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Charles Tiayon
January 19, 10:23 AM
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Study calls for restoring status of humanities in higher education "A recent academic study has called for restoring the central role of the humanities within Oman’s higher education system, describing them as a cornerstone for building a balanced, sustainable knowledge-based economy. The study, authored by Dr. Maryam bint Ali Al-Hanaei, Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication, and Prof. Mohammed bin Ali Al-Balushi, Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Sultan Qaboos University, was published in the Journal of Arabian Studies under the title “Reimagining the Knowledge Economy: A Critical Call to Recentre the Humanities in Omani Higher Education.” The researchers argue that prevailing narratives surrounding the knowledge economy often equate progress and innovation solely with scientific and technological advancement, overlooking the vital contribution of the humanities and social sciences in developing critical thinking, reinforcing ethical values, and preserving cultural identity. The study highlights a disconnect between national strategic frameworks—such as Oman Vision 2040 and the Cultural Strategy 2021–2040, which emphasize identity, culture, and creativity—and the realities of higher education practices that tend to prioritise scientific, technical, and business disciplines. Through an analysis of faculty distribution and student enrolment patterns both inside and outside Oman, the study finds that while the humanities continue to hold a notable presence—particularly in education, community, and cultural fields—their share is gradually declining compared to engineering and technical disciplines, especially among students studying abroad. The researchers stress that recentring the humanities is neither a luxury nor a purely cultural endeavour, but a strategic necessity for sustainable development. They argue that cultivating informed, creative citizens requires ensuring that scientific and technological progress remains aligned with ethical, social, and cultural values. The study calls for education and research policies that foster integration between the humanities and scientific disciplines through interdisciplinary curricula, institutional and research support, and the embedding of humanities-based knowledge within national innovation systems—consistent with Oman’s aspirations for a knowledge society rooted in identity and openness to the world. According to the study, investment in the humanities equips future generations with both technical competence and ethical and cultural awareness, supporting comprehensive and balanced development in the Sultanate. Dr. Al-Hanaei said the research forms part of a broader intellectual project launched in 2022 to reassess the position of the humanities and the knowledge-production system within Omani higher education. She explained that the study presents a methodological critique of neoliberal approaches that frame education primarily as an economic tool measured by profitability rather than human or societal value—an approach that marginalises local and humanistic knowledge and creates ethical and epistemological gaps. She added that academic experience reveals a clear contradiction between the principles of Oman Vision 2040—which stress identity, values, sustainability, and human development—and educational practices that prioritise technical and professional disciplines driven by market logic. This contradiction, she noted, raises fundamental questions about the purpose of education: whether it should merely supply labour-market skills or also nurture critical awareness, cultural belonging, and intellectual responsibility."
https://www.pressreader.com/oman/times-of-oman/20260119/281552297258671
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
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
"The Edwin C. Gentzler Translation Center (GTC) has recently been approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to offer the Interpreters in the Education Setting courses, expanding the commonwealth’s ability to support multilingual families and ensures that school districts utilize well-trained professionals who can provide clear, accurate and culturally responsive communication.
Designed by DESE specifically for interpreters working in K-12 settings, the two courses prepare participants to navigate the multilingual communication needs of public schools, from parent-teacher conferences to specialized meetings. The GTC now offers Tier 2 (Trained Interpreter) and Tier 3 (Advanced Trained Interpreter) DESE-designed courses, along with an abbreviated Tier 2 option for those individuals who have previously completed the GTC-designed and delivered “Interpreter and Translator in Education” (ITE) workshop series. The GTC has offered its ITE series to public school districts and individuals in Massachusetts and beyond since 2020, providing instruction to approximately 820 individuals, and will continue to update and offer these workshop series as they differ from the DESE-designed courses and can be customized.
DESE’s Tier 2 course provides a broad foundation in consecutive interpretation, with an emphasis on how schools function and the interpreter’s role within the education system. The GTC’s ITE builds on a basic interpreting skills foundation with more in-depth training on interpreting skills, practice, and professional decision-making in school settings. DESE’s Tier 3 course provides a broad consecutive interpretation, with some sight and simultaneous interpretation, and delves into how Special Education functions in schools. The GTC’s Interpreting for Special Education Workshop Series (ISE) builds on advanced consecutive interpreting skills, including simultaneous and sight translation, again with more in-depth training on interpreting skills, practice and professional decision-making in school settings.
Overall, the courses provide the tools and training needed for equitable access and to foster stronger family engagement, with the shared goal of student success. The GTC’s approval as a provider of these courses represents an important investment in inclusive communication, educational equity statewide, and deeper public engagement, and adds to the center’s portfolio of educational programming and services for public schools throughout the state.
The GTC welcomes participants with skills in any language to the DESE courses, reflecting the rich linguistic diversity of Massachusetts communities and the GTC network of professionals given the center’s over 40-year history. Prospective participants must take a language assessment before admission to the courses. The center assigns experienced interpretation professionals and educators to teach the DESE courses upon completion of the DESE provider training.
For more information about the DESE courses or the GTC’s own school interpreter and translator programming, please visit the GTC website or email translate@umass.edu."
https://www.umass.edu/news/article/gentzler-translation-center-approved-offer-dese-interpreter-courses
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"“Security Questions” wins Poetry in Translation Prize
Osdany Morales’s Security Questions, translated from the Spanish by Harry Bauld, is the inaugural winner of the Poetry in Translation Prize, co-awarded by Giramondo.
Shortlisted under the translated title of “The Past is a Lonesome Town”, the book was originally published in Spanish in 2015 as El Pasado es un Pueblo Solitario (Almenara Press).
The author and translator first met while working at the same school. “Bauld’s curiosity was piqued by the new hire, a Spanish-speaking novelist and poet, and he found his poems online,” according to organisers. Of the poems, Bauld said, “they spoke to me, I did a translation of one, and by way of introduction and welcome sent it to him. He paid me the compliment of saying how strange it was to ‘hear my own voice in English’.”
Bauld said, “The poems from Security Questions are, on the one hand, a lyric sequence shaped by coming of age in small-town Cuba during the late stages of Fidel Castro’s regime, and on the other a testament of exile and immigration, traces that remain in the wake of forsaking a problematic homeland for the uncertainties of the present.”
Morales said, “Before arriving in the US, I had written only fiction. If it weren’t for this book, it would have taken me much longer to reach the lands of memory. [ … ] At the time, I believed that fiction wasn’t confessional, that only poets had access to that kind of meaning. It was through writing poetry that I realised I carried many memories in literary form – that exile had established a past I could already recount without waiting for old age. Exile and poetry made me look not exactly backward, but inward.”
Judges selected the title from a shortlist of 8, among a total of 259 submissions.
The Poetry in Translation Prize is a “biennial award for an outstanding poetry collection translated into English”, said the organisers. The winners will receive an advance of US$5000 (A$7500) shared equally between the writer and the translator.
The winners are offered simultaneous publication by Giramondo in Australia and New Zealand, New Directions in North America and Fitzcarraldo Editions in the UK and Ireland. Publication is scheduled for early 2027."
Monday, 2 March 2026 @booksandpublishing
https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2026/03/02/324907/security-questions-wins-poetry-in-translation-prize/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"The United States National Science Foundation, a government agency, has opened negotiations with the Israeli Embassy here to secure Israel’s assistance in the evaluation of Soviet scientific achievements, it was learned here today.
Many hundreds of Israeli scholars, learned in science and multi-lingual, would translate a tremendous amount of Soviet technical literature published between 1946 and 1954. Arrangements with Israel are expected to remedy a situation in which American technical libraries are deficient in translations of Russian scientific publications.
U.S. authorities believe that Israel possesses talent which could be quickly organized into a task force to do the massive translation job. Details of the U. S. offer and financial considerations are not yet available. But the American request has been forwarded to the Israel Government in Jerusalem for a decision. A reply is expected shortly.
The National Science Foundation has decided to ask Congress for additional funds to pay for the project in Israel. The approach was made to Israel basically because of the shortage in America of qualified technical experts who can translate scientific Russian papers. America has been deprived of the benefit of much technical information freely published in Russia because of this deficiency.
The National Science Foundation would work with the Israel Embassy. Technical papers would be sent to Israel through Israel Government channels and assigned to scholars there at the discretion of the Israel authorities. When translations are approved, printing of final manuscripts would be done in Israel.
Most of the translation and printing expenses would be covered by the U.S. Government. However, a portion of the cost could be recovered by sale of copies to universities and industrial research institutions.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published."
July 29, 1958
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date👇🏿👇🏿👇🏿
https://www.jta.org/archive/u-s-seeks-israel-aid-in-translating-soviet-technical-literature
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#métaglossie
Excerpts: 'Adinkra symbols carry deep philosophical and cultural meaning. How do you approach translating these symbols into a contemporary sculptural language while honoring their historical and spiritual roots?
I approach Adinkra symbols not as motifs to be reproduced, but as philosophical frameworks—ways of thinking rather than fixed images. Because these symbols are embedded with historical, spiritual, and ethical knowledge, my responsibility is not to illustrate them, but to engage with the values they hold: ideas of protection, balance, endurance, reciprocity, and communal care.
In translating Adinkra into a contemporary sculptural language, I focus on embodiment rather than representation. The symbols often dissolve into structure through the process of building, enclosing, piercing, balancing so that their meaning is felt through material relationships rather than immediately read as iconography. This allows the work to remain open, inviting viewers into reflection rather than instruction.
Honoring their roots also means acknowledging that Adinkra is a living system, not a static past. My own position within the diaspora complicates that relationship; distance and displacement reshape how these philosophies are accessed and understood. The sculptures carry that tension. They do not claim cultural purity or completion, but instead operate as sites of negotiation between inheritance and adaptation, tradition and experimentation.
My goal is to let Adinkra knowledge breathe within contemporary conditions. By working through clay, fiber, wood, and found objects, I create forms that hold spiritual resonance without collapsing into symbolism, forms that honor lineage while insisting that cultural wisdom can continue to evolve, speak, and transform.
With Fihankra opening at the Alfred Ceramic Art Museum and your career continuing to evolve, what feels like the “next level” for you as an artist, and what kinds of conversations or opportunities are you hoping this exhibition will open up?
At this moment, the next level for me is less about scale or visibility and more about deepening my responsibility to the materials I work with, the histories I carry, and the conversations the work enters. Fihankra is up through July 19 2026 and it marks a point of consolidation, where ideas I’ve been circling for years thus, migration, care, instability, and communal memory, come into clearer focus. The next step is allowing these ideas to expand outward through more ambitious installations, public-facing contexts, and cross-disciplinary dialogue.
I see opportunities for collaboration with scholars, historians, architects, and fellow artists, fostering conversations that extend the work beyond the studio and gallery. My upcoming summer 2026 residencies at Wassaic Project and Township 10 will provide the space and time to further explore these intersections, experiment with materials, and develop new bodies of work that continue to examine identity, memory, and community across borders.
Website: https://eugeneagyeiarts.com
https://boldjourney.com/eugene-ofori-agyei-builds-a-language-of-home-memory-and-protection/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Can AI close the language gap in disaster warnings? A federal watchdog raises concerns.
