The Translation Blog

 Canada is a bilingual country with its two official languages: French and English. As a result, the law requires the government to communicate and conduct services in both languages and businesses to label their products in English and French. The government also promotes bilingualism by supporting the French language in English-majority areas and the English language in French-majority areas. But is it really necessary to define language usage through the law?

This bilingualism has been in place since confederation, with the majority of francophones residing in what is now Quebec and anglophones primarily in the other provinces, which used to be British colonies. As Quebec has always been the only province that primarily spoke French, there has always been some tension that it would be relegated to a minority status and overtaken by English. The laws are in place to ensure that both French-speaking and English-speaking Canadian citizens can navigate government institutions and buy products with ease.

In Quebec, the English language has always been viewed with slight contempt and it is no longer considered one of the province’s official languages. In March of 2012, the mayor of Huntingdon, Quebec insisted that the province’s language laws were too extreme and discriminatory. Although approximately 40% of the town is comprised of English-speaking citizens, the laws prevent officials from corresponding in English. The Office Quebecoise de la langue Fransise (OQLF) warned the mayor in January that if he insisted on using English in correspondence, the town would be fined $40,000.

While the laws defining language use in Canada are designed to uphold fairness among the country’s anglophone and francophone communities, there is always danger that they will be taken too far.

In the United Kingdom, which includes England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, the official language is English, but the dialects across the different regions are extremely diverse. All of the countries have their own native “Gaelic” languages, although the majority of the population speaks English.

In Wales, Cymraeg or y Gymraeg is the traditional Celtic language of the country. However, a 2004 survey showed that only 22% of the population spoke this language. In Scotland, you find another type of Gaelic, as well as Scottish English. This Scottish version of the English language started to develop through contact with the English in the 1600s. In Ireland, Gaeilge is the historic language. It is still spoken by many in the country today, although most are bilingual.

As you would expect, England contains the most English-speaking people, but even in such a small geographical area, accents vary greatly. The stereotypical English accent is what is often called the “Queen’s English,” and was traditionally viewed as the most educated accent. It has also been referred to as “BBC English,” as most television and radio personalities in the past spoke with this accent. But in modern Britain, the BBC incorporates a more diverse range of accents.

Those living in Britain can usually tell quite accurately where an English person is from just by the way they pronounce or mispronounce a word. Among the working classes in Northern England, it was common for an “h” to be dropped from a word, i.e. “have” would become “ave.” Down in Southern England, it was the “t’s” that were removed from words to be replaced with glottal stops.

English in Great Britain is still evolving, as languages always do. As people are in contact with a greater variety of these dialects, it is less common for people within the same country to have trouble understanding one another.

Currently one of the most popular languages around the world, English has changed a great deal over the past few thousand years. What we call English today actually didn’t originate in the British Isles. A few thousand years ago, the people of Britain spoke a form of Celtic. It was Germanic tribes that brought the predecessor of modern English to England.

Angle, Saxon, and Jute tribes, from what is now Germany and Denmark, invaded Britain around the 5^th century AD. The language they brought with them formed the basis for what we call “Old English” today. This older version of English still wasn’t very similar to modern English. In fact, it would be completely unintelligible to the average person today. The famous poem, Beowulf, was composed in this older version of English.

The English language continued to evolve as Christianity encouraged the use of Latin words. Around the 8^th century, more Germanic tribes from the Scandinavian countries invaded England and caused further changes. Then in 1066, William the Conqueror (from Normandy, what is France today) famously lived up to his name by conquering England. A version of French became the ruling language for a few hundred years following that.

By the 14^th century, English was back in vogue. Borrowing from all of the various cultures it encountered, including German, Dutch, Latin, and French, the English language was finally starting to develop into the version we speak today. Once books were printed and literacy increased, a more standardized version of English emerged. Today, more than one billion people around the world speak English.

Latin is one of the classic languages, and it has had a great impact on a large number of languages in existence today, including English. However, for all its history, there are few people that can speak this old language today.

