NiuTrans Adds 84 Languages to Translation Database in Support of China's Belt and Road - Pandaily - Translation

According to statistics compiled by German linguists in 1979, there are 5,651 identified languages in the world, and, according to the French Academy of Sciences, 2,796 of these use written script. NiuTrans, a machine translation system that supports most major languages in the world, has recently added 84 new languages to its database, bringing the total to 388.

The newly launched languages in NiuTrans cover 50 countries and regions across six continents, including 49 languages from Africa, 14 from Asia, eight each from North America and Oceania, four from South America and one from Europe.

With the implementation of the Chinese government’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy, the country is expanding its cooperation with other countries in the world, especially those in Africa, Latin America and the Indo-Pacific region. According to data by China’s General Administration of Customs in 2021, the total trade volume between China and Africa exceeded $250 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35.3%, while that between China and Latin America exceeded $450 billion, up 14.4% year-on-year.

While many people use English, French, Spanish and Portuguese as official languages, they may speak other dialects for daily communication. For example, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has a population of nearly 90 million, of which more than 10 million use Swahili in Katanga and Orientale. It’s more convenient for Chinese enterprises to use local languages to start business there.

In fact, a considerable number of Chinese enterprises in Africa have launched local language training programs. However, there are many local ethnic groups. For example, there are more than 250 local languages in Congo, while there are more than 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria, such as Hausa–Fulani, Igbo and Yoruba. Facing actual needs, NiuTrans included these minority languages one by one, making cross-language communication smoother.

Among the 84 languages introduced by NiuTrans this time, there are 45 Niger-Congo languages, involving 16 countries including Congo, Ghana and Cameroon in Africa, 19 Austronesian languages involving six countries including Tuvalu and Solomon Islands in Oceania, 21 Mayan and Arawak languages, involving 14 countries and regions such as Indonesia, Suriname and Chile. The new languages in NiuTrans are expected to cover more than 120 million native speakers.

SEE ALSO: Chinese Online Literature Steps Into Overseas Market With AI Translation

Du Quan, CTO of NiuTrans, commented, “We hope that NiuTrans can support all languages in the world and use its own machine technology to help all people in the world communicate equally across language barriers. The newly added languages this time are all with scarce resources used in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We will further develop better machine translation technology, supplement the corpus of these languages, and achieve more accurate translation.”

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New Gender and Sexuality Terms Added to the Dictionary in 2022 - Insider - Dictionary

• In 2022, Dictionary.com and the Oxford English Dictionary added 23 words to describe gender and sexuality concepts.
• New gender-related words include "enby," "nounself pronoun," and "pangender."
• New sex and sexuality words include "throuple," "sixty nine," and "simp."

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As people's understandings of gender and sexuality shift, whether due to cultural changes or scientific findings, so do the words we use to describe them.

Language is a major factor in how to shape our identities and view ourselves, and using words that people relate to can break down taboos and allow them to feel understood.

This year, Dictionary.com and Oxford English Dictionary added new gender and sexuality words and phrases to their pages, giving readers more options to describe who they are, what they desire, and how they show up in the world.

Words that are already popular slang, like "simp," made the cut, as did the verb form of "sixty nine."

Oxford English Dictionary additions include 'TERF,' 'stealthing,' and 'sixty nine'

• Anti-gay (adjective): Opposed or hostile to homosexual people (sometimes specifically gay men) or homosexuality
• Condomize (verb): To put on a condom; to use a condom during sexual intercourse, either as a contraceptive or to protect against infections
• Demisexual (adjective, noun): Involving ambiguous or amorphous sexual characteristics or activity
• Enby (adjective, noun): A person who has a non-binary gender identity; non-binary
• Hypersexualize (verb): To make (a person or thing) pervasively, excessively, or inappropriately sexual; to imbue or permeate with intense sexual or erotic
• Multisexual (adjective): Characterized by sexual or romantic attraction to, or sexual activity with, people of different sexes or gender identities
• Pangender (adjective): Designating a non-binary person whose gender identity encompasses multiple genders, which may be experienced simultaneously or in a fluid way
• Sixty nine (verb): To engage with a partner in simultaneous mutual oral stimulation of the genitals for sexual pleasure; to participate in a sixty-nine"
• Stealthing (noun): The action or practice of removing one's condom during sex (or occasionally of intentionally damaging it prior to sex) without the knowledge and consent of a partner
• TERF (noun): Transgender-exclusionary radical feminist; typically derogatory term for a feminist whose advocacy of women's rights excludes (or is thought to exclude) the rights of transgender women

