. “You're translating only for yourself. Speak up, man,” Lula complained as he addressed the emptying of the G20 and its effects on future meetings.
After the interpreter obliged, Lula insisted he did not like simultaneous translation devices..."
https://en.mercopress.com/2025/11/25/lula-troubled-by-interpreter-s-poor-work-at-g20-summit
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
As deepfakes blur truth and political divides widen, the arts and humanities offer essential skills such as reflection and resilience. And, of course, they provide respite and balance. Patty Raun explains
"When I look at the world my students are graduating into, I am both awed and alarmed. They face accelerating technologies, a political environment that feels brittle and an information landscape that demands constant vigilance. Yet what I see most clearly in my classroom is something quieter: the profound need for spaces where people can process their experience, make meaning and remember what it feels like to be human.
Last year, in a graduate seminar on communication and creativity, I asked my students to do something that seemed, to many of them, impossible: commit two to three hours each week to a creative practice of their choice. Anything. Painting. Singing. Woodworking. Writing poems that no one would read. The only requirement was that the practice be regular, embodied and done with the understanding that it was part of their education – not an add-on.
The initial reaction was predictable. “I don’t have time.” “This feels indulgent.” “How is this related to my research?” Their early journal entries were full of apology, as if creativity were a guilty pleasure they needed to justify.
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But within weeks, their tone shifted. A doctoral student who began beading – something she had not done since childhood – found that repetitive handwork gave her a way to metabolise complex research questions. Another student returned to the piano for the first time in a decade; she wrote about how the physicality of playing restored her equilibrium after long days surrounded by screens and data. A student who started sketching during lunch breaks said he felt “mentally refreshed in a way coffee doesn’t touch”.
Across the class, journals filled with reflections that surprised even the students who wrote them: these small acts of creativity were not escapes from their work but avenues into deeper thinking. They offered clarity when analysis felt muddled. They revealed emotions students hadn’t realised they were carrying. They brought a sense of steadiness in a time of relentless uncertainty.
What were they processing?
In their writing, students named burnout, fear about the job market, grief for the state of the world, exhaustion from the political climate, and anxiety about the rapid encroachment of artificial intelligence on their fields. Some were sorting out conflicts with advisers; others were trying to understand what they wanted their lives to look like beyond their degrees. Many were carrying the quiet, cumulative strain of feeling perpetually behind – a feeling that is nearly universal among young adults today.
The creative practices gave shape to feelings that were otherwise amorphous. When students drew, stitched, sculpted or played, they could hold their experience at arm’s length long enough to examine it. They could ask: “Why does this feel heavy?” or: “What is the pattern beneath my stress?” That emotional and cognitive processing is essential – not decorative – to learning and to well-being.
Why does this matter for educators?
It matters because no amount of digital literacy or critical thinking instruction can help a student who is too overwhelmed to notice what they’re feeling, too depleted to be curious or too anxious to reflect. In an era defined by acceleration, the arts and humanities offer something irreplaceable: deliberate practices that cultivate attention, perspective and resilience.
Educators can make space for this kind of practice without overhauling curricula. Three strategies emerged clearly from my seminar:
Build creative practice into coursework – not as extra credit but as part of the learning goals. Students took the assignment seriously because it counted. When creativity is framed as central rather than peripheral, students stop dismissing it as a luxury.
Tie creative practice to reflection. Weekly journals were the engine of the class. Students didn’t just make things, they wrote about the making. This is where insights surfaced: moments of calm, new connections or realisations about habits of mind.
Model vulnerability. I practised alongside them. I shared my own frustrations when my creative work felt stalled and my discoveries when it illuminated something. Students trust the process when they see an instructor trusting it, too.
How do we convince students of arts‘ and humanities‘ value?
You don’t persuade them with abstractions; you let the experience convince them. Many of my students entered reluctantly and emerged protective of their new routines. They described feeling more grounded, more capable of deep focus and more connected to their peers. One student wrote: “This practice helped me think like a human again.” That felt like a revelation.
We might not be able to measure this like a standardised test measures recall. But we can measure changes in engagement, attendance and emotional articulation. We can measure whether students return to the practice after the course ends – which many did. And we can measure the quality of their analytical work, which often became more nuanced as their creative practices matured.
Some outcomes are subtler but no less real: steadier breathing, better sleep, improved concentration. Students reported these without prompting. They noticed that time spent creating made them more patient with themselves and with others. These are not soft outcomes. They are the very capacities – reflection, adaptability, imaginative problem-solving – that the future demands.
If we want graduates who can withstand disinformation, polarisation and the pressures of AI-driven work, we need to cultivate not only their intellects but their interior lives. Arts and humanities education does that not through slogans about empathy or critical thinking but through sustained human practices: making, observing, storytelling, questioning, listening.
Creativity is how we stay human in a world that feels increasingly inhuman. In my classroom, I watch students discover that truth for themselves – and once discovered, it is hard to forget.
Patricia Raun is alumni distinguished professor of theatre arts at Virginia Tech and founding director of the Center for Communicating Science."
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/arts-and-humanities-celebrate-what-makes-us-human
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"...For those looking for more opportunities to write, create, or promote their own language initiatives, the Ministry for Pacific Peoples’ Pacific Languages Community Fund is now open.
Applications will close at 12pm on Friday, 28 November 2025, and funded projects will run from January to October 2026."
Tala: Sharing Pacific Stories aims to celebrate Pasifika languages and cultures through literature.