The National Weather Service lacks clear goals and a funding strategy as it attempts to scale AI-powered multilingual alerts, a Government Accountability Office report warns.
The National Weather Service needs to update its plan to implement AI language translation “by following key practices such as setting performance goals and identifying the resources it needs and strategies to address challenges,” a new report from the Government Accountability Office found.
Federal, tribal, state and local authorities “may not have the funding, staff expertise, or other resources needed to create alerts in languages other than English,” the report states. “The need to provide alerts quickly during severe weather events compounds this challenge.”
NWS contracted with a commercial vendor to automatically generate translations for selected weather products in 2022, but that contract lapsed last year. NWS reduced the scope of a revised contract signed in April 2025, as the annual contract amount decreased from about $1 million to $600,000, leaving NWS with “limited ability” to update and improve the translation program, the report states.
Dive Insight:
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced in 2023 that NWS forecasters had been working with commercial vendor Lilt to train AI software for weather, water and climate terminology in Spanish and Simplified Chinese through an effort funded by the House Appropriations Committee.
“By providing weather forecasts and warnings in multiple languages, NWS will improve community and individual readiness and resilience as climate change drives more extreme weather events,” NWS Director Ken Graham said in a statement at the time.
Using AI is less costly than employing human translators and allows NWS to quickly provide information in languages other than English during severe weather events, according to the GAO report. “Officials from two NWS regional offices said AI was the only approach that would allow NWS to provide translations of its weather products effectively in real time,” the report states.
Translating weather products and training AI language models requires significant time and effort, and work force reduction initiatives at NWS have presented a major challenge, the report states.
In March 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the U.S., revoking former President Bill Clinton’s August 2000 executive order directing federal agencies to ensure meaningful access to programs and activities for people with limited English proficiency.
NWS did not request funds for its AI language translation project in fiscal year 2026 because it was awaiting guidance on implementing Trump’s executive order, according to the report. Even so, NWS has developed a plan to expand translation of its weather products.
“NWS faces some challenges with its project using AI to automatically translate some weather products into languages other than English,” the report states. “This experimental project could help reduce risks to public health and safety during extreme weather events.”
The plan “would benefit from updates and additional details,” according to GAO. NWS should establish and communicate measurable performance goals and document resource needs such as funding, workforce and IT, as well as internal and external factors that could affect its ability to achieve its goals and strategies, GAO recommends."
https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/ai-translation-disaster-warnings-NWS-GAO/813470/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Colloque « Occitan, poésie et traduction : approches théoriques et pratique(s) »
Les 6 et 27 novembre 2026
Appel à communications
La question de la traduction poétique de l'occitan est déjà riche d'études critiques nombreuses et diverses. Elle continue inlassablement d’interroger puisqu’elle joue un rôle dans la survie même et la pérennisation d’une littérature minorée. Encore tout récemment Christian Lagarde et Philippe Gardy viennent de rassembler des articles autour du thème « Littérature occitane contemporaine et autotraduction. Une évidence… souvent occultée » à paraître prochainement dans la revue Plumas.
La traduction poétique peut parfois même tendre à devenir un pan autonome de l'activité contemporaine dans la production poétique en occitan (ainsi, la rubrique "Convidat" de la revue OC a pu servir à la découverte de poètes majeurs en France au-delà de l'occitan, mais grâce à lui (on pense à Gabriel Mwènè Okoundji d’abord publié dans OC, et dont la reconnaissance a notamment abouti à son entrée cette année dans la collection Poésie/Gallimard).
La spécificité de ce colloque tient à ce qu'il sera centré sur le croisement des théories et des pratiques de la traduction : jusqu'où le traducteur décide-t-il de s'imposer des contraintes formelles pour son texte-cible, quelles contraintes issues du texte-source retient-il et lesquelles écarte-t-il?
L'appel à communication ne partira pas du principe que l'occitan est la langue source, elle pourra être envisagée comme la langue cible et dès lors les contraintes formelles de traduction se poseront différemment.
Le colloque mettra également l'accent sur les implications formelles de l'autre langue (qu'elle soit source ou cible) : traduire de l'occitan vers l'anglais n'implique pas les mêmes questionnements que le processus l'inverse ni que vers où à partir du finnois, du français, du créole haïtien, de l'ossète ou du turc.
Le traducteur choisit-il de mettre en application une approche théorique de la traduction, avec des modèles identifiés (par exemple H. Meschonic « Poétique du traduire », ou encore Greimas avec « Pour une théorie du discours poétique »), ou au contraire une approche résolument intuitive et empirique mais basée sur une connaissance intime du détail de la langue de l'auteur, de sa culture et d'une pratique continue de l’exercice de traduction (exemple d’André Markowicz)?
Cette liberté fait que le colloque ne se veut pas un colloque de traductologie, mais de réflexion dans un continuum théorie/praxis de la traduction où le communicant pourra placer librement son curseur.
Nous ne prendrons pas en compte les communications concernant les traductions d'auteur et nous nous concentrerons sur le travail du traducteur devant l'altérité poétique et identitaire.
—
Le colloque se tiendra à l'Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3 sur le site Saint-Charles.
Les projets de communications sont à envoyer avant le mardi 30 juin 2026 à l'adresse suivante : laurent.alibert@univ-montp3.fr
—
Conseil scientifique du colloque (en cours d'élaboration):
Xavier Bach (Université de Toulouse 2 – Jean Jaurès)
Sylvain Chabaud (Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3)
Frédéric Figeac (Poète, traducteur,directeur de la Revue OC)
Jean-Claude Forêt (Ecrivain, traducteur, éditeur – éditions Jorn)
Christian Lagarde (Université de Perpignan, UPVD)
Hervé Lieutard, (Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3)
Claire Torreilles (Laboratoire RéSO - UPVM)
Gilda Russo (Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3).
Responsable :
Laurent Alibert
Adresse :
Université Paul Valéry-Montpellier 3"
https://www.fabula.org/actualites/133037/occitan-poesie-et-traduction-approches-theoriques-et-pratique-s.html
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#metaglossia_mundus
"On Translating Fatemeh Shams
Confronted by the eventuality of becoming, herself, a translated subject, Shams makes translation itself her subject.
Translation, from Latin for “carried across,” refers not just to the conceptual transfer between languages, but also to a physical transfer from place to place. In these poems, the Persian poet Fatemeh Shams, who has lived outside of her native Iran for almost two decades, wrestles with what it means to write in exile, always in anticipation of having her work translated—to write, in other words, out of physical displacement toward linguistic displacement. Confronted by the eventuality of becoming, herself, a translated subject, Shams makes translation itself her subject.
In “Fatemeh,” exile “translates” the poet by reinterpreting the meaning of her name. The poet revisits the scene of her own birth, as her mother and father consider what name to give their newborn daughter. The names that her mother prefers are associated with resistance and revolution in Iran. “Laleh,” or tulip, is especially resonant as a symbol of resistance used by Guerilla Movement poets of the seventies who were writing against political oppression. Her mother’s preferences are set aside, however, when her father pulls out his Koran and chooses the traditional, Islamic “Fatemeh.” Celebrated as the name of the daughter of the prophet Mohammad, “Fatemeh” has its origins in the Arabic "F-Ṭ-M" (ف-ط-م), meaning “to separate, wean, cut something from another thing.” Thus, a name given to commemorate ties to state-sanctioned culture and religion also comes to mark Shams’s separation from her native country, and from her parents, as the dislocation of exile brings the name closer to its original meaning: "She who is separated...like a name from other names.”
Armen Davoudian is the author of The Palace of Forty Pillars (Tin House, 2024), and the translator, from Persian, of Hopscotch by Fatemeh Shams (Ugly Duckling Pre)
By Armen Davoudian
Originally Published: March 02, 2026
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/articles/1771677/on-translating-fatemeh-shams
#Metaglossia
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#métaglossie
"Canon Jonas Allooloo, former dean of St. Jude’s Cathedral in Iqaluit, Nunavut and a key member of the translation team that created the first Inuktitut Bible, died Feb. 23 in Ottawa at the age of 79.
Friends, family and colleagues in the diocese of the Arctic and beyond mourned the loss of Allooloo, remembering him as a much-loved priest, teacher and translator over more than 40 years of service in parish ministry and the life of the church.
“Jonas’ ministry was marked by love for God, his people, and the rich culture of the Arctic,” the diocese said in an obituary. “He faced challenges with humility, grace, and a hearty laugh and bright smile. His work in obedience to his calling from Almighty God will continue to strengthen generations of parishioners and clergy, and his contributions to Indigenous ministry and biblical translation leave a lasting legacy.”
David Parsons, retired diocesan bishop of the Arctic, described Allooloo as “our blessed and beloved brother … Jonas was a very bright light within the institution, but greater than that, Jonas was a faithful, consistent light and voice within the entire Christian family.”
Born in 1946 in the Inuit hamlet of Igloolik, Allooloo grew up in a camp near Pond Inlet on Baffin Island. His father was a Christian leader who led worship services out on the land. As a child, Allooloo attended residential school in Churchill, Manitoba.
As a young man, he studied at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, where Allooloo experienced what he believed to be a call from God to return to the North and minister to his fellow Inuit. He was ordained in the mid-1970s and subsequently worked in parish ministry for decades, eventually serving as dean of St. Jude’s Cathedral from 2012 until his 2018 retirement.
Translation projects were a major focus of Allooloo’s life and ministry—particularly translating the Bible into his native language of Inuktitut, a massive endeavour that began in 1978 and took 34 years. Allooloo was part of a team of four translators that also included Bishop Benjamin Arreak, Bishop Andrew Atagotaak and the Rev. Joshua Arreak, working with translators from the Canadian Bible Society.
The team published the New Testament in 1991 and finally published a complete Bible in Inuktitut, including the Old Testament, in 2012. In a report to the 2013 Joint Assembly of the Anglican Church of Canada and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, Allooloo said Inuit Christians reacted with joy to the Inuktitut Bible, with 2,000 leather-bound copies selling out on the first day. “It has been a privilege for me to do this for my people,” he said at the time.
Those who knew Allooloo recalled him as hard-working and driven in his translation projects. His nephew, the Rev. Caleb Sangoya, rector of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church in Pond Inlet until his retirement in 2021, says Allooloo would consult family and friends regarding translations, drawing on their knowledge of different Inuktitut dialects when a word was difficult to translate.
“He was an honest person, humble,” Sangoya says. “The people fully trusted him when he translated, as well as [with] spiritual growth …He had a special gift … He [knew] quite a bit about Inuit languages.”
Bishop Jared Osborn, suffragan bishop for the diocese of the Arctic, worked with Allooloo at St. Jude’s Cathedral while serving as a deacon and assistant priest. The cathedral offered worship services in both English and Inuktitut, with Allooloo preaching in the appropriate language at each.
“Sometimes we’d have bilingual services that were a joint service, and he would preach in both languages,” Osborn says. “He’d just say some things in Inuktitut and then he’d interpret them on his own into English, and go back and forth that way.”
Even after completing the Inuktitut Bible in 2012, Allooloo continued to work on updates, correcting errors and refining the translation in response to feedback.
