Metaglossia: The Translation World

"By Maung Maung Myint Thein (RIT)

In an increasingly interconnected world, translation is more than the conversion of words from one language into another. It is a bridge between cultures, civilizations, and generations. Through translation, readers gain access to the ideas, philosophies, histories, and artistic achievements of peoples beyond their own linguistic boundaries. For young people in particular, translated literature provides a gateway to global knowledge while strengthening intellectual curiosity, critical thinking, and cultural understanding.
Translation is the art of conveying the meaning, tone, and purpose of a text from its original language into another without losing its essence. It requires not only linguistic competence but also cultural sensitivity, literary judgment, and creative expression. Because no two languages are perfectly equivalent, translators must carefully balance accuracy with readability, ensuring that the translated work feels both faithful to the original and natural to its new audience.
The tradition of translation dates back thousands of years. The ancient Greek concept of metaphrasis emphasized faithful translation, while paraphrasis encouraged freer interpretation. Across Asia, particularly in India and China, translation played a vital role in the spread of religious texts, philosophical thought, and administrative knowledge. Buddhist scriptures, for example, travelled across linguistic and cultural borders through generations of dedicated translators, shaping civilizations far beyond their places of origin.
Myanmar has its own distinguished tradition of translation. Evidence of multilingual scholarship can be traced to the Bagan era, while earlier Pyu civilizations are believed to have translated texts from Sanskrit and Pali. The celebrated Myazedi Inscription, commissioned by Prince Rajkumar, stands as one of the world’s earliest examples of multilingual translation, presenting the same text in Burmese, Mon, Pyu, and Pali.
During the Konbaung Dynasty, increasing contact with Britain and France expanded the scope of translation from European languages into Burmese. Under the British education system, numerous academic works were translated for local students. Between the 1920s and the 1940s, books on anti-colonial struggles and international political movements introduced Myanmar readers to ideas that influenced the country’s own independence movement.
Following the Second World War, the translation of world classics accelerated significantly. A landmark moment came in 1947, when General Aung San called for the advancement of knowledge through translation. His vision inspired the establishment of the Burma Translation Society on 26 August 1947. The Society sought to translate important works into Burmese while introducing Myanmar literature to international readers through foreign-language translations. Its mission reflected the belief that translation is essential to national education, cultural development, and intellectual progress.
For any nation, translation is not merely a literary pursuit but an investment in human development. It enables societies to exchange knowledge, share cultural values, and participate in global intellectual life. As translation flourishes, so too does a nation’s capacity for innovation, education, and cultural dialogue.
Young readers stand to benefit enormously from translated literature. World classics introduce them to different civilizations while encouraging empathy, reflection, and intellectual maturity.
Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, beautifully translated into Burmese by the distinguished writer Tint Te, offers timeless insights into social class, personal integrity, and human relationships. Through such works, Burmese readers gain an understanding of nineteenth-century British society while recognizing universal human values that transcend time and geography.
Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, translated into Burmese under the title Myaw Ta Lin Lin by Shwe U Daung and later by Maung Htun Thu, follows the moral and emotional journey of the young protagonist Pip. Beyond its compelling narrative, the novel enriches readers’ vocabulary, deepens their appreciation of literary style, and explores themes of ambition, humility, and personal growth.
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, translated into Burmese as Lay Htan Kone by Min Kyaw, presents one of English literature’s most powerful explorations of love, obsession, revenge, and human psychology. The novel demonstrates the enduring complexity of human emotions while exposing readers to sophisticated literary expression.
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth remains one of the greatest studies of ambition, guilt, and political power. Long included in higher education curricula, its Burmese translation has enabled generations of students to appreciate Shakespeare’s profound understanding of human nature without language becoming a barrier.
Young readers interested in history and politics should also explore Leo Tolstoy’s monumental War and Peace, masterfully translated into Burmese by the renowned scholar Mya Than Tint, who received the National Literary Award for his translation in 1972. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, the novel examines leadership, war, morality, and the resilience of ordinary people amid extraordinary historical events.
For readers seeking philosophical depth, Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, translated by Nat Nwe, offers profound reflections on morality, faith, justice, and human responsibility. Its intellectual richness challenges readers to think critically about ethical dilemmas and the complexities of the human condition.
Translated literature is not limited to fiction. Non-fiction works also play a transformative role in shaping young minds. U Nu’s translation of Mittabala Tika remains an important contribution to Burmese intellectual life. Likewise, Dale Carnegie’s internationally acclaimed How to Win Friends and Influence People has introduced millions of readers worldwide to practical principles of communication, leadership, and interpersonal relationships. The book encourages readers to avoid unnecessary criticism, express sincere appreciation, inspire others through genuine interest, and cultivate habits that strengthen both personal and professional success.
Among translated novels, one particularly remarkable work is A J Cronin’s The Citadel, translated into Burmese by Maung Htun Thu, which won the Myanmar National Literary Award for Translation in 1983. Drawing on Cronin’s own experience as a physician, the novel explores medical ethics, professional integrity, social reform, and the conflict between idealism and materialism. More than a medical novel, it is a compelling examination of human character and moral responsibility.
The enduring value of translated literature lies in its ability to broaden perspectives while nurturing emotional intelligence and ethical awareness. Through unforgettable characters and richly imagined worlds, young readers develop empathy, resilience, and the capacity to understand lives different from their own.
Classics such as Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations, and Jane Eyre teach lessons about personal character, responsibility, ambition, love, and integrity. They reveal how social structures, moral choices, and individual determination shape human destiny. American classics, including The Old Man and the Sea, The Grapes of Wrath, and Invisible Man, likewise encourage perseverance, courage, justice, and self-discovery while offering insights into the social and historical experiences of another nation.
For today’s generation, translated literature is far more than entertainment. It expands intellectual horizons, strengthens critical thinking, encourages cultural appreciation, and inspires lifelong learning. In an era defined by globalization, young people who engage with translated works are better equipped to understand both their own heritage and the wider world.
A nation that invests in translation invests in its future. By encouraging young people to read translated literature, Myanmar can cultivate informed citizens, thoughtful leaders, and globally minded individuals who are prepared to contribute meaningfully to both national development and international understanding.

https://www.gnlm.com.mm/beyond-borders-why-young-people-should-read-translated-literature/
#metaglossia #metaglossia_mundus

"The origins of “habitus”
by Paul Bernard-Nouraud, 14 July

Étienne Anheim and Paul Pasquali examine a key moment in interdisciplinary dialogue: Pierre Bourdieu’s translation and editing of the art historian Erwin Panofsky.

In May 1967, Pierre Bourdieu published, in the “Sens Commun” collection he had recently founded with the Éditions de Minuit, the first French translation of a book by the art historian Erwin Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism. At the time, Panofsky was seventy-six years old and recognized internationally as an essential reference point in his field. The translation was accompanied by considerable editorial work. To the slender volume first published in 1951, Bourdieu added another text by Panofsky on the Abbot Suger published in 1948, which he translated from English. He added a postface that laid the groundwork for a key feature of his own sociological theory, the theory of habitus. This “publishing event” (p. 11), as Étienne Anheim and Paul Pasquali describe it, had considerable epistemological significance and acquired, for Bourdieu, the status of a genuine foundational moment.

It is these three aspects—translation, editing, and epistemology—that Anheim and Pasquali’s “essay in intellectual archeology” seeks to explore. Éditions de Minuit has published it in the same collection as the original volume. Since Anheim is a medievalist and Pasquali a sociologist, not only does their collaboration apply the principle of multidisciplinarity to the study of Bourdieu’s methodology; it also reproduces the respective positions occupied by Panofsky in art history and Bourdieu’s in sociology. Anheim and Pasquali observe that Bourdieu’s “intellectual project,” which is “indissociable from a conquering conception of sociology, had multidisciplinary aims that encompassed history and anthropology as well as, to a degree, philosophy” (p. 32).

Anheim and Pasquali have thus undertaken the archaeology of an editorial and scholarly field by writing a book that is itself situated on the cusp between sociological holism and an account of the young Bourdieu’s intellectual development. Over six chapters, they reconstruct the context in which this editorial project emerged (chapter 1); what Bourdieu learned through this experience of the editor’s role (chapter 2); and the socialization process he underwent in his relationship with Panofsky (chapter 3), based on his previously unpublished correspondence with the art historian, which has been included in an annex. They describe how Bourdieu planned the translation, a task he undertook for the first and last time (chapter 4); the resulting development of the concept of habitus (chapter 5); and, finally, the book’s critical reception, in sociology and art history as well as over the long term (chapter 6).

Chapter 5 contains what are undoubtedly the most important theoretical and epistemological issues that Bourdieu identified in Panofsky’s two texts. To gauge their significance, a detour is necessary through the final pages of Anheim and Pasquali’s conclusion, in which they consider the object that Panofsky uses—Gothic cathedrals—to establish a homology between architecture and scholastic thought.

“During the interwar period,” the authors write, “the idea circulated that one could interpret European society through the lens of the unique object that is the Gothic cathedral.” The stakes of the latter, they suggest, thus went far beyond “a scholarly problem in art history” (p. 235). This was Panofksy’s more or less avowed goal, and one that naturally interested Bourdieu. “The medieval cathedral,” Anheim and Pasquali continue, “was a matrix, in the etymological sense, for European societies as well as for the subjectification processes of their individual members” (p. 239), from a scholastic as well as a religious point of view.

On the one hand, the cathedral had come to represent a “world that supposedly held together in an organic and harmonious way.” This homogeneity implied the “task of ordering and establishing a hierarchy” that, at the same time, required “the exclusion of heretics, Jews, and Muslims.” On the other hand, the idea of the cathedral legitimated “the domination of lords and clerics” (p. 239). During this process, it as if the clerics had succeeded the priests in the pulpit (cathedra in Latin), enjoyed a transferal of symbolic capital topped up with a little erudition. In other words, discovering homologies between scholastic thought and Gothic architecture, as Panofsky had done, allowed Bourdieu to shed light on the historical determinants of mechanisms of domination on which the fields of art as well as the medieval university were structured.

