History
Writing Joyfully
While the traditional Ranjana script is recognized and respected in Nepal, most people can’t read or write it due to centuries of restriction and oppression. Now, thanks to local efforts at teaching calligraphy, it’s making a comeback.
Throughlines of Genius
By analyzing the frequency of letters in an Arabic text, ninth-century scholar Abu Yusuf al-Kindi established a framework for identifying patterns that laid the groundwork for both cryptography and machine translation.
Seventy Years of Machine Translation
This year marks 70 years since the first public demonstration of machine translation (MT), which arguably sparked the language AI revolution that we see today. On January 7, 1954, a team from Georgetown University and IBM automatically translated 60 Russian sentences into English.
Culture
Astrolabe with Arabic, Hebrew writing sheds new light on interfaith science
A recently discovered astrolabe shows evidence of an unexpected collaboration between historic faith communities.
Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Using three examples of poor translations that changed the course of history, Ewandro Magalhães illustrates the tough job of interpreters in the arena of international diplomacy and how they can also serve as catalysts for understanding and reconciliation.
Culture
Pi Day reveals origins of pi symbol
Everyone knows about pi, the world’s most famous irrational number. And just as recognizable is the pi symbol: 𝝅. But how did that symbol come to be?
Women and the Language Industry
Industry veterans Inger Larsen, Silvia Benassi, and Nancy Pollini witnessed the massive expansion of language work alongside globalization and advancements in computer technology, and they experienced similar challenges and triumphs along the way — many directly tied to their gender.