The German language, well known for its long words, has decided that it will no longer include its longest word in its lexicon.
This particular word is
Rindfleischetikettierungsueberwachungsaufgabenuebertragungsgesetz and it
means a “law delegating beef label monitoring”. The word, introduced
in 1999, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, was even
shortened into the acronym ‘RkReUAUG’ by many speakers due to its
length. It has now been repealed following changes to EU regulations on
the testing of cattle.
To some, this is an entirely natural process. “The way language
develops is that terms will shorten over time,” says Denny Hilton, a
senior assistant editor at the Oxford English Dictionary. “It’s just how
words tend to evolve.”
However, the move may have upset Sesquipedalians – lovers of long
words – but may be welcomed by Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobics – or
those who fear long words.
The longest word to be found in the German dictionary is
kraftfahrzeughaftpflichtversicherung (36 letters) meaning “automobile
liability insurance”, although Guinness World Records also records
Rechtsschutzversicherungsgesellschaften (39 letters, meaning “insurance
firms providing legal protection”).
Now a campaign is under way to win recognition for even grander
linguistic feats. Among the contenders is said to be
donaudampfschifffahrtsgesellschaftskapitaenswitwe (49 letters), meaning
the “widow of a Danube steamboat company captain”.
However, German is not the only language to feature such long words.
“There are languages like Inuit where the whole sentence is a word –
everything goes together in one enormous contraption,” says Vivian Cook,
professor of applied linguistics at Newcastle University.
English is unlikely to ever compete with such feats, says Cook – the
Old English words from which the present-day language is derived tended
to be short and sharp.
The Oxford English Dictionary’s longest word, at 43 letters, is
pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which refers to a lung
disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust.
The longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is
floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of
Latin words meaning “nothing” and defined as “the act of estimating
something as worthless” – its usage has been recorded as far back as
1741.
However, the longest word that we’re aware of is in fact a place
name. Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch is the
name of a large village and community on the island of Anglesey in
Wales, situated on the Menai Strait next to the Britannia Bridge and
across the strait from Bangor.
We’d like to hear if you know of any words longer than
floccinaucinihilipilification or place names longer than
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
Read more: http://www.translatemedia.com/german-language-loses-longest-word.html/#ixzz2VKpiIqWf
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Cat to Human Translation Application
No, I don't mean CAT Tools, but cat the animal. The application is still in progress of development. Here what the news says:
Coming soon - a Chinese mobile app that translates cat body language and lets you know what your cat is trying to tell you - as if you didn't know already.
Although it isn't yet available, cat lovers can sign up to be notified when Māo, an app for Android and iOS, is released in the coming months.
How often have you wished that your cat, who seems to understand so much of what you say, could answer back? Well most of the time your cat is tyring to communicate - it's just that humans often fail to understand. As the Māo website puts it:
Every part of a cat's body, from the mouth to the tail, speaks volumes about how they feel. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to read their body language.
And that's where Māo hope to bridge the gap using body language and 16 distinct vocal patterns which are universal to all cats. The app is said to distinguish between the behaviour of adult cats and kittens and claims that over time it will learn to recognise parts of your cat’s unique personality and vocal characteristics by calibrating captured data to basic behavioural and vocal patterns.
SOURCE
Coming soon - a Chinese mobile app that translates cat body language and lets you know what your cat is trying to tell you - as if you didn't know already.
Although it isn't yet available, cat lovers can sign up to be notified when Māo, an app for Android and iOS, is released in the coming months.
How often have you wished that your cat, who seems to understand so much of what you say, could answer back? Well most of the time your cat is tyring to communicate - it's just that humans often fail to understand. As the Māo website puts it:
Every part of a cat's body, from the mouth to the tail, speaks volumes about how they feel. Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to read their body language.
And that's where Māo hope to bridge the gap using body language and 16 distinct vocal patterns which are universal to all cats. The app is said to distinguish between the behaviour of adult cats and kittens and claims that over time it will learn to recognise parts of your cat’s unique personality and vocal characteristics by calibrating captured data to basic behavioural and vocal patterns.
