Intercultural Communication and Translation News

Thai (Siamese, Central Thai) belongs to the Tai language family, a subgroup of the Kadai or Kam-Tai family. All members of the Tai family derive from a single proto-parent designated as Proto-Tai. Linguistic research has shown the area near the border of northern Vietnam and south-eastern China as the probable place of origin for the Tai languages.  Today the Tai family includes languages spoken in Assam, northern Burma, all of Thailand including the peninsula, Laos, northern Vietnam and the Chinese provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi.

Sukhothai, established in central Thailand in the early and mid-thirteenth century, represents the first major kingdom of the Thai. The system used here prevailed at the time of the creation of the writing system by King Ramkhamhaeng (1275-1317) in the latter part of the thirteenth century.

In 1350 the centre of power shifted from Sukhothai to Ayutthaya. The Ayyutthaya period (1350-1767) saw large numbers of Sanskrit and Pali words borrowed, although this phenomenon was not strictly limited to this period.  These Indic loanwords comprise a large portion of the technical vocabularies of science, government, education, religion and literature. During the Ayutthaya period, Thai began to acquire other characteristics that have led the Thai to regard their language as highly complex and stratified, difficult to acquire even for the very educated. In part, this impression grew because of the Indic loanwords. But far more central to the creation of this image was the proliferation of titles, pronouns, royal vocabulary and royal kin terminology that reflected the growing stratification and complexity of the society.

This terminology and the emphasis upon its correct use began to be standardised during the reign of King Mongkut (1851-68). Valuing adherence to ancient patterns that produced correctness in the language, Mongkut issued decrees and proclamations that formalised place names and titles.

In Thailand, Thai serves as the official national language, It is the language taught and used in the schools, the one used by the media and the one used for all government affairs.  Outside of Bangkok and the central plains, other dialects and languages of the Tai family coexist with the standard: Northern Thai (Kam Muang or Yuan) in the north, Southern Thai in the south and Lao or northeastern Thai in the north-east. Still other languages such as Lue, Phuthai and Phuan are spoken as small speech islands in various parts of the country. In addition, Thailand has many minority groups who speak languages that do not belong to the Thai family.

Related Links:

>> Thai Translation Service

>> Write Happy Birthday in Thai

Over the course of the past year, many companies with international Web sites have approached my company. They were looking for the “easy” way to optimize their sites for each country. You might be surprised by the issues that many of these large companies face.

When I hear people comment that “SEO isn’t that difficult…just build a Web site that is search engine friendly and that’s pretty much it,” these are the kinds of issues that tell me, “No, it’s not that easy.” There are little things, here and there, that if you weren’t a practicing SEO, you may not take into account.

Here are a few challenges that companies with an international Web presence face, and some advice for how to create an optimal Web presence that can do well in international search engines.

Domains

When it comes to doing things “the right way” for SEO, it all begins with domain selection. That’s true whether it’s for one Web site to be promoted in the United States, or for a group of Web sites you’re optimizing to promote your business internationally.

For international SEO, you really should have a TLD (top level domain) for each country you’re targeting. This is more complicated than you might think. Many countries mandate that you have an actual physical business location in that country before you can obtain a TLD. To gain a German (.de) top-level-domain, for example, you must operate an office in Germany.

Read more > Mark Jackson

The quotes below are taken from  a book called Disorder in the American Courts. These are actually outtakes of conversations had in court proceedings, taken down word for word by court reporters.

___________________________________________________

ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
___________________________________________________
ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget.
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, ‘Where am I, Cathy?’
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you know if your daughter has ever been involved in voodoo?
WITNESS: We both do.
ATTORNEY: Voodoo?
WITNESS: We do.
ATTORNEY: You do?
WITNESS: Yes, voodoo.
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn’t it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn’t
know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
___________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the twenty-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: Uh, he’s twenty.
_______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you  serious?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Uh…. I was gett’in laid!
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: She had three children, right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Are you serious? Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney.  Can I
get a new attorney?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death.
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Now whose death do you suppose terminated it?
______________________________________
ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard.
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Guess.
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a
deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
______________________________________

ATTORNEY: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All my autopsies are performed on dead people. Would you like
to rephrase that?
___________ __________________________

ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral.
_____________________________________

ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 p.m.
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: No, he was sitting on the table wondering why I was doing an autopsy on him!
____________________________________

And the best for last?

