Sorani Kurdish Joins Google Translate: A Preservation Effort
Last May, Google quietly expanded its language offerings on Google Translate, adding Sorani Kurdish, alongside other languages such as Twi, a language from Ghana, and Dogri from northern India. The announcement, detailed in a short blog post, highlighted Google’s new “zero-shot machine translation” system and the collaborative efforts of native speakers, academics, and linguists. This expansion marks a significant step in digital language preservation, particularly for languages often underrepresented in the tech sphere.
Bokan Hassan’s Crucial Role in Bringing Sorani Kurdish to Google Translate
Central to the Sorani Kurdish integration was Bokan Hassan, also known as Bokan Jaff, a 31-year-old from Halabja, Iraq. Graduating from the University of Sulaimani in 2014 with an English degree, Hassan faced challenges in securing traditional employment. This led him to take on various translation projects, and his neighbors frequently sought his assistance. A common observation from these neighbors was the absence of Sorani Kurdish on most automated translation platforms. This underscored the need for initiatives like Google Translate’s inclusion, emphasizing the importance of preserving and promoting linguistic diversity within the digital realm, something that is relevant in Africa, which is home to many languages with similar challenges.
Keywords
Related Keywords: Sorani Kurdish preservation, Sorani Kurdish Google Translate, Kurdish language translation, translate Sorani Kurdish, save Sorani Kurdish, Sorani Kurdish language, Google Translate Sorani, Kurdish language support, endangered language, Kurdish language online
