Rekhta's Trilingual Online Dictionary Opens up New Worlds For Urdu Lovers - The Wire - Dictionary

New Delhi: Rekhta Foundation, which is known for organising an annual Urdu festival named ‘Jashn e Rekhta’ and popularising Urdu poetry using Devanagari, Roman and Urdu scripts, has launched a trilingual online dictionary. With a database of over three lakh words and their meanings in Urdu, Hindi and English, it also features audio demonstration of Urdu pronunciation, couplets to support the meaning of the words, origins and families of words, a wide range of antonyms, synonyms, homonyms and rhyming words, related proverbs, idioms and maxims. Experts believe this is a great initiative that will help a large number of Urdu lovers. The dictionary can be accessed for free of cost at rekhtadictionary.com.

Shubham Mishra, an urban planner and translator of several books from Urdu to Hindi, says the Rekhta online dictionary is a tremendous resource not just for laymen and amateur enthusiasts but also for serious researchers, translators and connoisseurs. “As an Urdu-Hindi translator, I have had to rely on several dictionaries to find the correct meaning of a word in the given context. While there are several classical dictionaries that provide the meanings in Hindi and English, their physical nature allows them to do only so much. Rekhta’s online dictionary addresses this issue by adding features like synonyms, idioms, usage, pronunciation, and compound words arising from that word,” he told The Wire.

“Even if one cannot type in the Urdu script, one can choose Roman or Devanagari scripts to find out the meanings, synonyms/antonyms, idioms and and pronunciation, etc.,” he said, adding that this is perhaps the best feature of the dictionary. “Moreover, if someone is not satisfied with the meanings, there is an option of giving feedback,” added Mishra, who has translated several books of legendary Urdu writers such as Intizar Hussain, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Shamim Hanafi.

Also read: Audrey Truschke, the ‘Language’ of History and a Very Modern Indian Conflict

Bhopal-based multilingual journalist and commentator Shams-ur-Rehman Alavi echoes Mishra. “The new dictionary is really neat, simple to use and is going to be helpful, as even Urdu words that are difficult to find in normal dictionaries are available,” Alavi told The Wire. Elaborating further, he said, “Besides, certain words of Arabic, Persian root that are not easy to find in some big dictionaries and one needs to consult the thick and multi-volume dictionaries.”

Alavi, who runs digital platforms such as www.bestghazals.net, pointed out that “another issue one faces is certain tough words or phrases that take time to search due to the prefixes. However, in this dictionary, they are also searchable immediately. The meanings are in Urdu, along with English and Hindi, which will help the learners as word meanings have been given well and explained too.” He also said yet another important feature of it is that the ‘wazan‘ of each word has also been made available, which is useful in understanding pronunciation as well as the meter in a couplet (poetry).

Screenshot from the dictionary.

According to Rekhta’s founder Sanjiv Saraf, this is and will remain an ongoing project with continuous corrections and improvements as well as addition of features based on users’ feedback. “In the course of our journey at rekhta.org we realised that there was a dire need for an accessible, easy to use and informative resource for meanings of Urdu words. Once the project was initiated various related aspects such as pronunciation, synonyms/antonyms, idioms, rhyming words etc were also added,” Saraf told The Wire in an email.

“It is not only a dictionary but also a learning tool. Our endeavour is to bridge the gap for Urdu learners for easy understanding of Urdu vocabulary,” he added. Saraf also said that a dictionary of muhavaras (idioms) is in progress among the other projects such as reverse dictionaries for English to Urdu and Hindi to Urdu. Last year, Rekhta Foundation launched hindwi.org, a website dedicated to Hindi language and literature.

On the dictionary website there is also a blog section, which lists various interesting and informative write-ups on Urdu language and literature. Like the dictionary, the blogs are in Urdu, Hindi and English. For example, Rajat Kumar’s blog (in English) talk about the art of composing chronograms and the stories of Urdu alphabets, ‘Alif’, ‘Be’.