Tala: Sharing Pacific Stories aims to celebrate Pasifika languages and cultures through literature.
https://pmn.co.nz/read/language-and-culture/eight-pacific-poets-unite-to-revitalise-language-through-landmark-publishing-project
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
Tala: Sharing Pacific Stories aims to celebrate Pasifika languages and cultures through literature
"Contribute a chapter to the Open Access book ‘Translation Studies - Navigating Through Languages, Cultures, and Meaning’
ISBN: 978-1-80632-074-5
Registration for this book closes on December 24th 2025
Academic editor
Joseph Abraham Levi
George Washington University, United States of America
This volume intends to offer a multifaceted exploration of translation as both a linguistic practice and cultural negotiation. Drawing on diverse case studies, extant documents, and theoretical frameworks spanning across centuries, (multiple) languages, and diverse geographical areas/peoples, this study aims to examine how translation functions as a form of cultural mediation, shaping and reshaping meaning across contexts. The topic discussed should include the ethical dilemmas of scholarly translation, the ideological imprint of missionary translation as a tool of cultural engineering, and the legacy of colonial linguistics/philology in semantic negotiation. By interrogating the tensions between fidelity and adaptation, source vs. target language(s) and culture(s), and the translator’s agency, this work foregrounds translation as a dynamic site of power, identity, and (re)interpretation. Indeed, the goal of this volume is to invite readers to reconsider translation not merely as a technical process, but rather as a deeply human endeavor embedded in historical, political, and epistemological currents across ages, peoples, cultures, and languages.
The following topics illustrate the target subject areas and scope of the project. These keywords are not definitive but can be used as the basis for the chapter content. We accept theoretical and applied scientific papers which can be presented as original research papers and review papers. The required length of the full chapters is 10-20 pages.
Subject areas and keywords
Cultural Mediators in Translation
Culturally Specific References
Literal Accuracy in Translation
Ethnocentric Biases
Grammars
Cultural Accommodation
Target Audiences in Translation
Idioms and Taboos
Cultural and Spiritual Resonance
Preserving Endangered Languages
Dictionaries and Orthographies
Colonial Linguistics
Peer Review Process
IntechOpen is dedicated to publishing exclusively peer-reviewed papers and books. All scientific works are subject to peer-review prior to publishing. IntechOpen is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and all participating referees and Academic Editors are instructed to review submitted scientific works in line with the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer-Reviewers where applicable..."
https://www.intechopen.com/welcome/ca7e8271be427e420df4e99692501ab5
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Oxford University is set to launch a new Master’s in Creative Translation next year. Housed in the recently opened Schwarzman Centre, the course differs from academic translation by emphasising voice, tone, rhythm, and emotion alongside literal meaning.
Led by Professor Karen Leeder, a prize-winning translator in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, the course was developed following a survey of graduate students conducted last year. As a result, Leeder said there is “considerable creative reservoir and appetite” for the programme as translation is “increasingly recognised as a literary art form”.
The course will expose students to a range of materials – from ancient texts to performances – and will examine how translations differ, focusing on topics such as interpretation and cultural sensitivity. The programme will provide students with flexible assessments, including traditional essays, critical analyses and an extended independent translation project.
As part of the course, students will also receive specialised instruction in another language and take part in sessions with industry professionals and creatives, offering students first-hand opportunities to connect with leading voices in the field.
A modern languages undergraduate student told Cherwell: “The introduction of this course is really exciting. Previously, I would not have considered a Master’s here since most language programmes are very literature-focused. But the opportunity to explore translation, especially in this creative way and with Oxford’s resources, is interesting and needed.”
The new course comes at a critical time for translation, as generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT can process and translate most languages in an instant. Reflecting this shift, the University itself has, for instance, begun providing ChatGPT-5 to all its staff and students.
Leeder told Cherwell: “AI is a reality in the professional world of translation. Students will learn about what LLMs [large language models] can bring to this world and how to work with them, but the course as a whole places a premium on the role of human creativity. Students will hone their sense of what makes ‘good’ translation over and above the simple meaning of the words.”
Leeder said there “needs to be a re-evaluation of the role of the human translator”, explaining that “human translators … will always bring something that machines cannot replicate … AI can’t deal with metaphor, idiom, or the stresses of word order and how this can change meaning. This is where the value of human translation lies”.
Cherwell understands that the University will welcome the first cohort of creative translation students in October 2026."
https://www.cherwell.org/2025/11/13/oxford-launches-new-translation-masters/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Sign language interpreters will now need warrant after 'landmark' legislation
Disability Rights Minister says changes were requested by the deaf community and interpreters
22 November 2025| Daniel Ellul
Under the new law, spearheaded by Farrugia, any person working professionally as an interpreter will need to have completed their studies at a recognised university
Sign language interpreters must now be warranted following legislation that passed through Parliament’s final stage earlier this week.
Disability Rights Minister Julia Farrugia said the changes come at the request of the deaf community as well as interpreters.
Under the new law, spearheaded by Farrugia, any person working professionally as an interpreter will need to have completed their studies at a recognised university and then be approved by the warranting board.
The warranting board will be made up of seven members, all of whom are interpreters.
The law will take effect in two months' time.
In a statement, the Association for Sign Language Interpreters described the new law as a “landmark moment... establishing long-awaited standards, recognition and accountability through formal registration and warranting.”
“It is a significant milestone not only for interpreters, but also for the Deaf community, whose right to high-quality, professional Maltese Sign Language (LSM) interpreting services across Malta and Gozo will now be enshrined in Maltese law,” they said.
Farrugia said the initiative was a "true example of cooperation between the Ministry, interpreters and service users, to create a system that ensures a badge of quality for deaf users while elevating this important profession,” Farrugia said.
https://timesofmalta.com/article/sign-language-interpreters-now-need-warrant.1120026
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Summary: New research using human brain organoids shows that early neural activity follows structured, time-based patterns long before sensory experience begins. These findings suggest the human brain comes preconfigured with a built-in “operating system” for organizing information, rather than relying solely on external input to form its circuits.
