Metaglossia: The Translation World

"The Ukrainian Book Institute has opened its 2025 call, offering translation funding to international publishers  producing Ukrainian books this year.

As a government entity, the institute has funding to back its offer of translation support, and has issued a concise set of considerations to be aware of in considering  acquiring translation rights of Ukrainian literature this year.

For those among our readers who know the leading, resilient Ukrainian house Vivat Publishing, you’ll find that the company is making an especially energetic effort (“Join Translate Ukraine 2025 With Vivat!”) Publishing to attract rights specialists and international publishers who would like to look into taking advantage of the program this year.

In quick bullets, the institute’s program is designed—as we see done in many world markets—to provide compensation for publishers’ expenses if they want to produce a translation of Ukrainian literature.

The funds provided are meant to:

• “Purchase rights for the translation of Ukrainian literary work into foreign languages and/or receive remuneration for the use of such rights


• “Produce the object of the intellectual property right—translation of the Ukrainian literary work into foreign language


• “Publish Ukrainian literary work in a foreign language — editing, layout, electronic version

A maximum of €8,000 (US$8,215) is to be compensated by the institute for a publisher’s expenses in each given case.

This page has complete details for making a translation rights application by the February 10 deadline.

The most basic criteria at play point out that a work being considered must be:

• Written in Ukrainian


• Published by a Ukrainian publisher(s) as of the date of application


• Be fully completed and published by the end of 2025


• Be published with a print run of at least 300 copies

Priority consideration is expected to be given to applications for “classical and contemporary Ukrainian literature, in particular literature addressing Russia’s war against Ukraine, decolonization, the history of Ukraine in different periods, Ukrainian culture, traditions, and daily life.”

An initial evaluation of applications will establish their compliance with requirements, and an “expert council” then will use more than one criterion to assess the relative value of each application. This is to include the literary quality of the project, the competence of the applying publisher, and the competence of the proposed translator."

Grace Bemessenlitie ETOGA
Jean Pierre ATOUGA"

"This study stemmed from the observation that English-speaking Cameroonian literature makes use of humanist discourse among many others to denounce the failings of leaders and the misery of peoples in a bilingual and multicultural context. Translating, therefore, texts imbued with humanist discourse could be a challenge for the literary translator, despite being an intercultural mediator. With regard to this skill, does the translator’s strategy succeeded in preserving the essence and richness of the original text destined from the start for a French readership? In this light, the analysis below examined the translation and meaning preservation of the structuring elements of the said discourse in Francis Nyamnjoh's Les Déboires de Dieudonné. Thus, based on Berman’s Translation Critism which convened Toury's Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) and focusing on few extracts taken from the aforementioned corpus, our analyses aim first to identify the structuring elements of Nyamnjoh's humanist discourse, then to describe the strategy and procedures employed by the translator, and finally to justify in the post-colonial literature framework, the scope of the author's discourse in French. The results obtained after this study shows that the translator used 86% of foreignization, against 14% of naturalization. These results lead us to conclude that literal translation is par excellence, the indispensable procedure in the translation of literary works, in other words it remains the guarantor of a scrupulous morphosyntactic analysis and a correct semantic analysis of the lexemes in the text."
This study stemmed from the observation that English-speaking Cameroonian literature makes use of humanist discourse among many others to denounce the failings of leaders and the misery of peoples in a bilingual and multicultural context. Translating, therefore, texts imbued with humanist discourse could be a challenge for the literary translator, despite being an intercultural mediator. With regard to this skill, does the translator’s strategy succeeded in preserving the essence and richness of the original text destined from the start for a French readership? In this light, the analysis below examined the translation and meaning preservation of the structuring elements of the said discourse in Francis Nyamnjoh's Les Déboires de Dieudonné. Thus, based on Berman’s Translation Critism which convened Touré's Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) and focusing on few extracts taken from the aforementioned corpus, our analyses aim first to identify the structuring elements of Nyamnjoh's humanist discourse, then to describe the strategy and procedures employed by the translator, and finally to justify in the post-colonial literature framework, the scope of the author's discourse in French. The results obtained after this study shows that the translator used 86% of foreignization, against 14% of naturalization. These results lead us to conclude that literal translation is par excellence, the indispensable procedure in the translation of literary works, in other words it remains the guarantor of a scrupulous morphosyntactic analysis and a correct semantic analysis of the lexemes in the text."
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388012690_Traduction_du_discours_humaniste_dans_Les_Deboires_de_Dieudonnee_de_Francis_Beng_Nyamnjoh

The judge said the man from Maskwacis was born deaf, is illiterate, does not communicate in a recognized sign language and is "wholly unable" to communicate with court and counsel.

"An Alberta judge has stayed sex charges against a deaf man because the courts couldn’t find an interpreter to help him understand the legal proceedings.

The three charges against 31-year-old Kendal Longclaws of Ermineskin Cree Nation, south of Edmonton in Maskwacis, stemmed from alleged assaults that took place between 2012 and 2016 and in 2021.

In a decision dated Jan. 10, Court of King’s Bench Justice Debra Yungwirth said Longclaws was born deaf, is illiterate, does not communicate in a recognized sign language and is “wholly unable” to communicate with court and counsel.

She said the accused is entitled to an interpreter under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and proceeding without one would deprive him of his right to a fair trial.

“There is no way to provide the necessary interpretation to allow him to do so,” said Yungwirth. “As such, he is unable to make full answer and defence.”...
By Aaron Sousa
https://globalnews.ca/news/10962673/wetaskiwin-court-case-no-interpreter-stayed/
#metaglossia_mundus

"with Sarah Wheeler

February 8, 2025, Saturday

10 AM Pacific/ 1 PM Eastern time

[USA and Canada]

on Zoom

As the interpreting profession evolves due to globalization, remote platforms, and increasing multilingual demands, interpreters—both spoken and signed—must manage linguistic complexities and emotional dynamics during high-pressure assignments.

To meet these challenges, interpreters must develop a strong foundation in Emotional Intelligence (EI)—the ability to understand and manage their own emotions and recognize and influence the emotions of others.

This dynamic, interactive workshop will provide participants with practical tools to strengthen their interpreting skills while navigating the complexities of emotional and cultural dynamics. Through real-world scenarios, guided reflection, and actionable strategies, interpreters will build confidence and empathy in their roles.

Workshop Objectives:

Explore Core EQ-i Competencies: Emotional self-awareness, empathy, adaptability, and stress tolerance, and their impact on interpreting outcomes.
Analyze Emotional and Cultural Nuances: Uncover the emotional and cultural dynamics that shape effective interpreting.
Develop Growth Plans: Encourage participants to identify opportunities for improvement and create actionable steps for professional development.

Key Takeaways for Participants:

By the end of the workshop, participants will:

Gain insights into the emotional and cultural dynamics that influence interpreting.
Strengthen EQ competencies to improve their professional effectiveness.
Leave with practical strategies they can apply in their work."
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/New-TAALS-Webinar---The-Emotional-Resonance-Advantage--Nuance-and-Cultural-Competence-in-Interpreting--.html?soid=1134391967527&aid=WvrJhfdQVzM
#metaglossia_mundus

"Grâce à une contribution financière de 300 000 $ de l’Office québécois de la langue française, LexiConcordia propose plus de 4 500 termes dans des domaines allant du génie aérospatial aux sciences cognitives et au-delà
14 janvier 2025 | Par Meera Nehme

LexiConcordia voit le jour! Ce nouvel outil de recherche, coordonné par Réussir en français, permet aux étudiants, chercheurs et professionnels de trouver des traductions fiables et contextualisées, favorisant ainsi l’usage du français dans des domaines spécialisés. Ce projet ambitieux de base de données a été rendu possible grâce à une contribution financière de 300 000 $ de l’Office québécois de la langue française.

Le travail mené est colossal : plus de 4 500 fiches ont été créées. Désormais, toute personne peut facilement avoir accès à une vaste base de données de terminologies spécialisées bilingues construite pour l’apprentissage du français dans les domaines de la biologie, du génie aérospatial, du génie environnemental, du génie des systèmes, de la gestion, de l’informatique et des sciences cognitives. Cette base de données se révèle être une ressource essentielle pour toute personne souhaitant enrichir son vocabulaire et utiliser le français avec précision dans un contexte professionnel.

« Le but est de faire en sorte que les étudiants qui reçoivent un enseignement en anglais, avec les termes et les concepts en anglais, recueillent aussi des informations complémentaires dans la langue française », explique Philippe Caignon, terminologue et traducteur agréé, professeur au Département d’études françaises et vice-doyen aux services pédagogiques aux étudiant(e)s.

Ce projet ne se limite pas à la communauté universitaire : il a aussi pour objectif d’avoir un impact significatif au sein de diverses communautés montréalaises et québécoises. En mettant à disposition un outil accessible à tous, Concordia s’engage à valoriser le français et à renforcer sa présence dans des secteurs clés."

https://www.concordia.ca/fr/actualites/nouvelles/2025/01/14/concordia-devoile-une-base-de-donnees-de-terminologie-francaise-creee-avec-le-soutien-de-loffice-quebecois-de-la-langue-francaise.html

"... intercultural differences are a minor matter if both parties want to approach each other, and only create an insurmountable hurdle if they don’t... In many cases..., misunderstandings are not based by real intercultural differences, but rather a lack of mutual understanding and a high level of (cultural, political, linguistic etc.) ignorance."
Josef Goldberger
https://lnkd.in/efhb4aZA
#metaglossia_mundus

Josef Goldberger serves as the Liaison Officer at the Saxon Science Liaison Office Taiwan, an initiative managed by TU Dresden in collaboration with Saxon universities and research institutions. The office, housed within the German Trade Office Taipei, plays a pivotal role in fostering academic and research exchanges between Saxony and Taiwan. Among its flagship programs is the Semiconductor Talent Incubation Program (STIPT), which offers Saxon students a unique combination of academic study at National Taiwan University and practical training at TSMC, a global semiconductor leader. Additionally, the office actively promotes Saxony as a hub for higher education and research, attracting Taiwanese talent while facilitating cross-border scientific collaborations and exchange opportunities.

“We didn’t hold back on the swearing or the accents. […] Then we doubled down again with the Scottish Gaelic translation.”

Part Of

Culture Shock

SEE ALL

In the opening hour of Still Wakes the Deep, the acclaimed horror game set aboard a perilous oil rig in the North Sea, we hear the C-bomb no less than six times. Most come from the mouth of gruff protagonist Caz McLeary, an electrician, or “leccy,” from Glasgow. Caz possesses a fine grasp of his local colloquialisms: “scunnered” means “fed up”; “clarty” means “covered in dirt.” When Still Wakes the Deep isn’t delivering accursed, heart-pounding horror, it’s offering an expletive-filled primer in the Scottish language.

