Machine Translation Market revenue to cross USD 5 Billion by 2035, says Research Nester - Yahoo Finance - Translation

Research Nester

Major machine translation market players include AppTek, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, Cloudwords Inc., Google LLC, IBM Corporation, Lionbridge Technologies, LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Smart Communications, Inc., and Lilt, Inc.

New York, Aug. 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global machine translation market size is projected to expand at ~20% CAGR between 2023 and 2035. The market is expected to garner a revenue of USD 5 billion by the end of 2035, up from a revenue of ~USD 400 million in the year 2022.The market growth is due to the increasing use of e-commerce platforms for shopping. In the world of increasing digitization, the need for e-commerce is also gaining momentum. People from different parts of the world use the services, which makes the need for machine translation even more important. Same-day grocery delivery and options could fuel South Korea's e-commerce growth rate of around 45% over the next five years.

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Additionally, e-commerce in the United States could grow from about 23% of sales to almost 31% by 2026.Apart from that, it is believed that among the factors driving the growth of the machine translation market is also the increasing number of languages ​​that companies are using to expand their business. For its Canadian viewers, Netflix launched French and Indonesian on its international website in 2018. Overall, Netflix has increased its linguistic diversity from around 17 to 26 languages ​​over the past two years. Additionally, in the same year, Uber added seven more languages ​​to its apps and websites. Also, it has launched an Uber mini app for Indian users. Additionally, Ford's website is multilingual in around 42 languages, while Jack Daniel's is fluent in almost 23 languages.

Machine Translation Market: Key Takeaways

• Market in North America to propel highest growth

• The military & defense segment to garner the highest growth

• Market in Europe to grow at a highest rate

Increasing Demand for Multilingual Communication across the Globe to Boost Market Growth

Successful multilingual businesses have a more resourceful environment that helps them compete globally, while English-only businesses risk falling behind. About 90% of American employers rely heavily on employees who speak languages ​​other than English to conduct business without communication barriers.

Additionally, nearly 56% of companies believe that the need for a bilingual workforce will increase over the next five years. Mobile translation encompasses both the use of a mobile platform for human translation and mobile applications that increasingly use machine translation technology to translate words and phrases from your smartphone. China, India and the US are the three countries with the highest smartphone usage. There are currently almost 6 billion smartphone users worldwide and the number is expected to grow to around 700 million. NLP guarantees smoother, faster and safer language translation. Over the next 12-18 months, over 75% of UK businesses with active Natural Language Processing (NLP) initiatives plan to increase spending. Ecommerce platforms use machine translation to localize the business. Since customers prefer to read product information in their own language, a localized e-commerce platform also inspires trust and brand loyalty while helping to increase sales.

Machine Translation Market: Regional Overview

The market is segmented into five major regions including North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa region.

Advancements in Natural Language Processing to Drive the Market Growth in North America Region

The machine translation market in North America region is estimated to garner the largest revenue by the end of 2035. Globalization has led to an exponential increase in cross-border communication and business interactions. Machine translation plays a crucial role in bridging language barriers and facilitating multilingual communication. According to a report, the global language services sales, which includes machine translation, was valued at USD 24.6 billion in 2020, with North America being one of the major contributors.

Natural Language Processing techniques, a key component of machine translation, have seen significant advancements. NLP enables machines to understand and process human language, leading to improved translation accuracy and fluency. The continuous advancements in NLP algorithms and models contribute to the growth of the machine translation market. Machine translation solutions are increasingly being integrated into various business workflows and applications. For example, they are integrated into customer support systems, content management systems, e-commerce platforms, and collaboration tools to enable real-time translation and multilingual support. The integration of machine translation enhances operational efficiency and enables businesses to reach a global audience. With the proliferation of digital content across websites, e-commerce platforms, social media, and digital media, the demand for translation services has surged. Machine translation provides a scalable solution to meet the growing volume of digital content that needs to be translated.

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Growing government efforts to Propel the Growth in the Europe Region

The Europe machine translation market is estimated to garner the highest CAGR by the end of 2035. The growth of the market is largely attributed to the increasing government efforts to push technology adoption for multilingualism. The EU promotes the research, development and application of language technologies to break down language barriers while preserving and promoting multilingualism.

According to the European Commission, there are two active programs to eliminate the language barrier in Europe. For example, the European program Horizon promotes research and innovation through cross-industry support for language technology. In addition, the Digital Europe program promotes the use of language technology in the public and business sectors in Europe.

Machine Translation, Segmentation by End User

• Military & Defense

• Automotive

• E-Commerce

• IT

• Healthcare

Amongst these five segments, the military & defense segment in machine translation market is anticipated to hold the largest share over the forecast period. Governments around the world allocate significant budgets for defense purposes to enhance their military capabilities. According to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute), global military expenditure reached USD 1.92 trillion in 2020. This increasing defense expenditure drives the growth of the military and defense segment, as it provides funding for equipment, technologies, and infrastructure development.

Heightened geopolitical tensions and security threats drive the demand for advanced military and defense systems. Countries face various challenges, including terrorism, regional conflicts, and territorial disputes, which necessitate the development and procurement of advanced defense solutions. These security concerns contribute to the growth of the military and defense segment. Military forces worldwide strive to modernize their capabilities by adopting advanced technologies. This includes the integration of technologies like artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, cybersecurity solutions, and advanced communication systems. The need to maintain a technological edge and enhance operational efficiency drives the growth of the military and defense segment.

