· August, 2009

Stories about Language from August, 2009

Israel: When Translations Go Wrong

Literal translations aren't always your best bet when moving between Hebrew and English, explains How to Be Israeli. She writes that the movie title “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” which is Biblical in tone in the native English, is translated in Hebrew as “Achi, Efo Atah?” which sounds a lot...

Nepal: Taking Oath In Hindi

  28 August 2009

Parmananda Jha, the new Vice President (VP) of Nepal stirred controversy when he took his oath in Hindi language. According to a latest court order “Mr. Jha has still some days to correct himself by retaking oath in Nepali or resign if he can not speak Nepali in front of...

Ukraine: In Chinese, Yanukovych is Yushchenko?

  21 August 2009

Evgeny Morozov of Foreign Policy's Net.Effect writes: “It turns out that when you use Google Translate to translate (from Chinese to Russian) the expression “Vote for Yanukovych” (Yanukovych was Kremlin's favorite candidate), Google gives you “Vote for Yushenko” in the translated version. Global conspiracy orchestrated by Google!”

Haiti: The Revolution & Human Rights

  13 August 2009

Repeating Islands reports that an international colloquium, scheduled to take place in Port-au-Prince, will examine “the universalization of the social, economic, political, cultural, and philosophical dimensions of human rights in the context of the legacies of the Haitian Revolution.”

Greece: Armenian singer passes away

  9 August 2009

Unknown to most Armenians, but loved by many Kurds for his songs sung in the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, Aram Tigran has passed away in Athens, Greece. Born in 1934 in Syria, Tigran's death has affected many, and not least those recognizing the important contribution he made as a cultural bridge between Armenians and Kurds.