Verisimilitude, of place, period, and slang, immerses players in the game. But the exactingly rendered rig and mostly working-class cast isn’t just window dressing. “The game is grounded thematically in Scotland,” says John McCormack, creative director of Still Wakes the Deep (who took over from Dan Pinchbeck, former creative director and writer on the game, in 2023). The country experienced an oil boom in the 1960s and ’70s, which is why Caz and his colleagues are on the rig, and the game draws heavily on Scottish politics and culture. Case in point: The game, developed by studio The Chinese Room, shipped with an unusual language option: Scottish Gaelic. The colorful script is subtitled using the country’s indigenous language spoken by 1.3% of its 5.5 million population.

 

 

This week on Polygon, we’re looking at how cultural differences affect media in a special issue we’re calling Culture Shock.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We didn’t hold back on the swearing or the accents,” says McCormack, who is from Glasgow himself. “We embraced it all and then doubled down. Then we doubled down again with the Scottish Gaelic translation.”

For McCormack, the indigenous language is an important symbol and carrier of grassroots identity. It was the primary language in most rural areas until the early 17th century when it was suppressed by the Scottish crown. The language was further suppressed after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. As recently as the early 20th century, children were beaten into speaking English at school. McCormack remembers his school history classes from the 1980s. “It was just English and British history,” he says. “There was no Scottish history at all.”

The idea for the Scottish Gaelic translation came as McCormack was brainstorming ideas for the game’s announcement trailer that debuted at the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase, just as the game entered its final year of development. He wanted to avoid traditional horror tropes: jump scares; screeching violins; furious, dramatic editing. He envisioned something slower and more melancholic: a shot of the swirling North Sea; the oil rig slowly emerging through the misty air; an elegiac Scottish Gaelic folk song soundtracking the player’s introduction to this doomed setting.

The creative director went down a YouTube rabbit hole, eventually coming across a video titled “Scottish woman sings emotional folk song.” The woman in question was the legendary traditional Gaelic singer Flora MacNeil, who lived on the tiny Hebridean island of Barra. “She’s got a beautiful voice. It’s so full of sadness,” says McCormack.

He sent the song to the game’s audio director, Daan Hendriks, who suggested they use it, or something similar, for both the game’s announcement trailer and its end credits. Hendriks found another song whose lyrics were a better match for the game’s themes: “Fath Mo Mhulaid A Bhith Ann,” which translates to “being here has caused my sorrow.” MacNeil died in 2015, but the game’s publisher, Secret Mode, was able to commission her daughter, the professional folk singer Maggie MacInnes, to record a vocal-only version of the song. McCormack was enamored with the result. “It really nailed the heartbreak that players should be feeling,” he says.

The mournful song rings out over the end credits. McCormack felt a kind of “magic” in pairing a traditional folk song, one that summons both the history and stark beauty of Scotland, with a game whose tragedy stems from drilling down into the country’s ancient bedrock. But he also felt a responsibility: It wasn’t enough for the game to use Scottish Gaelic to evoke the past; it should communicate with the language’s speakers in the present. The idea was sold to the game’s publisher on the merit that it would make a nice marketing beat. If cost was an issue, McCormack was willing to “ditch” other elements of the game to make it happen.

Scottish Gaelic has faced a slow and steady decline. In 1755, the language was spoken by 289,798 people, or 22.9% of its 1.2 million population at the time. The most recent census figures from 2022 say it is spoken by 69,701 people, or 1.3% of the country. The number (and proportion of the population) speaking it has risen marginally over the past decade. But Robbie MacLeòid, a Glasgow-based writer and academic in Scottish Gaelic, says the census shows that the language is actually falling out of community use in the Scottish Highlands and western islands, the areas traditionally thought of as its heartland. Another study suggests the language may even die out altogether in the next decade or so.

The language’s place within the arts is uneven. Scottish Gaelic literature is in “good health,” says MacLeòid. But in theater, there is just a single theater company, Theatre Gu Leòr, which tours plays and other stage productions around the country. Scottish Gaelic speakers can watch television broadcast by BBC Alba and listen to the radio through BBC Radio nan Gàidheal.

Image: The Chinese Room/Secret Mode

Video games, even those made by Scottish developers, lag far behind. There are a handful of DIY translation efforts by the likes of GunChleoc (a pseudonym) for games such as 0 A.D and Pingus. But the mainstream industry, whose developers include Rockstar North and No Code (the Glasgow-based studio working on a new Silent Hill title), has shown little interest in the language. “Bearing in mind how healthy the video game industry is in Scotland, it’s surprising that it’s taken until Still Wakes the Deep for this kind of representation,” says MacLeòid.

FEATURED VIDEOS FROM POLYGON

Top 50 games of 2024 in 7 words or less

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

00:00

 

 

 

 

 

10:20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a momentous moment for MacLeòid when he booted up the game with the Scottish Gaelic translation turned on. “I honestly got quite emotional at the title screen as soon as I changed it to Gaelic,” he says. “I sat there for a minute being like, Wow, I’ve never seen this before.” MacLeòid has long interacted with video games through English; to play using authentic Scottish Gaelic was both “surreal” and “moving.”

Too often, says MacLeòid, the language is used in a way that can feel culturally appropriative. Scottish Gaelic is often included as the “ancient tongue,” he continues, to add “color” and suggest either the “romantic” or the “unknown,” implying that the language is an artifact or a signifier of the past, and, therefore, something that is not “relevant now.”

Arts and culture, including video games like Still Wakes the Deep, are in a unique position to normalize minority languages and assist those learning to speak it. MacLeòid recalls the way the Scottish Gaelic translation of X-Men: The Animated Series, broadcast on BBC Alba in the 1990s, helped him learn the language. He considers the impact a Scottish Gaelic translation of Grand Theft Auto 6, currently in development at Rockstar North in Edinburgh (as well as other studios around the world), might have on the language. “It would be radical and revolutionary — a game changer,” he says. “It wouldn’t just provide jobs for people working in the language but confer respect to the language itself — its right to exist.” This is the “bare minimum,” stresses MacLeòid, that he feels major Scottish game companies should be doing in regard to Scottish Gaelic.

For McCormack, Still Wakes the Deep is an expression of Scottish identity. The game, with its acute sense of place and eye for regional detail, resonates with efforts across pockets of the U.K. and Ireland. Northern Irish band Kneecap rap in Irish Gaelic; the fiction writer Harry Josephine Giles won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke award for Deep Wheel Orcadia, a sci-fi novel written in the Orkney dialect of Scots. Blindboy Boatclub is an anonymous podcaster and author reimagining Irish history in response to centuries of English colonialism. “People are reclaiming their identity,” says McCormack. “It’s a beautiful thing.”

McCormack sees the Scottish Gaelic translation of Still Wakes the Deep as a small but important part of this movement. “People say, ‘There’s only so many thousands [of people] who actually speak Scottish Gaelic,’” he says. “‘I don’t care.’ Then they’ll say, ‘But hardly anyone will use it.’”

McCormack is proud of his team’s response to this latter point. Those who wish to claim every achievement in Still Wakes the Deep must complete the game with the translation turned on. As of December 2024, more than 16,500 players have done so across PlayStation 5, Steam, and Xbox Series X. Call it an incentive, gentle encouragement, or a gamified approach to language. Regardless, The Chinese Room has engineered a breakout moment for what many consider a beautiful, elegant language, and a reminder that Scottish Gaelic is no relic.

"...A new translation series of international award-winning children's books was launched by Dogwood publishing under the New Oriental Education and Technology Group at the 37th Beijing Book Fair, which concluded on Saturday.

Liu Gejun, in charge of the children's book section of Dogwood, said at the launch ceremony that this series aims to break through the interference of fragmented information and cultivate children's long-term, stable, and focused reading habits.

These outstanding works are also set to broaden children's vision and provide inspiration amid growth challenges, she said.

During the dialogue session, four translators of this series shared their experience in translating children's books.

Liu Wenfei is the translator of a Russian book which portrays the simple yet happy life of a girl living in the extreme northern regions of Russia. While translating, he noted that children's literature should be concise yet maintain depth of thought.

"It is essential to present the real world in a way that children can comprehend," he said.

For example, the girl's fearless interaction with the wolf conveys a profound relationship between humans and nature. These intricate ecological and humanistic reflections must be accurately translated for young readers to appreciate diverse cultural wisdom on life, he said."

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202501/14/WS67861fdaa310f1265a1dac44.html

You don’t need to know the language to be moved by the translation.

CHRISTIANITY TODAYJANUARY 14, 2025

Avisitor coming to Bible Gateway to look up John 3:16 has 63 options of English translations. For Christians, reading the same verse with an unfamiliar word or changed-up syntax—or in a more contemporary or lyrical version—can illuminate a biblical principle in a fresh way or strengthen the resonance of the passage.

Jost Zetzsche noticed this effect—but to an even stronger degree—when he began watching sign language translations. Zetzsche, a linguist, is the curator of United Bible Societies’ free Translation Insights & Perspectives (TIPs), an online tool that gathers insights from Bible translations in nearly 1,000 languages, including many sign languages. Zetzsche initially believed that adding these languages was just another part of his TIPs assignment.

“But as I began studying the recorded sign language translations,” he said, “I was astonished at how much I as a hearing person could learn from those languages that I had never experienced in others.”

 

He recently spoke with Ruth Anna Spooner, the lead translator on the American Sign Language Chronological Bible Translation team since 2019 and a trainer for Deaf-translation teams worldwide, to discuss the power of watching these sign language translations as a hearing person. 

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Zetzsche: Let’s start our conversation with one obvious difference between written and sign language translations. The more-than-400 officially recognized sign languages from around the world have several different strategies for dealing with proper names. Some sign languages fingerspell most names and translate some semantically or based on their meaning; others, like Libras (Brazilian Sign Language) translate all names with a meaning-based translation.

In the context of Bible translation, we recognize that names and their meanings are important in the original texts, but they typically lose their meaning in translation into written languages. When they are semantically translated into sign languages, though, they are often rendered not according to the names’ original meaning but by other meaning-based markers, and then often differently from one sign language community to another.

Can you help me understand this?

Spooner: Names are fascinating across languages. We are all familiar with how the same name might be pronounced and spelled differently from one language to another—John (English), Juan (Spanish), Giovanni (Italian), Jean (French), Johan (Dutch), Ivan (Russian), and so forth.