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Machine Translation, Segmentation by Deployment

• On-Premise

• Cloud

Amongst these segments, the cloud segment is anticipated to hold a significant share over the forecast period. Organizations are increasingly adopting hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, combining public cloud services with on-premises infrastructure and multiple cloud providers. This approach allows organizations to leverage the best features of different cloud environments and avoid vendor lock-in. According to a Report, 92% of organizations have a multi-cloud strategy, and 80% have a hybrid cloud strategy. The proliferation of IoT devices generates vast amounts of data that require storage, processing, and analysis.

Cloud computing provides the necessary infrastructure to handle the scale and complexity of IoT data. The growing volume of data and the need for advanced analytics are driving the demand for cloud-based storage and processing capabilities. Cloud platforms provide scalable and cost-effective infrastructure for storing and analyzing large amounts of data. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of remote work and highlighted the importance of cloud-based collaboration tools and platforms. Organizations are increasingly relying on cloud-based solutions for remote access to data, applications, and collaboration tools.

Machine Translation, Segmentation by Technology

• Statistical Machine Translation

• Neural Machine Translation

• Rule-Based Machine Translation

Few of the well-known market leaders in the machine translation market that are profiled by Research Nester are AppTek, Amazon Web Services, Inc., Alibaba Cloud, Baidu, Cloudwords Inc., Google LLC, IBM Corporation, Lionbridge Technologies, LLC, Microsoft Corporation, Smart Communications, Inc., Lilt, Inc., and other key market players.

Recent Development in the Market

• AAppTek announces the release of a new neural machine translation system that uses metadata as input to modify output and gives localization specialists access to more accurate, user-influenced machine translations. Apptek has also added hundreds of language and dialect pairs to its core machine translation platform.

• Lilt, Inc. has partnered with Foresite Technology Solutions to bring multilingual content to the Foresite platform, increasing the productivity and skills of construction workers. In addition, Foresite aims to reduce communication-related safety concerns for construction workers.

About Research Nester

Research Nester is a one-stop service provider with a client base in more than 50 countries, leading in strategic market research and consulting with an unbiased and unparalleled approach towards helping global industrial players, conglomerates and executives for their future investment while avoiding forthcoming uncertainties. With an out-of-the-box mindset to produce statistical and analytical market research reports, we provide strategic consulting so that our clients can make wise business decisions with clarity while strategizing and planning for their forthcoming needs and succeed in achieving their future endeavors. We believe every business can expand to its new horizon, provided a right guidance at a right time is available through strategic minds.

CONTACT: AJ Daniel Corporate Sales, USA Research Nester Email: info@researchnester.com USA Phone: +1 646 586 9123 Europe Phone: +44 203 608 5919

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Less lost in translation: Foreigners get high-tech help in Tokyo's baffling Shinjuku rail hub - Yahoo Finance - Translation

By Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift

TOKYO (Reuters) - As Japan enjoys a post-pandemic resurgence in tourism from around the globe, Seibu Railway is testing out an automated translation window to help confused foreigners navigate one of Tokyo's most complex transportation hubs.

The device, developed by printing company Toppan and called VoiceBiz, lets customers speak to a station attendant over microphones while the semi-transparent screen between them spells out their words in Japanese and one of 11 other languages.

More than 2 million visitors arrived in Japan last month, the most since the pandemic kicked off in 2019, and travellers from the United States and Europe exceeded pre-outbreak levels as the weak yen makes the trip the cheapest in decades.

Kevin Khani was among foreign travellers who got turned around in the Seibu-Shinjuku station recently and found the VoiceBiz window helpful.

"The translations were spot on," said the 30-year-old German, who works at Alibaba. "It might sound a bit weird, but you feel safe immediately because you know there's a human on the other side. So you take your time to explain what you need and you will know that they will understand what you need."

Seibu Railway, a unit of the Seibu Holdings conglomerate, installed the translation window this month at its Seibu-Shinjuku station, the terminus of one of its central Tokyo lines, for a three-month trial before considering a wider rollout.

About 135,000 passengers pass through the station daily, including many foreigners shuttling between tourist hot spots, such as Tokyo's new Harry Potter theme park.

"Our goal in introducing this was to improve the smoothness of communication by letting people look at each other's face," said Ayano Yajima, a sales and marketing supervisor at Seibu Railway.

The device was also tested out at Kansai International Airport earlier this year, and Toppan has aims to sell it to businesses and government offices in Japan to contend with both foreign travellers and an ever-growing number of immigrants.

With its many rail lines - some connected, some not - and gigantic bus station, Shinjuku district is the ultimate testing ground for way-finding tech.

Across the road from the Seibu station is Shinjuku's central Japan Railway (JR) station, which is the busiest in the world, with some 3.6 million people passing through daily. A rabbit warren of tunnels connects the JR station to multiple train and subway lines run by other companies.

Weary from a 1 a.m. flight arrival, French tourists Isabelle and Marc Rigaud used the translation window to try to find their way from the Seibu station to the JR station. They still needed a help from a bystander to get there.

"It's very Japan," Isabelle, 47, said.