The organoids produced complex activity signatures resembling the brain’s default mode, hinting at a genetically encoded blueprint for perception and cognition. The work opens the door to deeper insights into early brain development, neurodevelopmental disorders, and how toxins may affect the fetal brain.
Key Facts:
Intrinsically Patterned Activity: Organoids produced organized neural firing patterns that resembled the brain’s default mode network despite no sensory input.
Genetically Encoded Blueprint: Findings suggest that the brain begins forming circuits with built-in instructions before experience shapes them.
Tool for Understanding Disorders: These early signatures may help identify developmental disruptions linked to disease or toxic exposures.
Source: UC Santa Cruz
Humans have long wondered when and how we begin to form thoughts. Are we born with a pre-configured brain, or do thought patterns only begin to emerge in response to our sensory experiences of the world around us?
Now, science is getting closer to answering the questions philosophers have pondered for centuries.
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are using tiny models of human brain tissue, called organoids, to study the earliest moments of electrical activity in the brain.
A new study in Nature Neuroscience finds that the earliest firings of the brain occur in structured patterns without any external experiences, suggesting that the human brain is preconfigured with instructions about how to navigate and interact with the world.
“These cells are clearly interacting with each other and forming circuits that self-assemble before we can experience anything from the outside world,” said Tal Sharf, assistant professor of biomolecular engineering at the Baskin School of Engineering and the study’s senior author.
“There’s an operating system that exists, that emerges in a primordial state. In my laboratory, we grow brain organoids to peer into this primordial version of the brain’s operating system and study how the brain builds itself before it’s shaped by sensory experience.”
In improving our fundamental understanding of human brain development, these findings can help researchers better understand neurodevelopmental disorders, and pinpoint the impact of toxins like pesticides and microplastics in the developing brain.
Studying the developing brain
The brain, similar to a computer, runs on electrical signals—the firing of neurons. When these signals begin to fire, and how the human brain develops, are challenging topics for scientists to study, as the early developing human brain is protected within the womb.
Organoids, which are 3D models of tissue grown from human stem cells in the lab, provide a unique window into brain development. The Braingeneers group at UC Santa Cruz, in collaboration with researchers at UC San Francisco and UC Santa Barbara, are pioneering methods to grow these models and take measurements from them to gain insights into brain development and disorders.
Organoids are particularly useful for understanding if the brain develops in response to sensory input—as they exist in the lab setting and not the body—and can be grown ethically in large quantities.
In this study, researchers prompted stem cells to form brain tissue, and then measured their electrical activity using specialized microchips, similar to those that run a computer. Sharf’s background in both applied physics, computation, and neurobiology form his expertise in modelling the circuitry of the early brain.
“An organoid system that’s intrinsically decoupled from any sensory input or communication with organs gives you a window into what’s happening with this self-assembly process,” Sharf said.
“That self-assembly process is really hard to do with traditional 2D cell culture—you can’t get the cell diversity and the architecture. The cells need to be in intimate contact with each other. We’re trying to control the initial conditions, so we can let biology do its wonderful thing.”
Pattern production
The researchers observed the electrical activity of the brain tissue as they self-assembled from stem cells into a tissue that can translate the senses and produce language and conscious thought.
They found that within the first few months of development, long before the human brain is capable of receiving and processing complex external sensory information such as vision and hearing, its cells spontaneously began to emit electrical signals characteristic of the patterns that underlie translation of the senses.
Through decades of neuroscience research, the community has discovered that neurons fire in patterns that aren’t just random. Instead, the brain has a “default mode” — a basic underlying structure for firing neurons which then becomes more specific as the brain processes unique signals like a smell or taste. This background mode outlines the possible range of sensory responses the body and brain can produce.
In their observations of single neuron spikes in the self-assembling organoid models, Sharf and colleagues found that these earliest observable patterns have striking similarity with the brain’s default mode.
Even without having received any sensory input, they are firing off a complex repertoire of time-based patterns, or sequences, which have the potential to be refined for specific senses, hinting at a genetically encoded blueprint inherent to the neural architecture of the living brain
“These intrinsically self-organized systems could serve as a basis for constructing a representation of the world around us,” Sharf said.
“The fact that we can see them in these early stages suggests that evolution has figured out a way that the central nervous system can construct a map that would allow us to navigate and interact with the world.”
Knowing that these organoids produce the basic structure of the living brain opens up a range of possibilities for better understanding human neurodevelopment, disease, and the effects of toxins in the brain.
“We’re showing that there is a basis for capturing complex dynamics that likely could be signatures of pathological onsets that we could study in human tissue,” Sharf said. “That would allow us to develop therapies, working with clinicians at the preclinical level to potentially develop compounds, drug therapies, and gene editing tools that could be cheaper, more efficient, higher throughput.”
This study included researchers at UC Santa Barbara, Washington University in St. Louis, Johns Hopkins University, the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, and ETH Zurich.
Key Questions Answered:
Q: What do brain organoids reveal about early neural activity?
A: They show structured electrical patterns that emerge before any sensory input.
Q: Does the brain form circuits without experience?
A: Yes — organoids self-assemble into networks that fire in coordinated patterns.
Q: Why does this matter for neurodevelopment?
A: These early intrinsic patterns may shape how the brain builds systems for sensing, learning, and thinking."
Neuroscience·November 24, 2025
https://neurosciencenews.com/organoid-cognition-neurodevelopment-29974/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"“You don't need to speak the same language to play soccer... You can see that on the field. Even though we may not understand each other linguistically, on the field we all have the same goal.”