Yet it is precisely this critical forgetting—“as if the social sciences had metabolized what came before them” (p. 240), as Anheim and Pasquali put it—to which Bourdieu refers through his concept of habitus and that, inspired by Panofsky, he simultaneously invents, in the archaeological sense of the word. Panofsky uses the term “mental habits” (in English) in the text, translating a quote from Thomas Aquinas, while Bourdieu “translates” “mental habits” by the term “habitus,” which Panofsky had not used and which he endorsed reluctantly.

The conditions for the extraction of the concept of habitus—via Thomism, and through it, Aristotle’s hexis, to an expanded conception of art history before arriving in a liberated sociology with emancipatory ambitions—thus contributed to an operational term at the intersection of various human and social sciences. Habitus is thus one of those concepts that itself has metabolized, specifically through scholars who have sought to restore its exploratory and explanatory functions. As Anheim and Pasquali note, Bourdieu himself, once he was “beyond this Panofskian moment,” used the concept of habitus in later work, formalizing it based on his reading of Panofsky but with “less and visible—which does not mean incidental—references” (p. 214).

Conversely, for the many French art historians who had read Panofsky in German or English before Bourdieu, but who ultimately mentioned him infrequently and who were less enthusiastic than their young colleague about translating him, the question became: “to return to Panofsky, how do we forget Bourdieu?” (p. 208). When one considers the cumulative sales numbers mentioned by Anheim and Pasquali, there is no doubt that Bourdieu contributed to making Panofsky known to a far vaster readership than the specialized title of his book would lead one to expect. Yet it must be admitted that a Boudieusian reading of Panofsky did not dominate, or even occur in, the field of French art history. It is also regrettable that an oeuvre of this importance did not give rise to more interpretations that were, if not in the same league, at least as theoretically rich as the now famous 1967 postface.

The main reason for this fruitfulness that has no real equivalent deserves to be emphasized, if only for its methodological lessons. If Bourdieu was extract such fruit from Panofsky’s book, it was not because it contained many layers of knowledge from many different periods and disciplines, but because its interpreter had a multidisciplinary education and that he eagerly read authors—in this case, art historians—who would seem quite distant from his research area. In a sense, disciplinary distance favored conceptualization. In this respect, one of the merits of Anheim and Pasquali’s essay is to insist regularly on Bourdieu’s participation in “writing chains” (p. 92), including one consisting of “an entire editing world’” (p. 107) that resulted in “a hermeneutic chain” (p. 114). Relating to the latter, the authors emphasize how much Bourdieu’s interest in the habitus owed to another Panofsky reader, the medieval paleographer Robert Marichal, to whom he explicitly acknowledges his debt in the postface.

To go even further back, as Anheim and Pasquali do, it becomes clear that Bourdieu was most likely “disposed” to such an approach by the teaching of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, who had a deep knowledge of Panofsky’s work, which he had recommended to Hubert Damisch in the late 1940s. Anheim and Pasquali write that by “putting philosophy in an authoritative position in the reflexive constitution of the human sciences, Merleau-Ponty brought about a considerable shift that simultaneously entailed an epistemology, a theory of action, and an ontology of temporality” (p. 163). Mirroring this trend, the concept of habitus, they maintain, allowed sociology as Bourdieu conceived of it at the conclusion of his philosophical education “to bring together a theory of practice, a reflexive epistemology, and an empirical approach” (p. 165).

It is not so much that Bourdieu borrowed a word from Panofsky’s art history as that he borrowed a term so that he could return it, enhanced with critical and epistemological powers that Panofsky himself had, as it were, kept in reserve. In this way, “the postface, according to Bourdieu, was intended to ’manifest’ the truth found implicitly in the book” (p. 137). It is the responsibility of Panofsky’s followers to keep reclaiming the term and reintegrate it into their vocabulary, just as it is up to Bourdieu’s disciples to continue to read art history books that would appear to be foreign to their discipline so that they, too, may acquire some perspective.

Étienne Anheim, Paul Pasquali, Bourdieu et Panofsky. Essai d’archéologie intellectuelle, (Bourdieu and Panofsky: An essay in intellectual archeology), Paris, Les Éditions de Minuit, 2025, 286 p., €23, ISBN 9782707356369
by Paul Bernard-Nouraud, 14
https://laviedesidees.fr/The-origins-of-habitus
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"The CLA Translation Institute (CTI) is committed to keeping high-quality translation, interpretation, and editing services within reach. Below is our current fee schedule for internal Temple University requests. Rates vary by service type and are calculated using the guidelines listed here.

Units whose budgets do not accommodate these rates are encouraged to contact CTI regardless. We are sometimes able to provide services at no cost for grant-funded Temple projects, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss what arrangement may be feasible.

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https://liberalarts.temple.edu/about/cla-translation-institute/translation-institute-fees
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

" The Mulai by Munir Hachemi, translated by Julia Sanches
By: Dawn Macdonald
Issue: 13 July 2026
The Mulai is a hyper-intellectual, literary work of anthropological-linguistic science fiction, one that’s deeply concerned with problems of translation, and if you’re reading it in English then it is itself a work in translation, so there are layers upon layers. The translator, Julia Sanches, gives numerous footnotes about nuances of Spanish-language wordplay and homophony. These appear interspersed between other footnotes that are integral to the original text. The back cover copy suggests that the book “pairs well” with Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities (1972), and I’ll just alert the prospective reader right now that it’s helpful to have already read Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities before embarking on The Mulai.

The story fits within a classic science-fiction framework of the lost colony that is rediscovered by the home world. At the point of recontact, the culture of the people known as the Mulai has evolved substantially from its origins in what seems to have been a planned utopian project, which brought with it a text known as the Libertarian Codex. Many of their mores derive from deliberate repudiation of norms that would be familiar to readers from the present-day Anglosphere, such as the nuclear family, various body taboos, and the English language itself. The standard relationship format among the Mulai is the “trinomial,” a sort of throuple. Urination, defecation, and sexual activity all take place in full public view. The culture is broadly collectivist, although the reader is warned that such words and concepts may not map well onto Mulai ways of thinking.

Mulai cosmology has developed in the presence of existing, self-sustaining, but imperfectly functioning technological systems. The population occupies a “habitable zone” within which terraforming has been partially successful. Outside the habitable zone, temperatures average sixty-some degrees below zero. Within the zone is a desert-like environment with four “seasons” that alternate unpredictably, lasting hours to days at a time. For the most part, the Mulai remain within the Dome where climatic conditions are controlled, but journeys to another structure known as the Temple are made on specific occasions, including to access fertilisation technology for reproductive purposes. Smaller “domelets” are scattered about, but not all have operational interior climate systems. Machinery in the Dome and domelets is maintained by service robots known as “wolves,” and the Mulai do not clearly distinguish these as being of a fundamentally different nature from the snakes and scorpions that abound in the desert. These latter creatures are edible, in a pinch, though the Mulai have a strong cultural preference for food from cans.

The colonists were accustomed to receiving regular supply drops, but at some point the deliveries ceased. A Mulai woman named Flukeh is said to have made the voyage from Dome to Temple in the year zero a.C. (“after containers”) wherein she experienced a series of revelations—about a god or gods (Mulai language does not inflect for the plural) known as Dog—that have become integral to Mulai understanding. “At times we are grateful for something that no one has done; the object of that gratitude is Dog,” Flukeh intones. Her pronouncements are collected as The Teachings of Flukeh, alternatively known as the First Amendment to the Libertarian Codex.  The Mulai also believe in a vital force they refer to as “ionizing radiation” which can be amassed and transferred in ways both physical and, for want of a better term, spiritual.

Our story picks up several generations after the end of the cargo shipments, when a stray transmission from the planet is received Earthside. The message has many confusing and intriguing linguistic features. No one has any knowledge of the colonial mission and its history, so it’s decided to send a small contingent to investigate. When his colleagues depart for home, one of the group of interplanetary visitors, Dr. Nahum Cordovero, stays behind to learn more of the ways of the Mulai.

Dr. Cordovero is referred to as “The Archaeologist,” but his position observing a living society would seem to smack more of anthropology than of the study of dusty artifacts. As an anthropologist, Dr. Cordovero has a lot of Napoleon Chagnon energy (see Yanomamo: The Fierce People [1968] and the surrounding controversy): He’s a bit too eager to participate in the sexual and pharmacological rituals of the people he’s observing, and his interpretations of their language and culture should probably be treated with a degree of skepticism. The book we are reading, though, is mediated through Dr. Cordovero’s lens. Chapters consisting of his personal journal entries alternate with excerpts from his official report on the mission. Other chapters are headed with the names of certain of the Mulai, but would also seem to have been authored by Dr. Cordovero.

One of these central personages among the Mulai is a woman named Faida, a figure contemporaneous with Dr. Cordovero’s visit, and herself a kind of mirror Cordovero. She discovers a historical text, and a set of artifacts at the Temple, which become her obsession as she attempts to translate Spanish into Mulai. This is particularly challenging because, as we come to understand, the Mulai language is not that easy to pin down. In the words of Dr. Cordovero:

… I wrote the first Mulai dictionary. Their language is frenetic, unlike any of ours. It doesn’t change from generation to generation but from one hour to the next. It doesn’t bother the Mulai when they don’t understand what is written. To them, what’s written can always be understood. By the time a Mulai rereads a text they’ve authored, what they read is no longer what they originally wrote. In a way, the same is happening to us; it’s the fate of any language. The only difference is that, while the Mulai find joy in this process, we find nothing but despair.

Not only is the language exceedingly flexible, but the Mulai concept of authorship is rather different from our own. A Mulai looking at written material will happily rearrange the pages, which are not fixed or bound together in any way, into new orders either random or pleasing. This momentary arrangement is a kind of authorship, and the reader-writer may choose to sign the pages with a personal glyph which itself becomes part of the text.