Deaf people give each person what is called a name sign—an invented sign that is uniquely identified with that person. When signing, instead of using the spoken language version of that person’s name (for example, John), the name sign is used to identify and talk about that person. Instead of fingerspelling “RUTH ANNA,” people will use my name sign, which is much more efficient and quicker.

In the Deaf community, a name sign is uniquely assigned to an individual by a Deaf person. Signs may be based on the individual’s appearance, personality, a favorite hobby, or related to the meaning of that individual’s name.

In American Sign Language (ASL) culture, people only get name signs if they are immersed in the Deaf community or if they are frequently discussed historical or contemporary figures (for example, William Shakespeare). Most biblical characters do not already have name signs, so Deaf translation teams often have to invent name signs based on scant data.

But let’s talk about David, whom we know a lot about. We know he was handsome, a man after God’s heart, a shepherd, a giant-slayer, a musician, a poet, a renowned warrior, a king, an adulterer, the father of Solomon. I have seen name signs for David based on the sign for king. Some name signs I’ve seen are based on his music and poetry skills. Other name signs reflect the young shepherd he was when we first meet him, or the giant-slayer he became. There is a lot of variation, and it all depends on what each team decides is the most memorable or most identifiable feature associated with David. What is most memorable or most identifiable might vary from culture to culture as well, depending on what traits are more valued in each country. 

Sometimes when the verses explicitly mention what a name means—for example, Isaac means “laughter”—a sign language translation team might use that as a cue that their name sign should show some association with their sign for that meaning. 

In our ASL translation, Jacob, who was hairless and smooth-skinned, has a name sign that can be back-translated literally to English as “smooth arm skin,” whereas his twin, Esau, who was notoriously hairy, has a name sign that indicates wooly arms. These name signs communicate more meaning to the audience than just the name of the person.  

Zetzsche: The signed names of biblical characters are a way to learn more about them, but sign language seems to communicate even more deeply than that. Like most Christians, I want to understand the feelings of the biblical characters deeply and grasp what they were truly like even from this historical distance. While I realize that any translation is also an interpretation, I have been moved to see how Jesus emotes via the body of the signer.

One example of this is in the story of the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 in Mexican Sign Language (Lengua de Señas Mexicana, or LSM). Unlike anything I’ve ever read in the written text, the LSM signer shows the depth of Jesus’ conviction, delight, and compassion in the face of the Canaanite woman’s reasoning. I can’t imagine reading that passage now without recalling that intense visualization.

Spooner: Anyone who sees a Deaf person signing will quickly notice that they are usually very expressive with their face and body, much more so than the average hearing person using a spoken language. 

In fact, hearing people often feel that Deaf people are too expressive or excessively emotional. But what they don’t realize is how much grammatical work facial expressions are doing in sign languages. So much of sign language grammar is communicated in the face. Contrary to common belief, sign language is not just in the hands. It’s in the hands, and the body posture, and the face—all at once.

If you focus only on the hands, you will miss a ton of important grammatical information that’s happening via facial expressions. Eyebrows up or down (and how far up and how far down they go) can change a sentence into a question, or a question into a challenge, or a statement into a command, for example. The shape of the mouth and the cheek, lip movements, and even tongue movements all are an important part of sign language grammar, too. The position of the head and shifts in the shoulders from one side to the other also communicate a lot of important grammar and linguistic information.

Zetzsche: I had no idea! Yet when I look at the signer in the videos, it feels as if I’m also seeing a lot of emotion. Am I misinterpreting what I see? 

Spooner: You are seeing emotion. That’s another layer of complexity. A lot of the facial expressions are serving grammatical functions, but on top of that, the signer is also manipulating the facial expressions to show emotions and, in the case of storytelling, to perform the personalities of various characters within the story. 

In ASL, for example, a skilled signer can move their eyebrows and incline their head to form a question while at the same time using the eyebrows (as well as the rest of the face) to communicate the emotion behind the question. Is it an annoyed question? An angry question? An innocuous question? A desperate question? Thus, the eyebrows and the rest of the face are simultaneously communicating grammatical and emotional information.  

In the videos on TIPs with their back-translations into written English, you are seeing the signers using their facial expressions to communicate grammar and emotion simultaneously. Facial expressions for emotion and for grammar are often intertwined in ways that make it difficult—even impossible—to separate out when signing. When asking a question, for example, the signer needs to know whether it’s an angry question or a genuinely curious question to sign it correctly. As you, Jost, don’t know a sign language, I imagine that to your eyes, what you see in the videos all looks emotive, which isn’t surprising. It’s wonderful to see that you feel the impact so deeply. But there is a whole other layer (the grammar) going on that you probably are not able to pick up on.

Now let’s discuss why the Matthew 15 story of Jesus with the Canaanite woman presents a lot of challenges for sign language translations. We can translate the words and sentences, but in sign language, because we must embody dialogues and perform them, it is quite impossible to do dialogue neutrally without showing the character’s tone and feelings in that moment.

So when Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel,” what was his tone? Was he regretful? Was he firm? Was he kind of playful or teasing? Whatever his tone was, the woman felt she could still come and kneel in front of him, so what does that tell us about his tone? Not unlike stage actors, we translators must figure out, as best we can, what his feelings and tone were. (And then to make it more complicated, maybe Jesus used a different tone compared to what he was really feeling in that moment; if so, we need to show that.) There can be several different views on how a verse—especially with dialogue—ought to be performed.

And then Jesus says, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.” That is such a strange remark—and again, what was his tone? Was he being playful? Was he teasing, or testing, the woman? At what point did Jesus decide he would help her? Before he spoke about the lost sheep of Israel? Or after she knelt before him? Was Jesus initially reluctant to help but then touched by her faith and moved to help her based on that? Or did he know all along that he would help, and he was just doing the conversation for the benefit of the people around him? 

Zetzsche: All of these are considerations when translating a text—or more precisely, the meaning of a text—into a written language, but it’s striking to see how much more urgent these questions of emotions are when translating into sign languages.  

Spooner: Yes, you’re right—for translators, meaning is everything. Deaf translators know that because of the nuanced, performative nature of sign language, the signer showing too little or too much of an emotion can greatly change the meaning of a passage. So we need to make sure our facial expressions and body movements are showing not only the correct grammatical information but also the appropriate level of emotion that fits the situation. 

Matthew doesn’t give us much of an indication of what Jesus’ tone or emotion was when he said these things. This is something we must infer based on scant clues in the passage. In most written translations I’ve seen, they can get away with keeping things at a pretty neutral tone and leave it up to the readers to make their own inferences and interpretations. Such neutrality is often not possible in sign language translations.

Zetzsche: I was also moved by the Russian Sign Language (RSL) version of the paralytic man who was lowered through the roof in Mark 2. In this signed translation, Jesus observes the efforts of the man’s friends from the moment they start digging through the roof. This makes a lot of sense, but it’s only implicitly present in the written text. As Jesus watches the paralyzed man being lowered in front of him, the signer shows that Jesus’ heart—and my heart in response—is overflowing with compassion. The eventual joy of the healed man and the crowd is portrayed in an infectious way that is hard to imagine in written language.

(Watch the video with an English translation.)

Spooner: Yes, seeing something in sign language is often much more poignant than reading words on a page. While I do love reading in English, there is something about seeing the verses in ASL that just makes it hit you in a whole different way.

Maybe it is partly because of the decisions that the signer must make related to conveying attitude and emotion. We are able to see the signer become the characters, which makes them living and breathing in a more tangible and three-dimensional way than merely reading the words on a page. The performance of the signer becomes almost like a movie. We are seeing it before our eyes, not just visualizing it in our heads. So it makes us notice things that we might ordinarily not think about or skim over when we read in a written language. 

My team and I are all bilingual in written English and ASL. Several months ago, we worked on some Old Testament passages related to the fall of Judah and the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. We’d read and analyzed these verses before and talked about how to translate them.

But when we filmed it and had the person signing it, we were all taken aback by how truly disgusting the Israelites’ behavior was towards God. No wonder he was so angry with them. Just seeing the Israelites’ actions come to life in the signer’s performance made it more repulsive and heartbreaking. When we got to the part with the actual destruction of the temple, it was like a punch in the gut for us. We felt the grief of that loss and exile more than we had ever felt when reading English translations.

Sign language translation, even though it communicates the same content and the same meaning as written language translation, brings out layers of the verses that are not usually as noticeable in written language translations. New and different things jump out at you and hit you differently.

Seeing how sign language translations impacted you surprised me. Sometimes I have in my head that people who don’t know sign languages won’t really understand what they’re seeing. But your observations have made me realize that if a hearing non-signer takes the time to study a sign language translation—not merely glance over the videos but study them like you have—then they, too, can see the verses in a new, deeper way and gain fresh insights. You don’t need to know a sign language to be moved by the translation.

Creating the Babel Fish, a tool that helps individuals translate speech between any two languages, requires advanced technological innovation and linguistic expertise. Although conventional speech-to-speech translation systems composed of multiple subsystems performing translation in a cascaded fashion exist1–3, scalable and high-performing unified systems4,5 remain underexplored. To address this gap, here we introduce SEAMLESSM4T–Massively Multilingual and Multimodal Machine Translation–a single model that supports speech-to-speech translation (101 to 36 languages), speech-to-text translation (from 101 to 96 languages), text-to-speech translation (from 96 to 36 languages), text-to-text translation (96 languages) and automatic speech recognition (96 languages). Built using a new multimodal corpus of automatically aligned speech translations and other publicly available data, SEAMLESSM4T is one of the first multilingual systems that can translate from and into English for both speech and text. Moreover, it outperforms the existing state-of-the-art cascaded systems, achieving up to 8% and 23% higher BLEU (Bilingual Evaluation Understudy) scores in speech-to-text and speech-to-speech tasks, respectively. Beyond quality, when tested for robustness, our system is, on average, approximately 50% more resilient against background noise and speaker variations in speech-to-text tasks than the previous state-of-the-art systems. We evaluated SEAMLESSM4T on added toxicity and gender bias to assess translation safety. For the former, we included two strategies for added toxicity mitigation working at either training or inference time. Finally, all contributions in this work are publicly available for non-commercial use to propel further research on inclusive speech translation technologies. SEAMLESSM4T is a single machine translation tool that supports speech-to-speech translation, speech-to-text translation, text-to-speech translation, text-to-text translation and automatic speech recognition between up to 100 languages.

Les lauréates de l’École de traduction ukraino-française 16 janvier 2025 Prix et distinctions CREE PLIDAM Recherche L’Institut ukrainien, en partenariat avec l’Inalco, le festival VO-VF et le Club littéraire ukrainien, est ravi de dévoiler les lauréates de l’École de traduction ukraino-française !