There’s something special happening between Rosemonde Kouassi and Gift Monday. The relative league newcomers – Kouassi in her second season, Monday in her first – have teamed up for goals five times in NWSL competitions, Kouassi teeing Monday up each time.
That on-field chemistry isn’t always easy, but language barriers don’t help. Nigerian-born Monday speaks English with her teammates, and Kouassi, who is from the Cote d'Ivoire, speaks French.
“We just joke with each other,” Monday said of their off-the-field relationship. “We use physical touch, trying to demonstrate what we’re talking about.”
If the U.S. is a melting pot, there is overwhelming proof in the D.C. locker room. The roster represents 11 countries – Canada, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, England, France, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Scotland, and the U.S.
It’s no matter for the Spirit, though.
“You don't need to speak the same language to play soccer,” New Jersey born Brittany Ratcliffe said. “You can see that on the field. Even though we may not understand each other linguistically, on the field we all have the same goal.”
Rebeca Bernal and Leicy Santos are both Spanish speakers, hailing from Mexico and Colombia respectively.
“We just use our hands. In our case, [Santos and I] speak Spanish, but our coach [Adrián González] also speaks Spanish. We can understand English, but if we don’t understand we can ask him,” Bernal said. “We have some French speakers, and they try to help each other to be clear. It’s important to have all of us clear on the game plan.”
Japan-native Niruma Miura echoed this.
"On the pitch we don't really need to speak English. We have to trust in everybody that you don't even need to speak the same language," she said. "You know everyone's going to be where they need to be."
With different home countries also comes different styles of play. The best players from all over the world have come to the NWSL, and for a team like the Spirit, it can add a competitive edge.
“We are a special team because we have fast players, and we can take advantage of that so we can play more directly,” Bernal said about the different styles of play. “We can also play close so the other team doesn't know what we are going to do. That’s important for us. Everyone is different.”
As the NWSL continues to grow on the global scale, Santos said it only grows more and more appealing to players outside the U.S...
“We can share our cultures. For me it's fun because you also learn about different cultures,” Bernal said...
https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/no-common-language-no-problem-washington-spirit-prove-soccer-has-no-language-barrier
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Feds sue ALM Freight for failing to provide sign language interpreter for deaf driver applicant
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit against a delivery company and an employment agency for allegedly refusing to provide an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter to a deaf driver applicant and revoking her job offer.
On November 21, 2025, the EEOC announced that a lawsuit has been filed against ALM Freight, LLC, an Amazon Delivery Service Partner company, and LMDmax Corp. for violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Officials say that an applicant applied for and was offered a driving position with ALM in November 2022.
“She accepted the position and began communicating with LMDmax, ALM’s employment agency, to complete onboarding paperwork and a required background check. After completing the background check, she requested an ASL interpreter for her first-day orientation. LMDmax responded with a text message advising the applicant that ALM does not provide interpreters and ALM would not proceed with her hiring. ALM Freight knew of the request and approved LMDmax’s decision,” the EEOC said.
“An employer cannot rescind a job offer because it learned a qualified candidate has a disability and needs an accommodation for orientation,” said Kenneth Bird, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Indianapolis District Office. “Declining to hire someone to avoid providing a reasonable accommodation for that person’s disability is unlawful discrimination.”
The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals, unless doing so would cause an undue hardship.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration grants waivers for drivers with impaired hearing to obtain a commercial driver’s license under certain circumstances."
November 24, 2025
By Ashley
https://cdllife.com/2025/feds-sue-alm-freight-for-failing-to-provide-sign-language-interpreter-for-deaf-driver-applicant/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"“African artificial intelligence must be inclusive and rooted in our realities”
On the occasion of the Transform Africa Summit, Lacina Kone, Director General of Smart Africa, reflects on the vision of a truly African artificial intelligence. For him, AI is a catalyst for development, capable of transforming education, health, and economic inclusion while preserving local languages, cultures, and values.
You described this edition of the Transform Africa Summit as historic for several reasons. Why?
The purpose of this seventh edition is artificial intelligence for Africa – to innovate locally and impact globally...
It is quite historic, not only for artificial intelligence, but also because we are meeting today in West Africa, in a Francophone country, for the first time in the history of Smart Africa and the Transform Africa Summit. Since last year, in 2024, we have started addressing artificial intelligence topics.
Why does Africa need to develop a specifically African AI, and how can this goal be achieved?
We believe it is essential to remain very critical and precise in our approach. The AI we want is not just a technology of power, but a tool usable in everyday life. Artificial intelligence is an equalizer. Even in rural areas or among non-literate populations, it can enable everyone to actively participate in economic and social development.
Today, it is not enough to hold university degrees. If one does not know how to use technology, one becomes digitally illiterate. Even a doctor of literature, if they cannot use AI, is somewhat powerless. We train our Large Language Models (LLMs) in African languages – Arabic, Berber, Wolof, French, English...
What are the main challenges to achieving this...?
Artificial intelligence is seen as a revolution, and that is true. But in the African context, it is above all an evolution of digital systems. The foundations of AI are infrastructure, computing power, data governance, talent, and capacity building. Smart Africa has been working on these foundations for a long time. AI simply accelerates our goal: to strengthen our infrastructure, develop our talent, and build African datasets to preserve our cultures, values, and languages...
