University team translates Firefox into Indian language in Paraguay

A team of linguists and software engineers from Asuncion National University has translated Mozilla’s Firefox browser into Guarani, marking the first time a native Latin American language is included in this type of technology.

The project required two years of work and the translation of 45,000 words to complete the test version of Firefox in Guarani, named Aguaratata, which any user will be able to download and try.

The final version of Aguaratata will be ready in six weeks, the team said.

Guarani, the official language in Paraguay along with Spanish, is also spoken in some areas of southern Brazil and northern Argentina.

The translated version of Firefox will be made available to the approximately 8 million Guarani-speaking people, most of them in Paraguay.

Some 57 percent of Paraguay’s nearly 7 million people, according to the census, speak only Guarani.

The project was launched by Asuncion National University, a public institution that signed an agreement with Mozilla, and was supported by the Paraguayan government through the Language Policy Office and the Guarani Language Academy, an entity created in 2012.

The project’s major challenge has been “to match the word in Guarani to faithfully convey technical terms in English used by default on the platform,” Aguaratata project coordinator Alcides Javier Torres Gutt told EFE.

Volunteers from all participating institutions, ranging from software engineers to linguists, poured their talents and efforts into completing the project without cost to the government, with the goal of making the Internet “a public and accessible place for everyone,” including people who speak only Guarani, Torres Gutt said.

The project’s successful completion will be followed by the development of a mobile Aguaratata app.

Source and photo: EFE

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