Dictionary.com added 'simp,' 'aromantic,' and 'throuple'

• Aromantic (adjective): Noting or relating to a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to other people
• Bachelorx party (noun): An inclusive pre-wedding party, often on the night before or in the days leading up to the wedding, and ranging from a night of drinking to a destination vacation (used in contrast to bachelor party and bachelorette party, and intended to be welcoming for wedding participants and guests of any gender)
• Demisexual (adjective): Noting or relating to a person who is sexually attracted only to people with whom they already have an emotional bond
• Feminine of center (adjective): Noting or relating to a person, especially an LGBTQ+ person, who is more feminine than masculine on a spectrum of gender expression
• Hegemonic masculinity (noun): A socially constructed masculine ideal, defined chiefly in contrast to or as the opposite of femininity, and held up as the most prestigious form of manliness in a heteropatriarchy
• Heteropatriarchy (noun): A hierarchical society or culture dominated by heterosexual males whose characteristic bias is unfavorable to gay people and females in general
• Masculine of center (adjective): Noting or relating to a person, especially an LGBTQ+ person, who is more masculine than feminine on a spectrum of gender expression
• Neopronoun (noun): A type of gender-neutral pronoun, coined after 1800, and used especially by nonbinary and genderqueer people, as in English ze/hir/hirs,e/em/eirs, or xe/xem/xyrs
• Nounself pronoun (noun): A type of invented gender-neutral pronoun used by some nonbinary and genderqueer people in place of gendered pronouns such as he/himself or she/herself to express a spiritual or personal connection to a specific concept: the nounself pronoun is derived from a word, usually a noun, that is linked to that concept, such as the use of star/starself by people who feel a connection to celestial objects or bun/bunself, derived from bunny, by people who feel a connection to rabbits
• Simp (noun, verb): A person, especially a man, who is excessively attentive or submissive to an object of sexual attraction; To be excessively attentive or submissive, especially to an object of sexual attraction
• Sologamy (noun): The practice or state of marriage to one's self
• Throuple (noun): Three people who are engaged or 
 married to one another, or involved 
 as romantic partners
• Unlabeled (adjective): Noting or relating to a person who does not name their gender or sexuality

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Elks Lodge keeps word on dictionary donations: Three Milford schools get gift for years to come - Bay to Bay News - Dictionary

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Elks Lodge keeps word on dictionary donations: Three Milford schools get gift for years to come  Bay to Bay News

Google Translate used to talk to Ukrainian refugees - North Tyneside Council - BBC - Translation

Google

A council resorted to using Google Translate to communicate with Ukrainian refugees due to not enough interpreting services being available.

North Tyneside Council said it had a peak of Ukrainians fleeing Russian attacks arriving in April and May.

While the authority had access to translation services, council officers said the facilities "were just not enough" to cope with the high demand.

Officers added they were using everything they could to provide help.

There are 258 Ukrainian refugees living in North Tyneside, with a further 37 expected to arrive in the next weeks, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Ian Rice, the authority's welfare and tenancy support manager, said: "We do throughout the authority have access to interpreters and translation services.

What we very quickly found was that whilst we do have access to those facilities, the numbers, particularly in April and May time, were just not enough.

"So, we used Google Translate."

• Ukrainian refugee fleeing war feels 'at home' in UK
• Refugees left homeless after 'host demanded money'
• 'We need to do this' say refugees on Kyiv visit

Council staff also used a translating service on Microsoft Word to email and correspond with Ukrainian guests, which officers acknowledged "might not always be perfect".

However, officers claimed no guests had yet complained and added it had helped open up dialogue.