 

Parmi les 59 propositions de traduction du texte extrait du livre Douze cercles de Yuri Andrukhovych, le jury a sélectionné 7 lauréates :

• Estelle Delavennat


• Bohdana Korohod


• Valeriia Kovalenko


• Ivanna Kushnir-Baron


• Olena Pysarevska


• Kateryna Tarasiuk


• Tetiana Vynnyk

L’École de traduction ukraino-française durera quatre mois et demandera une participation active et un engagement régulier. Le programme comprend des séminaires en ligne avec des discussions de groupe. Chaque participant bénéficiera d’une consultation individuelle avec l’une des professeures de l’École. Le cursus inclut des conférences sur la littérature ukrainienne et des thématiques liées au métier de traducteur et à l’édition. 

Les participants devront traduire deux extraits de deux ouvrages d’auteurs ukrainiens contemporains. Chaque extrait comptera de 3 à 5 pages. Les participants recevront les versions PDF des livres.

Les traductions seront relues par un correcteur et figureront dans un catalogue que l’Institut ukrainien partagera avec des maisons d’édition et sur le site de l’institution. 

Le jury était composé de :

• Iryna Dmytrychyn, curatrice de l’École de traduction ukraino-française, responsable des études ukrainiennes, Inalco, CREE.


• Marie Vrinat-Nikolov, professeur de langue et littérature bulgares, сo-directrice du master TL (traduction littéraire), Inalco, CREE. 


• Nathalie Carré, maîtresse de conférences en langue et littérature swahili, сo-directrice du master TL (traduction littéraire), Inalco, PLIDAM. 


• Mai Lan Vidal, directrice exécutive du Festival VO-VF. 


• Oksana Mizerak, directrice du Club littéraire ukrainien. 

"...Lancée en 1975, la TOB (traduction œcuménique de la Bible) a déjà subi deux révisions, en 1988 puis en 2004. Elle est le fruit d’une collaboration entre chrétiens catholiques et protestants, puis orthodoxes lors de la dernière version. Alors que la Semaine de prière pour l’unité des chrétiens débute le 18 janvier, l’ABF (Alliance biblique française) a annoncé le lancement d’une nouvelle révision complète. Des dizaines de théologiens travailleront ensemble pour actualiser la traduction. Selon l’ABF, ce travail œcuménique devrait durer environ cinq ans.

Pourquoi donc réviser à nouveau cette version modifiée il y a vingt ans? Pour «donner une meilleure cohérence d’ensemble à cette traduction, tenir compte des évolutions du langage, intégrer les avancées de la recherche biblique», répond l’ABF dans un communiqué. L’organisme de diffusion de la Bible en France a lancé un appel aux dons. Il estime que cette traduction nécessitera des centaines de milliers d’euros."
Geoffrey Leplang
16 Jan 2025
https://www.evangeliques.info/2025/01/16/lancement-d-une-revision-complete-de-la-bible-tob/

By Yi YangJanuary 14th, 2025

“Listening to the Bible in one’s own ethnic language is like hearing one’s parents speaking.” On hearing that, Pastor Luo Shuyin, head of the Ethnic Minority Bible Translation Ministry of the Yunnan Provincial CC&TSPM said this was the most moving remark that she had ever heard about Bible translation for ethnic minorities. 

Yunnan Province, accommodating 25 ethnic groups, has the most ethnic diversity in China. The ethnic groups of Yi, Lisu, Jingpo, Lahu, Wa, Miao, Hani, Dai, Zhuang, Tibetan, and Nu, are Christian believers. Being able to listen to sermons, read the Bible, and sing hymns in their ethnic languages is a special expression of God’s love towards ethnic minority believers.

According to Pastor Luo, there are Bible translation teams for seven ethnic groups in Yunnan. The Bible translation and printing volumes for each ethnic group are based on their varied needs. Some ethnic minority Christian populations are relatively larger, while others are smaller. Their settlements vary from concentrated to dispersed locations. All the above factors require assessment. In addition, when translating the Bible for a particular ethnic minority, the Yunnan CC&TSPM also takes into account the needs of ethnic minority Christians in the border areas between Yunnan and Sichuan.

The Process of Translating the Bible for Ethnic Minorities

In 2015, the Yunnan CC&TSPM had the seven ethnic groups mentioned above for Bible translation. When the translation work for an ethnic minority is determined, the organizations will build a team of translators comprising individuals who are proficient in both their ethnic language and Mandarin and have a certain level of education and theological knowledge. Experts, such as those from the United Bible Societies (UBS), provide guidance throughout the translation projects, utilizing a complete system and software to review the accuracy and elegance of the translations based on drafts and progress.

Moreover, the translation approach varies among ethnic minorities. Some works might start with the New Testament, while others begin with the Old Testament. Such decisions are related to the ethnic group’s religious history. For example, some ethnic minorities already had the New Testament translated with the help of missionaries, so the translation team would start with the Old Testament and integrate the previous New Testament content afterward. In contrast, some ethnic minorities had handwritten drafts of translations, prompting the translation team to adjust the content accordingly.

After forming the translation team, members will receive the help of experts, and select the Bible versions to use as a reference for translation. Pastor Luo noted that the commonly used reference versions are the New Chinese Version (NCV) and the Revised Chinese Union Version (RCUV). While RCUV has more elegant wording, if some ethnic minority translators have difficulty understanding it, the translation team will choose the more suitable NCV based on their preferences and abilities to ensure translation accuracy. Thus, NCV serves as the primary translation version, with the other serving as an auxiliary version.

Next, the translation team sets a long-term plan and allocates tasks to each member, who then begins their translation work individually at home or at an ethnic minority Bible translation center in Wuding, Yunnan. After some time, they will have meetings with experts assisting in draft reviews followed by adjustments. Upon completion of the translation, the work will go through proofreading, typesetting, and printing.

Furthermore, when a Bible translation project for an ethnic minority is completed, it is not immediately printed in large quantities. Instead, a pilot version of some parts, such as Acts, will be printed and distributed to Christian believers of the corresponding ethnic groups for feedback on readability and expressions. Based on the believers’ feedback, the translation team continues to make adjustments, during which the translation skills of team members will be continuously enhanced.

Why Invest So Much in Translating the Bible for Ethnic Minorities?

The translation of the Bible for ethnic minorities is significant but also challenging. The head of the ministry told the Gospel Times that there are many limitations to translating the Bible for ethnic minorities because translators must be from the ethnic group, understand their customs and language expressions, and possess a certain level of education and theological knowledge. “We hope to see the emergence of higher-level translation talents,” she said.

Translating the Bible for ethnic minorities requires substantial investments in terms of funds, manpower, and material resources. Moreover, it takes a considerable amount of time for an ethnic minority Bible version to be published, such as the eight years of translating the New Testament into the Bai Yi language and the 19 years of translating both the Old and New Testament into the Miao language. With Mandarin becoming increasingly prevalent today, why invest so much in translating the Bible for an ethnic minority?

The head of the ministry explained that first missionaries created writing systems for some ethnic minorities, and translating the Bible into an ethnic minority language is a valuable historical and cultural heritage.

Secondly, she said, “Listening to the Bible in one’s own ethnic language is like hearing one’s parents speaking.” It was the most moving thing she had ever heard. Although more and more people can read the Mandarin Bible, the intimacy brought by reading the Bible in one’s own ethnic language is unique and serves as one of the driving forces behind the development of the Bible translation ministry for ethnic minorities.

The Ethnic Minority Bible Translation Ministry of the Yunnan CC&TSPM began in 2003. However, before then, some ethnic minority churches had circulated handwritten and individual volumes of some biblical books. Some were translated by missionaries and others by ethnic minority individuals, which were not reviewed by experts. Yunan CC&TSPM has been collecting such pieces and volumes.

As Some Ethnic Minority Young People Cannot Read in Their Own Languages – How to Preserve the Translated Bible?

The translation of the Bible for ethnic minorities also faces practical challenges. Increasingly, young people from ethnic minorities cannot read or write in their own languages, but can only speak in the language. They usually use Mandarin in daily life. Therefore, after an ethnic minority Bible version is published, how it can be effectively used and preserved by ethnic minority Christians remains a question.

“We hope that the Bible is not just displayed but actually used, and we hope that ethnic minority believers will cherish and preserve their own languages and writing systems,” said the head of the Ethnic Minority Bible Translation Ministry.

Luo also shared inspiring testimonies. For instance, after the publication of an ethnic minority Bible version, older generations of Christians will read it, and many of them can recognize their own script. Some elderly individuals who are illiterate even begin to learn to read due to their long-term Bible reading habit, which is also witnessed among Han Chinese Christians.

Although the Ethnic Minority Bible Translation Ministry has been developing, it is still difficult to meet the needs of believers. Due to the uniqueness of this ministry, it requires substantial investments, while the purchasing power of ethnic minority believers is limited. For example, the Miao language Bible has been published twice, but many Miao believers still do not have a copy. When the Lisu language Bible was first published with 10,000 copies, they were quickly sold out due to the large demand from this Lisu branch. Some churches may only have pastors with a copy of the Bible in their own language, while believers can only listen but not read it themselves.

The ministry is continuously developing, aiming to help ethnic minorities better use their own Bible versions and assist them in publishing hymnbooks. Different ethnic minorities have their own hymnbooks. Some were translated from Mandarin and others were passed down traditionally, but they are not yet systematic. In addition, the CC&TSPM is also assessing the needs of other ethnic groups, such as the Hani and Dai groups, but after investigation, conditions are not yet set, so they will continue to follow up to help ethnic minority Christians better recognize and praise God in their own languages.

(This article was originally written in 2015.)

- Edited by Karen Luo, translated by Charlie Li

ÙMachine learning is bringing us closer to a Babel-fish-style universal translation device.

"
Machine learning is bringing us closer to a Babel-fish-style universal translation device.

By Scott J Mulliganarchive page
January 15, 2025

STEPHANIE ARNETT/MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW | ADOBE STOCK
Meta has released a new AI model that can translate speech from 101 different languages. It represents a step toward real-time, simultaneous interpretation, where words are translated as soon as they come out of someone’s mouth.

Typically, translation models for speech use a multistep approach. First they translate speech into text. Then they translate that text into text in another language. Finally, that translated text is turned into speech in the new language. This method can be inefficient, and at each step, errors and mistranslations can creep in. But Meta’s new model, called SeamlessM4T, enables more direct translation from speech in one language to speech in another. The model is described in a paper published today in Nature.

 

Seamless can translate text with 23% more accuracy than the top existing models. And although another model, Google’s AudioPaLM, can technically translate more languages—113 of them, versus 101 for Seamless—it can translate them only into English. SeamlessM4T can translate into 36 other languages.

