In a significant boost for the preservation and promotion of regional languages, Google has announced the addition of Tulu to its translation services. This announcement, made on June 27, introduces Tulu among 110 new languages added to Google Translate.
With this development, users can now translate Tulu words and phrases using Google Translate, a tool expected to enhance the understanding and dissemination of the Tulu language. Spoken by over 2.5 million people, the inclusion of Tulu has been a source of immense pride for its speakers, especially since it has not yet been recognized in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution.
U B Pavanaja, an IT expert, emphasized the considerable effort involved in incorporating a new language into Google Translate. “Adding any language to Google Translate requires extensive work. Long words and sentences in Tulu need to be integrated into the machine learning system. Google’s decision to include Tulu acknowledges its importance to over 2.5 million speakers. This is a monumental achievement.”
Pavanaja noted that the current translations for Tulu on Google Translate are in an initial phase and may contain inaccuracies. He stressed the importance of users providing correct translations in the feedback section rather than sharing incorrect ones on social media. “Currently, Tulu translation is only available on the web, but it may be integrated into the Google Translate app in the future.”
He explained that the integration process for languages into Google Translate relies on natural language processing. “Languages are integrated using either rule-based or statistical-based methods. For statistical-based languages, a substantial corpus is required. Around 2 million translated sentences, including nouns and verbs, are added to the system. The machine learns and refines the language through usage.”
Pavanaja also mentioned that Tulu might soon be available in tools for Wikipedia translations, where currently only Kannada is supported. “This addition will enrich Tulu language translation capabilities,” he added.
Tharanath Gatty Kapikad, president of the Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy, hailed the inclusion of Tulu in Google Translate as a global recognition of the language. “The addition of Tulu to Google Translate is an honor for the language. Tuluvas should celebrate this achievement. It’s common for some words to be mistranslated in Google Translate. However, by providing the correct words in the feedback column, users can help improve the accuracy of Tulu translations. This feature will benefit both Tuluvas and non-Tuluvas.”
The inclusion of Tulu in Google Translate marks a significant milestone for the language, offering new opportunities for its preservation and wider use.
