Shillong, July 1: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Sunday hailed Google’s decision to recognize Khasi language in their list of supported languages as a significant milestone and urged the need to also include other regional languages like Garo.
“Thank @Google for recognising Khasi in their list of supported languages! This milestone will not only empower locals but also make it easier for anyone interested in learning our language from Meghalaya. We urge them to include other regional languages like Garo also,” Sangma said in his social media post.
Using artificial intelligence (AI), Google has announced the addition of 110 new languages to Google Translate, including Cantonese, several African languages, and Meghalaya’s very own Khasi language.
These new languages represent more than 614 million speakers, opening up translations for around 8% of the world’s population, a Google company representative said.
“Some are major world languages with over 100 million speakers. Others are spoken by small communities of indigenous people, and a few have almost no native speakers but active revitalization efforts,” the company said in a statement.
The inclusion of the Khasi language in Google Translate will greatly benefit national and international tourists visiting Meghalaya, helping to overcome the language barrier between locals and tourists. Although a majority of the state’s population speaks English, even if not fluently, the use of Google Translate will certainly aid in boosting the tourism economy.
According to Britannica Company – the longest – running in-print encyclopaedia in the English language, speakers of Khasi language number about 900,000, most of whom speak Khasi; other languages of the group include Amwi (War), Synteng (Pnar) and Lyng-ngam.
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