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive,
nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and
practicing law.

An international book festival in Dubai is facing the possibility of a mass walkout in its inaugural year with authors queuing up to protest against the censorship of a book that discusses homosexuality.

The Canadian novelist and former Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood sparked the controversy by pulling out of the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature after a fellow writer was blacklisted for offending “cultural sensitivities”.

The book at the centre of the latest storm is The Gulf Between Us, a romantic comedy by the English writer Geraldine Bedell which is set in a fictional Gulf emirate. It was due to be formally launched at the festival but has been withdrawn by the festival at the last minute because it features a gay relationship. Bedell commented: “Can you have a literary festival and ban books because they feature gay characters? Is that what being part of the contemporary literary scene means? The organisers claim to be looking for an exchange of ideas – but not, apparently, about sex or faith. That doesn’t leave literature an awful lot of scope.”

The festival director, Isobel Abulhoul, issued a statement in which she said: “I knew that her work could offend certain cultural sensitivities. I did not believe that it was in the festival’s long term interests to acquiesce to her publisher’s request to launch the book at the first festival of this nature in the Middle East.”

Read more > Dubai Book Festival

Kwintessential’s Comments:

The news story is one that has been brewing for a long time and is not the last of its kind we will read about. Dubai, and anyone who understands the region, knew that by trying to become a centre of world trade, commerce, art and sport that it has to bring in people from all over the world. This has resulted in a flood of expat labour as well as huge numbers of visitors/tourists. Naturally with foreign visitors come foreign ideas, beliefs, notions of acceptability and world views.

This row is a fine example of what happens when you invite the western literati to an event in a conservative Muslim Gulf state. Both sides have an issue here. Writers, in this case spearheaded by Atwood, see this as censorship against their freedom of ideas, freedom to pen whatever they like about whoever they like and basic freedom of expression. Muslims see this as an an unwanted element that can not be encouraged. It is however unfortunate for the event organisers that by banning the book they have drawn more attention to it.

In short, both sides have something to learn. The writers need to appreciate Dubai is a Muslim country with strict ideas, some of which have absolutely no flexibility. There must be some senstivity towards this in that a respect needs to be show for another’s way of life, beliefs and faith. Emiratis can not be expected to roll over and accept whatever is thrown at them in the name of modernity and freedom of speech. On the other hand, Dubai needs to assess how it will handle similar issues that arise in the future and think of alternative means to overcoming such bad publicity.

The Swiss-based multinational food company, Nestle, has apologised to Azerbaijan after a gift attached to a breakfast cereal backfired.

The CD-ROM featured information about countries around the world but the data on Azerbaijan caused outrage there.

It said that Azerbaijan had started a war against neighbouring Armenia and that the hotly disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh belonged to Armenia.

Nestle has withdrawn the cereal and promised to seize the offending CDs.

Read more > Nestle

An initial distinction should be drawn between Turkish which is the spoken language, and Turkic which is the family of languages to which Turkish belongs.  The main geographic locations of Turkic languages are Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, The Caucuses and Siberia. In addition there are substantial Turkic speaking communities in North West China. In terms of linguistic structure, the Turkic languages are very close to one another.

Turkish is the official and dominant language of Turkey where it is the native language of 80 per cent of the population. The largest linguistic minority in Turkey is formed of Kurdish speakers mainly in South Eastern turkey. Turkish is also the co-official language of Cyprus (with Greek). But the largest number of Turkish speakers outside turkey is to be found in the Balkans, especially Bulgaria, but also Macedonia and Greece.

