Dictionary update shows how changing climate changes everything, including language - CBC.ca - Dictionary

This column is an opinion from Donald Wright, who teaches political science at the University of New Brunswick. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

Climate change really does change everything, including language. 

New words and new word compounds have been invented at the same time as new meanings, or senses, have been added to old words. To keep up, the Oxford English Dictionary has released an update on the language of climate change and environmental sustainability.

Reading it as the world leaves Glasgow after the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) is fascinating, depressing, and yet strangely hopeful.

• Have questions about COP26 or climate science, policy or politics? Email us: ask@cbc.ca. Your input helps inform our coverage.

As a rule of the thumb, the OED doesn't include chemical formulas, but it has made an important exception for CO2 because it has become, in its words, "so ingrained" in our everyday language.

If its definition is matter of fact – "Carbon dioxide, a colourless, odourless gas produced by the burning of organic compounds and fossil fuels, by the processes of respiration and decomposition, and by volcanic activity, and absorbed by plants during photosynthesis" – its inclusion is a matter of pressing relevance. In May 2021, atmospheric CO2 peaked at 419.13 parts per million, the highest level since measurements began in 1958.

Nothing cozy about heating planet

Global heating is also a new entry. Although global warming is still used more frequently, global heating is used with measurable and increasing frequency because it conveys "more emphatically the seriousness of climate change caused by human activity and the urgent need to address it." After all, global warming connotes a kind of coziness when there is nothing cozy about a heating planet.

Because climate can be a modifier, the entry for climate has been expanded to include, in alphabetical order, climate action, climate catastrophe, climate crisis, climate denial, climate denialism, climate denier, climate emergency, climate justice, climate refugee, climate sceptic, and climate strike.

Although I will defer to OED lexicographers, I'm surprised that it has taken as long as it has to include climate denial. For as long as we have understood the reality of climate change, we have endured organized and highly effective climate denial, that is, the "rejection of the idea (or the evidence) that climate change caused by human activity is occurring, or that it represents a significant threat to human and environmental welfare." 

'Kaitiakitanga' is a Maori word meaning 'Guardianship or management, esp. of the natural resources of a place or area; environmental stewardship considered as a duty and responsibility of the inhabitants of an area. Also: the exercise of this.' (Hailley Furkalo/CBC News Graphics)

Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway call climate deniers "merchants of doubt," men and women who manufacture and sell doubt to both the public and to policy makers in a deliberate attempt to forestall new regulations and taxes. I am tempted to use stronger language, like shills, or true believers.

The inclusion of climate refugees is welcome if also heartbreaking. The World Bank estimates that by 2050, some 216 million people will be compelled to move because of the effects of climate change, from sea level rise and storm surges to desertification and extreme heat. Of course, the World Bank can't use the term refugee because it carries legal – and moral – obligations. Instead, it uses migrant. But the OED can.

Because most climate refugees will be in the global south, in small island nations, for example, and sub-Saharan Africa, it raises the issue of climate justice, a powerful idea which the OED defines as the "action or activism intended to ensure that efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change also address related social justice issues, such as the disproportionate projected impact of climate change on developing countries and the poor." 

Other additions include carbon capture, carbon capture and storage, carbon storage, decarbonization, eco-anxiety, extreme weather, and net zero. 

There aren't enough words

The OED's update is all to the good, but no dictionary, not even the Oxford English Dictionary, can capture the language of climate change. There simply aren't enough words to convey the enormity of what we confront as a species.

This is not to suggest that we throw in the towel. Far from it, in fact. There is wisdom out there if we are prepared to look for it, making the OED's update hopeful. 

Kaitiakitanga is a Maori word meaning "Guardianship or management, esp. of the natural resources of a place or area; environmental stewardship considered as a duty and responsibility of the inhabitants of an area. Also: the exercise of this."

I like the promise of that, of a single word for duty, responsibility, and the exercise of environmental guardianship, management, and stewardship.

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The limitations of audio-visual translation in shows like 'Squid Game' - The Japan Times - Translation

“Squid Game” is a thrilling South Korean drama about desperate individuals who compete in a life-or-death game for cash, and it has become Netflix’s most-watched show ever. It has also received a few criticisms for its translation.

These criticisms began when American Korean speaker Youngmi Mayer took to social media claiming the English was mistranslated.

