The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
Issue link: https://thelinguist.uberflip.com/i/1379045
@Linguist_CIOL Call My Subtitler! And she'd better be able to swear in several languages, 14/3/21 The [Call My Agent!] dialogue is machinegun fast. There are jokes that rely on whether people address each other as vous or tu – and yet Britons, and many others round the world, are in stitches. For this – and for much foreign-language lockdown viewing pleasure, from Lupin to the Deutschland series – we must thank the subtitlers, the unsung heroes of some really good telly. Their task is far from straightforward. What the papers say… 'Snowdon' May Have its own Beauty, But Yr Wyddfa is the Name I'll be Using, 30/4/21 It shouldn't be a cause for comment, but language is political, with painful memories of colonialism and language suppression by the English in the Welsh collective consciousness… To use the name Yr Wyddfa, which has been spoken on the lips of those who have lived on and around the mountain for far longer than history can record, is to resist attempts to annihilate our linguistic identity. The latest from the languages world Aston Uni set to axe languages NEWS & EDITORIAL Māori are Trying to Save their Language from Big Tech, 28/4/21 The small staff of Māori language broadcasters and one engineer were about to become pioneers in indigenous speech recognition technology. But building the tools was only half the battle. Te Hiku soon found itself fending off corporate entities trying to develop their own indigenous data sets and resisting detrimental western approaches to data sharing. Guarding their data became the priority because the only people truly interested in revitalising the M āori language were the Māori people, themselves. JUNE/JULY The Linguist 5 Aztec hieroglyphs, previously dismissed as a simple form of communication, are in fact a highly sophisticated writing system, according to linguistic anthropologist Gordon Whittaker. His groundbreaking research claims that rather than signifying a limited number of words and numerals, the characters map to every syllable in the Nahuatl language, and may therefore express tens of thousands of words. "Sadly, many scholars over the centuries have tended to dismiss the Aztecs' hieroglyphic system because it looked to Europeans like picture-writing," explained Professor Whittaker, who has been studying the script for 20 years. A reluctance to put Aztec literature on an "equal footing" with Western literature "played a role", he added. Aston University has announced plans to close its language department to new students in September. The University and College Union (UCU) vowed to resist the move after its members voted unanimously to fight it. Calling it "reckless academic vandalism", they pointed out that the proposed closure would also put the Routes into Languages outreach programme at risk in the West Midlands, and increase barriers to inclusion. The history department is also set to close, with 11 undergraduate courses and 24 staff positions affected in total. If the move goes ahead all language courses will end by 2026. Aston is among the few UK institutions that have maintained a focus on high-level language work and the decision will have "far reaching implications for these important disciplines". Thousands have signed a petition opposing the cuts (see cutt.ly/Aston_UCU). Aztec script: new revelations A survey of interpreters has confirmed that most professionals find remote simultaneous interpreting (RSI) harder than in-person work, while half believe they do not perform as well remotely. More than 850 interpreters in 19 countries responded to the École Supérieure d'Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) questionnaire, with 83% stating that RSI was 'more difficult'. The majority consider remote working conditions to be worse than on-site conditions and reported that the fees are the same or lower for RSI. Zoom was identified as the leading platform, with 73% using it for more than half of their RSI work. Yet despite the challenges, 64% of respondents said they wanted to continue with remote assignments. cutt.ly/ESIT_RSI Interpreters find 'remote' harder 'ASTON UNIVERSITY MAIN BUILDING', CHRISTOPHE FINOT VIA WIKIPEDIA (CC BY-SA 3.0|)