Smart Africa, created in 2013 and operational since 2016 with seven founding Heads of State, now brings together 42 member states, covering approximately 1.2 billion Africans. Our funds have more than tripled, and we coordinate around 18 to 19 continental projects on emerging technologies. We have launched the Smart Africa Digital Academy, the Rooming Free network, and implemented continental cybersecurity structures, with annual meetings in Morocco. Smart Africa is no longer just a consultative alliance; it is an operational institution advancing the continent’s digital objectives concretely..."
https://africa-news-agency.com/lacina-kone-african-artificial-intelligence-must-be-inclusive-and-rooted-in-our-realities/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Defence Minister inaugurates newly established Center for Languages and Translation
Mogadishu, (SONNA) — The Minister of Defence, H.E. Ahmed Moallim Fiqi, today inaugurated the newly established Centre for Language and Translation of the Ministry of Defence. The ceremony was attended by the Assistant to the Chief of Defence Forces, Brig. Gen. Madey Nur Sheikh Ufurow, former Deputy Minister of Defence, Hon. Abdifitah Qassim, Members of Parliament, senior officials, and staff from the Ministry and Army HQ.
In his address, the Minister underscored the strategic significance of the new Centre in enhancing the linguistic capabilities of Ministry personnel and military officers preparing for international training and cooperation programmes. He described the facility as a vital bridge strengthening Somalia’s engagement with the international community.
The Minister further noted that the Centre was established to improve language proficiency and strengthen translation services for Ministry staff and SNA officers, ensuring that the Ministry, the Armed Forces, and national security operations are supported with the required communication and linguistic competencies.
In conclusion, Minister Fiqi encouraged staff to fully utilise the opportunities offered by the Centre and to strengthen their professional language skills so they may effectively fulfil the national responsibilities entrusted to them."
By Khadarow
Last updated: November 23, 2025
https://sonna.so/en/defence-minister-inaugurates-newly-established-center-for-languages-and-translation/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"The Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding announces the date for its eleventh ceremony, which will be held on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, in Doha.
This international cultural event celebrates translation as a bridge of understanding between peoples and a fundamental driver of cultural convergence and knowledge exchange. The ceremony will be attended by a distinguished group of Arab and international intellectual, cultural, and media figures, along with academics, translators, and those interested in cultural affairs from around the world, reflecting the award's prominent position on the international cultural scene.
As part of a comprehensive cultural program, the award will host a series of high-quality events on the morning of the ceremony, including: An open seminar on "Translation and Artificial Intelligence" where experts and specialists will participate to discuss the challenges posed by artificial intelligence in the field of translation, particularly those related to quality, accuracy, linguistic biases, and ethical and professional dimensions. The seminar will also address the opportunities these technologies offer for developing translators' tools, accelerating the process, and expanding the exchange of knowledge between languages, thereby strengthening the role of human translation while preserving its cultural specificity. As well as two closed workshops on "Recommendations to support translation between Arabic and German and Albanian".
These workshops will feature a select group of leading translators and experts in translation between Arabic and Albanian and German. They will address the challenges facing translation between Arabic and these languages and explore ways to enhance it. The workshops will produce practical recommendations to be submitted to governmental and non-governmental bodies, with the aim of promoting translation between Arabic and local languages and developing mechanisms for cooperation with relevant institutions in this field.
The eleventh round of the award marks the culmination of its ongoing evolution, coinciding with its entry into its second decade. It continues to expand its cultural impact and modernize its tools and scope of work to respond to the rapid transformations in the field of translation globally. In this context, the award, for the first time, adopted three of the world's most widely spoken languages: English, German, and Turkish, alongside two less widely spoken languages: Albanian and Thai. This reflects the award's commitment to combining influential global languages with local languages that require further support to enhance their presence in the translation movement to and from Arabic.
This cycle was distinguished by the organization of extensive introductory tours in several countries associated with the award's languages. These tours aimed to broaden the partner base, encourage translators and institutions to engage with the award, and assess the realities and challenges of translation within these cultural and linguistic contexts. In keeping with the transformations of the times, the award leveraged AI technologies to reach professionals in the field of translation across all participating languages, both within and outside the Arab world.
This contributed to expanding communication with translators, publishers, and researchers, and enhancing international engagement with the award. These combined results confirm that the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding has cemented its position as the "most important and largest award for translation between Arabic and the world's languages," not only in terms of its broad scope and diverse languages, but also in its ability to influence the global translation movement and shape a shared cultural space based on knowledge, openness, and understanding. The award invites those interested in cultural and media affairs to attend the ceremony and participate in its accompanying programs, celebrating translators and their pivotal role in fostering intercultural dialogue."
Tawfik Lamari
Published on November 23, 2025 | 12:00 AM
https://www.gulf-times.com/article/715648/qatar/sheikh-hamad-award-for-translation-announces-11th-ceremony-program
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Organización denuncia que los indígenas son manipulados por los jueces para que acepten un procedimiento abreviado y acepten su culpabilidad
Síndica de Santa María Apazco denuncia amenazas de muerte tras ser excarcelada; acusa al alcalde
El 70% de las personas indígenas recluidas o privadas de la libertad en un centro penitenciario de Oaxaca no tuvieron acceso a un traductor e intérprete de lenguas indígenas, y poco más del 50% está preso sin sentencia.
Eduardo Marguth, coordinador de la Red de Intérpretes y Promotores Interculturales, precisó que actualmente en las cárceles del estado hay alrededor de mil 200 personas indígenas; entre las cuales, dijo, siete de cada 10 enfrentaron un proceso judicial injusto porque no contaron con un traductor que les ayude a enfrentar los cargos.
Mientras que aproximadamente del total, continúa en prisión sin una sentencia, es decir, sin determinarse si son o no culpables del delito o delitos que se le imputan...
Lo anterior, explicó, implica que al momento de su vinculación a proceso la gran mayoría de ellos desconocían cuál fue el motivo de su detención y, en la actualidad, también desconocen el contenido de su expediente y sus derechos.