As a translator, I can think of two reasons for Mayer’s critique. The first is that she is not assessing the translation itself, but an adaptation of the translation. The second is that, from a translator’s perspective, the “Squid Game” translation was not mistranslated or botched at all.

Viewer criticisms mostly focus on how the same wording is not used in the English translation, and that certain cultural concepts are lost altogether in translation. Criticisms like these often come up in Japanese-to-English audio-visual translation, too — especially with regard to anime. These kinds of critiques are sometimes made with a lack of understanding of how translation, and audio-visual translation in particular, works.

First, there is a big difference between presenting a translation via subtitles or via a dubbed overlay. When working with subtitles, the translator must convey the original meaning and intent of the script in a very compact space — the bottom of your screen. Netflix limits its subtitles to two lines at 42 characters per line and Crunchyroll at about 25. Each line can only appear on screen for a few seconds.

When translating for a dubbed script, however, the translator must match the words being said to the lip flaps on screen. A dub that’s out of sync with the way the actor’s mouth is moving could take the audience out of the show. A translator can try their hardest to select words that will match, but you can’t tell what will work best until the voice actors are in the studio reading the script.

In “Squid Game,” for example, one character says in Korean, “What are you looking at?” In Korean, this is expressed in two syllables, so the dubbed script changes the line to “Go away” — similar intent, but different wording.

Additionally, the translator is usually not involved with the final dub script and recording. A screenplay or dub adaptor — who may not know the source language — will take the script provided by the translator and adapt it for dubbing purposes. Voice actors will then change lines on the fly in the studio if they feel a line will work better in English. This means the subtitled translation and the dub can differ greatly.

Having the translation go through multiple filters of people who don’t speak the source language often results in subtle information and cultural contexts being lost.

One of Mayer’s examples is with a dubbed line that was translated to “I’m not a genius, but I still got it to work out.” Mayer says the direct translation of the Korean is closer to “I’m very smart, I just never got the chance to study.”

In the dub version, the genius line loses a key part of the character’s background, but it’s a more natural phrase in English. The dub is based on the subtitle translation, which goes “I never bothered to study, but I’m unbelievably smart.” So you can see where this game of telephone has watered down some of the original meaning, but strictly speaking it isn’t a mistranslation.

Translation is all about equivalence, finding an equivalent meaning that can vary depending on the goal of the translation. A technical manual translation needs to be clear and accurate so the target reader can follow the instructions. A marketing translation aims to sell a product to people of a different culture, and entertainment translation should be, well, entertaining.

In the context of entertainment translation this means that if a joke is made in the source, then an equally appropriate joke must be made in the translation — even if they use different words. So if a character is a gruff ex-convict in the original, then they should sound like a gruff ex-con in the translation.

Translation isn’t just about using the same words or phrases, but the same feeling within the greater context of the whole show, book, film or manga.

In other words, just because a translation doesn’t convey the exact wording of the source, it doesn’t mean it’s mistranslated or inaccurate. In fact, entertainment translators can do a disservice to the viewer when they directly translate a show word-for-word.

Let’s take a line often used in anime, 告白された (kokuhaku sareta), which is used when one character tells another character about their romantic feelings. The dictionary defines 告白 (kokuhaku) as “confession,” but in English “confession” is defined as “a formal statement admitting that one is guilty of a crime.” So, saying “they confessed to me” in English is a mistranslation. “He told me he loved me” is a more accurate translation even if the exact wording isn’t used.

No language or culture perfectly matches one-for-one, and specific words and turns of phrase that have deep roots in the culture may also get lost in translation. The deeper the roots, the harder it is to convey in another language.

Even accents and dialects in the same language have very specific imagery and connotations that are summoned to a native speaker’s mind when used. The Osaka dialect creates a very different impression compared to the Kyoto dialect, but how do you convey these in English to someone who has no idea that a difference even exists? A translator could try and re-create the accent with one from their own culture, but it wouldn’t be the same. They could also ignore the accent altogether, but then a key part of the characterization is lost. A translator must decide the best approach depending on the situation.

The translator’s job is to maintain the original culture where possible, while also conveying the meaning in a way that sounds natural to the target audience, and meeting space limitations. It’s a constant juggling act, and it varies from show to show.