Allooloo worked on a children’s Bible in Inuktitut featuring simplified versions of Bible stories for kids, which Anglican congregations have distributed in the North, Osborn says. He also translated internal materials for the diocese.
“The thing that Jonas really loved the most was the translation work,” Osborn says. “It’s something that he did for decades. He just always loved to keep working on that. When projects were finished, he was looking for new projects. ‘What else needs to be translated? What else can we do to get the word of God into the hands of Inuit people?’
“Even when he came to Iqaluit as the dean, he had a lot of responsibilities, but he still managed to keep working on those projects as much as he could. Into retirement, he also kept working on that translation work pretty much right up to the end.”
Two years after Allooloo retired as dean, he and his wife Meena found themselves homeless, unable to find affordable housing. An outpouring of support followed reporting in the Anglican Journal about his plight and the larger housing crisis in the North, with parishes raising money that allowed the couple to move into a small one-bedroom apartment in Iqaluit.
That network of care was one result of the close relationships Allooloo developed with colleagues and residents in the communities where his ministry brought him.
“He was always very gentle … He definitely served as a mentor to me and to my wife, Rebecca, as we were new in the Arctic and just trying to figure things out about the culture and the lifestyle and the church up here,” Osborn said.
Allooloo, he said, would be remembered as “a man of God, as a faithful pastor, as somebody that dedicated so much of his life to the work of ministry and to translation … People in [many] communities remember Jonas and ask about how he was doing. He was well-known and well-loved all across our diocese.”"
Matthew Puddister
Published March 2, 2026
https://anglicanjournal.com/jonas-allooloo-key-translator-of-first-inuktitut-bible-dead-at-79/
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"You don't have to completely stop working in the lead-up to retirement. In fact, it's a good idea to have a flexible, part-time job to help boost your monthly cash flow and keep your mind and body engaged. It's also a great way to lower your financial stress as you get ready to retire, as you'll still have income coming in, reducing the need to draw down your other accounts.
Here are part-time jobs that pay $2,500 a month or more on average that are perfect for semi-retirement.
Excerpts
Editor's note: Salary information comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
4. Interpreter/translator
Median hourly pay: $28.58
Being fluent in multiple languages opens the door to interpreter and translator work, combining real-time spoken translation with written projects. Freelance and contract work is very common, offering schedule flexibility. Work includes accurately conveying meaning across languages, maintaining confidentiality, and understanding cultural nuances.
A bachelor's degree is typical, though native fluency in at least two languages is the most important qualification. Certification can also improve job prospects.
5. Graphic designer
Median hourly pay: $29.47
As a graphic designer, you'll create visual concepts for marketing materials, websites, logos, and publications using computer software or by hand. Many designers work freelance or on contract, offering excellent flexibility for part-time schedules. Daily tasks include meeting with clients, developing design concepts, presenting mockups, and refining final products.
While many employers prefer a bachelor's degree, a strong portfolio demonstrating skills is often the determining factor, especially for freelance or part-time work...
8. Technical writer
Median hourly pay: $44.07
Technical writers turn complex information into clear manuals, guides, articles, and other documentation. Many freelance or contract roles offer strong flexibility for part-time work.
The job typically includes research, collaborating with subject matter experts, writing and editing content, and occasionally creating visuals. Employers look for technical expertise, strong writing skills, and a solid portfolio.
9. Web developer
Median hourly pay: $45.85
As a web developer, you'll design and build websites, handling both visual appearance and technical functionality in addition to maintenance. Freelance and contract opportunities are abundant, making this ideal for flexible part-time work. Responsibilities include writing code, testing site functionality, troubleshooting issues, protecting the site from cyberattacks, and updating content.
While many employers prefer a bachelor's degree in computer science, many developers enter the field through boot camps, associate degrees, or self-study with a strong portfolio...
https://www.aol.com/articles/10-part-time-jobs-pay-171400825.html
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Indigenous Languages and Pedagogy in Post-Secondary Contexts, a FREE one-day conference hosted by CNAIS on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. This gathering will focus on how to best deliver Indigenous language instruction for post-secondary learners, with primary attention to college and university contexts and secondary consideration of adult learning more broadly.
"You are warmly invited to attend Indigenous Languages and Pedagogy in Post-Secondary Contexts, a FREE one-day conference hosted by CNAIS on Wednesday, March 4, 2026. Attached are event flyers and session descriptions.
This gathering will focus on how to best deliver Indigenous language instruction for post-secondary learners, with primary attention to college and university contexts and secondary consideration of adult learning more broadly. The conference will include:
Exploration of existing curricular programs and teaching materials
Discussion of multi-campus teaching models
Strategies for hybrid and shared-course modalities
Approaches to expanding access so students at multiple institutions can enroll in Indigenous language courses offered by a single host institution
When: Wednesday, March 4, 9:30am–4:00pm
Where: University Memorial Center UMC Room 247, 1669 Euclid Ave, Boulder, CO 80309
Format: In-person, with a hybrid option available via Zoom
Zoom link: https://cuboulder.zoom.us/j/99190488322
Cost: Free (no registration required)
We hope you will join us for a day centered on strengthening Indigenous language teaching and learning in post-secondary spaces.
Please feel free to share this invitation with students, staff, faculty, and networks who may be interested.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Session Descriptions:
9:30 am Opening Remarks
9:45 am - Keynote Presentation
Melvatha R. Chee, University of New Mexico: Administrative Considerations for Diné Language Curriculum Development at the University of New Mexico
Developing a curriculum for Diné language instruction at the University of New Mexico *UNM) is challenging and a much larger task than originally anticipated. This talk will discuss the challenges we deal with and how we have decided to address them. For the first time, we can advance Diné language instruction at UNM where our course design addresses Diné language instruction for post-secondary education. To achieve our goal of high-quality, post-secondary language instruction with an emphasis on oral expression and comprehension of cultural knowledge, a team unified in all aspects of this work is necessary.
Lorraine Begay Manavi, University of New Mexico: Reclaiming Our Language, One Verb at a Time: Navajo Curriculum Development at UNM
Abstract: Traditional approaches to teaching Diné Bizaad have often emphasized memorization of isolated vocabulary, particularly nouns. At the University of New Mexico, a team of Diné scholars has reimagined Navajo language instruction through a verb-centered curriculum that reflects the structure and worldview of the language itself. This curriculum scaffolds learning from beginning to advanced levels by centering verbs and their modes, emphasizing functional high- and low-frequency constructions in context to support meaningful communication and long-term speaker development.
1:00 pm Afternoon Session #1
Ambrocio Gutierrez Lorenzo, Raichle Farrelly, University of Colorado: and Angélica Morales-Santiago, Mixtec, Oaxaca, Mexico: New perspectives for teaching Indigenous languages in Mexico: the case of Mixtec and Zapotec
This panel will discuss the teaching of Mixtec and Zapotec (Otomanguean languages) with heritage and non-heritage speakers. We will focus on the experience on informal class sessions and a global seminar experience to highlight the need of a curriculum that incorporates grammar, culture, and contextual activities. We also argue that material design and development to support educators and learners in and outside the classroom are key to this curriculum so these tasks must be addressed at every curriculum design stage to appropriately complement the learning process.
2:30 pm Afternoon Session #2
Teaching Quechua and Guaraní in Higher Education, Communities and Across Borders
Panelist:
Marcia Mandepora Chundary, Guaraní, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno in Bolivia
Mary Loayza Puga, Quechua, Comunidad Rimanakuy and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Doris Loayza, Quechua, University of Colorado
This panel explores how Quechua and Guaraní are taught across different regions and educational settings: from public universities in Bolivia, to private and community-based programs in Peru, and university and diaspora communities in the United States. Drawing on their teaching experiences, the presenters discuss how different learners bring distinct needs and motivations, and how they've adapted their teaching methodologies and materials in response. National policies can also shape these differences—for example, Indigenous languages fulfill university language requirements in Bolivia, whereas in Peru, they do not. Across these contexts, however, instructors face shared challenges, including limited materials and uneven institutional support. The panelists will discuss how they have navigated some of these challenges.
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Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies (CNAIS)
1330 Grandview Ave.
491 UCB
Boulder, CO 80309
Email: cnais@colorado.edu
Phone: 303-735-4595
The Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies at CU Boulder acknowledges that the University sits upon land within the territories of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho peoples. Further, we acknowledge that 48 contemporary tribal nations are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado."
Published:2/28/2026 2/28/2026
https://www.colorado.edu/cnais/2026/02/28/indigenous-languages-and-pedagogy-post-secondary-contexts
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"Pour ceux qui ont regardé le célèbre film ''Black Panther'', une scène avait marqué certains esprits. Dans cette production cinématographique, on voit que le Wakanda, cette puissance imaginaire utilise une forme d'écriture jusque-là inconnue du grand public.
Depuis, beaucoup ont cherché à en savoir davantage sur le nsibidi, ce système graphique africain qui apparaît dans le film du réalisateur américain.
Originaire du Nigeria, le nsibidi fait partie des écritures anciennes du continent, dont l'existence remonte à bien avant les premiers contacts avec les Européens.
Dans cet article, nous vous proposons de redécouvrir cinq anciennes écritures africaines, des alphabets et systèmes symboliques endogènes. Nous explorerons leur rôle social et spirituel, ainsi que la manière dont ces formes d'écriture inspirent aujourd'hui artistes, linguistes et créateurs du continent.
Une plongée dans un patrimoine graphique qui bouscule les idées reçues sur l'histoire de l'écriture, et sur une Afrique trop souvent décrite comme un continent exclusivement tourné vers l'oralité.
Pendant longtemps, on a appris à l'école que la civilisation orale africaine constituait le seul système ancestral de transmission des savoirs, de l'histoire et des valeurs morales. Selon cette idée reçue, les peuples africains n'auraient découvert l'écriture qu'à partir de leur contact avec les Européens et l'alphabet latin.
En réalité, de l'Éthiopie à l'est jusqu'au Liberia à l'ouest, des recherches menées depuis plusieurs décennies ont mis au jour des systèmes d'écriture endogènes, développés par des peuples autochtones sans influence extérieure.
Si le cas des hiéroglyphes de l'Égypte ancienne ne fait plus débat, cet article s'intéresse à d'autres formes d'écriture — graphiques, symboliques ou phonétiques — telles que le tifinagh des Touaregs, le nsibidi du Nigeria et du Cameroun, le Vai du Liberia et de la Sierra Leone, ou encore les Adinkra du Ghana.
Ces différents systèmes constituent des preuves matérielles d'une longue tradition de communication écrite chez plusieurs peuples du continent.
Augustin Ndione, Directeur de recherches assimilé en linguistique au Centre de linguistique de Dakar (CLAD) à l'Université Cheikh Anta Diop — et chercheur associé au Laboratoire ligérien de linguistique (UMR 7270, CNRS, Université de Tours) — tient à rétablir les faits :
« C'est une idée reçue, totalement fausse, de croire que les Africains ont découvert l'écriture avec l'arrivée des Européens. »
Selon le linguiste, les premiers écrits produits en Afrique sur des langues africaines et par des Africains n'étaient pas rédigés en caractères latins, mais dans d'autres systèmes graphiques.