(Reporting by Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Less lost in translation: Foreigners get high-tech help in Tokyo's baffling Shinjuku rail hub - Reuters - Translation

TOKYO, July 31 (Reuters) - As Japan enjoys a post-pandemic resurgence in tourism from around the globe, Seibu Railway is testing out an automated translation window to help confused foreigners navigate one of Tokyo's most complex transportation hubs.

The device, developed by printing company Toppan (7911.T) and called VoiceBiz, lets customers speak to a station attendant over microphones while the semi-transparent screen between them spells out their words in Japanese and one of 11 other languages.

More than 2 million visitors arrived in Japan last month, the most since the pandemic kicked off in 2019, and travellers from the United States and Europe exceeded pre-outbreak levels as the weak yen makes the trip the cheapest in decades.

Kevin Khani was among foreign travellers who got turned around in the Seibu-Shinjuku station recently and found the VoiceBiz window helpful.

"The translations were spot on," said the 30-year-old German, who works at Alibaba. "It might sound a bit weird, but you feel safe immediately because you know there's a human on the other side. So you take your time to explain what you need and you will know that they will understand what you need."

Seibu Railway, a unit of the Seibu Holdings (9024.T) conglomerate, installed the translation window this month at its Seibu-Shinjuku station, the terminus of one of its central Tokyo lines, for a three-month trial before considering a wider rollout.

About 135,000 passengers pass through the station daily, including many foreigners shuttling between tourist hot spots, such as Tokyo's new Harry Potter theme park.

"Our goal in introducing this was to improve the smoothness of communication by letting people look at each other's face," said Ayano Yajima, a sales and marketing supervisor at Seibu Railway.

The device was also tested out at Kansai International Airport earlier this year, and Toppan has aims to sell it to businesses and government offices in Japan to contend with both foreign travellers and an ever-growing number of immigrants.

With its many rail lines - some connected, some not - and gigantic bus station, Shinjuku district is the ultimate testing ground for way-finding tech.

Across the road from the Seibu station is Shinjuku's central Japan Railway (JR) station, which is the busiest in the world, with some 3.6 million people passing through daily. A rabbit warren of tunnels connects the JR station to multiple train and subway lines run by other companies.

Weary from a 1 a.m. flight arrival, French tourists Isabelle and Marc Rigaud used the translation window to try to find their way from the Seibu station to the JR station. They still needed a help from a bystander to get there.

"It's very Japan," Isabelle, 47, said.

Reporting by Tom Bateman and Rocky Swift in Tokyo; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Rocky Swift

Thomson Reuters

Reports mainly on pharma, retail and breaking news in Japan. Previously worked at U.S. Department of State and Bloomberg News before that. New College of Florida and University of Hawaii alum. Former Poynter and JAIMS fellow.

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Unauthorised translation and piracy of foreign books thrive in Nepal - The Kathmandu Post - Translation

Nepal’s book market is no stranger to the popular Bangladeshi-Swedish writer Taslima Nasrin. Almost all of her books have been translated into Nepali, but Nasrin herself says that they are all unauthorised translations. “All books [Nepali translations] are pirated versions,” Nasrin told the Post in a Whatsapp conversation. Nasrin, who is currently in exile in India after facing death threats in Bangladesh following the publication of her novel Lajja (Shame), said that she or her publishers have never allowed anyone the right to translate her books into Nepali. “I don’t know of any such Nepali publishers. No one asked for permission and no one has paid [me] royalty.”

Translating and publishing books without permission from authors or publishers is a punishable crime. But Nepal’s book market is full of such unauthorised translations and prints of books written by the who’s who of the world literature.

Such endeavours haven’t just hurt the authors but also the readers, says Ajit Baral, publisher of the Kathmandu-based Fineprint publication. “These translations are poor,” Baral says. “Tomes with 1200–1300 pages have been trimmed to 200–300 pages. An example is the biography of Bill Clinton.”

Another popular book that has seen unauthorised Nepali translation is the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson.

“We have no official deal in place for a [Nepali] translation of Steve Jobs,” Peppa Mignone, associate agent of the CAA, the translation authority of the biography, said in an email interview with the Post.

The book’s Nepali translation is published by Panchpokhari Publication House. The translated book identifies the translator thus: “Achyut Koirala, who has a master’s in English literature, is primarily a journalist. He is currently affiliated with Nagarik daily. He keeps a close tab on international history, politics and culture and has written scripts and dialogues for half a dozen Nepali films. He has published over a dozen non-fiction books.”

Koirala, who admits to the unauthorised translation, claims that he hasn’t just translated the book but has also done ‘creative writing’ with it.

‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter, is among the books that’s perennially on the bestseller list across the world. Upon investigation, the Post found three Nepali translations of the book—all unauthorised. One of them is translated by Dilip Kumar Shrestha and published by the same firm, the Panchpokhari Publication House. Another Nepali iteration of the book is published by Book For All publication and translated by Kopila MD. Yet another Nepali version is translated by one Sudheer Dixit and published by Plata Publication, Kathmandu.

In an email conversation with the Post, Ronson Taylor, who oversees the international rights at The Rich Dad Company, said, “At this point in time, we do not have a relationship with an established publisher in the [Nepali] language market. If there are any Rich Dad Poor Dad books currently for sale in the Nepali market, they are pirated.”