The relationship of the descendent Mulai to their founding texts is therefore a slippery one. Some oral recitations, such as the ones they learned from the “loudhailer” or radio, are mere sounds to them, to be performed as “chants” on ceremonial occasions. (These are, of course, transmissions that, in their original context, consisted of call signs and instructions for operating the equipment.) Other texts, like the Libertarian Codex, have proved perhaps too flimsy a basis on which to build a culture, and so the culture had rapidly creolized into a form that finds equilibrium in a state of perpetual change. One has to wonder how many of our own beliefs and customs are based in unreliable material taken out of context and freighted with new meaning through generations of use.

It’s a truism that all ethnography is really auto-ethnography, and in studying the Mulai we study ourselves. When, in Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, Marco Polo speaks to Kublai Khan of his travels he speaks always implicitly of Venice. To speak directly of Venice would be to lose Venice; in speaking of other cities he has, perhaps, lost a little of Venice each time. To speak is to transform into words; to transform a thing is to lose the original. How much more so, then, in the act of translation? To translate is impossible; the translator is therefore an impossible person. The reader, who partakes of these impossibilities, comes to know only herself, and only the self that is made by language. Read, then, and be transformed.

Like this:
© Copyright 2026 By: Dawn Macdonald
About Dawn Macdonald
Dawn Macdonald lives in Canada’s Yukon Territory
https://strangehorizons.com/wordpress/non-fiction/the-mulai-by-munir-hachemi-translated-by-julia-sanches/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"The fourth "Translated Works Understanding China" Forum on Film Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication is held at the Communication University of China.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Experts, scholars and industry professionals gathered on Friday at the Communication University of China for the fourth "Translated Works Understanding China" Forum on Film Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication, which explored how emerging technologies are reshaping audiovisual translation and helping Chinese films and television programs reach global audiences.

 

Chai Jianping, vice-president of the Communication University of China, said that generative artificial intelligence is reshaping the global communication landscape, making effective storytelling about China an important mission of our time.

 

Chai said the university would draw on its strengths in international communication, multilingual education and regional studies to contribute to expanding the global reach of Chinese culture.

 

 

The fourth "Translated Works Understanding China" Forum on Film Translation and Cross-Cultural Communication is held at the Communication University of China.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Huang Yulong, president of the Academy of Translation and Interpretation under China International Communications Group, said audiovisual works provide overseas audiences with an important window into Chinese society and cultural values.

 

While artificial intelligence is reshaping the industry, Huang said human expertise remains essential, particularly in cultural interpretation and value assessment.

 

At the forum, translation experts and university professors shared their insights into the future of audiovisual translation from both academic and practical perspectives, discussing issues such as technological innovation, talent development, and cross-cultural communication."

By Bai Shuhao | chinadaily.com.cn 

2026-07-14 14:50

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202607/14/WS6a55dc2fa310986e2b465301.html

#metaglossia 

#metaglossia_mundus 

"Wilson, a professor of classical studies at the University of Pennsylvania, has polarised the classics world for almost a decade. Her translation – the first complete English version of the Odyssey by a woman – is cast in strict iambic pentameter. Its foundation is academically rigorous, yet its language is boldly modernised. Some greeted it as a radical poetic feat. Others accused her of heresy, criticising her colloquial register and political inflection.

Among Wilson’s most distinguished peers, Edith Hall spoke for many in predicting, in these pages, that Wilson would “win a place in [the] roll-call of the most significant translations of the poem in history”. Daniel Mendelsohn, an Odyssey translator himself, on the other hand, has contended that Wilson “strips away many of the subtleties of the original”, pointing to a claim that a third of Homer’s text has been lost in her version.

Among armchair classicists on X, however, reactions have been almost uniformly hostile. Wilson has been accused of “wokery”, and of the “DEI-fication” of Homer. A post from May 2026 is representative: “The Emily Wilson translation… is basically the Odyssey for people who thought Homer needed to be run through a modern accessibility filter.”

What does Wilson herself think? Speaking on Zoom from her sunny Philadelphia home, she says she’s paying little attention to the online kerfuffle. “I avoid Twitter [now X] these days… I find it depressing.

“It would be nice to think that this was a serious dialogue about literature, poetry, translation and the study of Ancient Greek. I would love that. But I think this is about people latching on to particular ways to reinforce the very limited and toxic positions that they already have. I don’t think it’s about learning anything – and that just seems sad to me.”

Wilson’s frustration points to a broader truth: the Odyssey controversy is less about philological complexities than about the culture wars. As she writes in her new book, Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea: Journeys Through Ancient Literature, Homer’s poem is now “ultra-canonical, and often viewed as a wellspring of ‘Western civilisation’.” That’s clearer than ever in contemporary US politics. In a eulogy delivered last year after the murder of the activist Charlie Kirk, Stephen Miller, Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, invoked a civilisational lineage from antiquity to modern-day America: “Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Rome, to Philadelphia, to Monticello. Our ancestors built the cities. They produced the art and architecture. They built the industry.”

“I think it’s extremely dangerous,” Wilson says of this narrative. “Of course, it’s true that figures like Thomas Jefferson did study both the constitution of Athens and Rome, and ancient Carthage, and other ancient societies. It’s not that there’s absolutely zero germ of history there.

“And yet this misleading, simplistic, historically [inaccurate] and extremely toxic stew of ideas is presented as if there were a completely hardwired through-line from antiquity to ‘we are the heirs of the ancient Athenians’. Of course that’s bogus.”

If you’ve been conditioned to have a glorified view of ancient Greek and Roman civilisations, it can be discombobulating to hear, in Wilson’s Odyssey, phrases such as “canapé”, “pep talk” and “you must be joking” uttered by heroes and gods. But Wilson is adamant that archaic language is nothing more than a stylistic conceit, one that falsely equates grandiosity with erudition and authority. “My Homer,” she writes in the preface to her translation, “does not speak in your grandparents’ English, since that language is no closer to the wine-dark sea than your own.”

Wilson fell in love with the ancient world as a child. Born in Britain in 1971, the daughter of the late academic Katherine Duncan-Jones and the critic AN Wilson, she played Athena in a primary school production of the Odyssey. She went on to study Latin and Greek, then read Classics at Oxford. She moved to America in 1996 to pursue a PhD at Yale.

Wilson was the first woman to publish a complete English version of the Odyssey  Credit: Dan Callister for The Telegraph
Her penchant for the dramatic has only grown with age. She has become known for her electrifying readings of Homer, in which she brings the epic’s characters to life through vividly imagined voices, expressive gestures – at times you worry she will literally tear her hair out – and frequent quotations from the ancient Greek. “People very often clap when I do a bit of ancient Greek,” she says, “and I think it’s so lovely that people are excited to hear it.”

Wilson’s dedication to the Homeric world is even manifest on her body in the form of a series of tattoos. “I have a spear and a bow on my legs for the Iliad and Odyssey, representing Athena and Odysseus. I have an octopus representing Odysseus, changeability and multiplicity, then the horses of Achilles on my other arm – the immortal horses that tell Achilles he will die… A tattoo is a permanent thing. What is permanent for me is Homer.”

Still, she stresses the need to “rethink everything” about translating classical texts. For some, the mention of Classics conjures images of dusty Loebs and crusty professors. Not for Wilson. Among the “20 Rules of Translation” in her Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is: “If nobody objects to any choice you make, your choices are too timid.”

That might have been the advice given to Christopher Nolan, judging by the furore his Odyssey film is already causing. His decision to cast the Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, for instance, has drawn fierce criticism from figures including Elon Musk, who declared that “Chris Nolan is p---ing on Homer’s grave.” (My fellow Greeks, meanwhile, are complaining that they are barely represented among the cast, who largely speak in American accents.)

Nolan’s script is said to draw heavily on Wilson’s translation. Though, she says, Nolan hasn’t directly asked her for help, she’s optimistic about the film. “I think it’s going to be fun… I hope it will bring more people to the original IP.” For one thing, she points out, Homer’s poem sits well with Nolan’s work to date. “It’s the same tropes that we’ve seen in almost every film that he has already produced – the themes of the lone man on a quest with a female character waiting for him.”

Matt Damon, who’s playing Odysseus, wouldn’t have been her first pick. “But his part in The Talented Mr Ripley was the best warm-up… he showed he can be a schemer.” Her ideal lead, in truth, would have been Samuel L Jackson. “He’s able to convey being very smart and wily and funny and command a room.”

Wilson’s next step is ambitious but not surprising, given her dedication to Homer. “I’m actually redoing the Odyssey all over again. In the last stages of doing my 2017 translation, I started to feel that the line-for-line constraint was just a little bit too tight. And that if I had just had a few more syllables, I could do a little bit more. And so I’m redoing it all.

“I think it’s going to be good.”

Crossing the Wine-Dark Sea is published by Profile at £12.99. The Odyssey is in cinemas July 17"
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/emily-wilson-translation-interview-odyssey-wine-dark-sea/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"The New India Foundation (NIF) has announced the recipients of its third round of Translation Fellowships following a rigorous selection process. The 2026 Translation Fellows are Jayasree Kalathil and Mini Chandran in Malayalam; Murali Ranganathan in Hindi; and Shefali Jha in Urdu.Jayasree Kalathil, an award-winning bilingual writer and translator, has received the Fellowship to translate Adimamakka (Children of the Enslaved), the autobiography of Adivasi land rights activist C.K. Janu. It is the history of the indigenous movement for land rights in Keralam..."

https://indianprinterpublisher.com/blog/2026/07/new-india-foundations/

#metaglossia 

#metaglossia_mundus 

When a human interpreter is not available within five minutes, most healthcare leaders say they would consider AI instead. That is the central finding of AI Interpreting in Healthcare 2026, a new report from Boostlingo produced in partnership with Fierce Healthcare, based on a survey of 123 healthcare leaders.

Only 1 in 5 respondents said they would use AI immediately, even with the right safeguards in place. Once a wait passes five minutes, that number rises to roughly 3 in 4. More than 8 in 10 leaders said longer waits would make them more likely to evaluate AI at all.