Poet and writer Azra Naqvi in her blog (translated in English from Urdu) traces the origin of some commonly used in Urdu words such as ustad (teacher/mentor), shaakh (branch), musavvida (manuscript), daftar (office), jalsa (gathering) and shatranj (chess). In Urdu, these words are known as ‘DaKHiil’. “In fact, there is another treasure which is even bigger than that of DaKHiil words. Interestingly, these new words have appeared in new garbs with variations in meaning, pronunciation, and spelling. A lot of these words are such where a root word combines with the grammatical rules of another language. This results in the appearance of a new word,” wrote Naqvi.

Also read: Mohammed Shakeb: Preserver of Mughal Archival Documents and Reconstructor of Libraries

Citing examples, Naqvi added, “the Persian word “rang” was combined with the Arabic grammatical root “t” to make the Urdu word “rangat”. Similarly, the Arabic pluralisation when combined with the Persian “dih”, gave birth to “dehaat”. About “shatranj” she writes, when a game was invented based on two armies, it was called “chatrang”. “The word entered in the form of ‘shatrang ‘ in Persian and was transferred from Persian to Arabic as ‘shatranj’ and the same name is being used in Urdu.”

In his blog (Hindi), Zabaan e yaar e mun Turki filmmaker and poet Abdullah Zakariyah Nadeem shares how as an Urduwallah he used to look down upon Bambaiyya dialect and Marathi but later came to realise that there are many commonalities between Urdu and Marathi. Dheerendra Singh Faiyaz’s blogs (in Hindi) on the subjects of stages of learning a language and why it is important to learn Urdu script can also be very useful for Urdu learners. Dost Mohammed Khan’s blog about names of colours in Urdu, which are being forgotten and going out of use, is a delightful read apart from being informative.

In short, Rekhta’s dictionary opens up a whole new world for Urdu learners, readers and writers, especially those who do not have access to conventional tools of knowledge such as physical dictionaries and books.

Amazeballs is now in the Oxford English Dictionary - Oxford Mail - Dictionary

AMAZEBALLS is now a word in the Oxford English Dictionary, as part of the latest official update.

Nearly 700 'words and senses' have been logged in the lexicon as part of its most recent update for June 2021.

New words logged in the OED include staycation, deadname and social distance.

Staycation is defined as: "a holiday at home or in one’s country of residence."

Deadname is defined as: “the former name of a person (esp. a transgender person) who has chosen a new name.”

And social distance is defined as: "to keep a certain physical distance from, or limit physical contact with, another person or people in order to avoid catching or transmitting an infectious disease.”

Also among the new words officially recognised is the term amazeballs, a neologism coined 13 years ago allegedly.

The dictionary's first definition of amazeballs is: "expressing enthusiastic approval: great, excellent, highly impressive; fantastic."

It cites a YouTube video from 2008 by Jessica and Hunter in which one of the vloggers refers to a party as having been 'amazeballs'.

Speaking to the BBC, Fiona McPherson of the OED explained why it had taken 13 years for the word to be recognised.

She said: "What you will often find is that words, while they may be coined, it does take a while for it to enter into everybody’s language."

Talent offers Spanish translation for public meetings – Medford News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News - Mail Tribune - Translation

Photo courtesy cityoftalent.org

Spanish translation at Talent City Council meetings has been available for six months, an outgrowth of the Almeda fire, as city officials realized a need to connect with the Hispanic community, which has seen considerable loss of housing.

Council sessions and other meetings take place via Zoom due to the pandemic.

In addition, the city has added a community engagement component to the tasks for Hector Flores, newly hired as city recorder in January. Flores is bilingual.

“Soon after the fire they realized that need to have a lot of the information in Spanish,” said Flores. The effort includes publications in Spanish as well as the meeting translation and availability of Spanish speakers on the staff.

Support for enhanced communication with the Hispanic community was voiced by several speakers at a Sept. 24 town hall meeting on Zoom. Talent’s population is about 17% Hispanic, one participant said. At times during that session, a volunteer offered Spanish translations.

“All I’ve heard is positive feedback. It’s a great opportunity for people who are not English speakers to engage in the community,” said Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood, speaking about translation. “I can’t tell you how valuable it is. We have heard things we haven’t heard before.”

In December, the City Council approved a transfer of $13,000 from a discretionary fund to provide interpretation services for council meetings and other meetings as directed. Jenny Castillo works as the primary translator, but one other person is also available.