Dans plusieurs régions du continent, les recherches ont révélé une diversité de systèmes d'écriture, adaptés aux cultures et aux environnements des peuples qui les ont créés.
Qu'elles soient idéographiques (représentant des idées), syllabiques (représentant des syllabes) ou alphabétiques, ces formes d'écriture témoignent de l'existence, dans de nombreuses sociétés africaines, d'une longue et riche tradition de communication écrite, bien antérieure à la colonisation européenne.
Rôle social, culturel et spirituel de ces écritures africaines
Les différentes écritures anciennes africaines présentaient une grande diversité dans leurs usages, estime le linguiste sénégalais.
« Quand on regarde le contenu de ces textes-là, on se rend compte qu'il existait, par exemple, une transmission historique, avec des généalogies et des éloges funèbres », explique Augustin Ndione.
« On y retrouvait également des poèmes, des polémiques, des contestations, des biographies, des éloges funèbres, des généalogies ou encore des textes à vocation talismanique », poursuit-il.
Selon lui, ces textes ont joué pendant longtemps un rôle social important, car ils ont permis des formes d'échanges culturels au sein des sociétés concernées. Le chercheur en linguistique précise qu'il existait également des manuels médicaux, des journaux familiaux et des documents de transactions commerciales.
Au Nigeria, par exemple, le nsibidi est utilisé dans la décoration murale et sur certains objets de la vie quotidienne tels que les calebasses, les épées ou les ustensiles métalliques. Il existerait même une version sacrée de cette écriture, employée par la société secrète appelée Ngbe ou Egbo, présente dans la région de Cross River où ce système graphique a été identifié.
Les motifs Adinkra, un système d'écriture symbolique originaire du Ghana, sont souvent utilisés sur les textiles. On les retrouve désormais de plus en plus dans l'architecture moderne : bâtiments publics, monuments, façades décorées. Il n'est pas rare, dans ce pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest, de voir des édifices contemporains arborer ces symboles ancestraux.
Quant au tifinagh berbère, ses caractères servent à décorer les bijoux des femmes et les armes des hommes, ainsi qu'à écrire de courts textes ou des poèmes d'amour. Dans la culture touareg, le tifinagh fonctionne également comme un code dans différentes situations : jeux d'enfants, messages entre amoureux, pratiques pédagogiques, etc.
Sources inspirantes pour les acteurs culturels et les chercheurs
Que ce soient des vêtements, des objets d'arts, des décorations murales, ces formes d'écriture reviennent en force auprès des créateurs africains.
L'utilisation de ces écritures dans les créations artistiques que ce soit à travers les objets d'art, les productions cinématographique, le textile tout cela constitue un retour vers l'authenticité selon Augustin NDIONE.
''Aujourd'hui, c'est une forme de dynamique de ressources, de retour vers les sources, vers l'authenticité, vers quelque chose qui semble être propre à une communauté'' dit-il.
''C'est quelque chose qui semble être une logique de réappropriation de son histoire'', estime-t-il.
''C'est une réappropriation de l'histoire dans le sens où on montre quelque part quelque chose qui est une richesse aujourd'hui perdue et qu'il faut la retrouver, que les Africains ont su écrire il y a deux, trois siècles en utilisant les caractères qui leurs sont propres''.
Le fait que ces designers, architectes, artisans utilisent ces symboles contribue à promouvoir non seulement l'identité culturelle et une fierté africaine mais cela participe à la construction d'une identité nationale a t-il poursuivi.
Voici cinq systèmes d'écritures anciens africains parmi tant d'autres qui ont existé bien avant le contact avec les européens.
Nsibidi du Nigeria
Il a retrouvé un regain de popularité après son apparition dans le film Black Panther. Le Nsibidi est une écriture ancienne originaire du Nigeria. Il daterait des IVᵉ‑Vᵉ siècles, donc bien avant les premiers contacts avec les Européens. Il s'agit d'un système pictographique et idéographique, né dans la région du Cross River, où les plus anciennes traces ont été découvertes sur un site archéologique situé au centre de Calabar.
Les symboles Nsibidi représentent des concepts tels que l'amour, la guerre, le jugement, la fertilité, etc. Cette capacité à condenser des idées complexes en signes graphiques en fait un langage visuel d'une grande profondeur.
Historiquement, les symboles Nsibidi étaient principalement utilisés par les sociétés secrètes Ekpe, des confréries qui régulaient la vie sociale, politique et spirituelle des communautés Efik, Ibibio, Igbo et Ekoi.
La transmission du Nsibidi obéissait à un parcours initiatique rigoureux.
Les néophytes débutaient par les signes publics — ceux visibles sur les tissus, les poteries ou les murs. Puis, au fur et à mesure de leur ascension dans la hiérarchie, ils accédaient aux symboles ésotériques, réservés aux rituels, aux jugements secrets et aux délibérations des sociétés initiatiques.
L'existence de ce système d'écriture est mentionnée par des missionnaires britanniques au début du XXᵉ siècle. En 1904, Thomas Doveton Maxwell, commissaire de district à Calabar, en publie la première description. Le révérend J. K. MacGregor rapporte ensuite 24 signes traduits en 1909, suivi en 1911 par Elphinstone Dayrell (lui aussi commissaire de district), puis en 1912 par le botaniste et anthropologue Percy Amaury Talbot.
Vai du Liberia
C'est au Liberia, dans ce petit pays d'Afrique de l'Ouest — ou plus précisément dans une zone géographique et culturelle située entre le Liberia et la Sierra Leone — que le syllabaire Vai a vu le jour entre 1833 et 1836.
L'écriture Vai, l'une des plus anciennes et des plus pérennes du continent, s'est diffusée au Liberia et en Sierra Leone. Elle aurait été créée par Momolu Duwalu Bukele.
Le système Vai est un syllabaire, c'est‑à‑dire un ensemble de signes représentant les syllabes et morphèmes de la langue Vai, une langue mandée parlée par plusieurs centaines de milliers de personnes en Afrique de l'Ouest.
Dans sa forme standard actuelle, l'écriture Vai compte environ 212 caractères et s'écrit de gauche à droite.
Tifinagh berbère
Le tifinagh est un système d'écriture associé aux communautés berbères. Né en Afrique du Nord, cet ancien alphabet est utilisé jusqu'à nos jours.
Connu depuis l'Antiquité, son aire géographique s'est considérablement réduite au fil du temps. L'ancien tifinagh — parfois appelé libyque — s'étendait autrefois d'un territoire allant de la Méditerranée jusqu'au sud du Niger, et des îles Canaries jusqu'à l'oasis de Siwa, en Égypte.
Ce système d'écriture a été principalement préservé par les Touaregs, qui, pendant des siècles, en ont assuré la transmission et l'usage.
Après une longue histoire, cette écriture a fait l'objet d'une modernisation, notamment au Maroc, où une version adaptée a été adoptée pour un usage contemporain. Certains signes traditionnels — notamment les caractères composés de points — ont été remplacés ou simplifiés, donnant naissance à l'alphabet néo‑tifinagh.
Le Lybico-Berbère
Née il y a près de 2 000 ans en Afrique du Nord, et probablement développée par les Berbères, cette écriture plonge ses racines dans les traditions graphiques égyptiennes et phéniciennes.
Le libyco-berbère est un système d'écriture utilisé pour transcrire les langues indigènes de l'Afrique nord‑occidentale — des îles Canaries à la Libye actuelle — durant l'Antiquité. Il s'agit d'un alphabet consonantique (ou abjad), à l'exception d'un signe permettant de marquer certaines voyelles en fin de mot.
L'écriture libyco‑berbère est tombée en désuétude avant l'arrivée des Arabes dans la région. Cependant, une variante saharienne a survécu et a donné naissance à diverses formes de tifinagh, utilisées par les Berbères et, plus particulièrement, par certains groupes touaregs.
Adinkra-Ghana
C'est au Ghana, au sein des peuples Akan — présents principalement dans ce pays et en Côte d'Ivoire — que sont nés les symboles Adinkra. Les caractères de ce système graphique comptent parmi les trésors culturels les plus durables de l'Afrique de l'Ouest.
Les symboles Adinkra constituent un langage visuel porteur de philosophie, de spiritualité et de valeurs sociales.
Autrefois utilisés principalement sur les vêtements portés lors des funérailles, ils se retrouvent aujourd'hui dans l'architecture, la décoration, la mode et l'économie créative au Ghana et dans toute l'Afrique de l'Ouest.
De nombreux créateurs — designers, artistes et artisans — utilisent désormais ces symboles sur des vêtements, des bijoux, mais aussi sur des objets de poterie et d'artisanat."
Abdou Aziz Diédhiou
BBC News Afrique
27 février 2026 https://share.google/51552aLWUFPmemCOw
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An international team proposes replacing Hockett’s feature checklist with a model of language as a dynamic, multimodal, and socially evolving system.
"The End of Language As We Know It? Scientists Challenge 60 Years of Linguistic Research
A new interdisciplinary study argues that one of linguistics’ most influential frameworks needs a major update. Drawing on research in sign languages, animal communication, cultural evolution, and artificial intelligence, the authors challenge the idea of language as a static set of uniquely human design features.
An international team proposes replacing Hockett’s feature checklist with a model of language as a dynamic, multimodal, and socially evolving system.
For more than sixty years, Charles Hockett’s ‘design features’ have been widely used as a framework for defining what distinguishes human language from other forms of communication. These features were long treated as a checklist of properties that set language apart.
However, a new study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences argues that this traditional view is no longer sufficient. The researchers contend that language cannot be captured by a fixed inventory of traits, but is better understood as a flexible system shaped by social interaction, situational context, and human creativity.
Paradigm shift for language science
In a new reassessment of Hockett’s classic “design features” of language—ideas such as arbitrariness, duality of patterning, and displacement—an international team of linguists and cognitive scientists argues that current research requires a fundamental rethink of what language is and how it evolved.
Their central claim is clear: language is not merely a spoken code. Instead, it is a dynamic, multimodal, socially grounded system shaped through interaction, culture, and shared meaning.
Over the last several decades, scientific discoveries have dramatically expanded our understanding of communication. Language is no longer viewed as something confined to speech. Sign languages used by deaf communities are fully developed linguistic systems, and tactile systems such as Protactile—used by DeafBlind signers in the northwest USA—demonstrate that language can also be conveyed through touch.
Research has also reshaped views of animal communication. Dolphins use distinctive signature whistles, birds produce songs with syntax-like organization, and apes communicate intentionally through context-sensitive gestures. At the same time, the emergence of generative AI has raised new questions about whether language is limited to biological minds at all.
“This isn’t about discarding Hockett,” says Dr. Michael Pleyer, lead author and researcher at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. “It’s about updating him. His framework was revolutionary in 1960 – but science has moved on. Today, we see that features once thought uniquely human—like productivity (the ability to create an infinite number of sentences), displacement (the ability to talk about things not in the here and now), and even recursive structure (the ability to embed sentences within sentences)—are also found to some extent in animal communication. The real story isn’t about what separates us from other species. It’s about how language, in all its complexity, connects us.”