The key is a process called parallel data mining, which finds instances when the sound in a video or audio matches a subtitle in another language from crawled web data. The model learned to associate those sounds in one language with the matching pieces of text in another. This opened up a whole new trove of examples of translations for their model.

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“Meta has done a great job having a breadth of different things they support, like text-to-speech, speech-to-text, even automatic speech recognition,” says Chetan Jaiswal, a professor of computer science at Quinnipiac University, who was not involved in the research. “The mere number of languages they are supporting is a tremendous achievement.”

Human translators are still a vital part of the translation process, the researchers say in the paper, because they can grapple with diverse cultural contexts and make sure the same meaning is conveyed from one language into another. This step is important, says Lynne Bowker, Canada Research Chair in Translation, Technologies and Society at Université Laval in Quebec, who didn’t work on Seamless. “Languages are a reflection of cultures, and cultures have their own ways of knowing things,” she says.

When it comes to applications like medicine or law, machine translations need to be thoroughly checked by a human, she says. If not, misunderstandings can result. For example, when Google Translate was used to translate public health information about the covid-19 vaccine from the Virginia Department of Health in January 2021, it translated “not mandatory” in English into “not necessary” in Spanish, changing the whole meaning of the message.

AI models have much more examples to train on in some languages than others. This means current speech-to-speech models may be able to translate a language like Greek into English, where there may be many examples, but cannot translate from Swahili to Greek. The team behind Seamless aimed to solve this problem by pre-training the model on millions of hours of spoken audio in different languages. This pre-training allowed it to recognize general patterns in language, making it easier to process less widely spoken languages because it already had some baseline for what spoken language is supposed to sound like.

The system is open-source, which the researchers hope will encourage others to build upon its current capabilities. But some are skeptical of how useful it may be compared with available alternatives. “Google’s translation model is not as open-source as Seamless, but it’s way more responsive and fast, and it doesn’t cost anything as an academic,” says Jaiswal.

The most exciting thing about Meta’s system is that it points to the possibility of instant interpretation across languages in the not-too-distant future—like the Babel fish in Douglas Adams’ cult novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. SeamlessM4T is faster than existing models but still not instant. That said, Meta claims to have a newer version of Seamless that’s as fast as human interpreters.

“While having this kind of delayed translation is okay and useful, I think simultaneous translation will be even more useful,” says Kenny Zhu, director of the Arlington Computational Linguistics Lab at the University of Texas at Arlington, who is not affiliated with the new research.

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by Scott J Mulligan"

https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/15/1109994/metas-new-ai-model-can-translate-speech-from-more-than-100-languages/

"...linguistic and textual scholarship is about far more than mere verbs or adjectives: it is a key to unlock our world. Now, though, his legacy is in danger of being abandoned. Over recent months, academics everywhere have been shocked by the news of cuts to long-established language programmes, including at Leiden. Among other languages, Turkish, Persian and Hebrew may all stop being offered. Arabic could soon vanish too: especially shocking at Leiden, home to the oldest chair of the language on earth. Yet if the decline has many causes, monoglot academic environments and budget cuts among them, the consequences are far from mundane. For if the trend continues, we will lose some of the best tools for cultural and historical understanding we have...."

 

Don’t let ancient languages die They illuminate our own blind spots

 

The Rosetta Stone transformed our understanding of Ancient Egypt....

Georgy Kantor

JANUARY 15, 2025   6 MINS

Joseph Justus Scaliger. If you’re not a classicist or a historical linguist, you likely don’t know him. But if you are, he is a giant on whose shoulders you stand. Born in France, in 1540, he made his name at the Dutch university of Leiden. Here, at the lofty peak of the Renaissance, he reimagined what language could do. A polyglot — proficient in French, Italian, Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Arabic — only someone like Scaliger could have achieved something like De emendatione temporum (“On correcting dates”). Freeing the ancient world from slavish Biblical interpretations, he utterly transformed Europe’s sense of deep history. With him, the continent first began to realise that the cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia predated Greece and Israel by millennia. It would take centuries to properly decipher their scripts and languages, but that was the beginning of a revolution in historical understanding as profound as the Darwinian revolution in biology.

Scaliger showed that linguistic and textual scholarship is about far more than mere verbs or adjectives: it is a key to unlock our world. Now, though, his legacy is in danger of being abandoned. Over recent months, academics everywhere have been shocked by the news of cuts to long-established language programmes, including at Leiden. Among other languages, Turkish, Persian and Hebrew may all stop being offered. Arabic could soon vanish too: especially shocking at Leiden, home to the oldest chair of the language on earth. Yet if the decline has many causes, monoglot academic environments and budget cuts among them, the consequences are far from mundane. For if the trend continues, we will lose some of the best tools for cultural and historical understanding we have.

 

SUGGESTED READING

Don't cancel the Classics

BY DAISY DUNN

Modern academia is dominated by the sciences. No one can deny that STEM subjects dominate the public conversation, followed by the more quantitative social sciences. On those rare occasions that the linguistic study of the human past does get a look in, it’s often just because AI is involved — and even then the returns are often dubious. It’s a similar story financially. In the UK, only £70 million of government research funding was allocated to the humanities in 2024-5.

 

In a sense, meanwhile, this retreat is self-sustaining. Quite apart from the psychological impact on university administrators — the more humanities retreat from the front pages, the harder it is for bean-counters to take them seriously — it’s much easier to irretrievably lose knowledge of rarer languages once the chain of transmission is broken. Let me put it like this: how many experts in Lycian, Palmyrean, Aramaic or Tocharian are there in the world today?

I don’t want to sound defeatist here. There are more than enough people interested to keep these studies alive — if the resources are there. Just one case in point is OxLat. Our Oxford programme teaching Latin to school students, it has twice as many applicants as spaces, despite the Government’s plan to scrap the Latin Excellence Programme for state schools. Yet even within the humanities, the most eye-catching work is often dealing in images rather than words: just think of how much media attention each new fresco in Pompeii gets compared to new finds in manuscripts or inscriptions.

As far as language is concerned, meanwhile, there have surely been spectacular exceptions: yet they only serve to show what we usually miss. Perhaps the last time a historical linguistic discovery truly gripped the public imagination was the decipherment of Linear B in 1953. Yet who really remembers that discovery of the earliest form of Greek in a year that also saw the conquest of Everest and the detection of DNA? More to the point, how many people know anything about the deciphering of Mayan hieroglyphs, let alone the recent epic advances in the history of early writing?

 

How things change. As Scaliger so vividly proves, linguistics could once change the world — literally. As the Renaissance bubbled on, scholars on both sides of Europe’s sectarian divide built a new community of scholarship aimed at understanding ancient texts. Encompassing Greek, Latin and Hebrew, among other tongues, the litterae humaniores (“more human letters”) were not a theological project per se, and indeed sought to bring bickering Protestants and Catholics closer together. They did, nonetheless, have a deep moral dimension. As the later German scholar Rudolf Pfeiffer remarked, luminaries like Erasmus linked Europe’s “spiritual decline” to the related deterioration of language. “And so,” he added, “it was with language that spiritual and moral renaissance must begin.” Pfeiffer, one of the refugees from Hitler’s Germany who transformed the study of classics in Britain, was no doubt feeling the same moral urgency himself.

“Linguistics could once change the world — literally.”

Erasmus and Scaliger were only two names in the wider “republic of letters”, an international community of thought and scholarship in active correspondence across Europe. Mostly writing in Latin, Scaliger was not a lone figure even at Leiden himself. Consider Justus Lipsius, the great editor of the Roman historian Tacitus and the Stoic philosopher Seneca, who distilled his learning into bestselling books on political ethics. Another example is Hugo Grotius, the father of international law as we know it. In England, Thomas More with his Utopia was part of the same community.

We shouldn’t idolise these curious Renaissance minds. With modern departments now boasting a far subtler appreciation of Syriac or Aramaic, no scholar today would agree with Scaliger that someone “who knows no Greek knows nothing”. Nor should we resent the integration of visual culture into the study of the ancient world: it is no better to approach another culture by closing your eyes than closing your ears. New quantitative methods, too, have plenty to contribute. We can now understand the living standards, the flow of trade, the size of the population, the impact of disease in the ancient world in ways impossible even half a century ago.

Yet if we doubtless gain by quantitative methods, we also lose something when straightforward knowledge of ancient tongues falls away. That’s true enough for early modern writers: even English authors like Milton or Hobbes can’t truly be appreciated without an intimate understanding of Latin. Not only was it the language in which all of them constantly read, but a large part of their work was simply written in Latin first. For ancient historians or medievalists, meanwhile, a large share of new knowledge still comes from texts in ancient languages, often fragmentary, and which require considerable linguistic expertise to interpret.

To give you a sense of the scale, consider the Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, a publication covering newly published ancient inscriptions in Greek. Published annually, the Supplementum contains over 2,000 entries each year. Nor is Greek the only relevant language here. In 2013, for instance, a University of Warwick academic discovered a medieval Arabic translation of long-lost Greek text. Covering the financial management of farm estates, and written by a Greco-Roman philosopher called Bryson, it shows understanding of “need” as the driver of exchange and economy, and represents the earliest attempt to explain the price of things by supply and demand.

 

SUGGESTED READING

Inside the dangerous world of papyrus dealing

BY ALEXANDER POOTS

One of my favourite examples here comes from Jane Lightfoot’s edition of the Apotelesmatica, a set of astrological poems ascribed to an Ancient Egyptian priest. Not only is this translation a major source on ancient astrology and astronomy, but also an encyclopaedia of the social world of Roman Egypt. Keen to know under what star sign the craftsmen of “marvellous machines past mortal ken” were born, and whether it was good to be one? Or “speakers of words, in public fora best at mending strife, and aiding the oppressed”? Or, for that matter, vagabonds in foreign lands, or “failures in business”? There’s no better place to start your research.

I appreciate, of course, that in a world enraptured by AI decipherings in places like Herculaneum, texts like the Apotelesmatica can easily be ignored. Yet if that’s a shame in itself — which sane person wouldn’t want to learn about marvellous machines past mortal ken? — the decline of ancient languages matters for a yet more fundamental reason. To quote Mikhail Gasparov, a Russian classicist whose translations introduced me to Greece and Rome as a teenager, the study of ancient languages is “a service of understanding”.

 

Our own time and our own culture represent only a tiny fraction of what the human mind is capable of. And, unless we get out of that familiar circle, we never get to see ourselves with some detachment, to detect the blind spots of our own time. From decrees of ancient cities offering a reflection on civic virtue, to Mesopotamian moral proverbs on clay tablets, to sermons discovered in medieval manuscripts, different takes on morality and society continue to appear from ancient sources.