Zoom meetings offer the capability of additional language feeds besides the language the meeting is conducted in. At a public meeting where the service will be offered, Flores asks for those who need them to either raise their hand on screen or put a note in a chat box. The service is almost always requested, said Flores.

Zoom allows participants to change the language by clicking on an onscreen globe icon and selecting Spanish. The listener will then hear Castillo’s running translation.

“It’s simultaneous translation, which is what world leaders use when they are talking with each other,” said Flores.

Town hall sessions and city council meetings where rebuilding and housing are topics have brought the heaviest number of requests for translation services. A town hall to discuss possible use of an area in Chuck Roberts Parks to house trailers for temporary residences drew an especially large number, said Flores.

“It does take additional work to have this. You just can’t rely on city staff members to step in. They are there to participate and engage with City Council,” said Flores.

Funding to support the community engagement efforts comes from grant monies the city has received to help with fire recovery, said Ayers-Flood. The city recently added Nilda Hernandez, who is bilingual, to its staff as engagement coordinator.

Flores is a graduate of Phoenix High School and earned degrees at Southern Oregon University. He taught at international schools for a number of years in China. In 2013 he co-founded the local Hispanic magazine Caminos with his brother, Alfredo, who now owns the publication.

A request to city managers for input on translation services put out on a League of Oregon Cities listserv drew two responses, said Kevin Toon, League communications director.

Gresham offers translation services on request. The city of Wood Village has utilized staff who speak Spanish or Russian at some meetings. It has also contracted with Linguava to provide on-demand translation services that are available over the phone, if requested.

The city of Corvallis utilizes a caption and transcript service to add captions to their video recordings after meetings, Talent’s previous city recorder reported in November.

Phoenix Mayor Terry Baker said discussion of offering Spanish translation has emerged recently and that it will be a topic when the City Council holds a goal-setting session in July.

It’s uncertain how translation will be handled when in-person meetings resume in Talent. Flores said he will be checking out new audio equipment that was installed for meetings in the Community Center just prior to the pandemic to see whether it offers some options.

Baker noted that Phoenix City Council meetings are currently also screened on Facebook, and he wondered whether that might offer some possibilities for translation during in-person meetings, with some listeners using phones and headsets.

Ayers-Flood said that a hybrid of Zoom and in-person meetings may emerge as pandemic restrictions lessen. It is unlikely that meetings would return to just the former formats only, she said.

Funding for translation services is in the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, and Ayers-Flood said she hoped to be able to continue it going forward.

“We have heard from communities we haven’t heard from before. It is obvious it has been super valuable,” said Ayers-Flood.

Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at tboomwriter@gmail.com.

Translation a cover for false news - 台北時報 - Translation

• By Hung Yu-jui 洪昱睿

Earlier this month, the Japanese government donated 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan without asking for anything in return — a very generous and good deed.

However, it seems that there is a group of people in Taiwan who are incapable if distinguishing between right and wrong. They try to find fault with the AstraZeneca vaccine, talk about the donation in a sarcastic tone, and express pessimism about the relationship between Taiwan and Japan. It is very sad to see.

Surprisingly, a social media post has been widely shared, saying that when Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi was asked in the Japanese legislature why the country only donated 1.24 million vaccines, he allegedly answered that the Taiwanese government had only asked for enough doses to meet its needs for this month, as locally made vaccines would soon become available.

Having watched the video of the session, anyone with a good understanding of Japanese would know that Motegi did not make such a statement. The post was completely fabricated — a piece of vicious and despicable fake news.

Anyone who makes a foreign language the main tool of their profession would be familiar with three basic principles from their translation studies: truthfulness, expressiveness and elegance.

The main priority when translating is to faithfully convert a text from one language to another, and maintain its flavor and credibility. Even if the text does not coincide with the translator’s stance or beliefs, they should never substitute one thing for another, leave out parts of it or represent the text falsely.

Unfortunately, we live in an era of cognitive warfare, and many posts circulating on social media are fake news. Spreading news stories without fact-checking them can be very dangerous, and anyone who is not sufficiently cautions might easily end up being an accomplice of someone with a nefarious purpose.

Earlier this month, Hsinchu County Deputy Commissioner Chen Chien-hsien (陳見賢), the director of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) chapter in the county, shared the post of Motegi’s alleged vaccine statement on social media, adding some intentionally malicious comments.

Chen’s only response to having been caught red-handed was that he was sure about the truthfulness of the story because a friend who speaks Japanese had translated it for him.

I have been studying Japanese for more than 20 years. My Japanese might not be perfect, but at least I have no problem understanding what the Japanese minister said. I would like to ask Chen if his friend, who, as Chen claimed, is good at Japanese, learned the language from an incompetent teacher.

If they did not understand the statement, they should not have translated it. On the other hand, if they were making a “fake translation” and maliciously helping spread a rumor, they are bringing shame on the language industry.

Hung Yu-jui is a Japanese teacher and translator.

Translated by Eddy Chang

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

Arabic translation of “A Glimpse of Iran's Literary Past” introduced at Baghdad book fair - Tehran Times - Translation

TEHRAN – An Arabic translation of prominent Iranian historian Abdolhossein Zarrinkub’s “A Glimpse of Iran’s Literary Past” has been introduced during a special meeting by its Iranian publisher at the 22nd Iraq International Book Fair in Baghdad.

The book has been translated at the Alhoda International Cultural, Artistic and Publishing Institute in Tehran. The publisher released the original Persian version of the book in 1996.

Alhoda managing director Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Asadi-Movahed, Sureh-Mehr Publications Ali-Akbar Shirvani and a group of cultural figures attended the meeting, the Persian service of ILNA reported on Sunday.

Speaking at the meeting Shirvani criticized the late translation of the book into Arabic and said, “The significance of the book refers to its deep insight into the mutual influence of the Persian and Arabic languages.”

“There have been two theories about the mutual impacts of the Persian and Arabic languages; some have said that the Persian language has been totally inspired by the Arabic language, and others believe that the Arabic language is deeply indebted to the Persian language.

“In this book, Zarrinkub shows that both of the theories are wrong, because a complex of different political, social, economic and cultural factors have caused the languages to closely interact in various periods of the history.”      

Shirvani also noted that the joint geographical location, origin of language, legends, religion and customs between Iranian and Arabs have connected the Persian and Arabic languages in history.      

For his part, Asadi-Movahed called “A Glimpse of Iran’s Literary Past” one of few outstanding books on the history of Persian literature, and it was this attribute that convinced Alhoda to render the book into Arabic by Sadiq Khursha, a professional translator of Persian books.

His translation (“Min Madi al-Adab al-Irani”) won third prize at the Sixth Sheikh Hamad Awards for Translation and International Understanding (SHATIU) in Doha, Qatar, in 2020.       

Alhoda published an English translation of the book by Sadroddin Mousavi in 2020.  

Photo: This combination photo shows English and Arabic translations of Abdolhossein Zarrinkub’s book “A Glimpse of Iran’s Literary Past”. 

MMS/YAW
 

iPadOS 15 Auto Translate Promises faster, conversation-like experience - iLounge - Translation

iPadOS 15 will be bringing a new feature called Auto Translate within the Translate app, which promises real-time conversations in two different languages.

Apple will be launching translation features across its ecosystem, including iOS, iPadOS and macOS. There’s the new Translate app, on-device languages and system wide text translation, among others. The Translate app will also have a Conversation mode where users can speak or type into a device and get it translated.

The software is currently undergoing developer beta but users report a smooth experience other than the occasional translation glitch and mic pickup lag. The app displays the language as its transcribed and the translation can be found directly underneath. Furthermore, text bubbles appear to the left or right and is similar to a text conversation.

Apple has not yet set an official launch date, but it’s a step towards seamless communication between two people who are side by side and speak different languages.

Real Estate Dictionary: Making sense of Delhi’s draft Master Plan 2041 - Moneycontrol.com - Dictionary

MPD-2041 encourages green-blue features within plots/buildings in the form of roof gardens, terrace gardens, green walls, landscaped and/or pervious ground in all development projects.

1. Land pooling: Land pooling refers to the process of consolidating land parcels, usually in the peripheral areas of cities and towns, whereby small and medium landowners collectively hand over their land to the development authority. The development authority develops infrastructure and retains some portion of the land and the remaining is handed over to original landowners in some proportion to the original land parcels that were pooled.

