The Brazilian Translator

Cambodia publishes its first Khmer dictionary in 6 decades

For the first time in 67 years, an official Khmer dictionary, "Spelling Dictionary of the Cambodian Language," was published last week by the Institute of National Languages. It is the first official update on the "Cambodian Dictionary" produced under the direction of Abbot Chhuon Nath of the Buddhist Institute in 1938, officials was quoted by The Cambodia Daily on Thursday as saying.

Meach Pon, a language expert with the Buddhist Institute who worked on the new book, said it contains 41,000 words, some 20,000 more words than Chhuon Nath's Khmer-to-Khmer opus.

"If we had had enough budget to collect more usage data, it could probably have had 60,000 words," he said. "We did not have the budget to add definitions or examples yet."

Meach Pon said the new dictionary does not attempt to include slang and mainly adds new economic, scientific and legal terms that were not devised as of 1938.

San Peou, permanent secretary-general for the Institute of National Languages at the Royal Academy of Cambodia, said the book was printed with the help of the NGO International Institute of Cambodia, which will sell the book for 7 US dollars.

Work on the dictionary started in 1998, he said, and a team of 20 people discussed each word in meticulous detail.

- via Xinhua

Intervista a Serge Quadruppani

Serge Quadruppani è scrittore di libri gialli/noir nonché traduttore di Camilleri ed Evangelisti.

Received Pronounciation

Amid the rich variety of British regional accents one always stood apart as the benchmark by which all speech should be judged - Received Pronunciation, the accent of "educated south-eastern England". But RP is little heard these days. So how do people react when confronted with a cut-glass English accent of old?

Long before the likes of Jonathan Ross, Kirsty Wark and Terry Wogan graced our TV screens, BBC presenters spoke in the clipped, defined tones known as Received Pronunciation. So synonymous was Received Pronunciation (RP) with the broadcaster that it also came to be known as BBC English. Now, of course, the airwaves are crackling with regional accents which are celebrated as a reflection of British diversity. But as the BBC embarks on its Voices week, billed as an exploration of the UK's countless dialects, it seems RP has slumped from being the voice of the nation to minority, even endangered, status. Amid the trend for regional inflections and the seemingly unstoppable spread of the classless so-called Estuary English, even the Queen - once the gatekeeper of RP - is said to have changed her pronunciation.

SPEAKING UP There are variations of RP Its key characteristics are clipped consonants and elongated vowels Practising with a cork between the teeth can help.

Given that it is so little heard these days, how do people react on hearing this almost antiquated accent? Not being a native RP speaker - despite my upbringing in leafy Surrey - I first needed a little coaching. The Central School of Speech and Drama, one of the country's best and most respected acting colleges, seemed a natural place to go for help. Performance coach Darren Smallridge, and head of professional development Bruce Wooding, gave me a crash course in learning the basics of this cut-glass accent, although their techniques were somewhat unorthodox. For example, wedging a cork in my mouth and attempting to read lines from Julius Caesar was invaluable, helping me keep the tongue flat and speaking with restricted lip movement, but I did feel like a snake who had tried to open a wine bottle with his fangs, only to get stuck. Darren and Bruce were, however, remarkable tutors. After only a short time I had at least grasped the basics of RP. But how would it go down with the public?

I headed for London's Covent Garden to road-test my new accent on the assembled mix of locals and tourists. Spying a group of Japanese visitors I introduced myself with a slow drawl and a closely clipped stiff-upper lip. "Good day," I began, and several camera-phones were thrust in my general direction. After a few minutes an excited circle formed - and soon drifted away.

Curiosity value

I was fairly sure they had mistaken me for some kind of street theatre. A few attempts later though, I was on a roll. American tourists in particular seemed to love it, perhaps mistaking me for a Hugh Grant impersonator. A few were slightly scared by my over-enthusiastic use of the phrase "Dear fellow", but a woman named Judy seemed especially enamoured with the accent. "Can I take you home to the ranch?" she said in a rich Texan drawl. I declined, graciously, but among the tourists it seemed I was a hit. It was a different matter with my fellow countrymen. The group of builders I tried to befriend with the phrase "Ah, working gentlemen. How awfully nice!" did not appear to be impressed. I escaped with a quick "Toodle-pip," but couldn't help feeling disheartened. But perhaps the most surprising trend was the very lack of reaction my accent caused in most cases.

Public speaking

Despite trying my best to be obnoxiously RP to David Green - a distinctly wise man I met in Leicester Square - he simply replied "Its not where you come from it's where you're going," and shook me warmly by the hand.

The policemen I pounced on were also unperturbed, as were a further four or five Londoners who, after a slightly wary start, soon addressed me as normal. It seemed that even though RP is little heard on the streets of London, neither does it provoke the resentment and ridicule I had expected. It was only on the Tube ride home that the place of RP in today's Britain became clearer. For the first time I realised that the well-spoken warnings of the Transport for London public address system were, in fact, delivered in Received Pronunciation. I was elated - and in my joy I started to think. Perhaps we expect RP where we expect authority. The class system has drifted away in the main, but in the accents of those we allow to speak to us (the Tube, the BBC, the Royal family and so on) we maybe appreciate this hangover of colonial-era Britain. I, however, won't be carrying my RP techniques into daily conversation, although I hope to retain the basics for when I next visit Texas. I could use a place to stay.

- By Michael Rundle, BBC News

Millor Fernandes e a língua

Sobre Shakespeare: «Gosto de trabalhar com o português, embora inglês seja a que eu mais leio. Nunca tive temor de nada. Deve-se julgar as obras pelo que elas têm de qualidade, não por serem de fulano ou beltrano. Shakespeare fez muita besteira, mas tem três ou quatro obras perfeitas, e Macbeth é uma delas. Traduzi Shakespeare por ser do caralho, mas se me dessem algo ruim para traduzir, dizendo que era um pensamento dele ou de Confúcio, perguntaria se era mesmo dele ou de um completo idiota.» Portugal-Brasil: «Nem sempre é fácil entender um português e há filmes portugueses que só conseguimos ver com legendas. O que acontece é que temos dificuldade de entender o português de Portugal mais pela eufonia e pela prosódia que pelos vocábulos em si mesmos. Não sei se os portugueses passam pelo mesmo problema, mas o fato é que, até os anos 30, todo ator brasileiro imitava sotaque português para ser respeitado e, hoje, nossa influência em Portugal é total. A telenovela entra lá, e não adianta o intelectual português ficar contra, porque o povo acha engraçado o jeito de a gente falar, e termina copiando. Já usam expressões como "estou a dar a volta por cima, o pá!", lá do jeito deles, com sotaque, mas usam.» O estrangeirismo empobrece a língua portuguesa? «De maneira nenhuma. Antigamente, tivemos palavras como porta-seios, uma coisa muito feia, que felizmente foi substituída pelo galicismo "sutiã". Toda língua é invadida e, como mulher, fecundada. De vez em quando a nossa leva na bunda, mas nada que, lavada, não fique novinha. Houve tempo em que o galicismo era uma aberração. Não se podia escrever "amante", mas "amásia". Era assustador.» Os presidentes brasileiros a falar português: «Fernando Henrique diz besteiras o tempo todo. Como um cara inteligente diz que o povo deveria fazer checkup e que tem o pé na cozinha? Teria o pé na África e olhe lá. [...] Lula diz bobagens do tipo "as mulheres são desaforadas". Diz também sem saber o que está dizendo. Pensa que está elogiando, sendo engraçadinho, mas não tem noção das palavras. Ocorre que ele tem pronúncia até melhor que o FHC. [...] Já Sarney é o Lula em barroco. Escreve um romance débil mental e passa a ser considerado uma revolução nas letras nacionais.» Sobre Camões: «Veja, no entanto, um escritor como Camões. Ao se dirigir ao rei Dom Sebastião, o poeta afirma que "a disciplina militar prestante / não se aprende, senhor, na fantasia, / sonhando, imaginando ou estudando, / senão vendo, tratando e pelejando". Repare que ele não diz "tratando, pelejando e vendo" - pois seria o caso de um sujeito que sai na porrada sem pensar. Quem não sabe escrever não cria esse tipo de hierarquia, pouco importa.» Sobre Paulo Coelho: «Vende muito, mas é merecidamente desprezado porque faz uma merda de literatura.»