Basanta Thapa, a writer and translator, says that many books are being translated of late to make easy money. “But how would the quality of these unauthorised translations be!” Thapa wonders. “Readers who haven’t read the original wouldn’t know the faults in the translated versions.” Thapa says that any translator worth his salt aims to ‘recreate’ a book and it takes much work to do that.

Taslima’s books are the major victims

Taslima’s memoir Uttal Hawa has been translated into Nepali as ‘Sangharsha’, literally Struggle, and is published by Khoji Publication House. Even though the book in its cover claims that it is an authorised translation from the English version Wild Wind, it is a pirated one. The book is translated by Bikash Basnet and edited by Bhogiraj Chamling. A revised version of the book is edited by Sangeet Srota (Yam Bahadur Chhetri).

The same publication house has also published the Nepali translation of the book’s sequel as ‘Prem ra Jeevan’. Publisher Sushil Chalise says that while he is aware that one needs to receive permission from the author or the publisher to translate a book, his efforts to contact Taslima were unsuccessful. Therefore, he had published the version the translator made available to him. Translator Basnet, too, admits he translated the book without Taslima’s permission. “About a decade back, we didn’t know how to ask for permission,” he said.

Nepal has the Copyright Act (2002) in place. Before it, there was the The Patent, Design and Trade Mark Act, 2022 (1965) that included intellectual property in its 2006 revision. Even the Muluki Ain (Civil Code) of 1910 BS had a provision about copyright. Moreover, it goes without saying that translating somebody else’s work without permission is immoral.

Likewise, Indigo Ink Pvt Ltd has published a Nepali translation of Taslima’s anthology of essays No Country for Women as ‘Aaimai ko Kunai Desh Chhaina’. The book is translated by Krishna Giri and edited by Pramod Pradhan. “I have no idea about the agreement between the publisher and translator,” Pradhan, who is also a children’s book writer, says. “I just copy-edited it upon request.”

Bishnukumar Poudel, publisher of Indigo Ink, however, claims that he is still trying to take translation rights for the book. “We translated the book long ago,” he says. “We are still trying to get translation rights.”

Indigo is also publishing unauthorised translations under its imprints All Book Store Pvt Ltd, Book for All and Plata Publication. It has published two versions of Rich Dad Poor Dad under those shadow imprints. But Plata Publication is not registered in the Company Registrar’s Office.

Pradhan says that many foreign books have had unauthorised translations in Nepali and their quality is poor. Those books are translated not from the original language but from a second or third language, so these translations are bound to have problems, he says. “After I learned that those were unauthorised translations, I have stopped editing them,” Pradhan said.

Indian author Shiv Khera’s You Can Win has been translated into Nepali by Bloomsbury India and has granted the distribution rights to Ekta Books. But the book’s unauthorised translations are also found in the market and they don’t even mention the name of the publisher and translator. What is interesting is they mention that it’d be illegal to republish the book, or an excerpt of it, without the author’s permission.

The Nepali translation of the book, which was poorly written and rife with inaccuracies, had landed the publisher at court. After a complaint was filed at the District Court Kathmandu in 2066BS on the charge that the publisher violated the copyrights and economic rights, the court had issued a verdict on Mangsir 11 that year, charging a fine of Rs10,000, Rs20,000 and Rs30,000 to the defendants Netra Prasad Pokharel, Narayan Prasad Bhusal, and Bhagwati Risal and Bishnu Silwal, respectively.

Baral, the Fineprint publisher, says that international publishers wouldn’t demand much for translation rights given Nepal’s small market, but Nepali publishers do not bother to reach out to them. “Publishers who put out unauthorised translations and sell them at 50 percent discount have troubled publishers like us,” he said.

Fineprint has published authorised translated versions of books such as Leaving Microsoft to Change the World by John Wood, Healed by Manisha Koirala, and Hippie by Paulo Coelho. The publication house is also set to release the Nepali translation of Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari’s bestseller Sapiens. Translated into Nepali by Dinesh Kafle, the book’s translation right was acquired at the cost of USD1300, Baral said. Likewise, the publication acquired the translation rights of Sadhguru’s Inner Engineering at IRS93,000, he added.

Baral says that publication of unauthorised translations is an immoral and illegal work. “This phenomenon not just hampers Nepal’s fledgling book publishing industry but also tarnishes the country’s reputation in the global market,” Baral said.

Thapa, the writer and translator, points out the lack of regulatory mechanisms in the country. “We don’t have an agency that regulates the quality of translations being done,” he says. “Nobody compares the translation with the original. We need a dedicated authority to enhance the quality of translation.” Universities, Nepal Academy and other stakeholders can play a role to uplift the translation sector, he adds.

One’s pain, another’s pleasure

When the author Suketu Mehta was travelling through Mumbai, a young man approached him with a handful of books while his vehicle was stuck in traffic. Brandishing Maximum City, written by none other than Mehta himself, the young man requested the author to buy a copy. Suketu leafed through the book and said, “This is a pirated copy and I’m the author of this book.” The youth wasn’t bothered and replied, “Okay, you can buy it at a discount.”

This anecdote was shared to the Post by Mehta’s friend, the author and professor Amitava Kumar, in an email exchange.

Most of these pirated books are imported into Nepal from India while the retailers of original books are finding themselves increasingly in trouble. “We sell original copies but many readers doubt us as well, given the ubiquity of pirated versions,” says Anjan Shrestha, operator of Education Book House, Jamal.