Modern Turkish is a standardisation of the Istanbul dialect of Anatolian. The first Anatolian Turkish documents date from the Thirteenth century show that the literary tradition of Central Asia was only very tenuously carried over by the Turkish tribes (who had converted to Islam earlier) after invading Anatolia from the East in the late Eleventh century.  These tribes were influenced heavily by Persian and Arabic from the beginning of their settling in Anatolia because of the higher prestige and development of the culture and literature of those neighbouring Muslim nations.

From the beginning of its Anatolian period, Turkish was written in Arabic script, until the Latin script was adopted in 1928, one of the various reforms introduced after the founding of the Turkish Republic with the aim of westernising the country.

In the literature written for Scholarly, administrative and literary purposes, the Persian and Arabic components became so prevalent that Ottoman became a mixed language, having lost some of its characteristic Turkic properties to the point of not being usable as a medium of communication between al social classes. During the same time, however, there was also a considerable production of mystical literature and folk poetry which was written for the less educated classes, in the language used by those segments of the population, namely Anatolian Turkish as influenced very little by Persian and Arabic. These works are very close to the Republican Turkish of today and can be understood without much difficulty.

After Atatürk founded the Republic of Turkey, he founded the “Turkish Language Foundation” (Türk Dil Kurumu, TDK), which had the aim of “purifying” the language by replacing words of Arabic and Persian origin. By banning the these words in the newspapers, the foundation was successfull in removing  hundreds of Arabic words from Turkish. While most of the words brought into the language by TDK are new, TDK also suggested using old Turkish words which had not been used in the language for hundreds of years.

Background

Pashto belongs to the North-Eastern group within the Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Pashto has long been recognised as the most important language of the North-West Frontier Province between Pakistan and India. The Pashto language is believed to have originated in the Kandahar/Helmand areas of Afghanistan. Dari often dominates over Afghan/Pashto in Afghanistan in everyday government use since the capital was moved to Kabul from Kandahar in the 18th century. Pashto was declared by royal decree in 1936 to be the national language of Afghanistan instead of Dari Persian, however today they both share this status and are still widely spoken across present day Afghanistan with most Afghanis being proficient in both languages.  The areas of Afghanistan to which Pashto is native are those in the East, South, and South-West bordering on Pakistan. Indeed many inhabitants of the areas on the Pakistani side of the border with Afghanistan belong to the Pashtun ethnic group and are speakers of Pashto. In fact the name of the language, Pashto, also denotes the strong code of customs, morals and manners of the Pashtun people.

Vocabulary

The Pashto lexicon is fascinating as it contains side-by-side words going back to the dawn of Iranian, neologisms of all ages and loanwords from several languages acquired over two thousand years. The oldest of these loan words date from the Greek occupation of Bactria in the Third century BC. No special trace of a Zoroastrian or a Buddhist past remains, but the Islamic period has brought a great number of Arabic and Persian cultural words. Throughout the centuries everyday words also have been borrowed from Persian in the West and from Indo-Aryan neighbours in the East. The greater part of the basic vocabulary is nevertheless inherited from Eastern Iranian.

Script

The earliest authenticated records of Pashto as a literary language date from the late sixteenth century, at a time when the whole area was part of the Mogul empire. The language has always been written in the Perso-Arabic script with the addition of certain modified letters to represent the peculiar consonant phonemes of Pashto. In the earliest manuscripts there is a considerable variety in the representation of three consonants, but later a standard system emerged. Since the adoption of Pashto as a national language in Afghanistan a number of innovations have been introduced into the script which have aided clarity.

For CNET’s Senior Editors Bonnie Cha and Kent German, Future Apps’ new language program for the iPhone and iPod Touch may be just the thing to get them around Barcelona next week as they attend the GSMA Mobile World Congress in that famed Spanish city.

iSpeak is a set of translation apps that can convert words and sentences from English to another language, or vice versa. You type your phrase into the app, which quickly translates your text. If you’re not sure how to pronounce the phrase, pressing a button triggers the app to speak the words aloud. iSpeak got our basic Spanish-to-English and English-to-Spanish test phrases pretty closely, though it didn’t manage to pronounce the read-out as Catalonians would (though, to be fair, Catalan is not the same language as Spanish).