A entrevista está aqui.

Le blog

Le blog fait son entrée au Petit Larousse. Pour sa 101e édition, en vente le 7 juillet prochain, Le Petit Larousse intègre une centaine de nouveaux mots (contre quatre cents pour l'édition précédente, celle du centenaire du célèbre dictionnaire). Parmi les heureux élus, quatre termes issus du champ des technologies de l'information : « blog » (une nouvelle génération de site Internet), « bluetooth » (connexion sans fil), « cybercriminalité » et « téléopérateur ».

Lionbridge buys Bowne Global Solutions

The second and the third largest companies in the localization industry merge to form the number 1 company in the market. In what must hold some sort of record as the most excruciatingly long buy-out in history, Lionbridge (LIOX) finally announced that it acquired the language services assets of Bowne & Co. (BNE). Lionbridge’s purchase of Bowne Global Solutions (BGS) is the latest acquisition re-shaping the language industry. Since Lionbridge’s shelf registration of US$130 million in February, observers have speculated on where the company would put its cash and equity. Bowne concurrently shopped its language services unit. The deal was closed for US$180 million dollars, which translates into a valuation for BGS of 0.8 times 2004 revenues.

French answer to Google library

The French, concerned that the internet is in danger of becoming the exclusive preserve of the English language, are responding to Google's project to put 15 million books and documents online with their own French version: Gallica. This href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/4619019.stm">BBC article tells more.

Asbo? Chav? Retrosexual?

The latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary has been published, including 1,500 new words reflecting recent changes in language and culture.

Among the new words is "chav" - defined as "a young working class person who dresses in casual sports clothing".

Another new inclusion is "property porn", defined as "a genre of escapist TV programmes, magazine features etc, showing desirable properties for sale, especially those in idyllic locations, or in need of renovation, or both".

Sport is well represented, with new terms including "tapping up" - defined as "the illicit practice of attempting to recruit a player while he is still bound by contract to another team".

Other football-inspired entries include "bouncebackability" - or the "ability to recover after a setback, particularly in sport", which the dictionary says is regarded as having first been coined by Crystal Palace manager Ian Dowie.

'Vibrant'

And "squeaky-bum time", first coined by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, is defined as "the tense final stages of a league competition, especially from the point of view of the leaders".

Other new words are "adultescent" - an adult still actively interested in youth culture, "brand Nazi" - a person who insists on buying one particular brand of clothing or other commodity, and "exhibition killing" - the murder of a hostage by terrorists, filmed for broadcast on television or the internet.

Also included are "Asbo", the acronym of Anti-Social Behaviour Order, and "retrosexual", a heterosexual man who spends little time on his appearance.

The dictionary's editor-in-chief said it reflected a "vibrant" society.

The dictionary suggests the word chav may have come from the Romany term "chavi", meaning child.

'Property porn'

Elaborating on the theme, the tome also includes "chavette" - a female chav - and the adjectives "chavish" and "chavtastic" - designed for or suitable for chavs.

The chav's equivalents from Ireland - "skanger", Scotland - "ned" and East Anglia - "yarco", also get a mention.

Dictionary editor-in-chief Jeremy Butterfield said: "People have taken possession of language and are ever more inventive about the way they use it.

"The new words in this edition do not only reflect change in our culture, but a change in the way we use our language.

"They portray a vibrant, multicultural society finding new ways to express itself and describe the world around it."

- via BBC

LanguageSpeak, el negocio del arte de traducir

Desde su oficina en South Miami, Annette Taddeo se entera de casi todo lo que pasa en Miami: cumbres de negocios, visitas de personalidades o juicios contra narcotraficantes.

Y es que gracias a estos eventos su empresa de traducciones LanguageSpeak Inc. ha logrado crecer en los últimos años no sólo en esta ciudad, sino también a nivel nacional.

''Nos hemos organizado de tal forma, que podemos afrontar diferentes retos'', dijo Taddeo, fundadora, presidenta y directora ejecutiva de LanguageSpeak.

En el 2003, por ejemplo, estuvo a cargo de todas las traducciones simultáneas de las reuniones gubernamentales y empresariales de la Cumbre del Area de Libre Comercio de las Américas (ALCA), lo que requirió organizar a 80 intérpretes en español, inglés, francés y portugués. Muchos vinieron de distintas partes de Estados Unidos y Latinoamérica.