Ramchandra Timothy, chair of Thapathali-based Ekta Books Pvt Ltd, said that the phenomenon of piracy has tarnished Nepal’s image internationally. “There was a time when Bangladesh would be known as ‘piracy king’,” he said. “Now there's a risk Nepal would take the crown.”

As tax increases, so does piracy

The government decision to impose a 10 percent tax on book imports in fiscal year 2019-20 led to a proliferation of pirated book markets, booksellers say. After the decision, booksellers started to cut back on imports and that led to the entry of a new crop of pirated booksellers, a trader in Kathmandu says. But following widespread backlash, then finance minister Bishnu Paudel struck down the policy.

“After the government’s decision, we stopped importing books for a while,” says Shrestha of Education Books. “The import of books went down for about two years. Then the pirates stepped in to fill the gap. It was about that time that pirated copies of biographies and memoirs of Obamas and Jai Shettys became omnipresent in the market.”

Pirated copies of classics by Roald Dahl and JK Rowling also made an entry in the Nepali market. Then the phenomenon only saw a rise.

Since the customs department does not levy duty on foreign books and also does not care to differentiate between the pirated and original copies, unauthorised books have found a safe haven in Nepali market.

The government doesn’t levy any customs duty on books and newspapers published by foreign publishers abroad. The importers should only pay Rs565 at the customs points. But Nepali publishers have to pay 10 percent tax to import books printed in India.

James Taylor, director of Communications and Freedom to Publish of the International Publishers Association, says that the government, publishers, writers and readers should join hands to control widespread piracy. “The government should realise that book publishing and reading culture contribute to the country’s economy as well,” he said, adding that the government should seize pirated books and close websites that sell pirated ebooks.

Nandan Jha, executive vice chair of Penguin Random House India’s sales, production and business department, says that piracy has emerged as a big challenge for publishers of late and has harmed the authors, publishers, distributors, printers, readers and other stakeholders. “To confront piracy, all the stakeholders should launch a special joint effort,” Jha told the Post in an email exchange.

Piracy has proliferated in the Nepali market to such an extent that the publishers of such books and unauthorised translations keep whatever ISBN numbers they like, often conflicting with other books, and still get off scot free. If scanned or searched on the internet, the ISBN number gives details on the author of the book, what the book is about, and its price, among others.

Bijay Sharma, information officer at TU Library, says, “Keeping ISBN number at one’s will is illegal. If anyone files a complaint, we can punish them.”

By the law

The Muluki Ain-1910 BS had mandated that a publisher take permission of Gorkha Bhasa Prakashini Samiti before publishing any material. The Copyrights Act came into effect in 2022 BS and was amended in 2054 BS. In 2059 BS, a new Act was promulgated and it is still effective now. Authorities are currently working to amend the Act to give the registrar’s office more autonomy regarding copyright.

According to the 2059 BS Act, copyright violations are considered government cases. In such cases, plaintiffs should file a complaint with the police. The Act’s clause 25 has various conditions that amount to violation of copyright. The Act’s subclause A says that if a publisher produces or copies material in writing or sound and sells or distributes it, it amounts to violation of copyright.

Likewise, the Act’s clause 26 prevents selling of unauthorised material. The clause restricts the ‘importation of copies of work or sound recording, either made in a foreign country or sourced otherwise, into Nepal for business purpose shall not be permitted if preparation of such copies would be considered illegal if they were prepared in Nepal.’

If anyone infringes upon protected rights, they are liable to punishment but the provision’s implementation remains lax.

The law gives the authority to district court to take legal action against copyright violators.

Advocate Parshuram Koirala says that if the government becomes more proactive, it can punish violators on the basis of the 2059 BS Act and thereby control the phenomenon of intellectual theft and copyright violations. “Creation is a crucial part of humanity’s benefit,” he says. “If intellectual property is not protected effectively, then there’d be no inspiration to create something.”

Bal Bahadur Mukhiya, a professor at Nepal Law Campus, suggests the inclusion of rules about digital piracy in law, and also the clauses of various related international treaties and agreements that Nepal is part of.

“In the US, a teacher or professor should pay a certain revenue even to photocopy a chapter of some text for teaching purposes,” Mukhiya says. “But in Nepal, those who photocopy an entire book and sell it go scot free.”

(This report is prepared in collaboration with the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Nepal.)

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Historic Huguenot Street project interprets Dutch documents - Times Union - Translation

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Historic Huguenot Street project interprets Dutch documents  Times Union

Lost in translation: How New Zealand’s plan for bilingual road signs took an unexpected turn - CNN - Translation

CNN  — 

It was meant to be an inclusive gesture to New Zealand’s indigenous Maori community. But plans to introduce bilingual road signs featuring both the English and te reo Maori languages have sparked a divisive, racially charged debate ahead of the country’s looming general election.

New Zealand – or Aotearoa as it is known to the Maori – recently hosted a public consultation on whether to include te reo Maori on 94 types of road signs, including for place names, speed limits, warnings and expressway advisories.

The idea, according to the national Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (whose name means “traveling together as one”), is to promote “cultural understanding and social cohesion” with the Maori community, which makes up almost a fifth of New Zealand’s population of 5.15 million.