The shift reflects where the pressure is coming from. Delays in care were the top consequence named when an interpreter is not available, cited by 60% of respondents, ahead of patient dissatisfaction and communication errors. Managing cost ranked as a top challenge for 54%.

"Organizations want high-quality interpreting services, but often select the lowest-cost provider," said Merrie Wallace, MN BSN, Chief Revenue Officer at Boostlingo. "There is a trade-off point between cost and quality that needs to be explored."

Trust, not cost, is the bigger barrier to using AI. Doubt that it will hold up in real conversations was the top concern, named by 59% of respondents, ahead of accuracy, compliance, and liability concerns.

Comfort with AI depends heavily on the interaction. Scheduling and billing conversations, with a human interpreter available as backup, were acceptable to 85% of respondents. Comfort drops sharply for emergency and sensitive care, where most leaders still prefer a human interpreter by default.

"Instead of asking questions like, 'Should we use AI or human interpreters?' the better question becomes 'What is the right modality with the right safeguards for this specific interaction?'" said Dr. Julie Mills, CNE at Boostlingo.

Taken together, the findings point to a hybrid approach. AI interpreting has a role in healthcare, according to 95% of respondents, and 61% say they are open to piloting it within the next 12 months.

The full report, AI Interpreting in Healthcare 2026, includes use-case risk and pilot design checklists for teams evaluating AI interpreting. It is available for download at: https://boostlingo.com/resources/ai-interpreting-healthcare-2026/.

Methodology

The findings come from a survey of 123 healthcare respondents, fielded with Fierce Healthcare from April 6 to May 6, 2026. Results are directional and are not intended as a statistically representative benchmark of the healthcare market.

About Boostlingo

Boostlingo is an interpreting technology company based in Austin, Texas. Its platform provides organizations with video, phone, and AI interpreting, plus scheduling, management, and reporting tools to run them, all in one place. The goal: communicate without barriers.

Media Contact
Morgan Lierley
Boostlingo
media@boostlingo.com"

https://tech.einnews.com/pr_news/926586514/three-in-four
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"Even though the capital of Belgium is also that of Flanders, many Flemish people can frequently be heard exclaiming that "Brussels is another country".

And while there are many layers to that statement, the fact that Dutch speakers generally have a hard time using their native language in the city plays a big role. To find out how they felt about Brussels' complicated language situation, The Brussels Times took to the streets of the capital.

"When I came to Brussels 50 to 60 years ago, I would mainly hear French. And with my poor French at the time, I felt like an outsider," said Hélène Verelst, 73, a former secretary from Zemst in Flemish Brabant.

"But when I come to Brussels now, I hear lots of different languages. People are coming here from all over the world, and they usually speak poor French too," she said. "So weirdly, I actually feel more at ease now."

Like many Flemish people of her generation, Hélène rented a kot in Brussels when she was studying, and even though she later found work in the city, she opted to commute from her hometown every day rather than become a 'real' Brusseler.

Her sister, however, met her husband in Brussels and moved to the city permanently. "I like visiting her, like I am doing today. But I prefer Zemst, where I can know for sure what language to say 'hello' in," she said.

'A lot has changed'
Still, Brussels is popular among Flemish people: every year, some 13,000 to 14,000 people move from Flanders to Brussels – for work, studies, love or another reason entirely.

The latest official figures by the Brio language barometer (2024) show that just 7.5% of the capital's residents exclusively speak Dutch at home, while 4.3% live in a Dutch/French mixed-language household – bringing the total ratio of native Dutch-speakers in the capital to just over one in 10 (11.8%). Meanwhile, over 60% of residents speak French at home.

According to Michiel*, a 58-year-old Dutchman who spent his teenage years in the French-speaking part of Belgium and now lives in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, a lot has changed over the years.

"When I came to Brussels as a young man, it was of course very francophone, but as soon as you went to the east, north or northwest of the city, you would hear Flemish people around you," he said.

Some areas in the northeast or Brussels, like Schaerbeek, traditionally have many Dutch speakers. Credit: Visit Brussels

Michiel used to regard Brussels as a bilingual city – with a lot of English thrown in because of the international organisations located there. Now, however, he feels that the international organisations speak English, and everybody else speaks French.

"If I go to places that traditionally were strongholds of the Dutch language in Brussels, I might as well speak French immediately," he said. "I still try in Dutch, but it usually does not get me very far. It does not bother me, but it is an interesting change that I have had to get used to."

For many other Dutch speakers in the capital, however, not being able to speak their own language is a common frustration – whether it is in the hospital, while grocery shopping or when arranging official matters with the municipality.

'Smoother in French'
"Sometimes the lack of Dutch bothers me when I need to deal with official bodies, such as the police or a government department," said Freija Poot, 29.

Her parents are Flemish but moved to Jodoigne in Wallonia, right on the linguistic border. Freija first went to a French-speaking school, then later to a Dutch-speaking one. She went to university in Brussels and permanently moved to the city after finishing her studies.

"I was brought up bilingually, but in those official situations, it is still easier for me to speak Dutch," she said. "However, I noticed that the process goes a lot smoother when I do it in French."

Officially, the Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual territory. According to Belgium's language laws, which date back to 1966, public authorities and administrations in Brussels are obliged to communicate in Dutch and French – with citizens, internally and with other administrations.

Importantly, this does not mean that every person working for one of the municipalities, the police, Public Welfare Centres (CPAS/OCMW), hospitals, or other official institutions in Brussels must speak both Dutch and French.

Rather, it means that those official bodies must be able to provide their services in both languages: a dedicated number of staff members must be able to master the minority language (in Brussels' case, Dutch) to help citizens who only speak that language.

'A lottery'
While the system sounds fine on paper, in practice the policy often leaves much to be desired – to the frustration of many Dutch speakers. Eddy Vanderschueren, who moved from Flanders to Brussels in 1988, agrees that it can be difficult at times.

"I am currently receiving treatment for a condition, and I went specifically to the UZ Jette because I am sure everyone there speaks Dutch," he said. "At other hospitals, whether someone will be able to help me in Dutch is often a bit of a lottery."

When Vanderschueren brings up issues he has experienced in Brussels in conversation with French speakers, he says he is often dismissed as an extremist or Flemish nationalist. But he insists it has nothing to do with that.

"If people cannot or do not want to speak Dutch to me in a shop, that is fine. It is not ideal, but it's a private matter, they can do as they please and I will never say a word about it," he said. "But when it comes to official bodies, they should respect the law."

The language parity in Brussels – which guarantees representation for the Dutch-speaking minority – is directly linked to parity at the federal level, where French speakers are in the minority.

"If they do not want to follow the law, they will have to secure a two-thirds majority to abolish it. And then we will abolish it at the Belgian level too. But of course, they do not want that either," he said. "I absolutely get that Dutch is not always easy, but neither is French."

The fact that Brussels' new Minister-President Boris Dilliès (MR) does not speak Dutch – something that became clear during an embarrassing television interview on his first day – exemplifies the issue, according to Vanderschueren.

"It is a real disgrace for a bilingual region. [The previous Minister-President Rudi] Vervoort did not speak Dutch very well either, but he at least spoke it a little," he said. "Dilliès was a mayor, and is now Minister-President. He says he’s going to learn Dutch. On verra."

Correcting the imbalance
Difficult to learn or not, Belgian-American writer and consultant, Patricia Finn, 61, quickly mastered Dutch after moving to Belgium, speaks it fluently, and now always uses it when she is in Brussels.

"Many of my Flemish friends in Brussels – and Flemish people in general – seem to have the idea that there’s a sort of language hierarchy where one language is more important than another," she said. "But this is not true."

As many Flemish people are able to get by in French, however, she noticed that they are quick to switch. "I think this is partly to do with the Flemish mentality: they want to make others feel at ease. They tend to speak so many languages that they will just switch to ensure that their conversation partner does not have to make an effort," Finn said.

But as a result, they speak their own language less and less often in the capital. "And so, they are not helping their own case."

Finn believes that Flemish people should be proud of their culture, their identity and their language. "This quickly gets mixed up with what the Flemish nationalists are saying, but that is not what I am talking about. I mean, there is no need for Flemish people to put themselves second to make others more comfortable."

She therefore speaks Dutch as often as she can, and urges her Flemish friends to do the same when they are in Brussels. "I am not a Flemish nationalist," she said. "I am just trying to correct the imbalance between the languages a little, especially in Brussels."

*Name has been changed to protect the speaker's privacy.
Lost in translation? Why Dutch-speakers still feel out of place in Brussels
Monday, 13 July 2026
By  Maïthé Chini

https://www.brusselstimes.com/2226116/lost-in-translation-why-many-dutch-speakers-in-brussels-still-feel-out-of-place
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"The word Engrish is a slang term used to describe inaccurate, awkward, or nonsensical English produced by native speakers of other languages. 

 

It originally referred to the way some Japanese speakers pronounce certain English sounds. Since Japanese does not distinguish between the English L and R in the same way, words like English may sound closer to Engrish, while London can sound more like Rondon..."

https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-translations-engrish/

#metaglossia 

#metaglossia_mundus 

"An interpreter has described how she stopped getting work at a university after she reported anti-Semitic comments that she was supposed to translate.

The woman, appearing at a royal commission under the pseudonym ACK, is not Jewish but has close connections to the community.

She relayed hearing a student say words to the effect of: "Hitler didn't have anything against Jewish people. He just didn't want them to suffer."..."
Lucinda Garbutt-Young
Jul 14, 2026, 8:31 AM
Translator 'lost work
https://aapnews.aap.com.au/news/anti-semitism-a-complex-issue-on-university-campuses
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"Two Novellas by Vasil Bykaŭ Translated and Published in Vietnam
11.07.2026 / 15:48
БелŁacРус
Nashaniva.com

A book by the Belarusian writer Vasil Bykaŭ has been published in Vietnam, featuring two of his well-known novellas — "The Alpine Ballad" and "To Live Till Dawn". They were translated into Vietnamese by the renowned Russologist and educator Vu The Khoi, as reported by the Embassy of Belarus in Vietnam.