Pero también se hizo cargo de las traducciones de los documentos del encuentro y para lograrlo montó un sistema a través de la internet. Los traductores que contactó ''por todas partes del mundo'', pudieron realizar su trabajo sin trasladarse de sus países de origen, al poder recibir los documentos por la internet y reenviarlos por la misma vía, una vez traducidos.

''Fue un trabajo muy intenso, pero muy significativo para nosotros'', enfatizó Taddeo, de 38 años.

Cuando ella fundó la empresa en Miami, en 1995, se propuso crear una base de datos de traductores, integrada hoy por más de 275 profesionales de todas partes del mundo, incluido Miami, a quienes constantemente contacta para diferentes trabajos. En la oficina propiamente trabajan ocho personas y su esposo, el sicólogo Eric Goldstein, es el director de Operaciones.

Sin duda, LanguageSpeak se mantiene en acción gracias a la presencia cada vez mayor de hispanos en Miami. Aun en el Departamento de Justicia, cada vez demandan más sus servicios. Taddeo no olvida un juicio contra un narcotraficante latino, en el cual tuvieron que traducir la grabación de una conversación efectuada en un servicio sanitario. No sólo era una situación incómoda, contó, sino que durante la conversación se dijeron muchas palabrotas y algunas partes eran casi inaudibles.

''Pero no podemos darnos el lujo de cometer errores'', dijo Taddeo, quien asegura que en 10 años no han tenido que utilizar el seguro contra errores.

Más allá de Miami, la empresa también ha logrado hacer camino. Ha estado al frente de traducciones en reuniones de la Casa Blanca, sobre todo con mandatarios latinoamericanos; en el Departamento de Comercio y en la política. LanguageSpeak realizó traducciones al español en la campaña del candidato demócrata para la presidencia John Kerry (Taddeo fue presidenta del grupo de Mujeres por Kerry a nivel nacional y actualmente es vicepresidenta del Consejo Nacional de Negocios del Partido Demócrata).

El interés de las grandes compañías por los consumidores hispanos en EEUU es otra de las oportunidades que ha sabido aprovechar Taddeo, quien se especializó en español comercial y negocios en la Universidad de Alabama. La empresa se ha hecho cargo de la traducción al español de la página web de Office Depot; los anuncios publicitarios de Tiffany & Co. y recientemente de ING Financial Services.

En la cartera de clientes figuran, entre otros, American Express, Discovery Channel, Ernst & Young, Greenberg Traurig, Kodak, Neighborhood Health Plan y Oracle.

Pero si hay algo que siempre hace Taddeo, es combinar sus obligaciones de negocios con actividades comunales. Forma parte del National Forum of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, de las juntas de directores de las cámaras de comercio del Gran Miami y Miami Beach, y preside la Coalición de Cámaras de Comercio del condado Miami-Dade.

Y por su trayectoria en ambos campos no ha dejado de cosechar éxitos. Parte de la decoración de su oficina son los premios que ha recibido de organizaciones como Women in International Trade, South Florida Business Journal, Hispanic Business y Business Enterprise National Council. A fines de mayo de este año, la publicación Miami Today, en su entrega anual de premios, le otorgó la Medalla de Bronce, en la categoría individual, y la Administración de Pequeños Negocios (SBA) la nombró Campeona del Año 2005 de las Pequeñas Empresas Minoritarias, por su papel en el National Minority Supplier Development Council.

''No hay nadie como ella en el sur de Florida que reúna las calidades de este premio'', dijo Francisco ''Pancho'' A. Marrero, director en la SBA para el distrito del sur de la Florida.

- Via El Nuevo Herald

Nine search engines compared

We took a fresh look at Google, Yahoo, and seven of their closest competitors, focusing on their interfaces, features, and functionality. While Google and Yahoo still trump their rivals in terms of overall search, we found that almost every player in our competition brought something unique to the table. For example, AOL Search offers real-time search suggestions while you type in your query; Ask Jeeves offers a cool thumbnail preview of Web pages on its search results; and LookSmart has a unique periodical search feature, plus a one-of-a-kind page archiving tool.