But the idea hasn’t gone down well with right-wing opposition parties, who have attacked the signs claiming they will jeopardize road safety. An extra language will mean less space for the English words, the theory goes, and smaller type will be harder for motorists to read.

“Signs need to be clear. We all speak English, and they should be in English,” the main opposition National Party’s spokesman Simeon Brown told reporters, insisting the signs could confuse people “traveling at speed.”

That claim prompted criticism from the ruling Labour Party government, with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins accusing the opposition of thinly disguised racial politics. “I’m not entirely sure where they are going with this unless it’s just an outright dog whistle,” he said.

While the National Party has since insisted it is not opposed to bilingual signs “per se” – rather, it says, it wants the government to prioritize other things like fixing potholes and improving traffic networks – the issues has sparked heated debate in the run up to the vote in October where Labour are facing a tough fight to hold onto power.

People walk past Maori language signs in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2018.

Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images

New life for a once dying language

For many in the Maori community, the plan is as much about signposting and preserving their cultural heritage as it is about understanding road directions.

Slightly less than a quarter of New Zealand’s 892,200 Maori speak te reo Maori as one of their first languages, according to the latest government data.

While opponents use this as an argument against the signs – pointing out that 95% of New Zealanders speak English according to the most recent census in 2018 – supporters use the same data as an argument in favor.

Part of the reason that te reo Maori is not so widely spoken is that back in New Zealand’s colonial era there were active efforts to stamp it out. The Native Schools Act 1867 required schools to teach in English where possible and children were often physically punished for speaking te reo Maori.

That led to a decline in the language that the New Zealand government of today is trying to reverse. It wants to preserve the language as part of the country’s cultural heritage and sees bilingual signs as one way of encouraging its use.

As Maori language expert Awanui Te Huia, from the Victoria University of Wellington, put it: “Having bicultural signage allows us to see our language as part of our daily surroundings and contributes to the development of a bilingual national identity.”

To this end the government in 2018 launched a five-year plan aimed at revitalizing the language. Five years ago just 24% of New Zealanders were able to speak “more than a few words or phrases” of te reo Maori; by 2021 that had risen to 30%.

Over the same period, support for bilingual signs rose from 51% to 56%.

The longer term vision is that by 2040, 85% of New Zealanders will value te reo Maori as a key part of their nationality; 1 million people will be able to speak the basics, and that 150,000 Maori ages 15 or above will use it as much as English.

For Professor Tania Ka’ai, director of The International Centre for Language Revitalisation at Auckland University of Technology, bilingual signs are at least a move in the right direction.

“I would describe it as a ‘work in progress’ because the language is still at risk of dying and it does not deserve to die – no language does,” Ka’ai said.

Are bilingual signs safe?

While the transport agency acknowledges some people have “safety concerns” over the plan, it points to the example of Wales in the United Kingdom, where it says signs featuring both English and Welsh have managed to “improve safety” by catering to speakers of the two most common local languages.

It also says the parallel between New Zealand and Wales will be “particularly salient if te reo Maori becomes understood more widely in the future” – as the government is hoping.

Several other experts have downplayed the suggestion bilingual signs pose a hazard. Even so, the issue is not entirely clear cut.

Kasem Choocharukul, an engineering scholar who specializes in traffic behavior, told CNN there is no evidence that bilingual road signs in themselves negatively impact a driver’s comprehension.

However, design and placement of road signs, as well as the languages and the context in which they are used, have to be treated with care, said Kasem, associate dean of the engineering faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Thailand.

Research by the University of Leeds suggests road signs consisting of four lines, or more, are likely to slow drivers’ response time significantly.

Kasem said that in cases where signs featured multiple languages all based on the same alphabet – for instance, both Welsh and English are based on the Latin alphabet – greater care was needed to differentiate them, such as by using different colors or font sizes.

“The primary objective of these standards is to guarantee that all road signs are unambiguous, uniform, and legible to all,” he said.

Essentially, poor design can be dangerous, not multiple languages, if done badly.

A bilingual traffic sign on the A465 in Tredegar, Wales.

Huw Fairclough/Getty Images/File

A tale of two languages

The example of Wales – situated more than 10,000 miles away from New Zealand – isn’t as random as it may seem.

Commentators say there are a host of uncomfortable parallels between the fortunes of te reo Maori and Welsh, which was also once in danger of dying out but has since witnessed a resurgence.

At the same time as 19th century European settlers in New Zealand were punishing students for speaking te reo Maori, the British government was actively discouraging the use of the Welsh language, or Cymraeg, in the wake of widespread social unrest.

In 1847 (20 years before New Zealand’s Native Schools Act) a British government report into Welsh linked the language to stupidity, sexual promiscuity and unruly behavior, prompting a drive to remove the language from local schools.

This led to the notorious punishment known as the Welsh Nots. These were planks of wood with the initials W.N. on them that would be hung around the necks of students caught speaking the language in school.

The turning point for Welsh came a century later, following a series of civil disobedience campaigns by the Welsh Language Society in the 1960s. One of these campaigns involved activists defacing and removing English-only signs on streets and roads. Bilingual road signs began to spring up.

Photo Illustration/ Natalie Leung

Welsh and Hawaiian were saved from extinction. Other languages might not be so lucky

Three decades later, and the British Parliament was actively encouraging the use of Welsh.