Read more > CNET

The Bengali language (Bangla), together with Assamese and Oriya, belong to the eastern group within the Magadhan subfamily of Indo-Aryan languages. The two main features of difference between the Magadhan languages and other Indo-Aryan languages are phonology and Grammar. There are several sounds that occur in Maghadan languages which are absent in other Indo-Aryan languages, while grammatical peculiarities of Bengali include an absence of gender and the lack of number as a verbal category. Bengali the official language of Bangladesh and one of the official languages in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura. There are approximately 200 million speakers of Bengali making it the fifth most spoken language in the world.

Literary Development

Writing and literature have played a significant role in the evolution of Bengali linguistic identity. A common script was in use throughout Eastern India centuries before the emergence of the separate Magadhan vernaculars. However even after the separation of the modern Magadhan languages from one another, literary composition in Eastern India seems to have reflected a common milieu regardless of linguistic boundaries. Although Vernacular writings appear in Eastern India by AD 1200, vernacular writings for several centuries after show a common inheritance in the whole Eastern area, regardless of language. An example of this is the collection of Buddhist hymns called the Caryapada, which although written in Old Bengali, has commentaries written on it in Assamese and Oriya, both treating the text as if it were a specimen of it’s own language.

One of the most crucial events in the formation of Bengali linguistic identity was the establishment of Islamic rule in the early Thirteenth century. This led to six hundred years of political unity in Bengal, under which it was possible for a distinctly national style to evolve. From the outset of their rule, the Muslim aristocracy did little discourage the composition of works on non Islamic religious themes such as the Ramayana Hindu religious epic. On the contrary, they often lent their patronage to the authors of such works, who were both Muslim and Hindu.

Diglossia and Dialects

Vertical differentiation, or diglossia, is a feature of the current standard Bengali language. The literary language (sadhu bhasa) shows greater conservatism in word morphology as well as lexis which is characterised by heavy borrowing from Sanskrit language. The spoken language (colti bhasa) is the everyday medium of informal discourse. In recent decades it has also gained more prominence in more formal discourse both in written and spoken from. There is an extensive existence of Bengali dialects both in terms of numbers and mutual difference between them. Some dialects (the extreme eastern dialect of Chittagong) are considered to be unintelligible to the wider Bengali speaking people.

Bengali Script
The Bengali script is known as Bangla alphasyllabary , a Brahmic script similar to the Devanagari alphasyllabary of Hindi and Sanskrit. The Bangla script has 12 vowel characters and 52 consonant characters.
The Bangla spelling system comes from an older version of the language, not taking into acount some sound mergers that have occurred in the spoken language. For example, the alphabet has two letters for the sound [dʒ] and three for the sound [ʃ]. Conversely, a number of letters now have more than one pronunciation. Furthermore, many letters and diacritics have become “silent letters” in the spoken language.

Immigrants will now be able to access learning aids in their own language, information about life in their new homeland or literature in their mother tongue in German libraries, thanks to a new intercultural web portal for library users and staff, launched by the German Library Association (Deutscher Bibliotheksverband, dbv).

Via “springboards” for more than 20 languages, the Intercultural Library provides information on stocks of foreign-language books in public libraries in Germany and also links to texts for library work, multilingual glossaries and online dictionaries, multilanguage online information services and other information portals. The library-work-related level comprises texts and links to integration strategies, professional literature, professional forums, organisations and associations, and also practical examples from other libraries at home and abroad. Within this context, special emphasis is laid on topics such as “Life in Germany”, “Promoting reading and writing” and “Health”, experience having shown that demand for information and source texts on these topics is especially high.

Read more > Goethe Institut

What Kwintessential says:

This is an exciting and interesting initiative by the Goethe Institut which addresses the issues of immigration, language, cultural understanding and the integration of foreigners. Such projects should be seen as the way forward for other countries seeking to implement ways of bringing foreigners into the country and having them understand their new neighbours, colleagues and countrymen.