The officers added that professional translation services were sought for more complex circumstances.

In addition, several refugees had also stepped forward to help officers as interpreters.

"We have had a couple of our Ukrainian guests help us out and volunteer to translate and a number of our guests who are school teachers have helped," Mr Rice continued.

"We are using everything we possibly can to help and support them and quite a number of them speak quite good English," Mr Rice said.

He added that the government and the Red Cross had also provided translation materials in Russian and Ukrainian.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.

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Quality Matters Most: Belgian Associations Publish Guide to Buying Translation Services - Slator - Translation

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Quality Matters Most: Belgian Associations Publish Guide to Buying Translation Services  Slator

SCRABBLE Dictionary Adds 500 New Words, Including Embiggen and Jedi - Nerdist - Dictionary

Nov 22 2022 • 12:58 PM

Looking forward to infuriating your relatives over the holiday? Sure, there are the tried and true ways, but brushing up on the 500 newly-accepted Scrabble words is more fun—and educational. Enjoy the double benefit of annoying everyone you play while also expanding your vocabulary. The newest edition of The Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary includes words that will boggle your opponents like bae, horchata, and deepfake. Or really start some family arguments with the big ticket letters in queso, juicery, zeedonk, and fauxhawk. Embiggen is also among the new words. Created in an episode of The Simpsons, it of course enjoyed a resurgence as Ms. Marvel’s catchphrase in this year’s Disney+ show.

The official dictionary is a partnership with Merriam-Webster, which updates their own dictionary every year. The Scrabble dictionary team hadn’t put together a refresher since 2018, leading to this huge list of new words. Everything from adulting to zonkey makes the grade, but they didn’t release a full list. This leaves it up to curious players to mine the new edition for ways to take down their opponents.

Thankfully, AP News did some of that research and reported dozens of the new words. Food and drink slang like guac and marg are on the list. As are Jedi and spork, which we can’t believe the official dictionary hadn’t already approved. Multiple words are now verbs, including verb itself. That means the -ing and -ed versions of at, torrent, vibe, and ixnay are fair game.

Marvel Studios

Scrabble players will have a quick learning curve and need to change with the linguistic times. And if you play other versions, like against a robotic opponent or as part of a digital board game table, you’ll need to update those dictionaries as well to unlock the 500 new words.

Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.

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Public asked to vote for Oxford Dictionary word of the year for 2022 - Yahoo News - Dictionary

What’s one word or phrase that sums up 2022 for you?

If it happens to be “goblin mode”, “metaverse”, or “#IStandWith”, then you can pick your favourite for Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year.

It’s the first time Oxford Languages has opened up its annual word of the year listing to a public vote, attributing the decision to people around the world being “the true arbiters of language”.

Voting for the Oxford word of the year 2022 is now open, with the team of expert lexicographers narrowing it down to the three words they felt most represented this year.

“2022 has been a year defined by opening back up. However, although we have finally been able to physically reunite and come together again, our world somehow feels more divided than ever,” Oxford Languages said in a statement.

“In recognition of this shift, we wanted to open up the final step of our word of the year selection process to the true arbiters of language: people around the world. How we communicate and develop the English language affects Oxford’s selection every year, but for the first time in its history, the 2022 Word of the Year will be chosen by the public.”

For “metaverse”, the lexicographers said: “We see the conceptual future brought into the vernacular in 2022. From hybrid working in VR, to debates over the ethics and feasibility of an entirely online future, usage of this word has quadrupled in October 2022 compared to the same period last year.”

They added that “#IStandWith” recognises the “activism and division” that has characterised 2022. “From war in Ukraine, to the Depp v Heard lawsuit, this ‘word’ coined on social media to align your views to a cause or person can often further foster dispute (and sometimes even hate speech) in its polarizing nature,” they continued.

As for “goblin mode”, this term spiked earlier this year as the idea of rejecting societal expectations put upon us, in favour of doing whatever one wants to do. While it originated in 2009/10, the dictionary credited Julia Fox with bringing it into the mainstream.

There have been over 30,000 votes at the time of writing, and voting will close at 00.01am on Friday 2 December.

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