"The Alpine Ballad" is one of Bykaŭ's early novellas. It was first published in 1964 in the magazine "Maladost" (Youth) and later released as a separate book. The plot centers on the love story of Soviet prisoner-of-war Ivan and Italian Giulia, who escape from a fascist camp and together overcome difficult trials in the Alps.

Translator Vu The Khoi noted that it was a great honor for him to translate "The Alpine Ballad" into his native language. He emphasized that Bykaŭ's works have been repeatedly published in Vietnam and continue to attract the interest of local readers thanks to their humanist ideas, profound portrayal of characters' experiences, and condemnation of war.

The second part of the new Vietnamese edition is the novella "To Live Till Dawn"."
https://nashaniva.com/amp/en/399691
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

"Student's £30 device 'translates in real time'
Britta Zeltmann
Devon
University of Plymouth
Milya Mohd Asyraf designed her advice to be affordable and accessible
A student who has designed an affordable device which can translate and transcribe language in front of people's eyes hopes to make tech more accessible for all.

Milya Mohd Asyraf, 22, spent six months coming up with the design as part of her electrical and electronic engineering degree at the University of Plymouth.

The gizmo, which costs about £30 to make, translates speech into text before projecting it onto a small screen in front of a person's glasses via a clip-on electronic box, she said.

Using affordable and recycled materials, it was cheaper than many existing versions of the concept and ultimately aimed to help people overcome a range of communication barriers, she added.

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Milya said: "My whole inspiration behind this project is that I grew up in a multilingual environment and was always one of those people who didn't understand what everyone else was saying.

"Language barriers – or even differences in accents – can make communication tricky, and many translation tools currently rely on phones, playback or expensive smart glasses that either interrupt conversations or reduce accessibility."

She said her device addresses that by fitting on someone's glasses "without additional features like other smart glasses that cause the high prices".

University of Plymouth
The device where the text would appear, sat beside a pair of glasses
The design captures speech through a small microphone, where an AI model translated and converted it into written text in real time.

The translated text was then sent over wi-fi Fi via a "microcontroller" which Milya said "sends signals from one thing to another".

She explained the controller was, in essence, "a small computer, and that's how the language is detected and also translated".

The text is reflected through a mirror, lens and reflector, appearing like subtitles in the user's field of view, she said.

Milya said the device was more accurate if programmed for a specific language - but was also not just helpful for understanding foreign languages.

She said: "Besides translation, it's really good at transcription.

"So, people hard of hearing can have a subtitle display."

Milya Mohd Asyraf
The electronics are hidden in casing to which a mirror, lens and reflector are attached
She added: "I'm really interested in accessibility technology and I'd like to make technology that people actually need, something that doesn't take advantage of people by taking their data, for example.

"I'd like to make something that people actually would like to use without any of that risk."

Asked what advice she would give to others hoping to create their own designs, she said: "I would say to just get started immediately, even if you don't know anything.

"Just have a piece of paper and write something down, whether it's a plan to get out of your head. Everything will fall in place.""
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ced47540de2o
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

L’IA au service des langues locales
Le Togo veut donner une place à ses dizaines de langues vernaculaires dans le monde de l'intelligence artificielle.

12 Juil 2026

Le gouvernement lance une initiative pour développer des modèles d'IA capables de comprendre et de parler ces langues, avec un double objectif : améliorer l'accès aux services publics numériques et combler la sous-représentation chronique des langues africaines dans les systèmes d'IA.

Annoncé cette semaine à Genève lors du sommet ‘AI for Good’, le projet réunit Togo AI Lab, la plateforme africaine Zindi et l'entreprise technologique togolaise Umbaji. Il s'inscrit dans la stratégie nationale d'IA du Togo, qui vise à renforcer l'inclusion numérique à travers des services capables de fonctionner en langues locales.

Le plan : bâtir une plateforme open-source pour collecter des données vocales et textuelles auprès des communautés du pays, avec un objectif d'au moins 50 heures de voix validées et 6 000 paires de phrases traduites pour chacune des 50 langues nationales.

Ces données alimenteront quatre compétitions d'IA ouvertes sur la plateforme Zindi, destinées à développer des modèles open-source de reconnaissance vocale, de synthèse vocale et de traduction automatique, avec 40 000 dollars de prix à la clé.

Le moment n'est pas choisi au hasard. Selon l'UNESCO, plus de 2 000 langues africaines restent gravement sous-représentées dans les jeux de données utilisés pour entraîner les modèles d'IA, privant des millions de personnes d'un accès véritable aux services propulsés par l'IA, largement construits autour de l'anglais ou du mandarin.

Ce n'est pas une première collaboration entre le Togo et Zindi. En 2024, le ministère en charge du Numérique avait déjà organisé, avec la plateforme, une compétition utilisant des données démographiques et géospatiales pour prédire la demande en infrastructures de fibre optique. Plusieurs des meilleurs participants avaient ensuite été recrutés par Togo AI Lab.

« Nous considérons les modèles linguistiques comme une infrastructure publique essentielle pour l'ère numérique », a déclaré la ministre de l'Efficacité du service public et de la Transformation numérique, Cina Lawson...

Pour la directrice générale de Zindi, Celina Lee, le constat reste le même : « Trop de langues africaines restent sous-représentées. En réunissant les communautés locales, des données ouvertes et un réseau mondial de praticiens de l'IA, cette initiative garantit que la diversité linguistique du Togo se reflète dans la prochaine génération de technologies d'IA africaines. »

Fondée en 2018, Zindi revendique une communauté de plus de 100 000 experts en IA répartis dans plus de 180 pays. Umbaji a, de son côté, déjà mené des projets de collecte de données multilingues couvrant 11 langues africaines dans six pays.

______

* Éwé, Mina (Gen), Kabyè, Tem (Kotokoli), Moba, Gourmantchéma (Gourma), Bassar (Ntcham), Losso (Naoudem), Akposso, Ana-Ifè …"
https://www.republicoftogo.com/toutes-les-rubriques/culture/l-ia-au-service-des-langues-locales
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Seamus Heaney’s translations: An exploration of a gifted work
Like Joyce, Heaney was keen to ‘dislodge’ his work from the single-perspective canon of English literature

Seamus Heaney and the Art of Translation
Author:
Edited by Eugene O’Brien and Ian Hickey

Eugene O’Brien’s introduction to 11 chapters exploring Seamus Heaney’s gifted translations opens with the “helmeted pump” in Heaney’s essay Mossbawn where he links the pump with “the Greek word, omphalos, meaning ... navel ... hence the stone that marked the centre of the world” and repeating it “until its blunt and falling music becomes the music of somebody pumping water at the pump outside our back door”.

O’Brien sees this “seminal point” as a carrying over or translation of sound rather than meaning “a thing becomes a sound which becomes a word which allows for connection, empathy ... multiple perspectives.”

Translation is a tricky, layered art and O’Brien references Susan Bassnett’s view of “a dangerous act, potentially subversive and always significant”. Like Joyce, Heaney was keen to “dislodge” his work from the single-perspective canon of English literature. One can feel the sheer rebellious delight in his description of Beowulf as “somebody from the southwest of Sweden coming down into Denmark and helping the Danes, then returning to the southwest of Sweden and clearing a dragon out of that place. It is written in England, perhaps in Northumbria, but then Northumbria itself was a hybrid enough place…”

This book celebrates the endless ripples, each essay diving down and coming up with a fresh look. Ian Hickey sees Heaney’s translations as a shadow play between the original text and “the contemporary moment”, tracing the etymology of “confound” as it’s used in the sense of a blending of “the Lethe in Moyola” in Heaney’s poem The Riverbank. In From a Dark Wood to the Light of Heaven Mariella Gatto traces Heaney’s struggle to maintain poetic integrity while acknowledging that poetry and politics were “indissolubly linked” in what he called his “po-ethics”...

Heaney’s translations form a net of connections, rather than pointing out difference, O’Brien seeing them as a “heterogeneous, diverse and open interrogation of the present through the lens of the past.”

And Dennis O’Driscoll’s conversations with Heaney in Stepping Stones are an invaluable resource too, referenced many times here. Whether it’s Josie O’Donoghue’s On the Whim of a Marvellous Thing or O’Brien’s vision of Heaney “caught up in, and created by” a riverrun of languages – there is an exhilarating sense of an ever-renewing river of translations where no one will ever step twice."
Martina Evans
Sat Jul 11 2026
https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2026/07/11/seamus-heaneys-translations-an-exploration-of-a-gifted-work/
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Having an AI for Literature
NAAV AI is utilising an AI-assisted, human-refined process to translate India’s rich body of writing

Vikram Sampath and Sandeep Singh Chauhan
Mohd Shehwaaz Khan
Updated on:
12 Jul 2026, 1:33 am

It was not so much a coincidence as a statement that the first major book NAAV AI translated was Vikram Sampath’s My Name is Gauhar Jaan into Kannada. Published in English in 2010, the award-winning biography had never reached Kannada-speaking readers, even though Sampath grew up in Bengaluru and Gauhar Jaan spent her final years in Karnataka.

For Sampath, the choice was symbolic. More than a century after Gauhar Jaan became the first Indian artiste to commercially record her voice on the gramophone, her story became one of the first full-length books to be translated into Kannada using AI-assisted technology.

“As a historian, I look at patterns,” says Sampath. “When Gauhar Jaan embraced recording technology, many musicians said it would destroy music or anger the gods. Today, writers and publishers have similar doubts about AI. History is repeating itself.”

The brainchild of Sampath and technologist Sandeep Singh Chauhan, Bengaluru-based NAAV AI—short for Navigating AI Across Vocabularies, and a play on the Hindi word naav (boat)—uses artificial intelligence and human expertise to translate long-form content such as books. It currently supports 11 Indian languages, including Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, as well as five foreign languages: French, German, Russian, Italian and Spanish.

The idea grew out of a frustration Sampath knew well as an author. “Only about five or six per cent of India consumes content in English. The actual soul of Bharat is in the Bharatiya bhashas,” he says. “But translation in India has largely remained a manual, mechanical, expensive and time-consuming process.”

