* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
LINGUIST List logo Eastern Michigan University Wayne State University *
* People & Organizations * Jobs * Calls & Conferences * Publications * Language Resources * Text & Computer Tools * Teaching & Learning * Mailing Lists * Search *
* *
LINGUIST List 16.1836

Fri Jun 10 2005

Media: AP: Google to offer Rumantsch service

Editor for this issue: Steven Moran <stevelinguistlist.org>

To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.html.
Directory
        1.    Stephen Anderson, AP: Google to offer Rumantsch service
Message 1: AP: Google to offer Rumantsch service
Date: 10-Jun-2005
From: Stephen Anderson <stephen.andersonyale.edu>
Subject: AP: Google to offer Rumantsch service


The story below recently appeared on AP. They don't say which of the
five existing 'Romansch' standards (six, if you count the cross-dialect
form 'Rumantsch Grischun') Google is using. They also have the figures
wrong: the number of speakers is more like 60,000. For more information on
the situation of the language, see

http://www.liarumantscha.ch/de/actualitads/rumantsch04_r.pdf

-- a brochure prepared by the Lia Rumantscha.

June 9, 2005 | Bern, Switzerland -- Not many people have heard of
Romansch. But in the future, those looking for Web sites in Switzerland may
find themselves trying to decipher this Latin-linked language.

That's because Google Inc., the Internet's leading search engine provider,
is now offering its service in Romansch, a language spoken by just 35,000
people in the mountains of southeastern Switzerland, the company said
Wednesday.

The Swiss government has passed laws to protect the minority Romansch
language, such as requiring its use in schools and on bank notes, but
speakers will now have the opportunity to 'tschertgar il web' -- or search
the Web -- in their native language.

Though the interface is in Romansch, results aren't limited to the
language. Nonetheless, the initiative has been welcomed by Romansch groups,
who have been seeking ways to keep their dwindling language alive.

Romansch, a direct descendant of Latin and one of Switzerland's four
official languages, has struggled to cope with encroachment of German.

--
Stephen R. Anderson
Professor of Linguistics, Psychology and Cognitive Science
Yale University


Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue



Please report any bad links or misclassified data

LINGUIST Homepage | Read LINGUIST | Contact us

NSF Logo

While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed
on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.