The goal of audio-visual translation is to make the source show understandable and entertaining. The fact that “Squid Game” has won fans around the world proves we shouldn’t let perfect be the enemy of good.

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Airbnb's New 'Translation Engine' Applies Machine Translation to UGC at Scale - Slator - Translation

On November 9, 2021, Airbnb announced that it had deployed Translation Engine, which allows users to automatically read translations of reviews and descriptions in more than 60 languages without having to click a translate button. Going against the current paradigm, the interface provides users with a see-original-language button instead.

Marco Trombetti, CEO of Translated — which has been working with the home-rental rental platform for the past three years and provided Airbnb with both human and machine translation — told Slator, “What is unique is the fact that, for the first time, the two are very symbiotic and integrated. Every single correction from the localization team improves the machine translation instantly.”

Airbnb runs on ModernMT, the Translated-led, open-source project, co-founded by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, the University of Edinburgh, and the European Commission. ModernMT is basically an adaptive neural machine translation system with a range of applications, including IP and life sciences translations.

“Translated initially provided the baseline pre-trained models [for Airbnb’s Translation Engine],” Trombetti said, which continuously improve based on corrections from the thousands of linguists who have been working on Airbnb content over the past years. As previously mentioned, Airbnb “human translated” more than 100 million words in 2019, pre-pandemic.

According to the Airbnb press statement, “Translation Engine improves the quality of more than 99% of Airbnb listings,” based on a study it commissioned with a machine translation evaluation company across the platform’s top 10 languages.

Marco Trombetti, CEO, Translated (L) and Salvatore Giammarresi, Head of Localization, Airbnb

Trombetti said Airbnb commissioned custom evaluations on the platform’s content through “independent parties, not Translated.” However, he said the 99%+ quality improvement is in line with Translated’s internal evaluations. “Translated performs monthly assessments of our ModernMT models using our Airbnb qualified linguists,” Trombetti said.

He added that, while “many other companies experimented, pre-translation, with a small subset of their content, typically reviews, to my knowledge this is the first time it is done for all content and especially on this scale.”

He pointed out how site visitors will not only be able to read content in their own language, but also be able to find what was previously inaccessible to them. “It is not just about removing a button; it is about allowing everyone to explore in a new way,” Trombetti said.

UGC: Complex for AI

Asked about the challenge of culling data points from user-generated content (UGC) compared to training engines on content created by writers or professional linguists, Trombetti said, “UGC is complex for AI because everyone has a different style.”

It is not like training a custom model on a very narrow terminology” — Marco Trombetti, CEO, Translated

He explained that because UGC content is often written by non-native speakers and, most likely, by non-professional content writers, “there is a lot of flexibility that the AI needs to learn to translate well. It is not like training a custom model on a very narrow terminology.”

Trombetti added, “The indirect challenge with UGC is scale. Often UGC scale can be a million times bigger than content produced by localization teams; and the volume spikes are much more unpredictable.”

What’s more, he noted that 10x lower latency is also needed to be able to integrate machine translation into the production infrastructure. Therefore, “in human translation, engineering quality is really not an issue.” For machine translating UGC, however, “it is the critical asset.”

On top of that, there is the business element. The Translated CEO said, “When you manage UGC, you are a horizontal service. You need to interact with many divisions and stakeholders. So the level and complexity of discussions goes up. [Airbnb Head of Localization] Salvatore Giammarresi’s leadership, empathy, and his capacity to interact with the upper management made this all possible.”

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"translation" - Google News - Translation

Dueling Dictionary Definitions Figure Prominently in the Legal Dispute Over OSHA's Vaccine Mandate - Reason - Dictionary

Briefs submitted to U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit this week suggest that dueling dictionary definitions could figure prominently in the legal dispute over the federal vaccine mandate for private employers. Opponents of the mandate, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) published last Friday, argue that it exceeds the agency's statutory authority. The Justice Department says the mandate plainly falls within the agency's powers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. The dispute hinges largely on the meaning of key phrases in that law, which is why both sides in the 5th Circuit case did a dictionary dive, looking for definitions that bolster their arguments.

OSHA's "emergency temporary standard" (ETS) decrees that companies with 100 or more employees must require them to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or wear face masks and undergo weekly testing. Last Saturday, responding to a lawsuit filed by a Louisiana supermarket chain and six employees of a Texas company that makes kitchen ventilation systems, the 5th Circuit imposed a temporary stay on the ETS, which it said raises "grave statutory and constitutional issues." The court asked the government to "respond to the petitioners' motion for a permanent injunction" and invited a reply from the petitioners. Both briefs in BST Holdings v. OSHA address an arcane question that is apt to come up repeatedly in challenges to the vaccine mandate: Is the COVID-19 virus an "agent"?

That matters because of the legal requirements for an ETS. OSHA has to identify a "grave danger" to employees "from exposure to substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful or from new hazards." It also has to show the emergency standard is "necessary to protect employees from such danger."

The plaintiffs in BST Holdings v. OSHA, who are represented by the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center and Louisiana's Pelican Institute for Public Policy, argue not only that the ETS is not "necessary" but also that the agency has failed to identify a "grave danger" of the sort Congress had in mind, because "COVID-19 is not a toxic substance or agent." They add that "OSHA cannot attempt to shoehorn this disease into the phrase 'new hazards.'" That phrase, they say, should be understood in context to exclude airborne viruses: "Because Congress expressly allowed for an ETS to be issued for 'substances or agents determined to be toxic or physically harmful,' the catch-all phrase to encompass other hazards must be read in light of, and limited to, items similar to those that come before it."

Nonsense, the government's lawyers say: "The COVID-19 virus is both a physically
harmful agent and a new hazard. It readily fits the definition of an 'agent,' which is 'a chemically, physically, or biologically active principle.'" That's a quote from Merriam-Webster's definition of agent. The government's brief also cites Merriam-Webster's definition of virus as an "infectious agent," and it notes that OSHA has defined "toxic substance or harmful physical agent" to include "biological agent[s](bacteria, virus, fungus, etc.)."

Not so fast, the plaintiffs say in their reply brief:

Respondents rely on definition 2b from Merriam-Webster, which defines "agent" as "a chemically, physically, or biologically active principle." But Merriam-Webster defines "principle" as "an ingredient (such as a chemical) that exhibits or imparts a characteristic quality." And an "ingredient" is "something that enters into a compound or is a component part of any combination or mixture." It is, thus, not a virus.

According to the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary, an "agent" is "a chemical or a substance that produces an effect or a change or is used for a particular purpose." Thus, in the context of the Act, "agent" means a substance that is "used for a particular purpose" in the workplace. The statute was meant to protect workers from the substances with which they are working; it does not allow [OSHA] to mandate a vaccine on 84 million American workers.

That understanding of agent reinforces the plaintiffs' more general argument that OSHA has strayed beyond its mission to protect employees from workplace hazards because its ETS "is not related to the workplace." By that they mean that the danger posed by COVID-19 is not especially acute in the workplace, since the risk exists in every setting where people encounter potential carriers. "OSHA is limited to regulating a 'grave danger' that is more likely to occur in the workplace," they say. "In other instances [cited by the government], employees faced an enhanced risk from the 'grave danger' at the workplace."

The brief mentions OSHA's standard addressing bloodborne pathogens, which aims to protect "workers whose duties involve exposure to blood or other potentially infectious materials." That example reinforces the argument that OSHA is supposed to deal with workplace-specific hazards, which do not include the population-wide threat posed by a contagious disease like COVID-19. As OSHA itself noted in the preamble to its ETS, "COVID-19 is not a uniquely work-related hazard."

At the same time, the bloodborne pathogens standard seems to contradict the plaintiffs' preferred definition of agent, since in that case OSHA treated infectious microorganisms as "harmful physical agents." The government cites that precedent in its brief.

Notably, the bloodborne pathogens standard required that employers offer workers free vaccination against hepatitis B, but it did not mandate vaccination. Neither did the COVID-19 ETS for the health care industry that OSHA published in June.

The plaintiffs argue that the ETS for private employers is "novel" in four ways: "it does not address a toxic substance or agent," "it is not related to the workplace," "it mandates a vaccine for the first time," and "it attempts to protect employees from themselves." That last point is debatable, since OSHA has long required safeguards, such as "personal protective equipment," that are at least partly aimed at preventing workers from accidentally injuring themselves. But the plaintiffs argue that the paternalism embodied in the vaccine mandate breaks new ground because it does not address a workplace-specific hazard.