SOURCE
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Google Glass versus Google Translte
A nice column on the usage of Google Translate in Quebec, Canada.
MONTREAL - For most of the world, English is just a
language. But for us Quebec anglos it’s a cause — an endangered dialect
we’re on a constant vigil to protect.
Take alert Gazette reader Beverly Cooper who recently sent me a picture of her latest French flyer from Linen Chest, where she quickly spotted two store locations had been francisized.
The LaSalle store was no longer on Boul. Newman but was now on Boul. Nouveauman.
The downtown store wasn’t on Rue Ste-Catherine anymore but on Rue Ste-Calesrine. Obviously the letters “the” in Ste. Catherine had been translated to the French word les.
So instead of Ste. Ca-the-rine, it became Ste. Ca-les-rine.
Don’t worry, everyone, it’s not the pasta police hunting down more English words — it’s just a computer translation program that messed up bad. Programs like Google Translate are becoming common and until they work out the kinks, we’ll see more crazy errors and linguistic foe paws … er, faux pas.
Rue Penfield will probably shows up on a flyer as Rue Stylo-champs, Atwater will become À L’eau and electronic traffic websites will warn us there’s a confiture de circulation up ahead instead of a traffic jam.
Meanwhile, in computer-translated French-to-English, Rue Maisonneuve will become Newhouse St., while N.D.G. becomes O.L.G. — Our Lady of Grace,
But like all gadgetry, electronic translation will improve quickly and I’m sure Google Translate will eventually crack the language barrier. In five years we’ll probably be able to point our phone at any French word and get a perfect English translation using some app.
A French ARRÊTE sign will translate into STOP right on your screen, while an English STOP sign will translate to the French STOP.
As well, the much talked-about new Google Glasses will soon let you see your computer screen right on your glasses — so you can surf online with voice commands as you walk down the street, or drive your car — or bungee jump while watching yourself live on YouTube.
Google has announced it’s looking for more uses for these glasses, so let me suggest an idea we could use here in Quebec to end Hassles 101 — with Google Glasses 1.01.
Why not install a program on the glasses that translates all French signs and words you see into English (or vice versa) the instant you see them? The signs would still be French to the naked eye, but you’d see them in English if you looked though your glasses. Frankly, there are times when I could use “English-coloured” glasses.
As I get older my eyesight is weaker and I sometimes can’t read English that, under Bill 101, is in smaller print than the French.
For instance, over at my pharmacy there’s a blood pressure machine with bilingual instructions — but the English version has smaller lettering. So before you have a blood pressure test you need an eye test, or a French test.
I now realize these small English letters discriminate against older people — exactly the pre-Bill 101 generation that needs to read them most.
It’s worse in restaurants where I occasionally need menu help — like at a Bâton Rouge where the lighting was so dim I could barely see the French lettering, let alone the tiny English. What the heck was aiglefin anyways — I’d forgotten? Not to mention macaroni à l’effiloché du porc?
Take alert Gazette reader Beverly Cooper who recently sent me a picture of her latest French flyer from Linen Chest, where she quickly spotted two store locations had been francisized.
The LaSalle store was no longer on Boul. Newman but was now on Boul. Nouveauman.
The downtown store wasn’t on Rue Ste-Catherine anymore but on Rue Ste-Calesrine. Obviously the letters “the” in Ste. Catherine had been translated to the French word les.
So instead of Ste. Ca-the-rine, it became Ste. Ca-les-rine.
Don’t worry, everyone, it’s not the pasta police hunting down more English words — it’s just a computer translation program that messed up bad. Programs like Google Translate are becoming common and until they work out the kinks, we’ll see more crazy errors and linguistic foe paws … er, faux pas.
Rue Penfield will probably shows up on a flyer as Rue Stylo-champs, Atwater will become À L’eau and electronic traffic websites will warn us there’s a confiture de circulation up ahead instead of a traffic jam.