The Latin language was largely developed in the Ancient Roman civilization. There were a few different forms of Latin in use at the time, including Classical Latin and what it termed Vulgar Latin. Among the great literary works of the time, you will find the classical version of the language almost exclusively. The “vulgar” form, which is different in both vocabulary and grammar, was a spoken language.

Around 200 BC, you find the first literature in Latin. It’s during this era that the Classical Latin was perfected and some of the great literary masterpieces were written. Fast forward several hundred years to 200 AD, and you find more of the spoken version of Latin working its way into the literature. By 600 AD, Latin started to die off outside of religious circles.

It wasn’t until the beginning of the Renaissance, somewhere around 1400 AD, that Latin was once again revived. Scholars and other educated people started reading some of the old classical literature. At the same time, scientists found it helpful to use Latin words as a standard for international research.

Today, Latin is largely a forgotten language, although there are many scholars that are fluent in it. In addition, Christian clergy are often able to speak Latin fluently. Latin has been a popular and forgotten language several times each in the past. Who knows? We may see another revival in this language yet.

Imagine waking up one day to discover that you have suddenly developed an entirely new way of speaking that is completely out of your control. This is exactly what happens in the rare cases of “foreign accent syndrome.” But how is possible for someone to develop an entirely new accent overnight?

The answer is that it’s not truly possible. The syndrome is results from some sort of brain trauma, usually through a head injury or stroke. If a certain area of the brain is disrupted, we find that the pronunciation of words is affected. And these slight changes can mimic various types of accents.

In 1999, an American woman named Judi Roberts suffered a stroke and woke up from it with what sounded like a British accent, even though she’d had no extensive exposure to England. In 2004, another American woman experienced a dramatic allergic reaction to an injected iodine solution and came out of it with what was described as a Russian accent. Recently, a Canadian woman from Ontario suffered a stroke and woke up with a Newfoundland accent.

So what’s really happening in these cases? Researchers have learned that these are not true accents, although they may sound similar to a particular accent to an untrained ear. In reality, the regions of the brain that control speech patterns have been damaged, which has resulted in the mispronunciation of certain words or syllables. While it may be impossible to repair the affected part of the brain, speech therapy has been shown to reduce the effects of foreign accent syndrome.

What language-related blog would be complete without a visit into the absurd?

It can be difficult for native English-speakers to learn all the rules of spelling and grammar, but the problem is compounded for people from different language backgrounds and cultures. In a world that is increasingly connected, accurate translation is necessary. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, but it can lead to some entertaining attempts.

Every language has its own grammar, vocabulary, word associations, and idioms. The wide variety of these aspects in different cultures is what often makes for amusing mistranslations. The improper translation of one words leads to issues like these:

• “Please leave your values at the front desk” at a hotel in Paris
• “Try one of our horse-driven tours — no miscarriages guaranteed” at a tourist agency in Czechoslovakia

It could be that the words are technically correct, but if you place them in the wrong order, it can easily change the meaning. Then you get (mis)translations like:

• “Specialist in women and other diseases” at a doctor’s office in Rome
• “Our wines leave you nothing to hope for” at a restaurant in Switzerland

English mistranslations are commonly found in Asian countries due to the extreme differences in grammar and phonetics. China has even gone so far as to put their “Commission for the Management of Language Use” in charge of fixing the worst of these mistakes around certain cities. Some funny (mis)translations include:

• “Stop! – Drive Sideways” on a road sign in Japan
• “Slip and fall down carefully” on a caution sign in China

I'd rather be texting

Nearly everyone has a cell or smart phone these days, and the majority of those that do use the texting features. It is a quick and easy way to stay in contact with friends and family, arrange meetings, or just fill in a spare minute. With texting often comes a particular form of written language, sometimes referred to as “textese.” Made up of a good deal of slang terms, abbreviations, and little punctuation, textese attempts to shorten statements so they fit within the character limit.

In text speak, you get “lol” indicating “laughing out loud,” and “brb” standing for “be right back.” Full words are often shortened: “okay” becomes “k”, and  “great” turns into “gr8”. These short forms are also common in email and instant messaging where the idea is communicate quickly and effectively, without paying much attention to detail.