The interdisciplinary team Pleyer, Perlman, Lupyan, de Reus, and Raviv (2025) proposes a new direction for language science. Rather than treating language as a checklist of defining traits, they describe it as a living, adaptive system shaped by multimodality, social interaction, and cultural evolution.
Credit: Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Beyond the List: A New Vision of Language
The researchers highlight three major developments that are reshaping linguistic theory and moving it beyond a static feature list.
1. Multimodality and semiotic diversity
Language is not restricted to spoken words. Signed languages function on equal footing with spoken languages, and gestures and facial expressions are integral to everyday communication rather than secondary additions. Furthermore, language is not purely arbitrary.
Iconicity—where form resembles meaning—plays an essential role. Examples include imitative gestures, sound-symbolic words such as ‘buzz’ and ‘crash’, a stretched pronunciation like ‘slooooow’, and even emoji in digital text. This flexibility allows humans to transform almost any behavior into a communicative signal.
2. Language as social and functional
Communication is not simply the transfer of coded information. It involves people building shared meaning within specific contexts. A phrase such as ‘Isn’t that Tom’s bike?’ might signal ‘Let’s meet here’ or ‘Let’s avoid this place,’ depending on shared history and relationships.
Language also conveys identity, sometimes unintentionally, through features such as accent or dialect. It can foster solidarity or create distance. At the same time, language influences cognition; for instance, acquiring a new color term can sharpen a person’s ability to distinguish shades.
3. Language as an adaptive, evolving system
Key properties of language, including productivity and compositional structure, do not simply exist in isolation. They emerge through repeated social interaction and cultural transmission across different timescales, from moment-to-moment exchanges to changes unfolding across generations.
Languages adapt to their social environments, and variations in community structure contribute to the remarkable diversity seen across the world’s languages.
Societal relevance
These insights arrive at a time of major change. Sign languages are increasingly recognized as fully complex languages equal to spoken ones. Animal communication research continues to reveal structured signaling systems involving context, intention, and innovation across birds, dolphins, primates, and even insects. Meanwhile, generative AI systems challenge assumptions about who or what can produce language.
Co-author Dr. Marcus Perlman from the University of Birmingham explains, “The last few decades have been an exciting time for linguistics, especially for those of us interested in the origins of human language. Language scientists today know about lots of stuff that was mostly obscure to scientists back then – for example, huge advances in our understanding of sign languages and now tactile signing systems, and recently, the advent of large language models like ChatGPT. It makes sense that linguistic theory would require a major update.”
The study also carries clear implications for society and education. In particular, it:
Questions traditional textbook accounts that reduce language to spoken words.
Recognizes sign languages and non-speech forms of communication as fully legitimate linguistic systems, supporting greater inclusion and equity.
Provides teachers and educators with an updated framework for discussing language evolution, communication, and cognition in the classroom.
“Language is not a static thing,” adds senior author Dr. Limor Raviv from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics. “It’s a dynamic, embodied, and deeply social act, which is flexible in form, function, and evolution. When we accept that, we see not just what makes us human—but how we are in fact connected to the wider story of animal communication.”
About the study
The research draws together decades of work from linguistics, cognitive science, animal behavior, and neuroscience. It builds on prior analyses, including a 2022 study showing that Hockett’s design features continue to dominate introductory textbooks, even though growing empirical evidence suggests they no longer provide a complete account of language."
By Max Planck Institute for PsycholinguisticsFebruary 26, 2026
https://scitechdaily.com/the-end-of-language-as-we-know-it-scientists-challenge-60-years-of-linguistic-research/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Marshall University will present a discussion with Megan McDowell, “At the Limits of Language: Creativity in Translational Problems,” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5, in the Drinko Library Atrium, which is located on the library’s third floor. It is free and open to all.
McDowell has translated works of many important Latin American writers working today, including Samanta Schweblin, Mariana Enriquez, and Alejandro Zambra.
Her translations have won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, the English PEN award, the Premio Valle-Inclán, and two O. Henry Prizes, and have been nominated for the International Booker Prize (four times) and the Kirkus Prize. Her short story translations have been featured in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, The New York Times Magazine, Tin House, McSweeney’s, and Granta, among others. In 2020 she won an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
She is from Richmond, Kentucky, and lives in Santiago, Chile.
“Megan is one of the most highly regarded translators of Latin American literature working today,” said Daniel O’Malley, associate professor of English and co-director of the Herd Humanities program. “She’s responsible for making so many acclaimed, innovative, exciting contemporary voices available in English. For me personally, seeing her name on a book works like an endorsement or a seal of approval — if Megan finds this writer compelling, then absolutely they are worth your time.
“It can feel daunting sometimes to navigate the world of literature beyond your own native language, so having Megan talk about that experience is sure to be insightful.”
All are welcome to her presentation, which is sponsored by Herd Humanities, The John Deaver Drinko Academy, Marshall Libraries, and The Honors College at Marshall University.
“For our students, this is a wonderful opportunity to hear from someone who is not only an internationally acclaimed translator but also a native of Appalachia,” O’Malley said. “She has the experience to help students — or anyone — see ways to build a life around their passions for language and literature.”"
https://www.marshall.edu/news/2026/02/marshall-to-host-literary-translator-megan-mcdowell/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"The planned transition to full Latvian-language education in all Latvian schools is being hindered by a shortage of suitably qualified specialist teachers, reports Latvian Radio.
Both the state and local governments have allocated additional funding for the transition to Latvian-only instruction, for example, for individual work with students whose Latvian needs to be improved. Data shows that schools have not been able to spend the allocated money because there is a lack of specialists to hire.
From the autumn of 2023, classes 1, 4, and 7 switched to teaching only in Latvian, which is the only official state language in Latvia. A year later, classes 2, 5, and 8 followed, and a year later, classes 3, 6, and 9 followed. Obviously, subjects such as modern languages can still be taught in the relevant languages, but in other subjects the switch to Latvian-only was a large undertaking for so-called 'minority' schools which previously taught core curriculum subjects in other languages – most commonly Russian.
Since the transition to a unified system began, the state has allocated an additional three to four million euros to schools every year. In the last school year, the state transferred more than 3.3 million euros to local governments so that they could pay teachers and support specialists additionally for their work in classes where students have different levels of knowledge of the state language. However, around a quarter of that amount – almost 800 thousand euros – remain unused.
Rolands Ozols, Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science, said: "[Schools] were able to attract speech therapists, they were able to attract teaching assistants to work, they were able to attract and use funding for extended day groups. What we see in practice is that the percentage of funding attracted is on average between 60% and 70%. We have to take into account that there are very large vacancies for support staff even now."
Ozols admitted that the money is not being spent because there is a lack of suitable specialists.
School principals confirm Ozols' statement. Principal of Riga Secondary School No. 40, Jelena Vediščeva, said:
"In the first year, we only managed to spend 30% of it. It really was because the first year was the hardest to attract support staff. And this year, we have spent practically all of the allocated funding."
So this school has gradually managed to find the necessary specialists. However, the situation overall has not improved.
Nataļja Rogaļeva, principal of Riga Secondary School No. 34, said:
"There is money to pay them, but we don't see these people. These people are not there, there are no Latvian language teachers, and that is a bigger problem. Now, I think this is problem number one: human resources."
She pointed out that money alone cannot solve human resource problems in schools.
How to solve the staff shortage? Ozols replied that the problem is systemic, and competition in the labour market is to blame. Both he and Rogaļeva argue: the prestige of teachers must be raised, then there will no longer be such a shortage of educators.
Most schools have been able to pay for the work of teaching assistants, as this role is taken on by teachers who have part-time jobs or who have left a full-time teaching position. However, there is a particular shortage of speech therapists and special educators.
Olga Grigorjeva, a first-grade teacher at Riga's Daugavgrīva Primary School, believes that there should also be more teaching assistants, because it is difficult for one person to help two or three children with different problems at the same time.
Currently, there is one teaching assistant in Grigorjeva's class, but there should be at least two.
Riga City Council has allocated approximately four million euros from this year's budget to schools and pre-schools in the capital to support their transition to teaching only in Latvian. Anita Pēterkopa, Head of the Riga City Council's General Education Schools Department, spoke about the use and distribution of this funding:
"The funding, of course, was also distributed among educational institutions based on the number of students. So the formula was: the more children there are, the total number of children in the school, the more money. Then the school itself thought about what they could use this money for, but the use of this money was, of course, coordinated at the department level."
The Riga Municipality has also allocated funding to train new teaching assistants.
Latvian language courses are in demand among teachers
Another form of state and local government support for schools and teachers is a course in which teachers learn the methodology of working in Latvian in classrooms where children have different native languages. Many such courses have been organized by the Latvian Language Agency. Both the agency and the ministry indicate that thousands of teachers have attended the courses and they are still being held.
Last year alone, 2,506 school employees received certificates for completing various courses for work in a linguistically heterogeneous environment. Ērika Pičukāne of the Education Department of the Latvian Language Agency said that teachers are very interested in the courses. For example, as the role of teacher assistants is increasing, courses on cooperation between teachers and their assistants are expected soon. 57 interested parties applied for them in one day and registration is closed. It has become clear that more such courses will have to be held.
Agency representatives also regularly visit schools to provide consultations on problems specific to each educational institution and how to work with new teaching materials.
"A new book, for example, "First Step," which is intended for children who don't speak Latvian. There are still [those] in schools. Maybe they have extra lessons. [We tell teachers] how to work with this tool or how to use this teaching tool if [the teacher] has different children in the classroom," said Pičukāne.
Ozols provided an insight into some of the course content: "We have also had webinars for pre-school teachers, where specialists have explained how language acquisition occurs, what steps it takes, and what are the stages of difficulty that need to be overcome in language acquisition."
School director Rogaļeva commented on the courses: "It is quite a big ask for teachers to learn in various methodological courses how to teach in a linguistically heterogeneous environment. Of course, the only way to learn how to work better is to practice different methods, try something new, and constantly look for new approaches. However, in such a big, global change, we are still rather groping a little for how to act better."
Various teaching materials available for schools
The ministry and the Latvian Language Agency deny that there is a shortage of teaching materials for the transition to teaching in Latvian, though the institutions admit that teachers sometimes lack information about everything available.
Olga Grigorjeva, the teacher at Riga Daugavgrīva Primary School, said: "I think I would like printed support material specifically for children, because they perceive visually very well, and then there would be more that could be shown to children visually."
Pičukāne from the agency pointed out that former minority schools can also use teaching materials that are intended, for example, for re-emigrants [Latvians returning home after spending years abroad], because these children also need to improve their Latvian language skills.
At the request of teachers, dictionaries of terms in different subjects have been created, as well as teaching materials for teachers to improve their Latvian language.
Schools are also starting to implement the European Union-co-financed project "School in the Community", which also includes various activities that can be used to improve students' Latvian language skills. For example, there are almost nine million euros that can be used for both subject consultations and other types of consultative support. Almost 3.5 million euros are intended to promote reading literacy for students in grades one to three. The ministry has also concluded that students in grades seven to nine should be offered non-formal education in Latvian, especially in order to encourage them to speak Latvian outside of the school environment. Funding from this project is also provided for this.
