Can Facebook save endangered languages? 臉書可以拯救瀕臨絕種的語言？

The future of a dying language depended on translating the word "poke."

即將滅亡的語言的未來取決於翻譯「戳」這個字。

For three weeks, about half a dozen defenders of the Corsican language worked together to translate some of the most common English terms used on Facebook: "friend," "like," "invite" and, of course, "poke."

三週以來，約六個科西嘉語言的辯護人一起努力翻譯一些臉書上最常見的英文用詞：「好友」、「讚」、「邀請」，當然也包括「戳」。

The word they settled on for poke, "stuzzicà," roughly means to alert or tease someone. It's like saying "yoo-hoo or cuckoo," according to Vannina Bernard-Leoni, who helped spearhead the translation effort.

根據對於翻譯界有著先鋒貢獻的Vannina Bernard-Leoni表示，他們最後決定「戳」的翻譯為「stuzzicà」大概的意思就是發出警告或是拿某人開玩笑，這個字就像是在說「唷呼～或是噗咕」。

"It was good to try to find not only a literal translation, but really a very vernacular translation, very close to popular expression in Corsican," she said. "It was beautiful work."

她說：「找出不只是字面上意思的翻譯是很好的事，但又要一個非常科西嘉語地方方言的翻譯很貼近流行用語的表達，這是一個很美好的工作。」

The unusual linguistic exercise was the first step in a two-year campaign that involved an estimated 2,000 participants collaborating to translate everyday words, symbols and Facebook phrases into Corsican.

這個特別的雙語活動的是從一個兩年活動中開始，這個活動估計有2000人參與合作，每天將一些字、符號和臉書的片語翻譯成科西嘉語。

The goal was to convince Facebook (FB, Tech30) to recognize Corsican as an option for users, thereby giving the endangered language a home on the world's largest social network -- and perhaps a firmer place in the 21st century.

目標是希望說服臉書認可科西嘉語，成為用戶能使用的語言選項之一，此一來就可以讓即將消失的語言在世界最大的社群網路中有一席之地，而且臉書對於科西嘉語來說可能是在21世紀中能更穩定保存的地方。

On Thursday, Facebook announced that it is now available in Corsican and two other additional languages, bringing its total number of language options to 101.

星期四臉書宣布現在已經有科西嘉語這個選項，還有另外新增兩種語言，總計提供101種語言的選項。

There are more than 6,000 languages in the world, half of which are expected to disappear by the end of this century, according to UNESCO.

在世界上有超過6000種語言，根據聯合國教科文組織預期，其中有一半將會在這個世紀末滅亡。

Corsican, a romance language similar to Italian, has been classified as "definitely endangered" by UNESCO, which means "children no longer learn the language as mother tongue in the home."

科西嘉語，是一個羅馬語系的語言，近似義大利文，被聯合國教科文組織歸類於「瀕臨危險的語言」，這個等級代表「小孩不再以母語在家學習這種語言」。

To date, Facebook has added translation options for nine of these endangered languages, including Basque, Welsh and Tamazight. Another nine endangered languages, including Cherokee and Yiddish, are in the process of being translated.

目前臉書增加了9種這些瀕臨危險的語言翻譯選項，其中包括巴斯克語、威爾士語、柏柏爾語。另外9種瀕臨危險的語言包括切羅基語、意第緒語正在翻譯過程中。

The translations are largely put together by crowdsourcing from local communities through aFacebook translate app. But Facebook does have to dedicate engineers to work with the communities and write code to support variations of each language.

這些翻譯大部份是來自當地社區透過一支臉書的翻譯app，由群眾共同提供，但臉書也投入工程師與社區居民一起努力，並撰寫程式碼來支援每一種語言的差異。

"This isn't a ROI type part of the business," says Iris Orriss, director of internationalization and localization at Facebook, using the acronym for return on investment. "The mission for Facebook is to enable people to share and make the world more open and connected. Language is such a vital part of connectivity."