And just as we would never be content to rely on ChatGPT, or Google Translate, to understand another human being we truly cared for, why shouldn’t we go back to the original source to study some vanished culture — just as rich, in its way, as any lover or friend? In both cases, learning the language teaches us that they and their thoughts matter, no less than our own. That is more difficult than just making facile claims on behalf of other cultures, but it is still the thing that makes our studies “more human” than most. We may not think, with Scaliger, that “all divisions in religion arise from ignorance of grammar” — but we would understand each other infinitely better if we paid enough attention to language.

Georgy Kantor

"La Semaine nationale de la culture (SNC) a commémoré en décembre 2024 en différé ses 40 années d’existence (1983-2023). La SNC, c’est d’entrée de jeu plus qu’un événement culturel se tenant chaque deux ans. C’est toute une institution. C’est également, sans fausse modestie, un rendez-vous incontournable qui symbolise l’engagement du Burkina Faso à préserver et promouvoir sa diversité culturelle. Cette commémoration sous le thème : «La SNC : 40 ans de parcours, bilan, enjeux, défis et perspectives» a été une aubaine pour tenir sur 72 heures un colloque international.

L’initiative s’est voulue un cadre de rencontre et de réflexion. Le colloque a permis de revisiter le riche parcours de la SNC depuis sa première édition tenue en 1983. Et ce, tout en réfléchissant aux défis et perspectives pour les années à venir. Sans peur de se tromper, il faut reconnaitre que la SNC a joué et continue jouer un rôle fondamental dans la construction de l’identité culturelle burkinabè. Elle réunit des talents venus des quatre coins du pays et même d’au-delà les frontières du Burkina Faso.

Ces artistes par leur talent participent à ancrer la culture dans le quotidien des Burkinabè. A travers la danse, la musique, les arts plastiques, les arts du spectacle, la Semaine nationale de la culture a permis à plusieurs générations d’artistes de s’exprimer, de se faire connaitre et de défendre la richesse de leurs traditions. Par ricochet, c’est la cohésion nationale qui est renforcée. Puisqu’en rassemblant ces participants de différentes régions, ethnies et traditions, la SNC joue un rôle important dans la promotion de l’unité nationale. Elle ne se contente pas de célébrer les différences les différences, mais les intègre dans une dynamique commune, renforçant ainsi le sentiment d’appartenance à une culture nationale partagée.

Cet effort, particulièrement visible chez les générations présentes à préserver cette harmonie dans un monde en mutation. Hormis cet aspect, la Semaine nationale de la culture, c’est aussi un impact économique positif. L’événement attire chaque année un grand nombre de visiteurs et touristes entre autres. Ce drain de festivaliers engendre des retombées économiques significatives dans divers secteurs, tel que l’hôtellerie, la restauration, l’artisanat et le commerce local. Par exemple, l’afflux de visiteurs dynamise la consommation de produits locaux et stimule les activités des petites et moyennes entreprises, notamment les artisans qui exposent leurs œuvres.

De plus, la SNC favorise la création d’emplois temporaires, notamment dans les domaines de l’événementiel, de la logistique et des services. Au-delà de ces bénéfices immédiats, elle contribue à renforcer l’attractivité touristique et économique du Burkina Faso, en mettant en lumière son riche patrimoine culturel auprès d’un public national et international. Toutefois, il est essentiel de s’assurer que ces retombées soient équitablement réparties, en impliquant davantage les régions rurales dans la dynamique économique. Le rendez-vous de la 22e édition de la Semaine nationale de la culture est pris pour mars 2026.

Abdoul-Karim Etienne SANON"

ISLRTC organizes International Symposium on Interpreter Education and Research, in New Delhi

Significant step in fostering International Collaboration, promoting Innovative practices, and advancing Accessible Communication for the Deaf community

Posted On: 12 JAN 2025 7:46PM by PIB Delhi

 

The Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre (ISLRTC) New Delhi, in collaboration with the Linguistic Empowerment Cell (LEC), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), successfully organized the International Symposium on ‘Interpreter Education and Research: Perspectives from the United States, Canada, and India’, today at JNU, New Delhi. The event marked a significant step in fostering international collaboration, promoting innovative practices, and advancing accessible communication for the Deaf community.

 

The symposium featured distinguished guest lecturers, Dr. Brenda Nicodemus, Professor Emerita, Gallaudet University, USA, and Dr. Marty Taylor, a renowned expert and author in sign language interpretation from Canada. Both shared their vast knowledge focusing on interpreting research, education, and innovative practices in the USA, Canada, and India. The inaugural session included insightful speeches by Shri Kumar Raju, Director, ISLRTC; Prof. Dipendra Nath Das, Rector, JNU; Prof. Preeti Das, Chief Coordinator, LEC, JNU; and Dr. Sandesha Rayapa-Garbiyal, AP, JNU.

The technical sessions and panel discussion, moderated by Dr. Andesha Mangla, Assistant Professor, ISLRTC, explored themes such as technological innovations in interpretation, ethical standards, and advancements in interpreter education. The question-answer session facilitated engaging dialogues between the audience and the resource persons, enriching the symposium further.

The event witnessed active participation from students/faculty of the Diploma in Indian Sign Language Interpretation (DISLI) and Diploma in Teaching Indian Sign Language (DTISL), along with members of Deaf associations and other stakeholders. The participants included 370 individuals attending in person and 110 students and faculty of NIs/CRCs joining virtually. The symposium concluded with the National Anthem in ISL.

*****

VM

"A new study by researchers at the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Eastern Finland highlights the need for multiple approaches in the teaching of intercultural communication in the context of international business.

Studies in intercultural communication constitute a key element in the international business and sales management syllabus; however, instruction is often too heavily focused on structures stemming from national cultures and their differences. Authored by University Lecturer Lotta Kokkonen and Associate Professor Jonna Koponen, the study suggests that effective teaching of intercultural communication requires understanding and integration of three different approaches to a culture: the positivist, the interpretive and the critical approach.

The positivist approach sees a culture as an unchangeable system allowing, e.g., comparisons between different cultures. This approach is often applied when comparing business negotiation styles between different cultures. The interpretive approach, on the other hand, emphasises the social construction of a culture through interaction. This approach views a culture as socially constructed, changing and negotiated through interaction, with the present study focusing on the experiences of individuals and groups. The critical approach, in turn, focuses on structural inequalities, manifestations of power, and societal discourses.

According to Kokkonen and Koponen, the theory of interpersonal knowledge can be applied, emphasising genuine interaction between individuals. This helps to understand why mere cultural-level knowledge is not enough for building trust between salespeople and customers in the context of international business.

“The diversity of a culture should be better acknowledged when teaching intercultural communication, and students should learn to examine phenomena from multiple perspectives. This gives them better capabilities to navigate genuinely intercultural interaction situations. For example, the ability to use interpersonal knowledge is a key skill in developing international customer relationships,” Koponen concludes.

The study offers valuable insight for higher education institutions and companies wishing to improve their intercultural communication in the context of international business..."

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1069963
#metaglossia_mundus

In how many countries do people speak German?

German is an official language in six countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. In the South Tyrol region of northern Italy, and the Opole Voivodeship and and Silesian Voivodeship regions of Poland, which respectively border Czechia and Slovakia, it is also an official language.

Due to the history of Germanic peoples in the Middle Ages, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, German colonialism in Africa, the Nazis' attempt to conquer Europe, and mass migration to Latin America before, during and after the Second World War, German has a special legal status in many additional countries across the globe.

 

Image credit: Dan Komarcha / Shutterstock.com / A traditional German parade in Blumenau, Brazil

The origins of modern German

Germanic languages were first historically recorded in the 1st century BCE when Germanic language speakers came into contact with the Romans. When the Roman Empire fell in the 5th century, a migrating Germanic tribe called the Franks conquered western and central Europe. 

In the 6th century, German would develop and in the 8th century, the Frankish Empire was expanded by Charlemagne and ruled by the Carolingian dynasty.

Image credit: jorisvo / Shutterstock.com / A stained glass depiction of Charlemagne in Cologne Cathedral

The Frankish and Carolingian Empire encompassed much of today’s France, Germany, northern Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Slovenia, parts of Czechia and Denmark. The influence of the Franks and Carolingian Empire is the reason why German is an official language or has a special legal status in many of these countries today.

In the six countries where German is still an official language, let’s get into why, the statistics and demographics of German speakers, and how the type of German spoken in each country differs.

Germany

According to 2021 figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), 80 percent of the 82,3 million people who live in Germany speak the language at home. Apart from German, Russian, Turkish and Polish are the three most-spoken languages.

50 percent of German speakers in Germany report speaking Hochdeutsch at home, and the other half speak a dialect, according to a survey by the Institüt für Deutsche Sprache. What’s is Hochdeutsch? Simply put, if you learnt German in a language course, Hochdeutsch is what you speak. 

Hochdeutsch can be a contentious term since it is often used in lieu of the term “accent-free German” but, of course, there is no such thing as accent-free; it is just that this accent has been decided as the standard and can be understood by everyone, including the Austrians and Swiss. Alongside Hochdeutsch there are four additional broad dialects, Niederdeutsch and Plattdeutsch (Low German), Mitteldeutsch (Middle German) and Oberdeutsch (Upper German).

It is difficult to put an exact figure on it, but within the broad dialects, there are around 20 different regional dialects, including Berlinerisch, Hessisch, Sächsisch, Badisch and Bairisch.

Austria

Austria is the “A” in the “DACH” region, the collective name for the German-speaking country group of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German is the official language in Austria, alongside the minority languages Croatian, Slovenian and Hungarian.

While German is spoken in Austria, the country has its own version of “Hochdeutsch”, and “Hochösterreichisch” (High Austrian) is an official language which has had its own dictionary since 1951.

Distinguishing accents can be difficult for a non-native speaker, but Austrian German has a few big giveaways. Austrians tend to use “I” (pronounced “ee”) instead of “Ich”, "Januar" becomes "Jänner" and the Hochdeutsch diminutives “-chen” and “-lein” become “-erl” e.g “das Sackerl” (little bag) or "das Hunderl" (little dog). Fittingly, “ein bisschen” becomes “bissl”.

The Bairisch dialect is also spoken in Salzburg, since it lies so close to the border with Germany. Other cities have their own dialects, such as Wienerisch in Vienna and Vorarlbergerisch in the Austrian federal state of Vorarlberg.

Switzerland

Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh, with German being the most widely spoken. However, Swiss German (Schweizerdeutsch) varies greatly from the German spoken in Munich or Berlin and “Swiss German” is an umbrella term which describes the 19 different dialects of the 26 Swiss cantons.