Covers of books translated to Kannada, Tamil, Odia, and Hindi
Its flagship product, Translit, generates a first draft of an odd 300-page book in about an hour. It is then reviewed by language experts and professional translators, some from the Central Institute of Indian Languages Mysuru, who refine the text before publication. “The heavy lifting is done by AI, but the final product is human-refined,” adds Chauhan. “Every language has cultural and linguistic nuances that technology alone cannot fully capture.”

The result is a dramatic reduction in time. A 300-350 page book that would ordinarily take six to seven months can now be completed in around four weeks. “This isn’t about replacing translators,” says Chauhan. “Instead of translating one book in six months, the same translator can now work on six or seven books. Their role becomes more valuable.”

Winning over publishers, however, has required patience. Sampath says much of his time is spent explaining that NAAV is AI-assisted rather than AI-driven. “It is natural for people in the creative industry to have doubts,” he says. “The fear is that AI will write the book or replace the translator. But the human expert remains central to the pipeline.”

The other product ZuNAAV creates audiobooks using AI-assisted technology in no time. “We make books come alive through immersive background sound, special effects and music. Our audio engineers and language experts refine the final version before it reaches the publishers,” adds Chauhan. The company has also successfully tested a Live Translation App with the spiritual organisation of Sadguru Madhusudan Sai, expected to go live shortly.

The startup has received funding support from Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal and investors such as Asha Jadeja Motwani, Prashanth Prakash and Subrata Mitra.

For Sampath, the larger ambition goes beyond technology. “If technology helps literature travel across languages,” he says, “India’s languages will grow together rather than compete with one another, as they most often do in current times.”"
https://www.newindianexpress.com/magazine/2026/Jul/12/having-an-ai-for-literature
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Créer en langues africaines: Nigeria, littérature en yoruba et roman fondateur de D.O. Fagunwa

50 millions de personnes parlent yoruba à travers les pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest et leurs diasporas. C’est une langue essentiellement orale mais qui possède tout de même des œuvres littéraires. Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa publie le premier roman en langue autochtone en 1938, à une époque où seule la Bible était disponible en langue locale. Aujourd’hui, des acteurs de la culture œuvrent pour entretenir et encourager une production littéraire.

«La forêt aux mille démons » de Daniel Olorunfẹmi Fagunwa, premier roman publié en langue yoruba.

De notre correspondante à Lagos, Harmony Pondy Nyaga

Dans La Forêt aux mille démons, Daniel Olorunfẹmi Fagunwa conte en Yoruba l'épopée d'un héros confronté à des épreuves surnaturelles, entre le monde des vivants et celui des esprits. Un premier roman publié en 1938, dans le but de contribuer à l’alphabétisation de son peuple dans un Nigeria encore sous domination britannique, mais aussi de préserver et partager un patrimoine culturel.

Ce n’est que trente ans plus tard que ce roman pionnier sera traduit en anglais par Wole Soyinka, dramaturge et prix Nobel de littérature, considéré comme l’un des héritiers de Fagunwa. Dans sa note de traduction de l’ouvrage, il admet que : « Le plaisir que procure son talent verbal est sans aucun doute largement perdu dans la traduction, mais cela ne justifie pas pour autant de réserver la lecture de Fagunwa aux seuls locuteurs du yoruba ».

Cette réflexion résume le paradoxe des auteurs yorubas, tiraillés entre le désir de préserver la pureté de leur langue et la nécessité de traduire pour exister auprès d’autres publics.

Mettre en avant la littérature yoruba
Rasaq Malik Gbolahan, poète et écrivain, a choisi et il a lancé Atelewo, un magazine en ligne en langue autochtone qui décerne chaque année un prix aux œuvres en yoruba : « L'un des principaux projets que nous avons réalisés lorsque nous avons lancé Atelewo, nous avons lancé un appel à soumission d’œuvres littéraires : poèmes, nouvelles, essais écrits en langue yoruba. Nous voulions nous concentrer uniquement sur la langue yoruba. »

Au centre J. Randle pour la culture Yoruba, à Lagos, entre tenues et objets traditionnels sont également exposés les auteurs populaires de la littérature yoruba comme Amos Tutuola, Wole Soyinka ou plus récemment Lola Shoneyin.

Le directeur du centre, Qudus Onikeku, prépare l'ouverture d'une bibliothèque entièrement dédiée à ce patrimoine : « Ce serait une énorme collection de livres sur la culture yoruba et nigériane principalement, mais aussi sur l’Histoire. » « Je veux redonner vie à la tradition orale, poursuit-il, parce que je pense que la littérature pour nous était surtout puissante lorsqu'elle était lue à haute voix. »

Afin d'assurer de nouvelles générations de lecteurs, le centre culturel propose tout au long de l’année des cours de yoruba."
13/07/2026 - 00:05

https://www.rfi.fr/fr/podcasts/reportage-afrique/20260712-cr%C3%A9er-en-langues-africaines-nigeria-litt%C3%A9rature-en-yoruba-et-roman-fondateur-de-d-o-fagunwa-1-5
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

German Bundestag Opens Applications for 2027 International Parliamentary Scholarship (IPS)

"The German Bundestag has announced the opening of applications for the 2027 International Parliamentary Scholarship (IPS), an internationally recognised programme that offers young graduates the opportunity to gain first-hand experience of Germany’s parliamentary system and political processes.

The five-month scholarship provides participants from eligible countries with practical insight into parliamentary work while strengthening their understanding of democratic governance, political institutions, and intercultural cooperation. The programme is designed for academically qualified young professionals with a strong interest in politics, public affairs, and civic engagement.

Eligible candidates are encouraged to submit their applications through the German Embassy in their home country before the applicable national deadline.

Scholarship Provides Five Months of Parliamentary Experience
The International Parliamentary Scholarship (IPS) is one of the German Bundestag’s flagship international exchange programmes aimed at promoting democratic values and international understanding.

Over a five-month period, participants gain practical exposure to the work of the German Parliament while expanding their knowledge of legislative processes, policymaking, and political institutions.

The programme enables scholars to:
Gain practical experience within Germany’s parliamentary system.
Develop a deeper understanding of democratic governance.
Strengthen intercultural communication and international cooperation.
Build professional networks with fellow scholars and parliamentary stakeholders.
Enhance their knowledge of political and social issues affecting Germany and the wider international community.
The IPS programme provides participants with valuable academic, professional, and cultural experiences that support future careers in public service, politics, international relations, research, and civil society.Health Foundations & Medical Research

Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must meet several academic, language, and personal requirements to be considered for the scholarship.

Eligible candidates must:

Hold citizenship of a participating country.
Be younger than 30 years of age at the start of the scholarship.
Have completed university studies with at least a Bachelor’s degree. In justified cases, proof of graduation may be submitted until 31 December 2026.
Demonstrate a strong interest in political and social issues.
Show evidence of social and/or political engagement.
Possess very good German language skills at Level B2 or higher according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
The programme seeks motivated young graduates who are committed to democratic participation and international cooperation.

Required Application Documents
Applicants must submit their complete application as a single PDF file by email to the German Embassy responsible for their country.

The application file should not exceed 10 MB. Applicants with larger files should divide their documents into multiple emails. ZIP files are not accepted.

A complete application must include:

Completed application form in German.
Proof of German language proficiency.
Motivation letter written in German (maximum two pages).
University degree certificate or officially certified copy in English or German.
Two recent letters of recommendation in German or English assessing professional qualifications.

Copy of a valid passport or national identity card confirming citizenship.
A recent passport-style photograph in JPEG or another standard image format.
Applicants are also encouraged to use the official application checklist to ensure all required documentation has been included before submission.

Selection Process
The International Parliamentary Scholarship follows a two-stage competitive selection process.

The recruitment process includes:

Initial assessment by the relevant German diplomatic mission abroad.
Invitation of shortlisted candidates to a personal interview.
Final selection by a committee of the German Bundestag.
Interviews are expected to take place between July and December, with final decisions based on applicants’:

German language proficiency.

Academic qualifications.
Professional potential.
Social engagement.
Intercultural competence.
The programme seeks candidates capable of contributing positively to international dialogue and democratic cooperation.

How to Apply
Interested applicants should submit their application electronically to the German Embassy serving their country of citizenship.

Applicants are advised to:

Complete the official application form in German.
Prepare all supporting documents in the required format.
Combine documents into a single PDF where possible.

Ensure file sizes comply with submission requirements.
Submit applications before the national deadline established by the relevant German Embassy.
Country-specific application deadlines for the 2027 programme are available through the German Bundestag and participating German diplomatic missions.

An Opportunity to Experience Germany’s Parliamentary Democracy
The International Parliamentary Scholarship offers young graduates a unique opportunity to gain practical parliamentary experience while expanding their understanding of democratic institutions and international cooperation.

By combining professional exposure with academic and intercultural learning, the programme equips participants with valuable leadership skills that can be applied in government, diplomacy, research, non-governmental organisations, and public policy.Health Foundations & Medical Research

Young leaders with strong academic backgrounds, demonstrated civic engagement, and advanced German language skills are encouraged to prepare their applications and contact the German Embassy in their respective countries for country-specific deadlines and submission instructions.

https://www.globalsouthopportunities.com/2026/07/12/international-45/
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"Des phrases limpides, sans fautes de grammaire. Sans hésitation, Lukaku déroule alors qu'il n'a jamais joué pour un club espagnol dans sa carrière, ni même vécu dans ce pays.

En l'occurrence l'attaquant de 33 ans a joué dans trois pays, mais son bagage linguistique va bien au delà de ça. Il y a d'abord les langues de son enfance, le français, héritage de son père, le lingala transmis par sa mère et le néerlandais appris à l'école, car il a grandi à Anvers, ville flamande belge. Si l'on ajoute l'espagnol évoqué précédemment, voilà déjà quatre langues maîtrisées.

