Microsoft has announced that it has added Inuinnaqtun and Romanized Inuktitut text translation to its list of supported languages in Translator. With the latest update, users will now be able to translate between the two new additions and any of over 100 supported languages and dialects in the Microsoft Translator apps, Office, and Translator for Bing.
Through Azure Cognitive Services Translator, users will be capable of adding Inuinnaqtun and Romanized Inuktitut text and document translation to their tools, workflows, websites, and apps. Moreover, users will be able to employ a Translator with Cognitive Services including Speech or Computer Vision to integrate further resources like speech-to-text and image translation into their apps.
Regarding the new additions, Microsoft stated:
There are close to 7,000 languages spoken around the world today. Sadly, every two weeks a language dies with its last speaker. It is predicted that between 50% and 90% of endangered languages will disappear by next century. The Government of Nunavut, Canada has worked proactively with Microsoft Translator and community groups such as the Kitikmeot Heritage Society to ensure that Inuinnaqtun and Inuktitut are not among them.
Microsoft added Inuktitut, the primary dialect of the Inuktut language, by employing the traditional syllabic script to Translator in January 2021. The tech giant says that it is accelerating its commitment towards breaking the language barrier by adding Inuinnaqtun - which is on UNESCO's list of endangered languages - and Romanized Inuktitut to its list of languages, and ensuring that they are preserved.