To understand why Swiss German and High German sound so different, we need to take a quick detour into the history of Germany. Until the 20th century, many residents of southern Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and western Tyrol in Austria spoke a Swiss-German-like dialect, which was mirrored in the alpine nation. 

Things changed shortly after Germany unified in 1871, with successive governments preferring to teach standardised German while shunning the use of regional dialects. This approach was never really adopted in Switzerland, meaning that as standard German homogenised into the language we know today, Swiss German and its hundreds of dialects remained stubbornly different.

Swiss German differs from Hochdeutsch in pronunciation ("Kind" (child) becomes "Chind"), grammar ("laufen" (to run) becomes "laufe"), suffixes ("Kätzchen" becomes "Chätzli") and in its common integration of French and Italian words, such as "Äxgüsi" (excuse me) or "Velo" (bike).

While many Swiss people write Swiss German down, each person still writes and spells words differently and High German is still the written language in most Swiss schools.

Image credit: GoldenFeniks / Shutterstock.com / A French, Flemish and German-language sign in Belgium

Belgium

Along with French and Dutch (Flemish) German is one of Belgium’s official languages, but is only spoken by around 1 percent of the population. Unsurprisingly, the 79.000-strong German-speaking population of Belgium lives in the Liège Province bordering the German federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate, also known as the German-speaking Community.

In its recent history, Belgium was close to selling the region off to Germany in the 1920s for around 200 million gold marks. The deal was scrapped when the French government stepped in. The region would be seized by Germany during the Second World War but returned to Belgium following Nazi defeat in 1945. 

But it was not until 1960 that Belgium was officially divided into four linguistic areas, Flemish-speaking Flanders, French Wallonia, bilingual Brussels and the German-speaking east. Platt Ostbelgisch, also known as Moselle Fränkisch, can be heard in these regions, which may sound like the German spoken in Cologne, Düsseldorf or Trier. “Montag” becomes “Monisch”, “Sie” and “es” become “hot” and “gehen” becomes “jonn”, with a soft "J".

Luxembourg

While Luxembourgish, which sounds similar to Moselle Fränkisch, is the national language of Luxembourg, French and German are also official languages. The country has been bilingual in French and German since the 12th century and only in 1912 was Luxembourgish introduced in primary schools.

Today, 98 percent of Luxembourgers speak a high level of French and 78 speak a high level of German, the language which is used in most official settings, such as administration, in the media and by the police.

Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein, sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria and not to be confused with Luxembourg, is yet another country where the official language is German.

On a trip to Liechtenstein you will hear Alemannic (Allemanisch), a Hochdeutsch dialect group also spoken in parts of Switzerland, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and the French region of Alsace. Listening to Allemanisch you’ll hear some similarities to Swiss-German, “Danke” may become “Merci vielmals”, “Tschüss” may become “Adje” and “schauen” becomes “luege”.

Provinces where German is an official language

There are three regions and territories outside of the DACH countries, Belgium, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein where German is an official language.

South Tyrol, Italy

South Tyrol (Südtirol) is a province of northeastern Italy bordering Switzerland and Austria. Nearly 70 percent of the South Tyrolean 511.750-strong population speaks German and may speak the South Tyrolean dialect in informal settings.

Learners of Hochdeutsch would recognise the southern Bavarian dialect when listening to South Tyrolean. “Manchmal” would become “oftramol”, “vielleicht” would be closer to the Italian, “magari” and “hallo” would become a mash-up with “ciao” to form “hoila”.

Image credit: steve estvanik / Shutterstock.com / People outside a cafe in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol

Opole Voivodeship and Silesian Voivodeship, Poland

Collectively, the German-speaking communes of the southern Polish provinces of Opole and Silesian Voivodeship, which border Czechia and Slovakia, are home to just 250.000 people.

Since 1945, the Silesian and Brieg-Grottkau dialects used in Opole and Silesian Voivodeship have been replaced by standard German in the provinces. Today, the German-speaking communes function bilingually with German and Polish and there are around five radio stations and newspapers which broadcast and publish in German.

Countries where German has a special legal status

German is an official language in six countries and three provinces. But historical relations mean that the language also has a “special legal status” in nine further countries, as far afield as Brazil.

German in Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania

Migration of the Germanic population during the Middle Ages, known as the Ostsiedlung, means that German has a special legal status in Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania. 

In Czechia, the Bohemian and Moravian Germans would become known as the Sudenten Germans of the Sudentenland. The Sudentenland was annexed by Nazi Germany and, following their defeat, Czechia expelled most of its German-speaking population, meaning modern Sudenten Germans speak mostly Czech and/or Hochdeutsch. 

Germanic peoples emigrated to Hungary in three major waves, again during the Middle Ages, the Habsburg Empire and the 19th and 20th centuries. Like in Czechia, many were expelled following the Nazis’ defeat. According to 2022 figures, there are 142.551 German speakers in Hungary.

Image credit: BalkansCat / Shutterstock.com / The German National Theatre in Timișoara, Romania

Emigration to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 12th to 15th centuries also meant that Germanic people arrived in today’s Slovakia. While the term Carpathian Germans previously referred to Germans in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, it now predominantly refers to Slovakian Germans. Today, Slovakian-German dialects are threatened by extinction. Still, on a trip to the country, you’ll find a museum dedicated to Carpathian-German history and two German-language media outlets broadcasting and publishing in German.

Arriving from Luxembourg, Lorraine and Flanders during the 1140s and 1150s, the Transylvanian Saxons are the largest group of German speakers in modern Romania. Their German, known as Transylvanian Saxon, is similar to Luxembourgish, with Romanian President Klaus Werner Iohannis among a large group of notable Transylvanian Saxons in Romania. The Romanian city of Timișoara is also home to the German State Theatre Timișoara, the site where German-language theatre was first recorded in 1753.

The German language in Russia

Germans have a long history of emigration to Russia too. Today, thanks to the Volga Germans’ emigration during the 18th century, German remains a minority language in the Azovsky Nemetsky National District. 

The district’s first villages were founded by the Volga Germans in 1893 before Azovsky Nemetsky was established as a district in 1992. According to a 2007 census, nearly 60 percent of the district's population (22.246 people) are Germans.

German colonialism and language in Namibia

Now, reaching further afield to Namibia. Namibia was colonised by Germany between 1884 and 1915. During this period the country’s natural resources -gold, platinum, diamonds and other minerals - were exploited and a 1904 rebellion by the Herero and Namaqua people was suppressed by a genocide at the hands of the Germans.

In July 1915, Germany lost control of its South West African colonies to allied and South African forces, before having to give up all of its colonies as part of the Treaty of Versailles. While this history is largely absent in German classrooms, a trail is left behind in Namibia. Many buildings still bear German names and the “Namdeutsch” language is used across society. Around 31.000 of the 2,6 million Namibians speak German as their first language.

Image credit: Fotographie-Kuhlmann / Shutterstock.com / German street signs in Swakopmund, Namibia

German migration to Brazil

German people have been emigrating to Brazil for over 200 years, first as economic migrants filling jobs vacated by newly liberated enslaved people. Slavery ended in Brazil in 1888, but atrocities against indigenous peoples continued, as land was taken and redistributed to Germans in a wider attempt to “Europeanise” and “whiten” its population.

German colonies were established, half-timbered houses erected and German spoken on the streets. The German-Brazilian relationship was complicated when Brazil joined the Allies fighting against Germany in WWII. German immigrants' adoration of Hitler meant Brazil had the largest Nazi Party outside of Germany, but the party would be banned in 1938 by President Getúlio Vargas.

Image credit: William Avila / Shutterstock.com / The centre of Blumenau, a German colony city of Santa Catarina, Brazil

In the postwar era, German culture was less celebrated, but the Germans maintained their established community in Brazil. Many Nazi sympathisers and high-ranking Nazis saw the community as a safe haven to escape arrest in Europe, most notably Adolf Eichmann and Josef Mengele. After stints in Argentina and Paraguay, Mengele lived unrecognised in São Paulo until he drowned in 1979.

Today, around 3.000.000 people speak German in Brazil, where the main dialect is Hunsrik (Hunsrückisch), which is also spoken in the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

“Home Germans” in Denmark

In the wake of WWI, Germany lost parts of northern Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark. As a result, there is a minority German-speaking population, often referred to as “home Germans”, living in southern Denmark today.

However, with a population of just 15.000 “home Germans”, northern Schleswig in southern Denmark has far fewer German speakers than the number of Danes living in Germany’s southern Schleswig (around 50.000). 

The Germans of northern Schleswig have had their language protected as a minority language since the Copenhagen-Bonn Declaration of 1955. Around 25 Kitas and 18 German schools operate in the region today.

ALBANY, N.Y. — Steve Shepard, an Albany resident, is speaking out about the challenges he faced in securing an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter for his deaf son, Mark, during a recent doctor's appointment. For 27 years, Shepard has been an advocate for his son, often assisting with scheduling medical appointments due to his ability to communicate more effectively over the phone.

When Mark switched to Albany Family Medicine, a Community Care Physicians practice, Shepard called to arrange an appointment and requested an ASL interpreter. "The person I spoke to, even at that time, had said that, 'oh, we don't do that.' And I said, 'well, yeah, I think we have to,"' Shepard said.

Despite multiple calls, Shepard says he was repeatedly told to contact his insurance company for interpreter services. Frustrated, he reached out to his insurance company, CDPHP, which informed him that it was the doctor's office's responsibility to provide an interpreter and filed a complaint on his behalf.

"I have an understanding of what maybe they should do because it's obvious from my conversations with these people that they don't understand what the law says that they're obligated to do. And that's bad," Shepard said, referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Mark expressed his feelings about the situation, saying, "First he felt that it was wrong. He knew it was wrong. And he needed an interpreter."

Three days before the appointment, Albany Family Medicine assured the Shepards that an interpreter would be available. However, the process was not without its challenges. Upon arrival, it took about an hour for the staff to set up the technology for the ASL interpreter, who assisted via video chat.

Community Care Physicians responded to inquiries with a statement emphasizing their commitment to providing translation services at no cost, stating, "The practice mentioned in your story is the top user of translation services within our company, so the team is ready and willing to accommodate any patient requiring these services at no cost and not through insurance."

They attributed any misinformation to "a miscommunication, a misunderstanding or simply human error," and pledged to continue educating their staff on obtaining these services for patients.

Shepard stressed the importance of advocacy, saying, "Like I said, I've been an advocate for Mark ever since he was a baby. But not everybody has that person to do it. I want this to be for that person that doesn't have that advocate."

