So today’s main news is that Armenian language is now supported by Google Translate. Great news, of course. Or so it should be. I understand that it’s in ‘ALPHA’, meaning in early development stages. BUT… Who on earth is behind the Armenian dictionary for Google Translate?
When you try translating the acceptable Armenian word to refer to gays - “միասեռական”, it brings the right English equivalent - “gay”. That’s fine. They also translate “bisexual” as “երկսեռ”, which could be OK too, I suppose.
However… I tried translating “gay” (English to Armenian), and according to the ‘dictionary’ behind the Google Translate service, “gay” means “թեթեվաբարո” (‘immoral’ or something like that, a term in Armenian frequently used to refer to sex workers or those perceived as such). This is the main option. There is also a list of other ‘relevant’ options, including similar word “անառակ”. Interestingly, it only considers “gay” as an adjective.
adjective
1. անառակ
2. զվարթ
3. թեթեվաբարո
4. պայծառ
5. ուրախ
6. վառ
And if you try “թեթեվաբարո” in Armenian to Russian, you get it as “гей” - “gay” in Russian - too.
Is this a display of homophobia or blatant lack of knowledge of contemporary linguistics?
Funnily enough, for “lesbian” they have a Russian version of the word in Armenian “լեսբիանկա”. Btw, there is no Armenian equivalent of “transsexual” or “transgender” there, for now at least.
վճարված է|paid
6 years ago
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