Language Translation

Language translation involves rendering one spoken or written human language into another.

Language translation does not involve the process of translating coding languages to other coding languages.

Language translation and computer programming:

Language translation in the context of computer programming involves rendering the human language accessed by the user into another human language. The purpose of this is to make situations in this context available to people who speak different languages.

Language translation in this context can occur at the following levels:

• Information that is displayed to the user
• Information that is retrieved from the user
• Information that is programmed by developers
• Almost any situation where a user will interact with the application or development of the application.

Translation of human languages in this context can be achieved in two primary ways:

1. Human translation from one language into another
2. Automated (robot) translation from one language into another

More on human translation:

Human translation from one language into another can be achieved by a person who is knowledgeable in both languages. Human translations are imperfect and are therefore often reviewed by other translators or interpreters. Human translations of applications are very common in order to provide user interfaces in different languages.

More on automated translation:

Automated translation from one language into another involves a program which uses algorithms and pre-programmed rules of grammar, vocabulary, and linguistics to try to accurately achieve translation. These translations are currently imperfect as these programs poorly understand context, human emotion, and cannot obtain a sense of the languages it translates. These automated translation methods provide many benefits for developers as they can provide one-click translations of websites and in some cases, applications.

More on Human Languages

Examples of human languages:

• English
• Spanish
• Mandarin
• French
• Italian
• Arabic
• Farsi/Persian
• Cantonese
• Russian
• Japanese
• Korean
• German
• Latin
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Polish

It is important to note that languages are dynamic and therefore change over time and also may have different dialects and varieties.

A dialect of a language is a variety of a language spoken in a certain region or demographic. Dialects may also be referred to as varieties, depending on the cultural context. Dialects/varieties are also subject to change over time. This is most visible in forms of media, such as the written word, collected of a span of time.

Certain languages may have many spoken dialects/varieties, but may not differ in writing. Many languages with dialects/varieties also have a standardized version. Note that just because there is a standardized version in existence, this DOES NOT imply that it is to be considered objectively correct.

Non-exhaustive list of examples of languages that contain multiple dialects:

• English
• Arabic
• German
• French

English, Arabic, German, and French all have a standardized version of the language that are maintained by linguistic organisations exert authority on this version.

Certain languages may be considered 'dead' languages. This means that the language is no longer or rarely spoken in practical situations and the evolution of said language is thusly slow or has halted. These languages are usually studied in an academic context in order to study written forms of it in collected texts from the past.

Examples of 'dead' languages:

• Aramaic
• Sumerian
• Ancient Greek