Ultimately, Mark's appointment was successful, with Shepard noting that the interpreter was effective and the doctor understanding. Shepard hopes to raise awareness about the rights and laws protecting individuals with disabilities and the importance of self-advocacy in medical situations.

https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/albany-father-fights-for-deaf-sons-right-to-interpreter-at-doctors-appointment
#metaglossia_mundus

MaineHealth management needs to come to the table to work out a fair deal with this critical group of workers.

"In the spring of 2023, interpreters at Maine Med and MaineHealth facilities statewide voted unanimously to unionize as United MaineHealth Interpreters with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Over a year and a half after being recognized, negotiations still have not produced a contract the interpreters consider a fair deal. This delay is unacceptable. As the old saying goes, justice delayed is justice denied.

As elected leaders in Portland, we believe in the rights of workers to bargain collectively for fair wages and working conditions. Strong labor rights are not just beneficial for those at the bargaining table — they uplift entire communities, creating better working conditions, healthier economies and greater democracy. What’s good for workers is good for everyone.

As city councilors, we understand the urgency of addressing inequities like these before they ripple out to affect the entire Portland community. In this spirit, we lend our voices in support of United MaineHealth Interpreters as they fight for a first contract....

Interpreters play a unique and critical role in our health care system. They serve as cultural and linguistic bridges, ensuring that every patient, regardless of language, can navigate our often overwhelming and impersonal health care system. For many in our immigrant and refugee communities, interpreters also provide dignity, trust and advocacy during some of the most vulnerable moments in life.

These workers are asking for for basic, reasonable improvements: wages that reflect their skills and allow them to live in the community they serve, fair scheduling practices that provide stability and to be able to perform interpreting services face-to-face, which is crucial to delivering high-quality, patient-centered care, rather than remotely, where the nuances of meaning and cultural context can be missed.

The challenges these workers face mirror broader systemic inequities in health care. While executive compensation in the health care sector soars, frontline workers — those who heal, comfort, and ensure access to care — often find their wages stagnant and their work undervalued. Interpreters are no exception. MaineHealth’s mission to provide quality care is only possible because of the dedication of workers like these interpreters.

Many of the interpreters live and work in our community, contributing not only through their professional roles but also as neighbors, parents and engaged citizens. Their struggle is Portland’s struggle — one that includes a housing affordability crisis for essential workers and a commitment to ensure equitable access to services for people whose first language is not English. Supporting these workers aligns directly with our responsibility to foster a fairer, more inclusive city. As elected leaders and members of the community, we have their backs."
Ben Grant and Wes Pelletier
https://www.pressherald.com/2025/01/10/opinion-maines-health-care-interpreters-deserve-better/

 

"The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has expanded its lexicon with 20 Nigerian words and expressions in its latest update.Nigerian cuisine

The new 20 entries include terms like Japa, 419, agbero, abi, area boy, yahoo boy, yahoo, Edo, Kanuri, jand, cross-carpet, kobo, Naija, and suya.

These additions showcase Nigeria’s cultural diversity,  daily life, and street culture while highlighting the rising influence of Pidgin English across Africa and beyond.

Many of these words serve multiple grammatical functions. For example, Japa, meaning to flee or escape, is listed as a noun and a verb.

Similarly, Jand, a colloquial term for the United Kingdom, appears as both a noun and a verb. To help non-Nigerians master these terms, the OED has also provided pronunciations for each entry.

Kingsley Ugwuanyi, a Nigerian English consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary, played a key role in this update.Nigerian cuisine

Sharing his excitement on LinkedIn, the linguistic researcher wrote, “I’m thrilled to announce that the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Oxford Languages | OUP has officially published its latest updates, featuring a fantastic collection of Nigerian English words that beautifully reflect Nigeria’s culture, creativity, and the unique ways we express ourselves as Nigerians.

“This time, I drafted most of the words and had the incredible opportunity to provide their pronunciations. So, when you explore the OED online and click on the pronunciations, you’ll hear my voice bringing these words to life. This milestone is the result of years of hard work and dedication. I encourage Nigerians to share their favourite words from the list and suggest new ones for future updates,” Mr Ugwuanyi stated.

This update is part of the OED’s quarterly review, which keeps the dictionary in tune with the ever-changing nature of the English language.

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This inclusion builds on a similar addition in 2020 when the dictionary included 29 Nigerian words, such as danfo, okada, next tomorrow, and mama put—the first significant inclusion of Nigerian words since the OED’s inception in 1884.

These are in addition to at least 57 Nigerian words already in the dictionary.

The global dictionary described Nigerian Pidgin as a rich source of new words. It highlighted Nigeria’s unique contribution to global English, with most additions being borrowings or coinages from the 1970s and 1980s.

The complete list of newly added Nigerian words includes:
1. 419

2. abi

3. adire

4. agbero

5. area boy

6. cross-carpet

7. cross-carpeting

8. eba

9. Edo

10. gele

11. jand (noun, verb)

12. janded (adjective)

13. Japa (noun, verb)

14. Kanuri

15. Kobo

16. Naija

17. suya

18. Yahoo

19. yahoo boy

20. Yarn Dust"

by Adejayan Gbenga Gsong

https://blueprint.ng/oxford-english-dictionary-expands-adds-20-new-nigerian-words-see-full-list/
#metaglossia_mundus

Scholasticide is one of several new terms that has been used to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza

Aviya Kushner
January 8, 2025
The American Historical Association, the largest association of professional historians in the U.S., passed a resolution this week condemning what it called the “scholasticide” in Gaza — a term that might be unfamiliar to many.

As The New York Times reported, the resolution “argued that the destruction of most of the enclave’s education infrastructure, along with many archives and libraries, amounted to “scholasticide.”

“Scholasticide” isn’t a word in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, or the Oxford English Dictionary, but it does appear in Wikipedia, which is run by volunteers and has nearly 50 million registered users.

“Scholasticide,” according to Wikipedia, is “often used interchangeably with the terms educide and epistemicide, (and) refers to the intended mass destruction of education in a specific place.”

“Schola” in Latin is “school,” or more precisely, an “ancient Roman school” as Merriam-Webster puts it. “Cide” is also Latin; it means killing.

The echo of genocide
Of course, just hearing a term with the suffix “cide” makes “genocide” echo in the mind, along with all its moral weight — and the constant wrangling over what it means.

“Ever since the Polish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the word in 1944 by combining the Greek word genos, meaning ‘race or tribe,’ with the Latin cide, or ‘killing,’ it has been pulled taut between languages — Greek and Latin, legal and moral,” Linda Kinstler, a junior fellow at Harvard’s Society of Fellows, observed in The New York Times magazine.

I often return to that sentence, and think about how describing Lemkin as a “Polish lawyer” omits something crucial; Lemkin was Jewish, and lost 49 members of his family in the Holocaust.

And Lemkin probably didn’t expect his coining of the term “genocide” to spawn so many other “cide” terms. He wanted a term that would describe the specific crime of intentionally destroying an entire people. He wanted precision.

I am concerned that the growing use of the word “genocide” to describe war may dilute the term’s meaning, and weaken its direct connection to the Holocaust.

And this must be said: The cascade of newish terms ending in “cide” — “scholasticide,” “educide” and “domicide” — all have one thing in common on Wikipedia:

The current war in Gaza is always used as an example.

What is domicide?
Like “scholasticide,” the term “domicide” also does not appear in the OED.

“Domicide,” in case you missed it, has been discussed on NPR, primarily in relation to Gaza, and on the op-ed page of The New York Times, where the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing wrote a piece with the headline “Domicide: The Mass Destruction of Homes Should Be a Crime Against Humanity.” That piece also focused heavily on Gaza.

In the absence of dictionary meanings, I tried Wikipedia:

“Domicide (from Latin domus, meaning home or abode, and caedo, meaning deliberate killing, though used here metaphorically) is the deliberate destruction of housing by human agency in pursuit of specified goals,” the site informed me. That definition is from a 2001 book titled Domicide: The Global Destruction of Home by Douglas Porteous and Sandra Smith.

I scrolled down for an example of the term.

“The recent Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip is considered to be one of the most destructive campaigns in history,” Wikipedia noted.

Something about that language caught my eye.

While there has certainly been tremendous human suffering in Gaza — the phrase “one of the most destructive campaigns in history” seems to erase World War II, World War I, and other “destructive campaigns” familiar to members of the American Historical Association.

These days, the anti-fact front is strong, and we are all soldiers in the battle for truth and accuracy.

Meta, the parent of Facebook, announced yesterday that it would get rid of fact-checking. Incredibly, last fall’s vice-presidential debate opened with a journalist stating that there would be no checking of facts, and recently, even The New Yorker’s famed fact-checking department didn’t check on some basic aspects of the history of Israel, Palestinians, and the Holocaust.

Recognizing that I am now the fact-checker for everything I read, I scrolled some more.

The source for Wikipedia — see footnote #9 — was an Associated Press article with the headline “Israel’s military campaign in Gaza seen as among the most destructive in recent history, experts say.”

There is a big difference between “recent history” and “history.”

The phrase “most destructive in history,” which Wikipedia is using to describe the war in Gaza, means all of history. That’s quite a claim.

It’s this kind of difference that should matter to historians, and to all of us.

The other side of ‘cide’
Language reflects what we believe, and the push to use all kinds of “cide” terms to describe Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza reflects the focus many academics have on this war, and specifically, on Israel’s conduct in it.

It’s a focus that often doesn’t extend to other conflicts, like Sudan.

“With more than 100 universities, including the prestigious University of Khartoum, suffering extensive damage, looting, or complete destruction, the effects on Sudan’s academic community and the future of its higher education are profound,” Professor Mohamed Hassan, the president of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences in Italy told University World News last March..."

https://forward.com/opinion/687028/scholasticide-domicide-genocide-israel-gaza-lemkin-historians/

VLC is working on offline AI-generated subtitles as it surpasses 6 billion installs

Story by Matthew Sholtz

• VLC has reached 6 billion total downloads, announced at CES 2025.


• Real-time translation feature showcased at CES is a proof of concept, potentially revolutionizing movie subtitles and conversations.


• VLC embraces AI for automatic subtitle creation and translation, leading the way for more open-source solutions in the future.

VideoLAN Client, otherwise known as VLC, is a rather popular video player across operating systems, having racked up 100 million installs on the Play Store alone, and that's nothing compared to the number of its total downloads, recently revealed at CES to be 6 billion. It's safe to say the entire planet loves VLC's open-source software; even in the age of streaming, VLC is growing, a testament to its usefulness. And what better way to prove how useful your app is than to reveal real-time local AI subtitle generation? This is precisely what VLC has done this year at CES, rather impressively....