Google Goes Hawaiian

Aloha Everyone,

Google now has a homepage that is available in the Hawaiian language. Other familiar languages that Google offers for homepage are Italian, Spanish and Japanese. Languages that are'nt so familiar to me are Basque and Occitan.

Keola Donaghy, a professor at Ka Haka Ula O Keelikolani College of Hawaiian Language at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, spent more than 100 hours converting strands of text on Googles homepage into Hawaiian as a volunteer translator. Google has 125 foreign languages for it's homepage and depends on volunteers in part to translate.

Donaghy faced a few challenges when he was translating, because many modern web words have no equivalent in the Hawaiian language. Words like for example "download" and terms like "www" World Wide Web, and also "URL"
"Uniform Resource Locator". Donaghy brainstormed and creatively figured out substitute words.

The Hawaiian word KELE-translated to English means sail/sailing. It seemed logical for browsing or searching the web.

Other Hawaiian words:
* Hooili/to land upon... to download/(google interface)

* Polo Kalama Kele Punaewele/web sailing program... web browser/(GI)

* Punaewele Puni Honua/spiderweb, fine meshed net... web browser/(GI)

* Kaomi/to press down, to squeeze... to click/(GI)

* Nanaima/general appearance, view... interface/(GI)

* Loulou/to link or hook together... web link/(GI)

Mahalo,
Deb Mills

Source:
Information gathered from a post by Chris Bailey/Hawaii Magazine-August 12
http://www.hawaiimagazine.com
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