However, it should be noted that the primary goal of this project is to provide support to children and young people at risk of social exclusion and early school leaving. Moreover, the funding mentioned is not for one year, but for several, as the project lasts until 2029.
Case study: Riga Secondary School No. 34
Riga Secondary School No. 34 shared data on how additional funding for the implementation of the "Unified School" from the Riga City Council is being spent.
A total of 85,000 euros have been allocated for the 2025/2026 academic year. It will be spent on:
reading lessons for students in grades 1 to 4 – 32 lessons per month in small groups so that children can read Latvian, understand the text and answer questions;
increased funding for a speech therapist.
two five-day camps for elementary school students during the March break, where each day they will learn a specific topic in Latvian. A psychologist will also work at the camps to encourage speaking Latvian;
Future first-graders will have a three-week camp in August, where they will learn Latvian language concepts necessary for school. 30 children will participate in each camp;
individual consultations for students in grades 5 to 8 whose Latvian language level is very low;
developing methodological materials that can be used by all teachers working in a linguistically heterogeneous environment;
purchases of children's and teenage magazines in Latvian;
hiring four more teaching assistants.
In total, support will be provided to around 500 students. The school has more than 1,200 students in total."
Authors: Ilze Kuzmina (Latvijas Radio Ziņu dienesta korespondente)
https://eng.lsm.lv/article/society/education/27.02.2026-lack-of-suitable-specialists-hampers-transition-to-latvian-language-education.a636656/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Get more context and understand translations more deeply with new AI-powered updates in Translate.
Finding the right words just got easier. Today, we’re introducing new AI-powered features in Google Translate designed to help you nail the tone of any conversation — from informal hangouts to professional meetings — when it matters most.
Thanks to Gemini’s rich multilingual capabilities, Translate now offers helpful alternatives, which is especially useful for translating idioms and more colloquial phrases. So if you’re looking for more options to convey a phrase like “It’s raining cats and dogs,” you’ll see clear tips on when and why to use different expressions so you pinpoint the right phrasing for your conversation.
To explore the nuances behind each option, tap “understand” for a helpful overview, or “ask” to follow up with questions about your specific scenario — like ways of saying something in a particular country or dialect. Try out this new experience today in the U.S. and India on the Translate app (Android and iOS) and coming soon to the web."
By Matt Sheets | Product Manager
Feb 26, 2026
https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/translate/translation-context-ai-update/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
Dutch writers, journalists, and translators have issued an injunction to Meta on Friday, demanding that the company behind Facebook and Instagram stop using their work to train its AI models
"The associations representing Dutch writers, journalists, and translators have issued an injunction to Meta on Friday, demanding that the company behind Facebook and Instagram stop using their work to train its AI models. If Meta doesn’t respond, the Dutch Association of Journalists (NVJ), the Authors’ Union, and copyright organization Lira will consider a lawsuit, they told the Financieele Dagblad.
A case against Meta in the United States established that Meta uses shadow libraries - illegal online collections of millions of books, like LibGen and Anna’s Archive - to train its AI language model, Lama. These are also known to contain Dutch-language material, prompting the injunction by the writers’ representatives.
They ultimately hope to agree on a collective compensation scheme with Meta and other tech companies.
“Without our work, there would be no AI,” Thomas Bruning of the NVJ told FD. “Fair compensation is desperately needed to allow journalists, writers, and translators to continue doing their work.
“We’re not against AI models,” Hanneke Verschuur of Lira told the newspaper. “But it can’t be right for companies that are expected to earn billions to do so while simultaneously undermining the economic and creative position of their creators.”
Writers must be compensated if you use their work. “For that, we first need transparency. We want to know exactly what has been used and what the underlying revenue models are.” Once they have that data, they can figure out fair compensation.
There have been many copyright lawsuits against AI companies since ChatGPT launched at the end of 2022. Their outcomes have been inconclusive. Last year, Meta won a U.S. lawsuit when a court ruled that its use of copyrighted work for AI training was justified in the specific case treated. In the Meta case, the judge explicitly said that in most cases, authors with a more substantiated claim for market damage would win. "
https://nltimes.nl/2026/02/27/dutch-writers-journalists-demand-meta-stop-using-work-train-its-ai
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"The Process Is the Art: Ellie Alexander on Drafting and Creativity in the AI Era
Why the uncertain, human journey of crafting matters in a sea of artificial slop
February 25, 2026 By Ellie Alexander
via Minotaur
If you’re like me, I’m sure there’s no way you’re avoiding seeing the AI slop that seems to have seeped into every nook and cranny of the internet these days. Whether it’s scrolling through social media, searching for a reference online, or God-forbid the algorithm suggesting a new read that is clearly one-hundred percent AI-generated, it’s everywhere. It’s inescapable and insidious.
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But look, this piece isn’t going to be a deep dive into the pros (are there any?) and cons (so, so many) of large language models serving up “creativity.” What it is going to be is a reminder that the process of creating and writing is the art. Repeat that with me: the process is the art.
There is a certain kind of magic and discovery that happens when you’re slogging through the hard parts, tearing out your hair strand by strand, begging imaginary characters taking up space in your head to say anything, fighting with yourself over plots, deleting a beloved scene that took you hours to write, or working your way through tedious copyedits.
My process has been the same for every book I’ve written in the last fifteen years of my professional career. Sure, some things have gotten easier with time and practice, but mainly, the gift of writing over forty-five mysteries is that now I trust the process.
I know, without a shred of doubt, that there will be rough patches and stumbling blocks. I’m acutely aware that at some point the suspect that I’ve been convinced must be the killer will do something surprising. They’ll go off script and serve up a plot twist that I didn’t even see coming. That’s the magic! That’s the art.
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In this age of AI, I think we’re going to see a return to the process. I’m obsessed with watching baking videos of pastry chefs walking me through a new recipe, from softening butter to pulling a glorious batch of golden snickerdoodles out of the oven. I love seeing bakers coated in flour and their hands sticky from rolling the dough. I appreciate it when they share the flops—the cookies that didn’t rise or the ones that were left in the oven a few minutes too long and burned to a crisp.
There is nothing that brings me more joy than a soothing painting video, seeing a blank canvas fill up with soft patterns and pretty pastel watercolors. I mean, there’s a reason Bob Ross still has a cult following all these years later, right? I always do a little happy dance when my editor sends me the early sketches of a cover design, pencil drawings that eventually become the coziest, most colorful books and spines.
When it comes to writing, though, it’s so much harder to show the process. For me, every book begins with a ten-to-twelve-page outline that I handwrite in pencil because inevitably things change as the plot starts to take shape.
I start with the body and the crime scene. Who is our poor, unsuspecting victim, and what did they do to put themselves in harm’s way? Then I craft my list of suspects (usually about five—too many and it’s confusing to track who’s who, too few and it’s too easy to guess whodunit). I give every suspect a viable motive for wanting the victim dead, plenty of secrets and lies, shady behavior, and unreliable alibis.
Next, I map out the suspects’ connection to my sleuth. Have they met for the first time? Or are they a beloved member of the community who has obviously been wrongly accused? Once that’s complete, I put together a blueprint for murder that serves as my writing guide as I go. This stage is fun and highly visual. My blueprint is like my own Sherlock murder board, complete with coffee stains and so many different threads to track.
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But then it’s on to word count—the daily grind of starting with a blank page and eventually ending up with a rough draft. It’s me, in my office, pounding away on the keyboard day after day. Two thousand, three thousand, four thousand words a day for a month, six weeks, or sometimes even a bit longer until I have the bones of the mystery on the page.
It’s not sexy. It’s not glamorous. It’s a lot of me talking to myself and scribbling notes for things I want to fix in the next pass in a journal.
But mixed in with the routine and finding my way through a story are those incredible twists and turns. A new character appears on the scene. Someone discovers their voice for the first time. Or a piece of the puzzle that just wasn’t fitting finally slips into place. It’s some kind of strange alchemy that I can never explain and yet always happens.
After I’ve fumbled my way through a messy first draft, I walk away from the book for a while. I let it sit and marinate like fine wine, then come back to it with fresh eyes. This phase of editing comes with its own set of challenges.
Now word choice matters. I agonize over descriptions. Is buttery sunlight spilling into the kitchen? Or is it tangerine with a soft golden glow? This is where surgery happens, deep cuts, tiny incisions, sutures. Every layer, every pass brings the story to life. Nothing is left dangling. There’s completion and closure.
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And then it’s off to my editor. So many people touch the book and make it better during this phase. Developmental edits, copy edits, page proofs, and advanced reader copies, bit by bit, the book gets closer to being done, or at least as done as it can or ever will be.
Here’s the thing I’ve learned about human creativity. Writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. A fully fleshed-out story and a prompt fed into a large language model will never read the same. Creation is its own unique, messy, mystical process. And that, in my humble opinion, is art in its purest form."
https://crimereads.com/drafting-creativity-ai-ellie-alexander/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"one challenge in translation is balancing accurate rendering of the original with crafting an English version that captures the writer’s voice.
In the 2025-2026 cycle, the Japan International Translation Competition, hosted by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan, marked its 10th iteration and second time offering a Classical Literature category. Hintzman said he saw participating in the competition as a complement to his research and teaching.
“While I was working on my translation, I was preparing to teach a classical Japanese language course at IU,” he said. “Taking on an unfamiliar, challenging text was a good opportunity to further sharpen my skills in reading and translating the language.”
Discovering the Diary of Iseki Takako
The competition introduced Hintzman to the Diary of Iseki Takako, a nineteenth-century text rediscovered in Japan in the 1970s and basically unknown in English. Chosen by the judges for its difficulty, literary quality and historical significance, the text offered what Hintzman describes as “a window into the mind and the life of a remarkable woman living in Edo Japan.”
He was particularly struck by Takako’s subtle use of allusions to Heian-period poetry and narrative to quietly critique Edo-period political figures. He was also drawn to the challenge of crafting an English voice for a writer who, until now, had been unknown to English-speaking readers.
Challenges
He explained that one challenge in translation is balancing accurate rendering of the original with crafting an English version that captures the writer’s voice. He added, “Sometimes I had to move away from a perfectly literal translation to better convey what the text is doing overall.”
Hintzman describes translation as a kind of magic. A successful translation, he says, is one that makes you feel like you’re in the presence of the writer—not just the translator. “When the magic trick works, you’re reading my English, but you also feel you’re encountering the voice of a woman who lived in another language, in another place, nearly two centuries ago.”
This approach stood out to the judges, who offered glowing feedback on his work. They praised his creative translation choices, including his handling of subtle wordplay in one of Iseki Takako’s poems involving the word tatsu, which means both “to rise up” and “dragon” in Japanese. Hintzman crafted an English-language poem that plays on “dragon” and “drag on,” a clever way to reproduce some of the characteristic effects of Japanese poetry in English.
Recognition and looking ahead
Hintzman received the award in Tokyo, Japan on February 12, as part of the Japan International Literary Forum, where he met the judges, Japanese government officials and fellow translators. Before joining the Hamilton Lugar School, Hintzman spent a year in Tokyo as a visiting research fellow at Waseda University.