The concern now is that people are spending too much time communicating in textese. Often, young people spend entire days reading and writing in this different language form and shunning the books, newspapers, and magazines that use full sentences and a wide vocabulary. As can be expected, this is stunting the language skills of youth.

New research shows that heavy texters are less able and less willing to learn new words. This, in turn, affects reading ability and enjoyment. There is an assumption that texting gives one greater freedom for creativity and expression, but experts suggest that it tends to be more limiting than traditional writing. Traditional print media exposes people to a wider variety of creative writing, while text messages tend to be confined to a small number of contacts with a specific writing style.

Scottish Flag

Communication through language is a key component of human interaction, so it makes sense to develop computers and software that will tap into this process. The iPhone  4 has been programmed to do just that with its built-in artificial intelligence called “Siri.” Using Siri, you can browse the internet, check the weather, and send text messages using only your voice.

The Siri feature has opened up a vast array of new possibilities in technology, but not everyone finds it helpful or even functional. Those with Scottish accents are learning that the iPhone’s A.I. often can’t understand what they are saying. In one trial shown on YouTube, a Scottish man asks Siri to “dance with me” and it is translated as “dutch women.”

Apple stated that Siri can understand English, French, and German, but it failed to allow for the wide variety of dialects present in these three languages. The form of English found in Scotland can be quite different than that found in England or America. It’s not unusual for a person to misunderstand a different accent, so it’s reasonable that a computer program would also have trouble.

Unfortunately, it looks like those in Scotland will be missing out on the best of the Siri feature for the time being as Apple continues to work out the glitches. The Scottish accent is simply too unique for the technology.

Humans are born to communicate, and babies are no exception. However, learning to speak can take some time. Most babies won’t start talking until they are at least a year old, and it could be significantly later for some. What most people don’t realize is that verbal skills take longer to develop than hand-eye coordination. That means that young babies can communicate… using their hands.

Baby signing is growing in popularity as parents learn the great advantages of this language tool. Infants, just like everyone else, want to be able to communicate and be understood. Without spoken language, this can be difficult, and result in frustration and tantrums. Most babies can start to learn simple hand signs by the time they are six months old.

Some people worry that encouraging sign language will delay verbal development in the child as they use the signing as a crutch. But this doesn’t play out in reality. Typically, the associated word will be spoken as they are learning each sign, so the baby will get practice with both forms of communication. Giving them this means of interacting can only help language development.

Often, parents will focus on teaching useful signs like “food” to indicate hunger, and “drink” to indicate thirst. The baby’s ability to request exactly what he or she wants makes everything run more smoothly. Parents don’t have to go through the lengthy process of trying to figure out what their child needs, and baby gets the satisfaction of being understood.

It may take a few months of teaching before a baby starts catching on to sign language, but they will still be signing long before becoming verbal. Teaching your child sign language will take diligence, but the payoff is great.

In today’s world, where most people are connected to the world at large through various technologies, it can be difficult to resist the drift towards a uniform language system. Canada’s frozen North is home to Inuit people that are trying to preserve their ancient language known as Inuktitut. Although greater connectivity has the potential to decrease the use of a unique language, it has also opened up many new ways to preserve them.

Use of a laptop outside an igloo

The Inuktitut language has been handed down through the generations for centuries through a strong oral tradition. In the 1800s, missionaries created a syllabic script for some Native American languages, and this was later adapted to include the Inuktitut language. The missionary, Edmund Peck, encouraged the use of this syllabary across the Canadian North, and translated the bible into Inuktitut.

Until the 1950′s, Inuit people in Canada were relatively isolated from the Western culture and influences. After that time, the government started offering education, housing, and health care to Northern communities and Inuit culture was disrupted. As they moved away from living off of the land, and were educated in English-speaking schools, they quickly started to lose their traditional way of life and language. There is now significant pressure to preserve the Inuit language and culture while there is still time.

Modern computers and internet access provide great opportunities for Inuktitut to be recorded and learned. Electronic dictionaries, journal publications, Inuktitut fonts, and online lessons are just a few of the tools that are helping to preserve and revive this old language. Ultimately, preserving the language of Inuktitut is about helping current generations of Inuit connect with their history and culture.