2. Lal Dora Areas: ‘Lal Dora’ came into existence in 1908 under the British rule and was used to define the portion of land that was part of village habitation. Today, these are specific places within Delhi which are exempt from building bye laws and construction norms under the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act and properties within these regions cannot be registered. The government issues a certificate which proves property ownership and can be used for utility connections and other transactions.

3. Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority: Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) is a regulatory body in charge of planning, policymaking, funding, and coordination of all urban transport-related matters in a city. Currently, there are 15 UMTAs in India with plans for more such bodies in the future.

4. Green Blue Economy: A concept where water bodies and land are interdependent and grow together while offering environmental and social benefits. MPD-2041 encourages green-blue features within plots/buildings in the form of roof gardens, terrace gardens, green walls, landscaped and/or pervious ground in all development projects.

5. Night-Time Economy: The concept of 24-hour city by identifying nodes, precincts or circuits for continued work, cultural activity and entertainment at night to attract tourists and locals. This would improve economic activity and promote a vibrant night life in the city. It could also help reduce congestion by staggering activities while utilizing spaces for different activities optimally.

6. Green Development Area: An area earmarked for development characterized by low density and low building footprint with large wooded and landscaped areas. MPD-2041 proposed a policy for green belt villages where majority of the land should be utilized for green cover and minimal development will be allowed.

7. Transferable Development Right (TDR): It is a permission (usually a certificate) for development given to a landlord as a compensation for their loss during the urban development process. It can be self-used, or the landowner has a right to sell or transfer it to others who can then use the TDR for additional development than what is permissible on a given land parcel.

8. Master Plan: A master plan is a document which acts like a policy guide that provides a vision and framework for the physical development of a city or town over the long term, usually covering a time frame of about 20 years into the future. These plans comprise analysis, recommendations and proposals for an area's population, housing, economy, transportation, land use and social / physical infrastructure.

9. FAR: Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is the ratio of the total floor area of a building to the land area on which the building has been erected. It indicates the total area on all floors that can be built on a plot of land. FAR of an area is determined by the local municipal authority to control the vertical development and reduce stress on the existing infrastructure.

10. Transit Oriented Development: Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of urban development that is designed as a walkable, compact, mixed-use, higher-density zone within walking distance of a transit facility. It typically includes a central transit station surrounded by mix of residential and commercial zones designed with features which make it convenient and safe to walk, cycle while promoting the usage of public transport.

11. Right of way: Right of way is the total land area acquired for the construction of the roadway. The width typically is designed to accommodate all the elements of the road cross section such as travel lane, median and shoulder, and public utilities that need to be installed along the roadway and area for any future widening of the road. City development authorities can use right of way provisions to reserve a space for various modes of traffic and for services such as drinking water kiosks, public amenities, utilities etc.

12. Comprehensive Mobility Plan: Comprehensive Mobility Plan is a document that focuses on improvement and promotion of public transport and non-motorized transport which will guide the future growth of transport in cities. This document is usually drafted with a horizon of 20 years, but it will also cover short, medium term traffic management measures for 5 and 10 years.

13. Geographic Information System (GIS): is a computer-based mapping tool used to collate, analyze and display spatial information or data attached to a unique location. GIS integrates several data points pertaining to that location, analyses it and portrays the same visually. It is widely used across the globe to combine the environmental, demographic, economic and landscape characteristics of a location in the form of data (photographic, digital or numerical) and helps in visualizing the same spatially.

14. Spatial planning: It is a planning process used to study and organize the spatial and on ground distribution of population and economic activities at micro and macro levels. This process is a combination of factors and policies that influence spatial distribution and usage of land and natural resources including urban and rural landscapes, local / regional resources, physical and social infrastructure, environmental and economic factors etc.

15. Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTAL): A detailed and accurate indicator used to analyze the distance and accessibility of a geographic location to the nearest public transport network. This accessibility measure considers factors like walk access distance to transit or physical mobility time, quality and affordability of transport options, transport system connectivity and availability at a specified location. PTAL is thereby used to analyze the density of the public transport network and the service frequency of any mode of public transport at a given location

Source: Cushman & Wakefield