Mass Extinction of Languages

It is expected that about half of the 7000 languages that are spoken today will cease to exist by the year 2100, according to experts as reported by the Washington Post.

But what does it mean that a language is considered extinct? When the last person who learned that language as his or her primary language passes away.

Languages can become extinct as well as evolve. Languages such as English, Italian and Spanish will certainly survive and adapt to the new times. But many languages will become extinct. It can be said that this is nothing short of evolution as it manifests in linguistics.

There are regions that are especially vulnerable to this extinction process, mainly Siberia, North Australia, the Andes and the Amazon. Even the Pacific Northwest is expected to see the reversal of fortunes for several native languages.

Language extinction is not a modern phenomenon, it has happened since time immemorial and it happens when a smaller group come in contact with more dominant populations.

Government action also has affected the rate of extinction. Examples of this can be found in Russia and Australia, where government policies have been in place to encourage, if not force, native populations to speak the dominant language.

Each language offers a different perspective on the human experience. Let's hope that we can keep a vibrant language diversity from which to draw inspiration and knowledge.

Same Word, Different Meaning - Portuguese Funcionário

It is not uncommon that inexperienced Portuguese translators assume that a word that is written the same and sound the same in two languages mean the same thing. WATCH OUT, because this is seldom the case.

Take for example the word "funcionário" in Portuguese and the word "funcionario" Spanish. In Brazilian Portuguese translation the word "funcionário / funcionária" can fit all positions in an organization (any employee). It implies actor or bearers of a function; hence, the prefix "funcio-". In a general text, for instance low level employees and high directors and executives are both referred to as "funcionários".

In Spanish the word funcionario ONLY refers to high level directors or officials, and is never used to describe general employees.

A somewhat more diminishing term for "employee", on the other hand (and, purposely, which should be avoided) is "empregado / empregada", which could be used to translate the word "employee". But the term "empregada" (fem.) in Br-Pt has turned to attract the meaning of a "household cleaning lady", which sounds embarrassing in a corporate environment. And also because "empregado" (masc.) has a politically-correctness issue to it, in what it might imply someone employed but who receives no payment (it means that the pearson is "placed in", but not necessarily is paid for his work). Some people can even refer to "empregado" as a "slave".

Some companies sometimes choose the term "colaborador / colaboradora", but the employees themselves explain that they do not like that term, because it also may imply that he/she only "collaborates", but do not receive salary for that "collaboration". In Br-Pt, the verb "colaborar" has lost the original meaning of "work" [labore] "together" [co-] and been attached to the meaning of "social work" / "collaborative work" / "volunteer work" or simply a "help" provided without payment.

Our friend and collaborator Dorival Santos Scaliante shared this information with LanguageTrna.

Reset Button?

Hillary Clinton, in an effort to "reset" the relationship between the USA and Russia presented Russain Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva a small box with a gift ribbon. The box contained a red button with the word "peregruska" printed on top.

She said, "I would like to present you with a little gift that represents what President Obama and Vice President Biden and I have been saying and that is: 'We want to reset our relationship and so we will do it together.'"

Clinton, added, "We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?" she asked the Foreign Minister.

"You got it wrong," Lavrov said." Both diplomats laughed. "It should say "perezagruzka" (the Russian word for reset,). This says 'peregruzka,' which means 'overcharged.'"

Oops!

Watch Out Amateurs

Language translation gaffs are amusing for most of us because we assume that translating a phrase or text into another language can be done by using a bilingual dictionary, a little knowledge and a bowl of hope.

This is not an assumption which should be done when trying to communicate correctly in another language. One Miami company printed several thousand T-shirts which were supposedly translated into Spanish "I saw the Pope". Whoever translated it used the above mentioned recipe. A class of Spanish or two, a dictionary and a brave pen. The result was "Vi la Papa" which really translates as "I saw the potato".

Google Machine Translations - Not Enough, Yet

It is a well known fact that Google has invested heavily to breach the language divide through technology and computer aided translations. The company considers their computer translation tool as one of the key components of their global strategy. In this effort, they have expanded their language translation offerings to 41 languages including Turkish, Estonian, Galician and other languages. Google's strategic goal is quite simple: eliminate language as a barrier to communication in GoogleWorld.

As a language translation provider, LanguageTran has tested translations done by Google's translation tool in a few language combinations. Richard Ramos, President of LanguageTran, said that "Google has achieved a remarkable level of accuracy in some of the language combinations. It is a great way of translating content to have a general idea of the original text. However, the intrinsic nuances of language are still trumping the ultimate goal of near perfect translations. I can see the day when we use tools like Google to improve productivity, but we don't see that happening anytime soon. In some of the language combinations that we tested some sentences were perfectly translated. However, errors in terminology, grammatical constructions and subtle interpretations in large parts of the text make the tool unreliable for applications which require precise well written translations."

He added, "The time needed by a human editor to proof-read, edit and correct errors is still greater than the time required for direct human translation".

Community Based Translations

The question of how to bridge language and cultural divides in multilingual countries or regions has been a challenge since time immemorial. This question is especially important for community understanding and development. One such region is East Africa and the Sub-Saharan region where the population speaks a plethora of languages, everything from local languages to the old colonial languages which are now in ample use.
A new blog platform called Maneno has been created targeted for this region which has an interface which is supported by a wide-based community translation effort. This blog enables the publication of a post in multiple languages. Currently it can be read in English, Spanish, Swahili and Portuguese.
The translation is done by the community of people.