Google Translate has been updated to include approximately 110 additional languages. As part of its 1000 AI-powered language support initiative, Google has started rolling out enhanced language support on the platform. With the latest update, users can now translate Indian languages such as Awadhi, Punjabi and Marwari, among other regional dialects via Google Translate.
‘Google’s Biggest Expansion To Date’
Earlier, Google Translate offered support for 133 languages, thus, making the new update its biggest expansion to date. The introduction of these 110 new languages was facilitated by Google’s PaLM 2 AI language model, which excelled at learning languages with similarities.
According to Google’s Isaac Caswell, the model was particularly effective with languages closely related to one another, such as Awadhi and Marwari, which are similar to Hindi, and French creoles like Seychellois Creole and Mauritian Creole.
“Google Translate breaks down language barriers to help people connect and better understand the world around them. We’re always applying the latest technologies so more people can access this tool: In 2022, we added 24 new languages using Zero-Shot Machine Translation, where a machine learning model learns to translate into another language without ever seeing an example. And we announced the 1,000 Languages Initiative, a commitment to build AI models that will support the 1,000 most spoken languages around the world,” Isaac Caswell, Senior Software Engineer, Google Translate, said in a statement.
“Now, we’re using AI to expand the variety of languages we support. Thanks to our PaLM 2 large language model, we’re rolling out 110 new languages to Google Translate, our largest expansion ever,” Caswell.
Newly Supported Languages In Google Translate
Punjabi (Shahmukhi) is the variety of Punjabi written in Perso-Arabic script (Shahmukhi), and is the most spoken language in Pakistan.
Tamazight (Amazigh) is a Berber language spoken across North Africa. Although there are many dialects, the written form is generally mutually understandable. It’s written in Latin script and Tifinagh script, both of which Google Translate supports.
Tok Pisin is an English-based creole and the lingua franca of Papua New Guinea. If you speak English, try translating into Tok Pisin — you might be able to make out the meaning!
Afar is a tonal language spoken in Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia. Of all the languages in this launch, Afar had the most volunteer community contributions.
Cantonese has long been one of the most requested languages for Google Translate. Because Cantonese often overlaps with Mandarin in writing, it’s tricky to find data and train models.
Manx is the Celtic language of the Isle of Man. It almost went extinct with the death of its last native speaker in 1974. But thanks to an island-wide revival movement, there are now thousands of speakers.
NKo is a standardised form of the West African Manding languages that unifies many dialects into a common language. Its unique alphabet was invented in 1949, and it has an active research community that develops resources and technology for it today.