Además, señaló que la falta de un traductor o intérprete ha provocado la dilación de sus procesos judiciales y es una de las causas por las que continúan privados de su libertad en las cárceles de Oaxaca sin una sentencia.
También, aseguró, las personas indígenas recluidas en los penales del estado son víctimas de manipulación por jueces y ministerios públicos que los obligan a someterse al procedimiento abreviado para llegar a un acuerdo con las supuestas víctimas y, para ello, le dicen que debe aceptar su culpabilidad.
Denuncian la difusión de imágenes de jóvenes de Oaxaca en un contexto sexual dentro de un grupo de WhatsApp
“Les dicen que es difícil conseguir un traductor, y por eso los manipulan para que acepten un procedimiento abreviado y paguen por un delito que no se sabe si cometieron o no. Tratan a las personas indígenas como si tuvieran retraso mental, tratan de manipularlos para que acepten el sistema abreviado”, detalló Eduardo Marguth.
El especialista señaló que la falta de traductores e intérpretes es porque el Estado o las autoridades responsables nunca tienen recursos económicos para pagar los servicios, y cuando tienen, únicamente pagan 500 pesos por día y no pagan viáticos, ni alimentación, y para pagar se tardan hasta tres meses.
Esto, dijo, es un trato indigno y racista para los traductores e intérpretes, quienes muchas veces se niegan por esto, a prestar el servicio."
21/11/2025 |
Juan Carlos Zavala
https://oaxaca.eluniversal.com.mx/estatal/no-cuentan-con-un-traductor-e-interprete-7-de-cada-10-indigenas-privados-de-la-libertad-en-carceles-de-oaxaca/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"Can AI translate Native languages in times of disaster?
In the wake of Typhoon Halong, an AI language company wants to hire Native translators, raising questions about data sovereignty.
Annie Rosenthal November 14, 2025
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Walter Nelson, managed retreat coordinator, points out the high water mark during flooding last month when the remnants of Typhoon Halong hit Napakiak, Alaska.
Photo by Katie Baldwin Basile/High Country News, Illustration by Luna Anna Archey/High Country News
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In 2022, after historic storms hit remote villages across Western Alaska, the Federal Emergency Management Agency hired a California-based contractor to help residents access disaster aid. Their job was to translate applications for financial assistance: The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta is a constellation of small Alaska Native communities, and nearly half the region’s population — some 10,000 people — learn to speak Yugtun, the Central Yup’ik dialect, before they learn English. Farther north, approximately 3,000 people speak Iñupiaq.
But when the translations came through and journalists at the local public radio station, KYUK, tried to read them, they found that the material was nonsense.
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“They were Yup’ik words all right, but they were all jumbled together, and they didn’t make sense,” said Julia Jimmie, who is Yup’ik and works as a translator at KYUK. “It made me think that someone somewhere thought that nobody spoke or understood our language anymore.”
Three years later, the region is reeling from another storm: Typhoon Halong, whose remnants displaced more than 1,500 residents and killed at least one person in the village of Kwigillingok in mid-October. And despite recent changes to FEMA policy, translation is once again raising questions — this time, about the role of AI in Indigenous communities.
Prisma International, a Minneapolis-based company, posted an ad seeking “experienced, professional Translators and Interpreters” of Yup’ik, Iñupiaq, and other Alaska Native languages on Oct. 21, the day before the Trump administration approved a disaster declaration for the storm.
The company has contracted with FEMA more than 30 times over the last few years, according to government records. Its website says that Prisma’s tools “combine AI and human expertise to accelerate translation, simplify language access, and enhance communication across audiences, systems, and users.” According to the job listing, the Alaska Native language translators would be asked to “provide written translations using a Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tool.”
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A spokesperson for FEMA declined to say in late October whether the agency planned to contract with Prisma in Alaska, and the company did not respond to multiple requests for comment by phone and email. But the job posting notes a preference for applicants with experience translating or interpreting “for emergency management agencies, e.g. FEMA,” as well as knowledge of the recent storm and a connection to local Indigenous communities. Multiple Yup’ik language speakers in Alaska confirmed they had been contacted by a company representative, who described Prisma as “a language services contractor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.”
Julia Jimmie was among those contacted. She said she would have been happy to translate for FEMA, but she had more questions about working with Prisma.
As AI expands into new areas of everyday life, including translation, it’s prompted both excitement and skepticism in Indigenous communities. Many Native tech and culture experts are intrigued by its potential, particularly when it comes to language preservation. But they warn that the technology risks distorting cultural knowledge and could threaten language sovereignty.
“Artificial intelligence relies on data to function,” said Morgan Gray, a member of the Chickasaw Nation and a research and policy analyst at Arizona State University’s American Indian Policy Institute. “One of the bigger risks is that if you’re not careful, your data can be used in a way that might not be consistent with your values as a tribal community.”
Though the U.S. government does not formally regulate AI or its use, the concept of “data sovereignty” — a tribal nation’s right to define how its data is collected and used — is increasingly part of international discussions about Indigenous intellectual property. Free, prior and informed consent for the use of Indigenous cultural knowledge is written into the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. UNESCO, the U.N. body that oversees cultural heritage, has called for AI developers to respect tribal sovereignty in dealing with Indigenous communities’ data.
“A tribal nation needs to have complete information about the way that AI will be used, the type of tribal data that that AI system might use,” Gray said. “They need to have time to consider those impacts, and they need to have the right to refuse and say, ‘No, we’re not comfortable with this outside entity using our information, even though you might have a really altruistic motivation behind doing it.’”
It’s still unclear whether Prisma has contacted tribal leadership in the Y-K Delta. The Association of Village Council Presidents, a consortium of 56 federally recognized tribes in the region, did not respond to a request for comment.