"The purpose of the [Occupational Safety and Health Act] is to provide workers 'safe and healthful working conditions,'" the brief says. "Yet the ETS attributes the 'grave danger' for workers not to their working conditions but to their own 'lack of vaccination.' This is not a working condition but a private healthcare decision. Protecting employees from themselves, untethered from the workplace, far exceeds the purposes of the Act. Respondents can point to no other precedent for this extreme paternalism."

Although the Occupational Safety and Health Act "is not a catchall to be leveraged when Congress has not otherwise authorized federal action," the plaintiffs say, "that is precisely how it is being used here." The White House presented the ETS as part of a broader effort to boost the nationwide vaccination rate. The aim, it said, is to "reduce the number of unvaccinated Americans by using regulatory powers and other actions to substantially increase the number of Americans covered by vaccination requirements."

But the federal government has no general authority to protect public health, control communicable diseases, or require vaccination, all of which are primarily state responsibilities. That is why the administration decided to couch the vaccine mandate as a workplace safety measure. We'll see whether the courts think that description fits.

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Top Ways To Save Money On Professional Translation - State-Journal.com - Translation

Quality translations are sometimes considered to be prohibitively expensive, however, this is not always the case. It's impossible to say if a translation is pricey or not. Understanding the translation process is the most effective approach to reduce the cost of translation services. This post will provide you with useful suggestions and background information to help you save money on your next translation assignment while keeping good quality.

Knowing how much translators charge for their services is essential

You'll have the resources you need to decrease expenses if you understand the way translators calculate their prices. Every translation case is unique, but I'd be hesitant to choose a business that requests you to send a file and then charges you a fixed rate without ever checking it. The most common way to price a translation is by the word, even though many translators choose to charge by the hour or by the page. Ask yourself “Which of these solutions is the most cost-effective for me?” A professional who bills hourly isn't automatically more costly, but being billed by the word in the original text is the easiest method to check what you'll be spending. A translation quotation is influenced by a number of elements, including the specific topic as well as the file type.

Prepare before handing the documents to the translator

Once you've opted to have your text professionally translated, make sure your assignment is well-structured, and you know exactly what you're looking for. Consider inquiries such as who seems to be your primary target group, how much you are prepared to pay, and the time frame or how fast you would require the translation. Keep in mind that translating requires some time; on average, the translator may convert about 20 pages on a daily basis. You really shouldn't put it off until the last moment, otherwise, you'll wind up paying an extra for a rush translation copy.

Use online tools to your advantage

Computer-assisted translation (CAT) methods are used by the majority of online professional translation services to assure accuracy and reliability while also lowering prices. Translation storage is used by a CAT program, which saves your translation documents in a repository and allows you to retrieve them when you want to save time for future projects. For major assignments where you must save time and cost while preserving a high standard of quality, using these technologies is critical.

Reference materials should be provided

Once you've had any content translated and are happy with the outcome, remember to give the person in charge of your translation all the sources and reference materials ahead of time. This is particularly important for specialized translations or businesses that require specific knowledge. If your translation company is aware that they'll be working with this content, the costs can be reduced, and the final papers will be compatible with your prior translation copies.

Take into account the document format

When sending a text for translation, keep in mind how much time the translation company is going to need to prepare the material. Would that be a simple Word document, a PowerPoint presentation with a lot of formatting, or an InDesign file? If your organization has someone in charge of digital design, keep in mind to let the translation company know that you'll handle the document structure and format. It might sometimes take quite a long time to convert PDFs to Word documents. Keep in mind that the less complicated the format, the less you'll have to spend.

Conclusion

To conclude, do not just consider pricing when selecting a translation firm or freelancer. To make an informed selection, get as much information as possible from the translation service provider. Using Google Translate or translators that charge outrageously low prices will have a detrimental influence on your business; cost-cutting techniques should never divert your attention away from quality. Also, based on the quantity, various translation firms provide reduced rates. If you'll require translation services regularly, let the translation firm know, so they can provide you with a quote.

Eric Wyatt is a professional freelance writer and translator. He enjoys reading foreign literature and traveling to exotic destinations. When he is not working he likes to go surfing. 

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Anterior translation may have a negative impact on proximal humerus fracture union - Healio - Translation