Hyderabad based IIIT will launch a translation tool for Indic languages in June 2009, reports Business Line. Called Sampark, what is interesting about the tool is that it allows users to translate content from seven Indic languages into Hindi. Another project under way allows translation of English texts into Hindi. At present, Google also allows translation of text to and from Hindi. Babelfish does not offer translation for any Indic languages.
Now translation is tricky because it involves context – and usually needs human intervention in order to be accurate; you’ll notice that Google asks users to suggest a better translation, in order to understand the context better. As an example, Google Translate suggests that the term “Eats Shoots and Leaves” should be
Translated back, that would mean “Shoots a bullet and eats leaves”. Lynne Truss will not be pleased.
I remember attending a lecture by Umberto Eco four years ago, where he emhpasised the role of translators, saying that almost all the religious texts were written in languages that are no longer in common use. The tranlators could have changed an entire religion on the basis of the translation.
Content Creation: Transliteration vs Keyboards
So far, most of the work we’ve seen around Indic languages has been centered on search and transliteration space. In case of transliteration, Quillpad and Google have online services, while Eterno has a mobile application.
However, we’re really not sure if transliteration is the right approach: it primarily targets a bi-lingual community, and will probably not work out for people conversant with just one language. At the same time, transliteration is the low hanging fruit. Most importantly, it does help in the creation of Indic language content.
For creation of more Indic Language content, what one needs is the proliferation of dual language keyboards – where with a flip of a switch, you can change the language in use. If you can have dual language keypads on mobile phones, why not dual language keyboards? Until then, I guess we’ll see keyboards with Indic language stickers on them.
Related:
– Google Rolls Out Search In 3 Indian Languages – Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali; Rediff Language Search In Beta
– Google News And Indic Language Initiatives; Launches News In Tamil
– Are Hindi News Channels Only Paying Lip Service To The Online Market?
– Economic Times Launches Gujarati Website
– Rediff To Allow Users To “Communicate” In 22 Indic Languages
This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.
5 Comments until now.
Nikhil I follow all your stories very regularly. After reading this, I just tried Google translator for Shahrukh Khan biography from IMDB
Here is the Original Link (English): http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0451321/bio
Here is the translated (English to Hindi) Link: http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&...
Trust me all of you guys who read the hind version will keep laughing the whole day and will be a good entertainment for all of you
I hope the product of IIIT will take care of such goof-ups
Cheers
Santosh
Santosh, there are, always will be, issues with automatic translations. It's an imperfect science, because words have different meanings in different contexts, inexact meanings in different languages. There are cultural and contextual differences.
Translators have mostly been human, and different translators will create different translations of the same text.
So lets accept Google Translator, Babelfish and Sampark for whatever they are…and hope that they keep getting better. :)
Hi Nikhil,
Lipikaar is as close as you can get to a dual-language, soft keyboard which does not require stickers or transliteration to work. We're working on making this technology available ubiquitously online and on the PC and are seeing tremendous traction with users who prefer to read and communicate in Indian languages.
We've launched a Lipikaar edition for portals, which is as easy as adding a javascript block to a website. The product enables interaction in 17 Indian languages for all text areas. The goal is to enable greater audience engagement and creation of Indian language content.
http://www.lipikaar.com/lipikaar/professionals
Best Regards,
Santosh
Hi Santosh,
Am not sure if a soft keyboard is a solution. My sense is that it would be tedious, if one were to use the mouse, or confusing, if one were to use the keyboard. Most people look at the keys while typing.
Just wondering if you would like to do a guest post on why you chose a soft keyboard solution, and offer your take on the various solutions available in the market. Do mail – nikhil at medianama dot com , and I can mail you the guidelines.
thanks,
Nikhil
Hi Nikhil,
The solution Lipikaar offers is an intuitive way to convert the english keyboard into an Indic language keyboard while preserving the speed of typing and usability of a regular keyboard for Indian languages.
In fact, Lipikaar is very similar to what you have hinted in your post – it works similar to how the mobile keypad works.
Lipikaar is not a 'visual' keyboard map which users click with the mouse (which is definitely tedious as you pointed out). Lipikaar is also very different from transliteration.
- Santosh