On its website, Prisma says that clients can opt to use only human translators, noting that its AI use is governed by an AI Responsible Usage Policy. But the details of that policy are not readily available online, and the company did not respond to requests for clarification.
Representatives from three emergency response agencies set up a place for people to apply for aid in the school in Napakiak, Alaska. Sitting at the table are Dara Rickles with the Red Cross and Kali Grunden, FEMA Region 10 tribal liasion.
Photo by Katie Baldwin Basile/High Country News, Illustration by Luna Anna Archey/High Country News
In the three years since its contractor produced the notoriously botched translations, FEMA has sought to improve its work with Alaska Native communities. KYUK’s reporting on the scandal prompted a civil rights investigation, and the California contractor, Accent on Languages, reimbursed the agency for the faulty translations. A spokesperson for FEMA said the agency now employs only “Alaska-based vendors” for Alaska Native languages, prioritizing those in disaster-impacted areas. It also requires a secondary quality-control review of all translations. “Tribal partners are continuously consulted to determine language services needs and how FEMA can meet those needs in the most effective and accessible manner,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.
The agency’s policies on AI are less clear. The email did not directly address questions about whether FEMA has policies in place to regulate the use of AI or protect Indigenous data sovereignty, though it said that FEMA “works closely with tribal governments and partners to make sure our services and outreach are responsive to their needs.”
According to government records, FEMA has contracted with Prisma in more than a dozen states. Prisma’s website highlights a case study in which it used its “LexAI” technology to help a federal agency provide information about disaster relief in multiple languages following a wildfire. The case study says it offered translation for more than 16 languages, including “rare Pacific Island dialects.”
The company has also worked with several other federal agencies, the government database shows, but it does not appear to have contracted with the federal government in Alaska before.
In the Y-K Delta, the Yup’ik language translators Prisma contacted shared a practical concern: Would AI be able to translate their language accurately?
“Yup’ik is a complex language,” Jimmie wrote in a message. “I think that AI would have problems translating Yup’ik. You have to know what you’re talking about in order to put the word together.”
Most AI models rely on extensive data to help produce accurate translations. But that kind of data is rarely available for Indigenous languages, and AI has a poor record when it comes to translating them, often providing inaccurate sentences and even completely invented words.
Sally Samson, who is Yup’ik and a professor of Yup’ik language and culture at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, said she was skeptical that AI could master Yugtun syntax, which differs substantially from English. Her concern wasn’t just that the technology might provide misinformation, but that it would fail to convey the nuances of a Yup’ik worldview.
“Our language explains our culture, and our culture defines our language,” she said. “The way we communicate with our elders and our co-workers and our friends is completely different because of the values that we hold, and that respect is very important.”
“Our language explains our culture, and our culture defines our language.”
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Indigenous software developers are actively working to address some of AI’s shortcomings around Native languages. Many hope to mobilize the technology to preserve endangered dialects. An Anishinaabe roboticist has already designed a robot to help kids learn Anishinaabemowin, while a Choctaw computer scientist created a chatbot to converse in Choctaw.
But in those cases, Indigenous people have been the ones developing the AI models and making decisions about how to use them. Crystal Hill-Pennington, who teaches Native law and business at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and offers legal consultation to Alaska tribes, said she worries about the potential for exploitation if AI is trained on the work of Indigenous translators for future use by non-Native companies.
“If we have communities that have a historical socioeconomic disadvantage, and then companies can come in, gather a little bit of information, and then try to capitalize on that knowledge without continuing to engage the originating community that holds that heritage, that’s problematic,” she said.
Native communities have centuries of experience with outsiders extracting and exploiting their cultural knowledge — but there is also recent precedent for this kind of controversy. In 2022, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council voted to banish a nonprofit that had promised to help preserve their language. After Lakota elders spent years sharing cultural knowledge with the non-Native group, the organization copyrighted the material and tried to sell it back to tribal members in textbooks.
Hill-Pennington said the introduction of AI by private companies adds another layer of complexity to contemporary conversations around intellectual property.
“The question is, who ends up owning the knowledge that they’re scraping?” she said.
Standards around AI and Indigenous cultural knowledge are evolving quickly, just like the technology. Hill-Pennington said that some companies using AI may still be unfamiliar with the expectation of informed consent and the concept of data sovereignty. But, she said, those standards are becoming increasingly relevant.
“Particularly if they’re going to be doing work with, let’s say, a federal agency that does fall under executive orders around authentic consultation with Indigenous peoples in the United States, then this is not something that should be overlooked,” she said."
https://www.hcn.org/articles/can-ai-translate-native-languages-in-times-of-disaster/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
"According to the report published by Allied Market Research, Software Localization Market Reach USD 15.6 Billion by 2032. The report provides an extensive analysis of changing market dynamics, major segments, value chain, competitive scenario, and regional landscape...
The software localization market is segmented on the basis of offering, type, and end user. Based on offering, the market is segmented into solution, and service. Based on type, the market is segmented into computer-assisted translation software, machine translation software and translation management software. On the basis of end user, it is segmented into individual and enterprises. By region, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.
The report analyzes the profiles of key players operating in the software localization market such as IBM, Microsoft, Lionbridge Technologies, LLC, SDL/Trados, Google, SYSTRAN, Babylon Corporation, The Babel Fish Corporation, Argos Multilingual, Alchemy Software Development Ltd. These players have adopted various strategies to increase their market penetration and strengthen their position in the software localization market size.