In 1993, it passed the Welsh Language Act to ensure the language shares the same status as English during day-to-day business in Wales. The language is now spoken by more than 900,000 people in Wales, out of a population of more than 3 million.

James Griffiths, author of “Speak Not: Empire, Identity and the Politics of Language” and a former CNN journalist, said Wales was a prime example of how sound policies could revive a native language, but he noted that, as in New Zealand, there had been resistance from some quarters.

“I think for a lot of people, if they speak the language of the majority, they don’t appreciate the type of recognition and representation of having it on road signs,” he said.

Across the Irish Sea, bilingual signs bearing both Irish Gaelic and English have existed in the Republic of Ireland dating back to the start of the 20th century.

The Hawaii comparison

Other commentators draw parallels to how the US state of Hawaii has used road signs to encourage use of Olelo Hawai’i which, like te reo Maori, is a Polynesian language.

Before the passing of the Hawaii State Constitutional Convention in 1978, which made Hawaiian an official language of the the state, there had been concerns it might go extinct.

In the 1980s, teaching of Hawaiian in schools began to pick up momentum and parents began making greater efforts to pass the language on to later generations, said Puakea Nogelmeier, professor emeritus of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii.

This momentum continues to build to this day, with Hawaii’s Department of Transportation last year moving to introduce diacritical markings such as the okina and kahako – dots and lines that indicate glottal stops or longer vowels – to its road signs to help non-native Hawaiian speakers grasp correct pronunciations.

Linda Yuen Lambrecht demonstrates the sign for "fish" in the critically endangered Hawaii Sign Language (HSL). Experts estimate fewer than ten people in the world can use HSL fluently.

CNN

The fight to save Hawaii Sign Language from extinction

According to a local government survey in 2016, about 18,000 residents now speak Hawaiian at home in a state with a population of more than 1.4 million.

But Nogelmeier says that while it has become more common to hear conversations conducted in Olelo Hawai’i, the battle to revive the language is far from over.

Unlike in New Zealand, where the Maori people reached an agreement with the New Zealand government to preserve te reo Maori under the Maori Language Act 2016, he says the movement in Hawaii is driven primarily by the community, making the cause “more decorative than functional” and akin to “a bit of a hobby.”

Nogelmeier also says that efforts in Hawaii are largely limited to using Olelo Hawai’i for place names, rather than more complicated linguistic uses.

He should know: On Hawaiian buses, it is Nogelmeier’s voice that calls out the names of stops in the local language.

Lost in translation

Using indigenous place names also allows outsiders to have a better understanding of how to pronounce words and boost tourism.

Both Wales and New Zealand have some famous tongue-twisters for those unfamiliar with the local language.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyll – or to give it its full title Llanfair-pwllgwyngyll-gogery-chwyrn-drobwll-llan-tysilio-gogo-goch – is a little village on the Welsh island of Anglesey and lays claim to being the longest town name in Europe.

That however it is dwarfed by New Zealand’s own Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a hill near Hawke’s Bay which prides itself as the world’s longest place name.

With New Zealand having wrapped up its public consultation on the signs at the end of June, one other challenge remains should the plan go ahead: ensuring there aren’t any translation bloopers.

One road sign in Wales made national headlines in 2008 when local council officials sought a translation for a road sign that was meant to say: “No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only.”

Their mistake was to email the in-house translation service and not scrutinize its reply too closely.

Officials requested a sign that read: “Nid wyf yn y swyddfa ar hyn o bryd. Anfonwch unrhyw waith i’w gyfieithy.”

Only later did they realize that is the Welsh for: “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated.”

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Book Nook: Nothing lost in this translation of Mai San Judge’s Ardali - The Indian Express - Translation

Indian literature written in regional languages has received worldwide acclaim in recent times. The past few decades demonstrate that translation has played a significant role in the expansion of Indian literature. Translation of literary texts regenerates and revitalizes unexplored literature across the globe. It helps the text to travel across nations, boundaries and time without losing creativity and aesthetic pleasure of the source text.

Outstanding translations from Indian languages continue to be published. One such recent addition to the translation genre is Mai San Judge’s Ardali written by Ninder Ghugianvi in 2001 (12th edition was published in 2022) and translated by Dr Paramjit Singh Ramana as I Was Judge’s Orderly in 2023 by National Book Trust, New Delhi . This book has been translated into many other Indian languages. Ghugianvi is a well-known and widely read writer hailing from Punjab, who writes in Punjabi. Son of a small village shopkeeper, a school dropout, a lawyer’s Munshi (clerk) in district court at Faridkot and later appointed as a court orderly, Ghugianvi’s life has been an alluring one. He has more than 50 books to his credit. His works have garnered critical acclaim and have touched the hearts of readers around the globe. Many research scholars in various universities are doing PhDs on his works. The translator of the book, Dr Paramjit Singh Ramana is a former Professor of English and Head, University Regional Centre, Bathinda. He has translated the works of prominent Punjabi writers such as Gurdial Singh, Mohan Bhandari, Waryam Singh Sandhu and others into English.