Meanwhile, in computer-translated French-to-English, Rue Maisonneuve will become Newhouse St., while N.D.G. becomes O.L.G. — Our Lady of Grace,
But like all gadgetry, electronic translation will improve quickly and I’m sure Google Translate will eventually crack the language barrier. In five years we’ll probably be able to point our phone at any French word and get a perfect English translation using some app.
A French ARRÊTE sign will translate into STOP right on your screen, while an English STOP sign will translate to the French STOP.
As well, the much talked-about new Google Glasses will soon let you see your computer screen right on your glasses — so you can surf online with voice commands as you walk down the street, or drive your car — or bungee jump while watching yourself live on YouTube.
Google has announced it’s looking for more uses for these glasses, so let me suggest an idea we could use here in Quebec to end Hassles 101 — with Google Glasses 1.01.
Why not install a program on the glasses that translates all French signs and words you see into English (or vice versa) the instant you see them? The signs would still be French to the naked eye, but you’d see them in English if you looked though your glasses. Frankly, there are times when I could use “English-coloured” glasses.
As I get older my eyesight is weaker and I sometimes can’t read English that, under Bill 101, is in smaller print than the French.
For instance, over at my pharmacy there’s a blood pressure machine with bilingual instructions — but the English version has smaller lettering. So before you have a blood pressure test you need an eye test, or a French test.
I now realize these small English letters discriminate against older people — exactly the pre-Bill 101 generation that needs to read them most.
It’s worse in restaurants where I occasionally need menu help — like at a Bâton Rouge where the lighting was so dim I could barely see the French lettering, let alone the tiny English. What the heck was aiglefin anyways — I’d forgotten? Not to mention macaroni à l’effiloché du porc?
Most challenging was a St. Denis St. menu where I recently faced this
dish: Magret et jambonneau de la Canardière, soubise d’oignons grillés,
cardamine carcajou, pleurotes érigées et faisselle de chèvre maison.
Sure, I could have asked for an English menu, but that’s embarrassing in your own hometown. So I held the menu close to a candle trying to read the miniscule English translation — until I saw it was singed by flames.
But my Google Glasses idea could solve all this instantly by translating any dish for you in big computer print. Imagine! There’d be no more Bill 101 hassles for anyone. American tourists could to go St. Dennis Street to a restaurant called The Express — and order the steak-fries and caramel cream.
Francophones could translate pasta into pâtes, or hamburger into hambourgeois.
The same would go for street signs. Most streets would be in French to your naked eye but a fast glance in your glasses would get you a translation. So Ave. des Pins would become Pine, St. Jacques would become St. James and Ste. Calesrine would become Ste. Catherine.
Montreal would keep its French look but we’d have a private English version, too. Everyone would be happy! We could end the sign law debate once and for all — and more.
To read this column in French please use Google Glasses, version 1.01 français.
Voilà!
Merci.
joshfreed49@gmail.com
Sure, I could have asked for an English menu, but that’s embarrassing in your own hometown. So I held the menu close to a candle trying to read the miniscule English translation — until I saw it was singed by flames.
But my Google Glasses idea could solve all this instantly by translating any dish for you in big computer print. Imagine! There’d be no more Bill 101 hassles for anyone. American tourists could to go St. Dennis Street to a restaurant called The Express — and order the steak-fries and caramel cream.
Francophones could translate pasta into pâtes, or hamburger into hambourgeois.
The same would go for street signs. Most streets would be in French to your naked eye but a fast glance in your glasses would get you a translation. So Ave. des Pins would become Pine, St. Jacques would become St. James and Ste. Calesrine would become Ste. Catherine.
Montreal would keep its French look but we’d have a private English version, too. Everyone would be happy! We could end the sign law debate once and for all — and more.
To read this column in French please use Google Glasses, version 1.01 français.
Voilà!
Merci.
joshfreed49@gmail.com
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