Based on region, North America held the major share in 2022, garnering more than one-third of the global software localization market revenue. This is because, with the advancements in machine translation and artificial intelligence, companies in North America are increasingly leveraging these technologies to streamline the software localization process. On the other hand, the Europe region is projected to rule the roost in terms of revenue during the forecast. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 13.5% from 2023 to 2032. The governments in the Asia-Pacific region have recognized the importance of technology adoption and digital innovation for economic growth. Many governments have implemented initiatives to promote the development of local software industries, including support for software localization efforts.
Based on end user, the large enterprises segment held the highest market share in 2022, contributing to nearly two-thirds of the global software localization market revenue, and is projected to rule the roost by 2032. As large enterprises are adopting agile methodologies and DevOps practices in their software development processes. This shift towards agile development has implications for software localization as well. However, the small and medium-sized enterprises segment would showcase the highest CAGR of 12.6% from 2023 to 2032. This is because SMEs are recognizing the importance of providing a seamless and localized mobile experience to effectively engage with global customers.
Based on offering, the solution segment held the largest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-thirds of the global software localization market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. The advancement of machine translation (MT) technologies, particularly neural machine translation (NMT), has improved translation quality and efficiency. The integration of MT with localization solutions, such as TMS and translation memory tools, drives the adoption of these technologies, leading to their growth in the market. However, the service segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 12.0% from 2023 to 2032. Due to the growing complexity of software applications, LSPs are providing comprehensive localization testing services...
David Correa
Allied Market Research
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https://northeast.newschannelnebraska.com/story/53265004/software-localization-market-reach-usd-156-billion-by-2032
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"Les lauréats du 17e Prix Fu Lei de la traduction et de l'édition ont été dévoilés le 22 novembre à Beijing.
Le prix pour la catégorie "littérature" a été décerné à Huang Hong pour sa traduction de Tous les hommes n'habitent pas le monde de la même façon de Jean-Paul Dubois, publié chez Horizon Media Co. Ltd./Shanghai People's Publishing House.
Dans la catégorie "essai", le prix a été attribué à Wang Su pour sa traduction de La fatigue d'être soi : Dépression et société d'Alain Ehrenberg, paru chez Nanjing University Press.
Le prix pour la catégorie "jeune pousse" a quant à lui été remis à Zhao Tianshu pour sa traduction de L'Homme et le sacré de Roger Caillois, paru chez SDX Joint Publishing Co., Ltd.
Selon l'organisateur de l'événement, un total de 54 œuvres ont concouru à cette édition du Prix Fu Lei, dont 32 dans la catégorie "essai" et 22 dans la catégorie "littérature".
Créé en 2009, le Prix Fu Lei honore chaque année les traductions les plus remarquables du français vers le mandarin, récompensant leur finesse et leur impact dans le monde littéraire intellectuel chinois. Ce prix rend hommage à l'héritage de Fu Lei, traducteur chinois célèbre pour son travail sur les œuvres françaises d'Honoré de Balzac, Romain Rolland, Voltaire et Prosper Mérimée. Fin"
Les lauréats du 17e Prix Fu Lei de la traduction dévoilés à Beijing
French.news.cn | 2025-11-24 à 11:45
BEIJING, 24 novembre (Xinhua) --
http://french.xinhuanet.com/20251124/005aec5fc9f546ca9d216df0e90aacd6/c.html
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One grant will facilitate the adoption of underrepresented languages in new technologies; the other will train students in research methods related to conducting field work in those languages.
"The two-year BCS grant provides $268,000 in funding to create automatic speech recognition systems that can transcribe oral data from Mauritian Creole, spoken predominantly in communities on the island off the west African coast and Guadeloupean and Martiniquan Creole, two languages spoken on islands in the Caribbean.
These tools would replace the time-consuming task of manual transcription, which is largely responsible for their omission from many current devices.
“I call these ‘critical languages’ because we’re talking about data and resources that are absent from what’s being used and developed in all kinds of AI technologies. We have data on European languages, but not for these underrepresented languages. Developing widely accessible tools like speech recognition requires training data from the target language,” says Henri, an expert in contemporary creole linguistics. “For a vast number of the world’s languages, this essential data simply doesn’t exist.”
The OISE grant, a $686,700 project, is an expanded version of a two-year grant Henri previously received. Like its predecessor, the current five-year project is designed specifically for students to gain international research experience. The earlier grant had students working in Guadeloupe, but the current grant will involve five different countries (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Haiti, Mauritius, and Seychelles) and will train both undergraduate and graduate students from across the U.S.
The students will learn how to conduct linguistic fieldwork and will receive instruction on how best to write for publication and conference presentations.
Each year, six U.S. students will conduct research in one of the five countries. Beginning in the summer of 2026, Henri will accompany students to Mauritius, where they’ll spend five weeks with an international team of mentors immersed in the local language. Each student will have an individualized research topic and will be trained in traditional documentary methods and modern computational approaches to create appropriate protocols to collect data related to that topic from native speakers.
As part of the experience, students will participate in the UB Creolist Workshop. Developed by Henri when she arrived at UB in 2020, the workshop brings together scholars from across the U.S. with students to discuss new research in creole linguistics.
“Projects like this provide valuable data while at the same time provide students with experience that can encourage them to continue working with these important underrepresented languages,” says Henri. “My first experience was super successful recruiting students from around the U.S. who later applied to UB.”
It is all work for Henri that is driven by a personal passion. She’s one of those speakers — her native language is Mauritian creole.
“These languages have been and still remain the object of prejudice. People don’t think of them as legitimate languages, a sentiment sometimes expressed by native speakers,” she says. “My goal has always been to demonstrate that these are complete and complex languages, worthy of serious study. Ultimately, they offer a unique window into human cognition.
“These projects can help change the negative perception and raise awareness to the importance of creole languages.”
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https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2025/11/henri-inclusive-language.html
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