臉書國際化與在地化的經理Iris Orriss表示：「這並不是商業裡面ROI的一部分」用投資報酬率的縮寫表示，「這個任務對臉書來說，是要讓人們能分享，讓世界更開放，並連結在一起，語言就是連結裡重要的一環。」

Orriss says Facebook may be able to help endangered languages stay relevant for the next generation.

Orriss表示臉書可能能夠幫助瀕臨危險的語言，讓下一個世代繼續使用。

"Often ... the younger generation speaks the language, but doesn't care about it as much because the broad language of communication is often another one like English," Orriss says. By bringing it to Facebook, it shows the language "can be fun and can be exciting," she adds. "It's not just old books."

Orriss說：「常常…年輕一輩的世代講這種語言，但並不太在乎，因為廣泛能溝通的語言通常是另一種語言，像是英文」藉由把這些語言帶入臉書中，顯示這些語言「可以變得有趣、讓人興奮」，他補充「這些語言變得不再只是古老的書籍。」

Bernard-Leoni, 35, first became interested in bringing Corsican to Facebook in late 2014 after she heard the social network had recognized Breton, another endangered language.

Bernard-Leoni，35歲，在2014年，在她聽完社群網絡已經承認布裏多尼語（另外一種瀕臨危險的語言）之後，最先開始對於將科西嘉語帶入臉書的活動感興趣。

She was born in Corsica, a small French island in the Mediterranean, but left at the age of 18 to study abroad and travel. She returned a decade later for a position at the University of Corsica -- with renewed conviction for the future of her culture.

她在科西嘉島出生，一個地中海的法國小島，但18歲就到國外讀書、旅行，她在十年後她抱著對自己文化發展與過去不同的信念返鄉回到科西嘉大學任職—並重新堅定她的文化的未來。

"I'm convinced that in Corsica we can be very attached to our past, our values, our culture and our language and at the same time be absolutely open to the world," she says. "I think this Facebook translation is a perfect illustration of this vision."

她說：「我相信在科西嘉島，我們可以很熱愛我們的過去、我們的價值、我們的文化和我們的語言，而同時也可以分享給世界。我想這個臉書翻譯就是這個願景的最佳例證。」

Bernard-Leoni helped organize a small team, coordinating mostly through a Facebook Groups page, to translate an initial batch of keywords to submit to Facebook. The company then gave the green light for a broader crowdsourced effort.

Bernard-Leoni協助組織一個小組，通常透過臉書群組頁面來協調，翻譯一個關鍵字的最初版本提交給臉書，然後公司機會給予綠燈號，讓更廣泛的大眾能一起幫忙。

The hope from Thursday's launch, she adds, is that "all Corsican people understand that there is a language for everybody."

這份希望在星期四被點燃了，她又說：「所有的科西嘉人民都知道，現在這個語言分享給所有的人了。」

Facebook isn't the first tech company to offer support to endangered languages. Microsoft(MSFT, Tech30) and Google (GOOGL, Tech30) have launched projects to research, record and translate regional dialects -- with mixed success.

臉書並不是第一家給予瀕臨危險語言支持的科技公司，微軟和谷歌都有執行過調查、記錄並翻譯地區方言的專案，也有些成功過。

"It looks impressive to an outsider, but if you sit down with a native speaker they will tell you the translation quality is laughable," says K. David Harrison, a linguistics professor at Swarthmore College who has worked with businesses like Microsoft on these efforts.

曾與微軟合作致力於這些成果的斯沃斯摩爾學院語言學教授K. David Harrison說：「這讓門外漢印象深刻，但如果你和一個當地母語者坐下來聊天，他們會告訴你這些翻譯品質很可笑」

Some communities are embarrassed by the translations online, while others see it as a positive for the language, flawed as it may be, according to Harrison.

Harrison說有些社區居民在線上翻譯覺得尷尬，當其他人認為這是一個對語言的正向加分，同時也有人認為是扣分。

"Just seeing your language on a drop-down menu on Facebook is encouraging," he says. "They want to cross the digital divide with their language and they don't want to have to leave it behind."

他說：「只是在臉書的下拉式選單中看到你自己的語言是一件鼓舞人心的事，他們希望能跨越數位與他們的語言的分界線，而他們不需要把自己的語言拋到腦後。」