I Was Judge’s Orderly, a memoir, takes the readers on a captivating journey through the life of a man who serves as a court orderly for judges. The book exposes the intricate workings of the judicial system and offers a rare perspective of someone intimately involved in the judicial setup. Through his vivid, insightful and credible descriptions, Ghugianvi explores the human drama that unfolds within the courtrooms, judges’ conduct outside the courtroom and their secluded life inside the red bungalows. This enlightens the readers on the complexities and contradictions inherent in the pursuit of justice.

Surjit Patar’s lines from his celebrated poem ‘Kuch Keha ta Hanera Jarega Kive’ are befitting for this book.

The men have become trees in the court,

They have dried in the waiting for justice,

Ask these men to go to their homes,

How long will they stay here like this?

The author’s journey begins as a Munshi (clerk) to an advocate for almost a year. In this span of time, everyone in the court has known that he is a writer as well as an artist. When the vacant positions of the orderlies are to be filled up, he applies for the same and gets selected. This is how his journey as an orderly starts. During his entire tenure as an orderly, he serves three distinguished judges. The first judge as well as his family is compassionate and affectionate to the author. Rinku, the first judge’s son admires the author’s artistic and literary talent. But the first judge is transferred soon and the second judge arrives in the red bungalow. The second judge comes alone, it has been insinuated in the book that his children study in some foreign university and his wife lives in Mohali. The couple does not share an amiable relationship. It is during the tenure of the second judge only when the author feels helplessly entangled in the golden chains of the government setup. Everyday rants, insults and abuses made him almost give up his job and go back to his village. The threshold of his patience breaks during the tenure of the third judge and he resigns. He says while handing over the resignation letter to the superintendent, “No sir. No… I have thought a lot… it is such a demeaning job…Sir it will kill me…please sir…I am thankful to you…you have been very nice to me…please relieve me as early as possible…free me forever…so that I may go…” (Ghugianvi 148).

The author joins as an orderly owing to his unfaltering faith in the judicial system. As he delves deeper into the complexities of his role as an orderly, his belief in the judicial system shatters. Author reveals the fragility and corruption prevalent in the system. The second judge, to whom the author served, does not allow him to go to his village for Diwali festivities because he is expecting esteemed guests at his residence in hope of tempting gifts from them. The judge never pays for anything on his own, he asks people to do favour to him so that he can reciprocate the same in the court, by pronouncing a verdict in their favour. The reader and the steno of the judge ask for ‘sewapani’, an illegal gratification from whoever wins the case. The judge is aware of the prevalence of ‘sewapani’ culture among subordinate employees. The second judge is highly abusive to the author. He initially encouraged the author to play his Tumbi and attend his musical events but later turns down his pleadings. He sarcastically calls him Tumbi-master and looks down upon his passion for music and often mockingly labels him a Mirasi.

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The author is deeply hurt by these taunts, for the tumbi is a gift from his guru, Ustad Yamla Jat. He is a dedicated and devoted disciple of Ustad Yamla Jat, a renowned Punjabi folk singer. His guru presents him a Tumbi and it is of immeasurable value to him. He respects him a lot and always protects the memento Tumbi given by his guru. He often thinks , “I told Sahib so many times that I was a disciple and follower of Yamla ji… Sahib attached no value to all this… He knew absolutely nothing about Punjabi literature, music, art or culture.” (110)

The book is divided into 20 chapters, all equally appealing. The meticulously chosen episodes from one year span of the author’s life give the book the form of a fascinating tale with a rich narrative and compelling characters. Set in the Malwa region of Punjab, the book reflects the vibrant culture, beliefs and values of the society prevalent in those times. It also offers a window to the judicial system of our country from a different lens. The translator alerts the readers in the translator’s note, “The narrative is not simply interesting and instructive; it is an attempt to bring us face to face with the system we accept without questioning” (Ghugianvi ix).

Memoirs serve as a powerful tool to offer readers an intimate glimpse into the lives of individuals. Generally memoirs are written by people with rags-to-riches stories. But Ghugianvi, through this book, in reverse, has brought a marginalized character into the limelight. In the opinion of the translator as mentioned in the translator’s note, “The first person narrator does not present himself as a “hero”, nor does he try to win our sympathy, admiration or approval by boasting about his achievements or moral superiority. Of course, he presents himself as a talented singer, musician and litterateur. But mostly his self-mocking ironic tone presents him as a weak hapless victim of the system” (Ghugianvi X). Memoirs of such marginalized individuals disrupt the dominant narratives that often overlook or misrepresent the experiences of marginalized individuals and communities. Literature aids the marginalised to give voice to their experiences and emotions. Literary translation helps the most authentic and heartfelt portrayal of the marginalised. It also helps in facilitating the accessibility and dissemination of their stories , experiences and perspectives to a wider audience, along with bridging cultural gaps and fostering empathy and respect for diverse backgrounds. Authors who write in vernacular often find it challenging to reach a broader audience due to linguistic barriers and limited access to publishing opportunities. Translations serve as intermediaries, through translations, these writers gain visibility and contribute to the literary canon.

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With its fabulous anecdotes, compelling characters and thought-provoking themes, this book is an engrossing read. For anyone interested in learning the faithful and honest exploration of the judicial system, this book is a must-read.

Dr Sushil is an Associate Professor of English & Head, Guru Kashi Department of Languages, Punjabi University Guru Kashi Campus, Damdama Sahib, while

Parminder Kaur is a Research Scholar, PG Department of English, Punjabi University, Patiala

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