Last week, Google Translate added good old Quebec to its new languages available for automatic translation — along with Greenlandic and Lombard; After Tok Pisin and Manx, this is the Celtic language of the Isle of Man. duty Two linguists were asked to examine the results of these translations, faithful or not, of “French (Canada).” First, it is an acknowledgment of our privacy. For the other, “he gives the impression of being put back into the role of the Bougons who are going to have a conversation in front of Bernard Pivot.” New masters and excesses” Merchant, merchant.”
For Professor Emeritus of Linguistics Monique Cormier, of the University of Montreal, this entry in Google Translate is a great acknowledgment of the peculiarities of the French language used here.
For her part, Mireille Al-Shakar, a professor at TELUQ University, who has worked on linguistic diversity and French in Quebec for 20 years after training in translation, is hardly on the verge of hyperventilation, by her own admission. “First of all, what is “French (Canada)”? As if there were French in general, which Google calls “French in short” – which may in fact be a specific Parisian French – and Canadian French per se. »
“If we think in terms of geographical differences, there are only those geographical differences in the French language – and in France itself. There is no Frenchman floating in the universe, pointing nowhere.”
For her, these labels are important: they help popularize preconceptions, “vague, somewhat inaccurate, that have an impact on the way we think about the French language.” To speak of “French (Quebec)” would be more accurate in his view as a specialist, than “French (Paris)” or “French (Europe)”.
In Google Translate, you feel like a dictionary Little Robert It is still presented as a guarantor of the vision of the entire French-speaking world. “It's an excellent job, but it's not designed for Quebecers.”
Eternal “tabaraknak”.
But let's surrender to the irresistible game of errors and translate using this machine.
Hey, a good old replica for worship Slap shot (1977) in VFQ (Quebec French version). “You have made me angry, my son,” becomes “have you made me angry, my son,” with, we infer, replacing “my son of a bitch” with the incomplete phrase “son of a bitch.”
The historic phrase “I hope you are not too afraid,” uttered by French MP Pierre Lasbourdes in 2009, has been translated as “I hope you are not too afraid.” Oh? In the same genre, “I was kicked in the toilet” becomes “I was kicked in the toilet.” And if it's “in children”, Google translates it to “I was spanked in children.”
“I played a little,” says the blond Mireille. “My fears have been confirmed: it is as if the French language is always being reprimanded, while Quebec is singled out as the most folkloric and the most familiar. As is often the case when it comes to French in Quebec, the idea of registering the language is often rejected. We are still in a familiar register.”
Thus, Google translates “it's boring” into “it's boring,” “chialer” into “protest,” and “frette” into “cool.” “We don't say 'frette' exclusively in Quebec, in all situations!” exclaims MI Blond, some of these examples are ridiculous. “It's not just the Bougons that speak French in Quebec! 'Froid' is just like the people of Quebec! »
On the contrary, privacy is erased. My “boyfriend” becomes my “husband”; On Friday, “my blonde” was “my blonde,” but on Tuesday, as we were ironing out the final details of that text, the AI now read the phrase as “my wife.” “Ma chum” translates to “my friend.”
Monique Cormier notes that “cutlery,” a piece of kitchen furniture, remains “cutlery,” the craft of knife manufacturing, as the Parisian French should suggest “housewife.” There are many errors, omissions, and slips, according to Mireille Al-Shakar. New terms exist: “email,” “chat,” and “podcast,” which caused a strong reaction in France.
“We refer to the recommendations of the Quebec Office for the French language,” she points out, which is a good thing in many cases, except when the office deviates from the spoken language. For example, by always suggesting “potato chips” over “potato chips”.
Publicity stunt?
But what will this tool be used for? Monique Cormier believes it could be practical for “French tourists on holiday who find it difficult to understand”. The blond Mirai sees no real benefit to it and will teach her students to be wary of it.
Is it just to create a media boom? For the most part, the French media enjoyed Quebec's idiosyncrasies with an often embarrassing lack of knowledge. Thus, Sophie Vincelot, of Figarowas sorry that the word “cotteur” did not appear in Canadian French. This is how we say sidewalk in Quebec, she says in the article – obviously! — Titled “Tabarnak!” Quebec French appears on Google Translate ». Good.
“I understand that we can see a kind of beauty in this gesture,” concludes the blond Mireille. “Look, we include you. But it is done randomly and without acknowledgment of idiosyncrasies.” Since the corpus of writing in the digital world is much larger in European French than in the Quebecois version, she finds it difficult to see how artificial intelligence will be able to fill her learning gaps properly. fair.
As of Monday, 213 languages were available on Google Translate. the goal? Developing an artificial intelligence linguistic model that can navigate between 1,000 of the most widely spoken languages currently.