At the Hamilton Lugar School, he is currently teaching courses in Japanese literature, where he has used Iseki Takako’s diary to show students how early modern writers reimagined and reused classical poetry and narratives. He encourages students to dive deeper into distant cultures, immersing themselves in specific traditions while also drawing connections to their own experiences—in other words, working to translate across time and space.
About the author: Prakriti Khurana is a senior majoring in Finance and Business Analytics at the Kelley School of Business.
https://news.iu.edu/hamiltonlugar/live/news/49163-the-magic-of-translation-ryan-hintzmans
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Google Translate is getting an update that offers helpful alternatives to phrases, idioms, and colloquialisms.
Tapping on “Understand” provides a detailed overview, and the “Ask” button lets you ask follow-up questions.
The update is rolling out today for users in the US and India.
Every language has common sayings, like break a leg, bite the bullet, and beat around the bush. While these idioms may make sense to you, they may not make sense to someone else who speaks a different language. To solve this problem, Google is rolling out an update to the Translate app that will help you find the right idioms and colloquialisms.
Google Translate will now be able to help you find the right tone for your conversation. Through an update that’s rolling out today, the app will start offering a list of alternatives for phrases with the help of Gemini. When you tap on the arrow to the right, you’ll see tips on when and why to use a different expression. This can be particularly helpful for idioms and colloquialisms.
You’ll also be able to take that help further by using the “Understand” and “Ask” buttons. Tapping on Understand will provide a detailed overview to answer questions you may have. Meanwhile, the Ask option will allow you to ask follow-up questions if you want to know more.
This update is available for Google Translate users in the US and India on Android and iOS. Google says that the experience will also arrive on the web soon. The company did not say if or when it plans to expand this experience to other countries."
By Ryan McNeal
February 26, 2026
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-translate-alternative-phrases-3644783/
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"40,000-Year-Old Stone Age Symbols May Be a Precursor to Written Language
Learn how researchers analyzed 3,000 Paleolithic symbols to uncover structured information comparable to early writing systems.
Geometric marks carved into Paleolithic tools and figurines were not random decoration. A new computational analysis shows that Ice Age humans used these repeated sequences of dots, lines, and notches to encode information.
Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers examined more than 3,000 signs found on 260 objects dating between 34,000 and 45,000 years ago and found that the sequences follow consistent statistical patterns. Their informational structure is comparable to early proto-cuneiform tablets (some of the earliest known writing records from ancient Mesopotamia) — not because they represent spoken language, but because they share similar levels of repetition and predictability.
"Our research is helping us uncover the unique statistical properties — or statistical fingerprint — of these sign systems, which are an early predecessor to writing," Professor Christian Bentz of Saarland University said in a press release.
Measuring the Structure of Stone Age Symbols
Many of the marked objects come from caves in Germany’s Swabian Jura, though similar carvings appear on Paleolithic artefacts across Europe. The items, ivory figurines, tools, and carved objects, often display repeated rows of dots, crosses, and notches arranged at regular intervals.
Rather than trying to interpret the symbols' meanings, the researchers focused on how they were organized. Bentz and archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewicz assembled a digital database of more than 3,000 signs drawn from museum collections across Europe.
They then analyzed how frequently individual symbols appeared, how signs were grouped together, and how predictable each sequence was. The goal was not to decipher the carvings, but to understand the statistical structure underlying them.
Comparable to Early Writing Systems
To assess structure, the team measured entropy, a statistical estimate of how much information a sequence can carry. Highly unpredictable systems have high entropy; highly repetitive ones have lower entropy.
The Paleolithic signs sit somewhere in between. They repeat frequently — cross, cross, cross; line, line, line — but not randomly. That kind of repetition is not typical of modern writing systems, which represent spoken language and tend to show greater variation between symbols.
When compared to proto-cuneiform, however, the resemblance becomes clear. Proto-cuneiform, which emerged roughly 40,000 years later, also relied heavily on repeated symbols and did not yet encode spoken language directly. Its statistical structure closely mirrors the much older Paleolithic sequences.
The major structural shift came only about 5,000 years ago, when writing systems began representing speech. That transition introduced a very different pattern — one with less repetition and higher informational density.
The analysis also revealed variation within the Paleolithic material itself. Figurines tend to show higher informational density than tools, suggesting that some objects carried more complex sequences than others.
A Long History of Encoding
The artefacts date to a period when Homo sapiens had recently spread into Europe and were encountering Neanderthals. Anatomically and cognitively, these early humans were much like us.
“They were highly skilled craftspeople. You are able to see that they carried the objects with them. A lot of the objects fit right in the palm of your hand. That is another way in which the objects are similar to proto-cuneiform tablets,” archaeologist Ewa Dutkiewiczsaid said in the press release.
The analysis does not tell us precisely what these sequences recorded, but it makes clear that they were intentional and systematically arranged. The repeated marks were not a casual embellishment. They were placed in patterns that could be reproduced, recognized, and, presumably, understood within a community.
Seen this way, the carvings are part of a much longer story about how humans began organizing information visually, a process that unfolded gradually and took many forms before writing ever came to represent spoken language."
Written byAnastasia Scott
Feb 23, 2026, 10:30 PM
https://www.discovermagazine.com/40-000-year-old-stone-age-symbols-may-be-a-precursor-to-written-language-48726
#Metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus
#métaglossie
"Translators USA
February 25, 2026
In our increasingly connected world, a language barrier can halt progress, complicate critical legal or medical discussions, and limit the reach of your virtual events. When on-site interpreters are too costly or simply unavailable, securing clear and accurate communication seems like a significant challenge. Fortunately, the solution is more accessible and efficient than ever: professional remote interpreting. This powerful service bridges geographical and linguistic divides, connecting you with expert, certified linguists instantly, regardless of location.
But with various platforms and service types available, choosing the right one is crucial. This complete guide is designed to provide that clarity. We will explore the what, why, and how of virtual language services, helping you understand the key differences between technologies like Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Over-the-Phone Interpreting (OPI). You will learn how to find a cost-effective solution, seamlessly integrate interpretation into any meeting, and ensure every participant can communicate with confidence and precision.
Key Takeaways
Understand the key differences between VRI, OPI, and RSI to select the most effective and cost-efficient solution for any business scenario.
Discover how using remote interpreters can significantly reduce costs, expand global reach, and provide instant access to specialized linguists.
Identify the simple technology and setup requirements needed to ensure a professional and seamless remote interpreting experience for all participants.
Gain a practical checklist of essential criteria to confidently vet and select a high-quality, reliable interpreting partner for your critical business needs.
Table of Contents
What is Remote Interpreting? A Modern Solution for Global Communication
Types of Remote Interpreting: VRI, OPI, and RSI Explained
The Business Advantage: Key Benefits of Using Remote Interpreters
Technology & Setup: What You Need for a Seamless Experience
How to Choose the Right Remote Interpreting Provider: A Checklist
What is Remote Interpreting? A Modern Solution for Global Communication
In today’s interconnected business landscape, clear communication across language barriers is non-negotiable. Remote interpreting is the professional service that bridges this gap, delivering expert language interpretation through secure technology platforms. Unlike traditional on-site interpreting, where an interpreter is physically present, this modern approach connects you with a certified linguist from anywhere in the world. This shift has become essential in a post-pandemic era dominated by virtual meetings, global teams, and the need for immediate, reliable communication.
To see how this technology works in a real-world setting, consider this overview:
Remote interpreting services are typically delivered through three primary methods. The most common are Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Over-the-Phone Interpreting (OPI). VRI allows for visual cues and face-to-face interaction via video, and you can learn more about what Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) is from foundational resources. The third method, Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI), is a specialized solution for conferences and large-scale events, delivering real-time translation to multiple listeners.
Remote vs. On-Site Interpreting: Key Differences
Choosing between remote and on-site solutions depends on your specific needs. Remote services offer distinct advantages in flexibility and efficiency. Key differences include:
Location: The interpreter connects to your event virtually rather than being physically present, eliminating geographical barriers.
Cost: By removing travel, accommodation, and logistical expenses, remote options provide a highly cost-effective solution.
Accessibility: Gain immediate access to a global network of specialized and certified interpreters, even for rare languages.
Technology: Success relies on a stable internet connection and quality audio-visual equipment from all participants.
When is Remote Interpreting the Best Choice?
This flexible service is the ideal solution for numerous modern communication challenges. We recommend remote interpreting for:
Virtual Events: Perfect for corporate webinars, online training sessions, and international video conferences.
On-Demand Needs: Critical for situations requiring immediate language access, such as telehealth appointments or urgent legal consultations.
Specialized Languages: Connect with an expert interpreter for a rare dialect without the logistical burden of finding a local specialist.
Budget-Conscious Projects: An excellent choice when on-site interpreting is cost-prohibitive due to travel requirements.
Types of Remote Interpreting: VRI, OPI, and RSI Explained
Choosing the right remote interpreting service is critical for clear and effective communication. The technology and format must match the complexity and context of your event, as each modality serves a distinct purpose. Understanding the differences between Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), Over-the-Phone Interpreting (OPI), and Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) ensures your message is delivered with absolute accuracy. At Translators USA, we provide expert guidance and a full suite of options available in our interpretation services to meet any need.
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI)
VRI connects you to a certified interpreter via a live, secure video stream. This modality is essential when visual cues are a vital part of the conversation. It allows for the interpretation of body language and facial expressions, and it is the only remote option for American Sign Language (ASL) users. VRI bridges the gap between in-person and over-the-phone services, offering a powerful tool for nuanced discussions.
Best For: Medical consultations, legal depositions, sensitive HR meetings, and any one-on-one interaction where visual context is key.
Requires: A stable internet connection, a device with a camera, a microphone, and a screen.
Over-the-Phone Interpreting (OPI)
OPI provides immediate, audio-only language support through a standard phone call. As the fastest and most accessible form of interpretation, it is the ideal solution for on-demand needs where conversations are straightforward and visual context is not required. It eliminates technological barriers, connecting you to an expert linguist in seconds for fast, efficient communication.
Best For: Customer service centers, simple appointment scheduling, emergency services, and brief financial inquiries.
Requires: Any telephone, whether a landline or a mobile device.
Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI)
RSI is the professional standard for large-scale, multilingual virtual events. Interpreters work from remote booths, delivering real-time interpretation to your audience, who can select their preferred language channel. This complex setup ensures seamless communication without interrupting the speaker’s flow, demanding adherence to professional remote interpreting best practices for audio quality and technical execution.
Best For: International conferences, corporate board meetings, global town halls, and live-streamed webinars.
Requires: A specialized RSI platform, high-quality audio feeds for all speakers, and professional technical support"
https://translators-usa.com/remote-interpreting-the-complete-guide-to-virtual-language-services/
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"The latest purchase orders published by the Department of Justice show that the cost of providing translators and interpreters to persons from overseas amounted to €6.7 million for 2025.
That represents an increase of €1.9 million since 2024 – a jump in costs for those within the Justice system who require translators of 41%. Which would suggest that there continues to be a significant increase in the number of persons who have dealings with the system."