Romelu Lukaku n'est pas polyglotte, mais hyper-polyglotte. Ce statut, on l'obtient lorsque l'on parle couramment six langues ou plus. Lukaku maîtrise aussi l'anglais, après avoir obtenu sa majorité à Londres durant son long passage au club de Chelsea. À l'époque, le jeune joueur qu'il était avait aussi appris le portugais comme une éponge auprès de son partenaire aîné, José Bosingwa. À cela s'ajoute son italien, parfait pour comprendre les consignes de son actuel entraîneur à Naples et aussi l'allemand, même si aucune explication n'est connue sur les motifs d'apprentissage de la langue de Goethe.

Au total, Romelu Lukaku sait s'exprimer dans huit langues. Le profil linguistique de l'avant-centre des Diables rouges fait de lui ce que les journalistes appellent « un bon client »."
Coupe du monde 2026: Romelu Lukaku, l’attaquant belge hyper-polyglotte qui étonne le monde - RFI https://share.google/PVcAbJDC6Nl3OgTwN
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Emotional Intelligence Plays a Role in Creativity, This is the Explanation of an Expert

YOGYAKARTA - Emotional intelligence and creativity are actually interrelated. Until now, many people think that creativity is only influenced by talent, although the ability to recognize and manage emotions also has an important role. A number of recent studies show that emotional intelligence can help a person think more flexibly, face challenges, and generate new ideas.

This was discussed by Anthony D. Fredericks, Ed.D., Professor Emeritus of Education at York College of Pennsylvania, reported by Psychology Today, Monday, July 6. He explained that emotional intelligence is one factor that can support the creative process. Although not the only determinant, the ability to understand and manage emotions makes a person more prepared to face the challenges that arise when looking for or developing ideas.

What is emotional intelligence?
Emotional intelligence or emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, manage, and effectively utilize emotions. This concept includes self-awareness, self-control, motivation, empathy, and relationship-building skills. With these abilities, a person can use their emotions as a source of energy to make decisions and solve problems.

A meta-analysis that combines the results of various studies found a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and creativity. The relationship is not very strong, but it is consistently found in various studies. According to researchers, people who have better emotional intelligence tend to be able to use emotions as fuel to generate ideas and reduce obstacles such as fear of failure or anxiety.

A systematic review published in 2025 also showed that adults with better emotional abilities generally have higher levels of creativity. However, the researchers stressed that the relationship still needs to be studied further to understand how the two affect each other. Nevertheless, the results of this study show that developing emotional intelligence has the potential to support creative thinking abilities.

Why does emotional intelligence play a role in creativity?
People who are able to recognize their emotions are usually easier to understand what they are feeling when facing a challenge. This awareness helps them turn emotional experiences into a source of inspiration, not an obstacle. As a result, they are more open to exploring various possibilities and generating more diverse ideas.

The ability to manage emotions also helps a person to survive when the ideas they have are rejected or have not been successfully realized. In the creative process, failure and criticism are normal so that resilience becomes an important ability. With more stable emotions, a person can try a new approach without easily giving up.

In addition, empathy allows a person to understand another person's point of view. The more perspectives that are understood, the greater the opportunity to find unique solutions or ideas. This is one of the reasons why emotional intelligence is considered to have a role in the creative process.

How to train emotional intelligence to develop creativity
One of the recommended exercises is to recognize the emotions you are feeling, then pour them into the form of a work or idea. For example, sad experiences can be written into stories, poems, or used as inspiration in solving a problem. This exercise helps the brain get used to processing emotions as a source of creativity.

You can also train empathy by trying to see an event from another person's point of view. This way makes you accustomed to understanding various perspectives that may not have been thought of before. The wider the point of view you have, the greater the opportunity for new ideas to emerge.

In addition, get used to reframing unpleasant experiences. Instead of just seeing it as a failure, try to find lessons or opportunities that can be taken from the experience. This habit can train flexibility of thinking, which is one of the important elements of creativity.

Creativity can continue to be developed.
Creativity is not just about talent that is possessed from birth. Various studies show that this ability can continue to be honed through experience and habits, including by developing emotional intelligence. When a person is able to understand and manage their emotions well, the creative thinking process can run more optimally.

Therefore, if you want to increase creativity, there is no harm in starting to train emotional intelligence in everyday life. The ability to recognize emotions, manage stress, and understand others can be an important asset to generate fresher and more innovative ideas. Thus, emotional intelligence is not only beneficial for social relationships, but also plays a role in supporting the creative process."
06 Juli 2026, 14:48
https://voi.id/en/lifestyle/583377
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

Les erreurs de traduction qui ont marqué l’histoire du marketing

"“Mordre le têtard de cire” ou suggérer à ses clients de “Ne rien faire” : les archives du marketing regorgent de perles qui font sourire les étudiants, mais beaucoup moins les directions financières. Très souvent, la réussite d’un nom repose sur sa capacité à susciter une émotion en phase avec l’identité de l’entreprise. Dans un communiqué, l’agence Caupenne & Co revient sur certains “ratés” marketing devenus cultes et rappelle pourquoi la localisation est un enjeu de réputation autant que de communication. Comme le souligne Leylak de Caupenne, fondatrice de l’agence, “Une erreur de traduction marketing n’est jamais seulement une erreur de langue. C’est une erreur de perception”.

Le piège des expressions littérales et des faux amis
Le passage des frontières transforme parfois des slogans percutants en messages embarrassants. KFC en a fait l’expérience en Chine lorsque son célèbre “Bon à s’en lécher les doigts” s’est transformé en une invitation à “Manger ses propres doigts”. De même, Parker Pen aurait frôlé l’incident au Mexique en confondant le terme anglais “embarrassed” avec le mot espagnol “embarazada”, qui signifie enceinte. Une traduction efficace recrée l’effet voulu dans la culture cible plutôt que de calquer mécaniquement le texte source. Ces anecdotes montrent que l’humour ou l’image publicitaire ne survivent pas à une approche purement lexicale.

Anticiper pour protéger la réputation commerciale
Certains ajustements sont purement préventifs mais vitaux. Mitsubishi a ainsi dû renommer son modèle Pajero en « Montero » sur les marchés hispanophones en raison de la connotation vulgaire du nom original. Pour HSBC, une erreur d’adaptation du slogan « Assume Nothing » en « Do Nothing » a nécessité un investissement de remplacement pour lancer la campagne globale « The world’s local bank ». La localisation doit débuter dès la conception du produit pour éviter des refontes publicitaires onéreuses. Selon Leylak de Caupenne, “La bonne traduction n’est pas celle qui colle le plus au texte d’origine. C’est celle qui produit le bon effet dans la langue d’arrivée”.

La rigueur linguistique comme levier de performance
Pour rappel, fondée en 1994 et figurant dans le top 10 national des agences de traduction, Caupenne & Co accompagne des groupes tels qu’Alstom ou Engie sur plus de 160 combinaisons linguistiques. Certifiée ISO 9001 et ISO 17100, l’entreprise mise sur l’alliance entre expertise humaine et outils technologiques pour sécuriser la communication de ses clients. Le métier de traducteur consiste à garantir l’intégrité d’une intention commerciale dans un monde où une campagne traverse les frontières instantanément. Dans un environnement globalisé, l’approximation linguistique n’est plus une option pour les décideurs soucieux de leur image de marque."
https://www.e-marketing.fr/marques-1296/veille-et-tribune-2251/les-erreurs-de-traduction-qui-ont-marque-lhistoire-du-marketing-173499/amp
#metaglossia
#metaglossia_mundus

On pensait que dater l’apparition du langage était impossible : des chercheurs viennent de trouver la réponse dans notre ADN

Depuis quand les humains parlent-ils ? Jusqu’à présent, dater l’apparition du langage relevait du casse-tête. Entre les fossiles, les artefacts et les théories linguistiques, aucune piste ne permettait de répondre avec certitude à cette énigme. Toutefois, en étudiant la génétique des premières populations humaines, des chercheurs ont peut-être trouvé la clé du mystère. Une étude récente basée sur l’analyse de notre ADN avance une hypothèse surprenante : nous avions déjà la capacité de parler il y a au moins 135 000 ans.

Une approche génétique pour dater l’origine du langage
Jusqu’ici, les théories sur l’apparition du langage reposaient principalement sur des indices fossiles et archéologiques. Par exemple, certains scientifiques estiment que la modification du larynx et du crâne chez Homo sapiens suggérait une capacité à produire des sons articulés. D’autres se basaient sur les premières traces de pensée symbolique pour déduire que le langage devait déjà exister. Néanmoins, ces approches manquaient d’une base temporelle solide.

C’est ici que l’équipe de chercheurs, menée par Shigeru Miyagawa du MIT, a adopté une méthode inédite. Plutôt que d’analyser les vestiges matériels, ils ont étudié l’ADN des populations humaines anciennes. Leur raisonnement repose sur un principe simple : toutes les langues du monde sont issues d’une langue commune. Or, si l’on sait à quel moment les premiers groupes humains ont commencé à se séparer géographiquement, on peut estimer quand cette langue originelle était parlée.

Les chercheurs ont donc analysé quinze études génétiques qui couvrent les dix-huit dernières années. Ces études se basaient sur l’ADN mitochondrial (hérité de la mère), le chromosome Y (hérité du père) et des séquençages du génome entier. Le résultat ? Toutes les données convergent vers un point commun : il y a environ 135 000 ans, Homo sapiens formait encore une population unie avant de commencer à se disperser à travers le monde. Cela signifie que la capacité linguistique devait déjà être présente avant cette première grande séparation.

L’émergence du langage comme outil social il y a 100 000 ans
Si Sapiens possédait la capacité biologique de parler il y a 135 000 ans, cela ne signifie pas que le langage, tel que nous le connaissons aujourd’hui, existait déjà à cette époque. Selon les chercheurs, il aurait fallu encore plusieurs dizaines de milliers d’années pour que cette capacité se traduise par un véritable système de communication structuré.

