http://oudaily.com/news/2011/apr/05/google-includes-cherokee-option/
A traditional Native American language recently met the technological cutting edge when the search engine Google allowed users to read, write and access information in Cherokee.
Google users can now select Cherokee from the website’s language tools page to translate all text accessed through the website into the Cherokee language.
“I think it will give positive impact, especially for the younger members of the Cherokee nation who are more comfortable with using computers and more familiar using that kind of equipment,” said OU history professor Fay Yarbrough. “In order for the language to continue to exist, there has to be many different ways for people to access the language as often as possible.”
Access to the Cherokee language through Google is important for Oklahoma because of the numerous members of the Cherokee nation who reside in the state and support their culture and history, Yarbrough said.
“The Cherokee members living in Oklahoma can bring attention to some of the unique and interesting components of the state and their history,” Yarbrough said.
Charles Foster said he has been teaching Cherokee for nine years at OU and is excited about Google supporting it because of the increased visibility it can lend to the Cherokee nation.
Spoken Cherokee has been around for millennia, but the written language has only been around for an estimated 200 years, Foster said.
With the implementation of Cherokee by Google, Foster said he feels positively about the continued existence of the Cherokee language.
Mary Linn, associate professor of anthropology, said Google’s support can help support a revival of the language.
“Also not just Cherokee nation, but other people can get interested in the native culture through the avenue of language, so I think it is really important and vital that Google is doing this,” Linn said.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2011/3/prweb8239945.htm
Google Search Now Supports Cherokee Language Cherokee Nation translators worked side by side with Google employees to work through all the challenges of adding a new, and very different, language to their services. Tahlequah, OK (Vocus/PRWEB) March 25, 2011 The international technology leader Google has added the Cherokee written language, called Cherokee Syllabary, to its repertoire of searchable languages. Just like the many other languages Google supports, now anyone who can read and write Cherokee can look up virtually anything in the world,or at least the world of the World Wide Web. “I believe that efforts like those of Google are essential to keeping our language alive,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chad Smith. “We have been working hard to get our young people interested in learning our Native tongue but we cannot be successful unless they can read and write in the medium of their era – all the digital devices that are currently so popular.” Cherokee Nation translators worked side by side with Google employees to work through all the challenges of adding a new, and very different, language to their services. The syllabary, created by Sequoyah in the early 1800s has characters, some of which resemble Latin and Greek letters. The 85 character syllabary quickly made the majority of Cherokees literate and was adapted into the first Native American newspaper, the Cherokee Phoenix which was written in Cherokee and English. Over the past decade Cherokee Nation has been dedicated to keeping its language vital. It started with free language classes, a youth choir that sings in Cherokee, student language bowl competitions, a Cherokee degree program at Northeastern State University and a language immersion school that has grown every year, which is now up to fifth grade. “Translators from Cherokee Nation were eager to volunteer to help make this project a reality, including Cherokee speaking staff, community members and youth,” said Cherokee Nation Language Technologist Joseph Erb. “We now have the power and knowledge of the Internet accessible in our own language.” Google’s corporate mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Their work with the Cherokee Nation gives access to the most comprehensive search engine in our Native language. “With these tools we are building for Cherokee tomorrow,” added Erb. Click here for Google’s blog post, http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/google-search-now-supports-cherokee.html, to see how to use the Google Cherokee search engine. About Cherokee Nation |