February 25, 2026
Dr Matt Treacy
Comment Ireland
https://gript.ie/cost-of-translation-in-justice-jumps-41-in-2025/
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"More universities are implementing AI translation tools to better support international students who aren't comfortable in Korean, as well as helping Korean students and staff learn and communicate better in other languages.
Pusan National University recently introduced an AI lecture translation tool that recognizes the lecturer’s speech and translates it into languages such as Korean and English. To use the service, the professor or event host shares a link with participants, who can then access real-time translation of the lecture via their devices.
The university trialed the AI translation tool during its 80th Anniversary Special Lecture on Feb. 4, translating English lectures into Korean. Going forward, it plans to expand the AI tool's application across classes, events, overseas business trips and consultations for its international students.
The university has also started translating Korean course syllabuses into English using Sanjinee AI, a multimodal large language model, starting with classes for the upcoming spring 2026 semester. The AI tool has been offered to students, faculty, and general users starting in December 2025, with students and faculty able to ask questions about university administrative matters after logging in with their university ID.
"The expansion of AI-based multi-language services will transform how languages are translated and interpreted on campus, changing how members of our university communicate in the educational, administrative and research environments," said Choi Yoon-ho, head of the university's Office of AX & Information Innovation.
"Through Sanjinee AI, we plan to create more services that we can implement on campus and have all members of our university use AI and benefit from its effectiveness."
Kyungpook National University has introduced a similar lecture translation tool, TransLive, starting the fall 2025 semester, becoming the first national university to implement a translation system for all its courses.
Using TransLive, students can translate lectures into 80 different languages and create lecture summary notes. The tool is also available for university events featuring international speakers.
Daegu University introduced an AI chatbot, accessible on the university website starting the fall 2025 semester, that students can use in seven languages, including English, Chinese and Vietnamese. Students can ask questions about the university and receive admissions consultations.
BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]"
https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2026-02-24/national/kcampus/Korean-universities-turn-to-AI-translation-tools-to-support-international-Korean-students/2530486
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The Vatican website offers content in more than 60 languages today, reflecting a commitment to reach people by speaking to them in their mother tongues.
"Until about six decades ago, the Catholic Church relied heavily on Latin in its official and liturgical communication. But as a universal Church embracing many peoples, it recognized the importance of languages and their role in carrying the Gospel message to everyone.
Today, the Vatican website offers content in more than 60 languages, reflecting a clear commitment to reach people: The Church must understand them and speak to them in their mother tongues.
With International Mother Language Day observed a few days ago, it is an opportunity to look at the languages spoken by recent popes, an ability that has often helped them connect more directly with Catholics around the world.
Pope John XXIII
He spoke six languages fluently: Latin, Italian, French, Greek, Turkish, and Bulgarian.
Pope Paul VI
He mastered Italian, Latin, French, English, Spanish, and German.
Pope John Paul II
He spoke more than 10 languages: Polish, Italian, Latin, French, German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Slovak, and Russian.
Pope Benedict XVI
He spoke German, Italian, Latin, French, English, Spanish, ancient Greek, and Hebrew.
Pope Francis
He spoke Spanish, Italian, German, English, French, Portuguese, and Latin.
Pope Leo XIV
He speaks English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French fluently. He also reads and understands Latin and German well, although he is still developing his conversational ability in both.
Building bridges of trust
These popes strengthened the Vatican’s ability to communicate with the world, not only through translation or official statements but also by addressing people directly in their mother tongues.
Words spoken in a people’s own language are often closer to the heart, more sincere in expression, and more powerful in building understanding and trust. Although Pope Leo XIV does not speak Arabic, the brief Arabic greeting he offered in Lebanon, “Peace be with you,” was enough to bring joy to an entire people.
Sometimes what matters is not perfect fluency but a sincere word spoken at the right moment, one that leaves a lasting impact."
By Romy Haber
February 26, 2026 at 6:00 AM ET
https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/the-polyglot-popes-how-language-builds-bridges-in-the-church
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Repenser la traduction contre l’atavisme défensif
Repenser la traduction, c’est dépasser le rôle de garde-fou pour en faire un moteur d’innovation culturelle.
Le réflexe défensif façonne toujours la traduction, la formation des traducteurs et la perception sociale de la langue.
René Lemieux
L’auteur est professeur agrégé à l’Université Concordia.
Nous avons appris à traduire pour nous protéger. Peut-être est-il temps d’apprendre à traduire pour créer.
En 1988, dans un article intitulé « Disymmetries in Canadian Translation », Sherry Simon observait que la traduction vers le français a historiquement été associée à la dépendance : l’influence étrangère est vécue comme une « adultération » du français, et l’idéal d’équivalence parfaite fonctionnait comme un impératif quasi moral. Depuis la Conquête, la traduction ne pouvait pas être envisagée comme un outil de création : elle était d’abord et avant tout un instrument de contrôle. Cet instrument s’est progressivement transformé en outil de protection de la langue qui a eu son utilité. Mais ce réflexe défensif s’est aussi inscrit profondément dans les pratiques administratives, médiatiques et institutionnelles, en faisant primer la conformité sur l’expérimentation, la rectification sur la créativité.
Près de 40 ans après la publication de cet article, un regard rétrospectif révèle que peu de choses ont changé. Le français au Québec n’est plus menacé de manière existentielle comme cela a pu être le cas auparavant et, pourtant, la traduction continue d’être pensée dans sa fonction corrective. Cette persistance révèle une stagnation de l’imaginaire : au lieu d’être un espace de négociation et d’innovation, la traduction demeure cantonnée à un rôle que je qualifierais d’« atavisme défensif ».
Dix ans avant Simon, Pierre Cardinal (Meta, 1978) décrivait la traduction comme « une institution-tampon » entre les deux communautés canadiennes. Selon lui, elle « vise à donner à la société traduisante, la francophone, l’illusion d’une participation officielle à la vie du pays tout entier alors que ce sont les membres de la société traduite, l’anglophone, qui y occupent effectivement une place disproportionnée ». Cardinal concluait sur un espoir : seules des réformes en profondeur pourraient renverser la situation.
La Charte de la langue française avait concrètement renversé le rapport hiérarchique entre les langues et réduit le besoin d’un réflexe défensif constant. Pourtant, ce changement institutionnel n’a jamais été pleinement intégré dans les pratiques culturelles et administratives : l’altérité linguistique reste perçue comme une menace. Si la traduction se faisait auparavant surtout de l’anglais vers le français, le français commençait alors à s’affirmer comme langue créatrice, les autres langues, dont l’anglais, devenant progressivement les langues traduites. Les mentalités, cependant, n’ont jamais suivi ce renversement du rapport de force.
Le réflexe défensif façonne toujours la traduction, la formation des traducteurs et la perception sociale de la langue. La correction l’emporte sur l’expérimentation, l’équivalence sur l’inventivité, la conformité sur l’audace. Ce conservatisme freine la vitalité culturelle et linguistique du Québec, notamment dans un contexte plurilingue où les langues autochtones et immigrantes pourraient enrichir la culture québécoise.
La traduction littéraire illustre bien cette dynamique : les projets vers des langues autres que le français restent rares et peu valorisés. Pourquoi ces initiatives sont-elles si peu soutenues et médiatisées ? Notre culture demeure-t-elle réticente à se projeter dans la langue de l’autre, à imaginer le français comme langue créatrice ? Limiter ces expérimentations revient à laisser, par défaut, d’autres langues dicter leurs cadres conceptuels et réduire le renouvellement culturel. Avant d’être un droit, la traduction est un moyen de penser autrement, de négocier des écarts et de participer à une coexistence plus consciente des différences en société.
Repenser la traduction au Québec, c’est dépasser le rôle de garde-fou pour en faire un moteur d’innovation culturelle. Traduire ne consiste pas à reproduire mécaniquement le sens d’un texte : c’est assumer l’asymétrie des langues, explorer des effets multiples et révéler des nuances insoupçonnées. Former des traducteurs et traductrices capables de dépasser l’équivalence formelle et de cultiver l’inventivité permet de faire de la traduction un espace où le français se déploie avec assurance tout en dialoguant avec les autres langues présentes au Québec, y compris les langues autochtones.
En rejetant son « atavisme défensif », la traduction accomplit pleinement sa vocation : faire circuler le sens, créer des espaces de rencontre entre communautés linguistiques et participer à la vitalité d’une société plurilingue et ouverte.
https://share.google/43aXy7A6kVeCh9dr7
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Study calls for restoring status of humanities in higher education
"A recent academic study has called for restoring the central role of the humanities within Oman’s higher education system, describing them as a cornerstone for building a balanced, sustainable knowledge-based economy.
The study, authored by Dr. Maryam bint Ali Al-Hanaei, Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication, and Prof. Mohammed bin Ali Al-Balushi, Professor of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at Sultan Qaboos University, was published in the Journal of Arabian Studies under the title “Reimagining the Knowledge Economy: A Critical Call to Recentre the Humanities in Omani Higher Education.”
The researchers argue that prevailing narratives surrounding the knowledge economy often equate progress and innovation solely with scientific and technological advancement, overlooking the vital contribution of the humanities and social sciences in developing critical thinking, reinforcing ethical values, and preserving cultural identity.
The study highlights a disconnect between national strategic frameworks—such as Oman Vision 2040 and the Cultural Strategy 2021–2040, which emphasize identity, culture, and creativity—and the realities of higher education practices that tend to prioritise scientific, technical, and business disciplines.
Through an analysis of faculty distribution and student enrolment patterns both inside and outside Oman, the study finds that while the humanities continue to hold a notable presence—particularly in education, community, and cultural fields—their share is gradually declining compared to engineering and technical disciplines, especially among students studying abroad.
The researchers stress that recentring the humanities is neither a luxury nor a purely cultural endeavour, but a strategic necessity for sustainable development.
They argue that cultivating informed, creative citizens requires ensuring that scientific and technological progress remains aligned with ethical, social, and cultural values. The study calls for education and research policies that foster integration between the humanities and scientific disciplines through interdisciplinary curricula, institutional and research support, and the embedding of humanities-based knowledge within national innovation systems—consistent with Oman’s aspirations for a knowledge society rooted in identity and openness to the world.
According to the study, investment in the humanities equips future generations with both technical competence and ethical and cultural awareness, supporting comprehensive and balanced development in the Sultanate.
Dr. Al-Hanaei said the research forms part of a broader intellectual project launched in 2022 to reassess the position of the humanities and the knowledge-production system within Omani higher education. She explained that the study presents a methodological critique of neoliberal approaches that frame education primarily as an economic tool measured by profitability rather than human or societal value—an approach that marginalises local and humanistic knowledge and creates ethical and epistemological gaps.
She added that academic experience reveals a clear contradiction between the principles of Oman Vision 2040—which stress identity, values, sustainability, and human development—and educational practices that prioritise technical and professional disciplines driven by market logic. This contradiction, she noted, raises fundamental questions about the purpose of education: whether it should merely supply labour-market skills or also nurture critical awareness, cultural belonging, and intellectual responsibility."
https://www.pressreader.com/oman/times-of-oman/20260119/281552297258671
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