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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Babelfish to the rescue? #128014 04/30/2004 3:04 PM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel AnnaStrophic Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 6,511 lower upstate New York From the folks at Plain English Campaign: With the expansion of the European Union tomorrow (1 May), the list of official languages used by politicians and civil servants will rise from 11 to 20. This takes the number of potential combinations of languages to 190. In practice, the translators use a relay system to cover all possibilities. A speech in English may be dealt with first by a translator who speaks English and German, and then passed on by a second translator who speaks German and Swedish. The expansion led to one of the least-expected sentences ever to appear in the Guardian: "If you know anybody who can translate from Maltese to Finnish," says [translation] head Karl-Johann Loennroth, "please let us know." Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Babelfish to the rescue? #128015 04/30/2004 3:10 PM Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California jheem veteran jheem veteran Joined: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,475 California "If you know anybody who can translate from Maltese to Finnish," says [translation] head Karl-Johann Loennroth, "please let us know." Darn! And I have a cousin who speaks Maltese, Italian, and English. So nearby, so faraway. Don't think she's looking for a job, though. On the serious side, Maltese is the only Semitic language I know of that uses the Latin alphabet. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

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