Les indices archéologiques montrent qu’à partir de 100 000 ans avant notre ère, les humains ont commencé à produire des objets à forte valeur symbolique. Des pigments d’ocre rouge étaient utilisés pour décorer des coquillages et des outils, des gravures complexes apparaissent sur des os et des pierres, et des formes d’organisation sociale plus sophistiquées émergent. Cette explosion de créativité et de pensée symbolique suggère une transition majeure : le langage n’était plus seulement une capacité latente; il était devenu un outil actif de communication entre les individus.

D’après Miyagawa et ses collègues, cette transformation du langage a dû jouer un rôle clé dans le développement humain. Il aurait permis une meilleure transmission des connaissances, renforcé la cohésion des groupes et facilité la coopération. Autrement dit, il y a environ 100 000 ans, les humains ne se contentaient plus d’avoir la capacité de parler : ils parlaient réellement, échangeaient des idées et transmettaient leur savoir de manière organisée.

Une théorie qui divise encore la communauté scientifique
Bien que cette étude apporte des éléments solides à la compréhension de l’origine du langage, elle ne fait pas l’unanimité. La question de la date exacte de l’apparition du langage reste un sujet de débat intense. Certains chercheurs estiment en effet que le langage pourrait être bien plus ancien. Des études basées sur l’anatomie des hominidés suggèrent que des espèces comme Homo heidelbergensis, il y a 600 000 ans, possédaient déjà des capacités vocales avancées. D’autres vont encore plus loin et avancent que certaines formes rudimentaires de langage existaient peut-être chez les Australopithèques, il y a plus de deux millions d’années.

D’un autre côté, certaines théories postulent que le langage s’est développé de manière très progressive. Au lieu d’être un événement soudain, il aurait évolué par petites étapes au fil du temps, au fur et à mesure que les besoins de communication devenaient plus complexes.

Enfin, un point essentiel reste en suspens : comment prouver avec certitude que nos ancêtres parlaient ? Contrairement aux outils ou aux œuvres d’art, le langage ne laisse pas de traces fossiles. L’archéologie et la génétique peuvent fournir des indices, mais elles ne peuvent pas, pour l’instant, donner une preuve irréfutable de l’existence du langage à une époque précise."
Brice L.
10 juillet 2026, 17 h 32 min
https://sciencepost.fr/on-pensait-que-dater-lapparition-du-langage-etait-impossible-des-chercheurs-viennent-de-trouver-la-reponse-dans-notre-adn/
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How the Bilingual Brain Switches Languages With Ease
Similar concepts in different languages share an address in the brain

Shelly Fan
Jul 06, 2026

My octogenarian father-in-law is trilingual and a lifelong fan of the World Cup. As he cheers on his favorite teams in English, Spanish, or French—sometimes switching between them mid-sentence—I’m always amazed at how easy it seems.

Scientists have long been fascinated by the brain’s ability to learn and retain multiple languages. Even after years of disuse, a brief exposure can quickly revive a language without having to consciously relearn its grammar or vocabulary. Bilingualism may offer other cognitive perks. Small studies suggest it delays brain aging, lowers dementia risk, and provides a slight edge in executive function (the ability to stay focused on a goal).

But most  of the evidence is from brain imaging studies that offer only a bird’s-eye view of neural activity and miss the finer details.

Now, scientists from the Baylor College of Medicine and collaborators have recorded activity from single neurons in four bilingual volunteers with epilepsy as they listened, read, and spoke in English and Spanish. The participants already had electrodes implanted in the hippocampus—a brain region critical for learning and memory—to track the source of their seizures.

“This is the very first study to look at how bilingual brains work at the level of individual neurons, and to do so in real time,” said study author Xinyuan Yan in a press release.

The results suggest the bilingual brain operates on two levels. Individual neurons often showed a strong preference for one language when participants heard or spoke words with the same meaning. But networks of neurons were largely language independent. They spontaneously organized into a concept map, placing words with related meanings—such as “dog” and “wolf”—closer together than unrelated words like “fork.”

Surprisingly, both languages relied on the same underlying map. Using the English concept map alone, the team could accurately predict clusters of related Spanish words.

“It’s like looking into a room from a different window. Everything inside is the same, but the perspective is different,” said study author Sameer Sheth.

Bridging Worlds
Language is central to human connection. Although some words don’t directly translate, people can express the same ideas across multiple languages without losing their core meaning.

Children raised in multilingual households are especially adept at switching between languages, often blending words and phrases together. Even when languages differ dramatically in grammar, syntax, and pronunciation, the brain somehow keeps their structures distinct while fluidly merging their meanings.

Long before we learn to speak, neural networks transform thoughts into electrical patterns that form words and sentences. Because languages are built differently—for example, where a verb falls in a sentence—it seems reasonable that each language would have a unique neural fingerprint.

But that might not be the case. A recent AI-powered analysis of functional MRI (fMRI) scans from monolingual speakers of 21 languages suggested that languages share a similar neural scaffold that represents meaning and concepts. Even fictional languages, including Klingon from Star Trek and Na'vi from Avatar, appear to tap into the same underlying system.

A growing body of evidence from bilingual speakers echoes these findings. One fMRI study found native Chinese speakers learned English more efficiently when they recruited brain networks used for Chinese. Another study identified shared speech-related brain activity sufficient for decoding words across languages.

Despite hinting at a universal language map, these standard imaging technologies struggle to capture detailed patterns as people switch languages in real time. To see how bilingual brains actually pull off the feat, we need to listen in on single cells.

Mapping It Out
The team studied four volunteers fluent in English and Spanish. All had learned the languages before age five and continued to use them regularly. Each also had electrodes implanted in the hippocampus to monitor seizures as part of epilepsy treatment, allowing researchers to track individual neuron activity as they listened and spoke.

Though often overlooked in language research, the hippocampus is increasingly recognized as a hub for word meaning, and it may also link concepts together. Here, the team monitored more than 100 neurons in each participant as they completed three language tasks.

First, the participants listened to roughly an hour of YouTube videos and the audiobook Eat Pray Love (Come Reza Ama). Next, they read aloud nearly 100 phrases displayed on a screen, such as “let’s have fun” and its Spanish equivalent “vamos a divertirnos.” Finally, they spent up to 90 minutes chatting with native speakers of each language, discussing everything from family to their epilepsy journey.

By the end, the team had compiled thousands of spoken words, hundreds of matched phrases, and hours of natural conversation.

A Language Landscape
Only a handful of neurons appeared truly bilingual, responding similarly to equivalent words such as "friends" and "amigos." To better interpret the neural activity, the team turned to mBERT, Google's multilingual language model that understands more than 100 languages. Like other LLMs, the model represents words according to their relationships and context rather than simple dictionary definitions.

The comparison revealed a similar pattern in brains and machines. Individual neurons rarely encoded the same word across languages. Instead, meaning emerged at the population level.

Both neural activity and mBERT tracked broader context, organizing words into an abstract conceptual landscape called semantic geometry. In this map, related concepts cluster together—“cat” sits closer to “dog” than to “galaxy,” for example—even if the precise features defining those relationships are unclear.

Yet the map remained largely unchanged across languages, suggesting it captured a fundamental mechanism for language processing in the brain. Using the English map alone, the team could predict which Spanish words would cluster around “perro” (or “dog”).

“This is how the brain encodes the meaning of words across languages,” said Yan. “It doesn’t rely on individual neurons translating individual words, but groups of neurons adjusting their activities to create the similar pattern for equivalent words in both languages.”

The study focused on semantics, or meaning, as opposed to syntax, the rules governing sentence structure. A recent study also using single-cell recordings from people with epilepsy suggests that other groups of neurons, particularly those in the frontal parts of the brain, may specialize in grammar while ignoring semantics. Whether they also share a “map” across languages remains to be seen.

The next step is to watch these maps emerge. The team hopes to track people as they learn a new language, revealing how new words and concepts are woven into semantic landscapes in real time. The results could deepen our understanding of one of the most fundamental communication skills and even inspire more capable and efficient language models in AI.

“Our study shows that the brain is wired to learn multiple languages,” said study author Benjamin Hayden.

Neuroscience
Shelly Fan
Dr. Shelly Xuelai Fan, a neuroscientist-turned-science-writer"

https://singularityhub.com/2026/07/06/how-the-bilingual-brain-switches-languages-with-ease/
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"Charlotte Mecklenburg Library expands language access with new translation plan
WFAE | By Julian Berger
Published July 6, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library translated materials into Spanish, French, Russian, Vietnamese and Hindi.
Julian Berger
Charlotte Mecklenburg Library is rolling out a new language access plan across its 21 branches this week.

Key documents, including library card information, library use guidelines and branch hours and locations, will be available in the five most commonly spoken non-English languages in Mecklenburg County: Spanish, French, Russian, Vietnamese and Hindi.

"The language access plan is designed to really focus on making sure that all of our materials are something that can be read and accessed by everyone," said Cameron Smith, branch manager at the Pineville Library and co-leader of the library's Welcome CLT initiative. "Anyone that comes through our door should have that ability to be able to understand what we are offering."

The plan builds on years of work through the library's Welcome CLT initiative, which was launched in 2017 to better serve immigrants, refugees and other newcomers moving to the Charlotte area.

"We wanted to make sure that the library is a place where they feel at home, where they can access materials," said Lonna Vines, branch manager at Myers Park Library and co-leader of Welcome CLT. "That's what this team is all about, coordinating programs and resources for everyone in our community, including those international newcomers."

Vines said Charlotte's rapid growth helped drive the effort.

"When our team started in 2017, there were 42 people moving to Charlotte every single day," she said. "Now that number has just exploded, and so many of those people are moving from international locations as well."

Welcome CLT leaders said they began developing the language access plan after attending a language access workshop in 2025 and studying similar plans at other library systems around the country. The rollout was supported by a $10,000 grant from the American Library Association, which helped pay for translations and printing.

In addition to multilingual collections and English classes, the library also hosts quarterly naturalization ceremonies in partnership with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services as part of its broader effort to welcome newcomers."
https://www.wfae.org/race-equity/2026-07-06/charlotte-mecklenburg-library-expands-language-access-with-new-translation-plan?_amp=true
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