How the Cherokee language has adapted to texts

Whenever a new communication technology was introduced into society, the Cherokee people have ensured that their written language could adapt.

From the printing press and the typewriter to today's readily available digital technologies like computers and smart phones, the Cherokee language is fully functional thanks to the help of tireless advocates and activists.

As one of the most actively used native languages in the US, the Cherokee language is spoken by populations in North Carolina and Oklahoma, as well as other states across the country. While more people are now able to write the Cherokee language with syllabics — written characters that each represent a syllable — retaining and encouraging more speakers of the language continues to be a high priority. And the use of technology has been one way to attract increased interest.

A new animated video produced by the Cherokee Nation Education Services and the Language Technology Program tells the story of this adoption of new technologies over time. Narrated by the Cherokee hero Sequoyah, who created the first Cherokee syllabary in 1821, the video introduces viewers to some of these breakthroughs.

The Cherokee Nation Language Technology Program supports those interested in utilizing written Cherokee, with a special focus on digital technology. Its aim is to create “innovative solutions for the Cherokee language on all digital platforms including smartphones, laptops, desktops, tablets and social networks.” Available on its website are resources including a glossary of neologisms for technology-related terms, keyboard layouts and fonts.

Communication technology is constantly evolving, and the Cherokee language keeps evolving right along with it.

An animated video tells the story of how Cherokee adapted to new technologies:

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-09-13/how-cherokee-language-has-adapted-texts-iphones

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http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-09-13/how-cherokee-language-has-adapted-texts-iphones

New technologies break down language barriers

With Google and Microsoft working to develop a real-time translating device, could the days of enrolling on a language course be a thing of the past?

How great would it be to be able to converse fluently or write a grammatically accurate and engaging email in Chinese, Russian and Italian?

Not that great, according to today’s university goers – few of whom are taking modern language degrees. Perhaps they think that translation software, which has moved on a great deal over recent years, will soon render obsolete the ability to communicate in foreign languages.

Google, for example, is working on software that can translate your words – written or spoken – in real time. And Microsoft demonstrated its speech recognition and translation software on a speech given by chief research officer Rick Rashid in November, 2012.

Mr Rashid’s speech – delivered in Tianjin, China – was translated from English to Chinese and the translation used his own voice, which had been sampled.

The aim of the work by Microsoft and Google Research is to create a device that could, for example, translate the words spoken into one handset so that the listener on the other end hears the words in his or her own language.

The Google Research team developing the software is not made up of linguists, though. Instead, they apply maths and statistics to the problem of translation, building algorithms that can correlate existing translations and find the most accurate one.

Meanwhile, the current version of Google Translate is far from infallible, stumbling over words with multiple meanings, for instance.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk