Indian Languages – Defining India’S Internet

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Indian Languages – Defining India’S Internet Indian Languages – Defining India’s Internet A study by KPMG in India and Google April 2017 Executive summary Indian language internet user base grew at a CAGR of Growth in user base will be complemented by the 41% between 2011 and 2016 to reach 234 million users increasing penetration of internet enabled devices, at the end of 2016. This impressive growth has resulted in availability of affordable high speed internet, India’s rising Indian language internet users surpassing the English digital literacy and Indian language enablement of the internet users. ecosystem bringing and engaging more Indian language users online. This growth momentum is likely to continue with the Indian language internet user base growing at a CAGR of 18% to Hindi internet user base is likely to outgrow English user reach 536 million by 2021 compared to English internet base by 2021 and along with Marathi and Bengali users user base growing at 3% to reach 199 million. Indian will drive the volume growth. Tamil, Kannada and Telugu language internet users are expected to account for nearly users will be among the most digitally engaged through 75% of India’s internet user base by 2021. 2016 to 2021. Internet enabled mobile devices to be the clear choice of an Indian language user to consume digital content. Local language digital content will witness greater acceptance from Indian language users as they find it more reliable than English content. Online content categories accessed by Indian language internet users Mature categories Growth categories Emerging categories 2016: High adoption levels 2016: Moderate adoption levels 2016: Low adoption levels Till 2021: User base CAGR at par Till 2021: User base CAGR Till 2021: User base CAGR higher with overall Indian language moderately higher than overall than overall Indian language internet user base growth Indian language internet user internet user base growth base growth Over 90% of Indian language Social media platforms and digital Digital write-ups, digital payments, internet users access Chat news are growing with ~ 300 online government services, e- applications and digital million Indian language users tailing and digital classifieds are entertainment. New Indian accessing them. Indian language emerging categories among Indian language internet users will enabled mobile devices and language users. Indian language contribute to growth in user base increased regional language user base accessing these over the next five years. content will result in more users categories will grow at a CAGR of accessing these categories ~26% to 33% over the next five years. With increased local language support and content, these categories will see increased adoption among users. 2 Future trends of Indian language internet (2021) Rise in user-generated original Indian language enablement of content online platforms, supplemented by mobile compatibility Increasing penetration of affordable Indian language Mobile compatible content in enabled smartphones will Indian language enabled contribute to rise in user applications and websites to generated original content increase adoption of online online services among Indian language internet user Rise of digital advertisements Faster evolution of Indian in local languages language internet users to become active users Indian language users’ higher Increasing penetration of propensity to respond to a internet and internet led digital advertisement in their businesses accompanied local language will increase by improving digital literacy the share of local language will help users make the advertisements in the digital shift from entertainment to medium online transactions significantly faster Indian language enablement of Internet platforms to become digital payment interfaces content aggregators and witness increased time share for Indian Indian language enabled language internet users payment interfaces play a Indian language users’ time pivotal role in Indian spend on internet platforms language users transacting across categories will converge online, enhancing internet’s to transform these platforms as role as a revenue generating content aggregators platform Advanced technology to Increase in hyper local bring more Indian language consumption driven by users online content in Indian languages Advancement in voice Content led hyper local recognition and translation categories will focus on technology and the advent of localised content and end language agnostic internet will to end Indian language drive more Indian language enablement to attract more users and accessible content users online Informed response to Monetisation of Indian sales initiatives by B2C language internet user players behavior analytics Investment by businesses Building multi language to establish digital data analytics channels to reach Indian capabilities will generate language users in Tier 2+ insights for businesses markets directly in their and content generators local languages 3 5 Table of contents Introduction 01 • Introduction to Indian language internet users • Key growth drivers of Indian language internet users • Indian language enabled internet ecosystem • Key behavioural aspects of Indian language internet users Key categories of consumption - 02 Indian language Internet users • Category wise growth for Indian language internet users – 2021 • Language wise Indian language internet users – 2021 • E-tailing • Digital payments • Digital news • Digital classifieds • Online government services • Digital entertainment • Chat applications, social media platforms and digital write-ups Indian language internet – 03 The road ahead Glossary 04 Annexure Acknowledgements 6 01 Introduction 7 Introduction to Indian language internet users India, a nation with over 1600 dialects[1] has 30 languages[1] spoken by more than a million native speakers each. The Indian Constitution recognises 22 official languages[2]. Defining the Indian language users Indian languages* Hindi Bengali Telugu Marathi Tamil Gujarati Kannada Malayalam Speakers (primary languages) 521 101 91 89 75 56 46 40 in India - 2016 (in million) Language Indian language users - 2016 Diversity Index 254 53 40 64 40 32 32 22 (in million) (LDI) in India 0.93[3] Indian languages users are Indian language literates who prefer their primary language over English to read, write and converse with each other *These 8 languages have been considered as Indian languages for the purpose of this report [Source: KPMG in India’s analysis, April 2017] Indian language internet users are the present and the future[4] Internet user base in India (in million) Indian language internetintenet usersusers 800 English intenet users English internet users Indian language internet 700 users have grown from 42 million in 2011 to 234 million in 2016 600 languages500 are the dominant Currently, there are 234 million 536 Indian language internet users family400 of languages spoken in compared to 175 million English the Indian subcontinent internet users 300 234 Indian language internet users are 200 expected to grow at a CAGR of ~ 18% to reach 536 million in 2021. 100 English users is expected to grow 42 175 199 at a CAGR of 3% 68 0 2011 2016 2021(P) 9 out of every 10 new internet Total internet users in India over the next 5 users in India 110 million 409 million 735 million years are likely to be Indian Source: KPMG in India’s analysis, April 2017 (P): Projections language users 1. Census of India, Government of Indian, 2001 2. 8th schedule of the Indian Constitution, as on November, 2015 3. Investing in Cultural Diversity and Intercultural Dialogue, UNESCO World report, 2009 4. KPMG in India’s analysis, April 2017 8 Key growth drivers of Indian language internet users Indian language enablement of online Reduced mobile ecosystem data charges Rising Increasing language support and content across the Mobile data costs disposable [5] Internet ecosystem reduced by ~96% income from September 2016 to December 2016 Disposable income in India expected to grow by ~55% by 2020[5] Growth in overall internet penetration Internet penetration in India expected to grow to 52% by 2021[4] Improving digital literacy in rural India Government’s digital Growth in literacy drive to reach 60 smartphone users million rural households 176 million[6] new with an investment of [7] smartphone users USD351* million by expected in the next 5 March 2019 years 4. KPMG in India’ analysis, April 2017 6. Number of smartphone users in India from 2015 to 2021 (in million), Statista.com 5. Indian Media and Entertainment Industry report, KPMG India – FICCI, March 2017 7. Indian Union Budget, 2017 *Exchange rate: 1USD = INR 67 9 Indian language enabled internet ecosystem Overview of the ecosystem and associated operational elements Majority of the online content currently available in Indian languages includes news and entertainment. Chat applications and social media platforms have seen increased adoption by Indian language users on account of local language enabled keyboards and smartphones. In recent times, e-tailing, digital classifieds, digital payments and online government services have also started to enable Indian language content on their platforms. Key categories Chat applications Content creators Content developers Digital entertainment Government Website designer services Social media Content Content platforms generators . Offline/ localisation Application developer Content online companies aggregators business Digital news . Regional Content management websites Freelance system
Recommended publications
  • Localizing Into Chinese: the Two Most Common Questions White Paper Answered
    Localizing into Chinese: the two most common questions White Paper answered Different writing systems, a variety of languages and dialects, political and cultural sensitivities and, of course, the ever-evolving nature of language itself. ALPHA CRC LTD It’s no wonder that localizing in Chinese can seem complicated to the uninitiated. St Andrew’s House For a start, there is no single “Chinese” language to localize into. St Andrew’s Road Cambridge CB4 1DL United Kingdom Most Westerners referring to the Chinese language probably mean Mandarin; but @alpha_crc you should definitely not assume this as the de facto language for all audiences both within and outside mainland China. alphacrc.com To clear up any confusion, we talked to our regional language experts to find out the most definitive and useful answers to two of the most commonly asked questions when localizing into Chinese. 1. What’s the difference between Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese? 2. Does localizing into “Chinese” mean localizing into Mandarin, Cantonese or both? Actually, these are really pertinent questions because they get to the heart of some of the linguistic, political and cultural complexities that need to be taken into account when localizing for this region. Because of the important nature of these issues, we’ve gone a little more in depth than some of the articles on related themes elsewhere on the internet. We think you’ll find the answers a useful starting point for any considerations about localizing for the Chinese-language market. And, taking in linguistic nuances and cultural history, we hope you’ll find them an interesting read too.
    [Show full text]
  • Languages in Transition Turkish in Formal Education in Germany Analysis & Perspectives
    IPC–MERCATOR POLICY BRIEF LANGUAGES IN TRANSITION TURKISH IN FORMAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY ANALYSIS & PERSPECTIVES Almut Küppers Christoph Schroeder Esin Işıl Gülbeyaz September 2014 CONTACT INFORMATION İstanbul Policy Center Bankalar Caddesi Minerva Han No: 2 Kat: 4 34420 Karakoy–İstanbul T. +90 212 292 49 39 [email protected], ipc.sabanciuniv.edu Küppers, Almut; Schroeder, Christoph; Gülbeyaz, Esin Işıl. Languages in transition: Turkish in formal education in Germany - Analysis & perspectives; edited by Çiğdem Tongal. – Istanbul: Sabanci University Istanbul Policy Center; Essen: Stiftung Mercator Initiative, 2014. [iv], 28 p.; 30 cm. – (Sabancı University Istanbul Policy Center; Stiftung Mercator Initiative) ISBN 978-605-4348-88-6 Cover Design: MYRA; Implementation: grafikaSU Cover Photo: Heike Wiese (2013). Liebesgrüße aus Kreuzberg / From Kreuzberg with love, Zusatz zu Kiezdeutsch-Korpus (KiDKo) www.kiezdeutschkorpus.de 1.Edition: 2014 Printed by: Matsis Matbaa Sistemleri İstanbul Policy Center Bankalar Caddesi Minerva Han No: 2 Kat: 4 34420 Karakoy–İstanbul T. +90 212 292 49 39 [email protected] ipc.sabanciuniv.edu IPC–MERCATOR POLICY BRIEF LANGUAGES IN TRANSITION TURKISH IN FORMAL EDUCATION IN GERMANY ANALYSIS & PERSPECTIVES Almut Küppers* Christoph Schroeder** Esin Işıl Gülbeyaz*** *Almut Küppers is a Mercator-IPC Fellow at Istanbul Policy Center, Sabancı University. **Christoph Schroeder is a Professor at Potsdam University, German Department. ***Esin Işıl Gülbeyaz is a PhD student at Potsdam University, German Department. The interpretations and conclusions made in this article belong solely to the author and do not reflect IPC’s official position. SEPTEMBER 2014 | IPC-MERCATOR POLICY BRIEF Executive Summary misconception that “Turkish belongs to the Turks” (and not to Germany).
    [Show full text]
  • Managing France's Regional Languages
    MANAGING FRANCE’S REGIONAL LANGUAGES: LANGUAGE POLICY IN BILINGUAL PRIMARY EDUCATION IN ALSACE Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Michelle Anne Harrison September 2012 Abstract The introduction of regional language bilingual education in France dates back to the late 1960s in the private education system and to the 1980s in the public system. Before this time the extensive use of regional languages was forbidden in French schools, which served as ‘local centres for the gallicisation of France’ (Blackwood 2008, 28). France began to pursue a French-only language policy from the time of the 1789 Revolution, with Jacobin ideology proposing that to be French, one must speak French. Thus began the shaping of France into a nation-state. As the result of the official language policy that imposed French in all public domains, as well as extra-linguistic factors such as the Industrial Revolution and the two World Wars, a significant language shift occurred in France during the twentieth century, as an increasing number of parents chose not to pass on their regional language to the next generation. In light of the decline in intergenerational transmission of the regional languages, Judge (2007, 233) concludes that ‘in the short term, everything depends on education in the [regional languages]’. This thesis analyses the development of language policy in bilingual education programmes in Alsace; Spolsky’s tripartite language policy model (2004), which focuses on language management, language practices and language beliefs, will be employed. In spite of the efforts of the State to impose the French language, in Alsace the traditionally non-standard spoken regional language variety, Alsatian, continued to be used widely until the mid-twentieth century.
    [Show full text]
  • Attitudes Towards the Safeguarding of Minority Languages and Dialects in Modern Italy
    ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE SAFEGUARDING OF MINORITY LANGUAGES AND DIALECTS IN MODERN ITALY: The Cases of Sardinia and Sicily Maria Chiara La Sala Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Department of Italian September 2004 This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to assess attitudes of speakers towards their local or regional variety. Research in the field of sociolinguistics has shown that factors such as gender, age, place of residence, and social status affect linguistic behaviour and perception of local and regional varieties. This thesis consists of three main parts. In the first part the concept of language, minority language, and dialect is discussed; in the second part the official position towards local or regional varieties in Europe and in Italy is considered; in the third part attitudes of speakers towards actions aimed at safeguarding their local or regional varieties are analyzed. The conclusion offers a comparison of the results of the surveys and a discussion on how things may develop in the future. This thesis is carried out within the framework of the discipline of sociolinguistics. ii DEDICATION Ai miei figli Youcef e Amil che mi hanno distolto
    [Show full text]
  • Language Management in the People's Republic of China
    LANGUAGE AND PUBLIC POLICY Language management in the People’s Republic of China Bernard Spolsky Bar-Ilan University Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, language management has been a central activity of the party and government, interrupted during the years of the Cultural Revolution. It has focused on the spread of Putonghua as a national language, the simplification of the script, and the auxiliary use of Pinyin. Associated has been a policy of modernization and ter - minological development. There have been studies of bilingualism and topolects (regional vari - eties like Cantonese and Hokkien) and some recognition and varied implementation of the needs of non -Han minority languages and dialects, including script development and modernization. As - serting the status of Chinese in a globalizing world, a major campaign of language diffusion has led to the establishment of Confucius Institutes all over the world. Within China, there have been significant efforts in foreign language education, at first stressing Russian but now covering a wide range of languages, though with a growing emphasis on English. Despite the size of the country, the complexity of its language situations, and the tension between competing goals, there has been progress with these language -management tasks. At the same time, nonlinguistic forces have shown even more substantial results. Computers are adding to the challenge of maintaining even the simplified character writing system. As even more striking evidence of the effect of poli - tics and demography on language policy, the enormous internal rural -to -urban rate of migration promises to have more influence on weakening regional and minority varieties than campaigns to spread Putonghua.
    [Show full text]
  • Revitalization of Regional Languages in France Through Immersion Roy Lyster, Costa James
    Revitalization of Regional Languages in France Through Immersion Roy Lyster, Costa James To cite this version: Roy Lyster, Costa James. Revitalization of Regional Languages in France Through Immersion. Cana- dian Issues / Thèmes canadiens, Association d’Etudes Canadiennes, 2011, pp.55-58. halshs-00826047 HAL Id: halshs-00826047 https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00826047 Submitted on 27 May 2013 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 1 Revitalization of regional languages in France through immersion Roy Lyster, McGill University (Canada) James Costa, Laboratoire ICAR / ENS de Lyon (France) Introduction School-based language immersion programs aim for additive bilingualism by providing a significant portion (usually at least 50% during elementary school years) of students‟ subject- matter instruction through the medium of an additional language. The term „immersion‟ was first used in this way by Lambert and Tucker (1972) to describe their study of an “experiment” in bilingual education that began in 1965 in St. Lambert, Quebec, where English-speaking parents were concerned that traditional second language teaching methods would not enable their children to develop sufficient levels of proficiency in French to compete for jobs in a province where French was soon to be adopted as the sole official language.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ulster-Scots Language in Education in Northern Ireland
    The Ulster-Scots language in education in Northern Ireland European Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning hosted by ULSTER-SCOTS The Ulster-Scots language in education in Northern Ireland c/o Fryske Akademy Doelestrjitte 8 P.O. Box 54 NL-8900 AB Ljouwert/Leeuwarden The Netherlands T 0031 (0) 58 - 234 3027 W www.mercator-research.eu E [email protected] | Regional dossiers series | tca r cum n n i- ual e : Available in this series: This document was published by the Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism Ladin; the Ladin language in education in Italy (2nd ed.) and Language Learning with financial support from the Fryske Akademy and the Province Latgalian; the Latgalian language in education in Latvia of Fryslân. Lithuanian; the Lithuanian language in education in Poland Maltese; the Maltese language in education in Malta Manx Gaelic; the Manx Gaelic language in education in the Isle of Man Meänkieli and Sweden Finnish; the Finnic languages in education in Sweden © Mercator European Research Centre on Multilingualism Mongolian; The Mongolian language in education in the People’s Republic of China and Language Learning, 2020 Nenets, Khanty and Selkup; The Nenets, Khanty and Selkup language in education in the Yamal Region in Russia ISSN: 1570 – 1239 North-Frisian; the North Frisian language in education in Germany (3rd ed.) Occitan; the Occitan language in education in France (2nd ed.) The contents of this dossier may be reproduced in print, except for commercial purposes, Polish; the Polish language in education in Lithuania provided that the extract is proceeded by a complete reference to the Mercator European Romani and Beash; the Romani and Beash languages in education in Hungary Research Centre on Multilingualism and Language Learning.
    [Show full text]
  • On Some Similarities in the Status of Kashubian and Irish
    US-China Foreign Language, July 2016, Vol. 14, No. 7, 465-473 doi:10.17265/1539-8080/2016.07.001 D DAVID PUBLISHING On Some Similarities in the Status of Kashubian and Irish Alina Szwajczuk University of Szczecin, Szczecin, Poland The objective of the paper is to delineate apparent similarities in the status of Kashubian and the Irish language. History-wise, both languages experienced a significant language loss, a struggle for survival, and the legal attempt to keep the languages alive. In fact, both constitute minority languages while this is solely the former one that enjoys the official status of a regional language. The latter is an official language within the Republic of Ireland and the European Union. Apart from a short historical overview of the two languages, the Kashubian language will be analyzed on the basis of the Polish legislation and the reports compiled by the Council of Europe with reference to the commitments made by Poland pertaining to the implementation of provisions stipulated in Part III of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. The Irish language will be viewed, within the national scope, from the perspective of the 2003 Official Languages Act, the 20-year strategy for the Irish language 2010–2030, and the 2012 Gaeltacht Act. The aspects considered herein will include mainly: the application of the languages within the judicial and administrative context, the presence of the said languages in education, as well as within the national context. The following analysis shall not be deemed as exhaustive and is solely supposed to present some similarities in history and language preservation mechanisms.
    [Show full text]
  • LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY Nature: India Is a Nation of Vast Linguistic Diversity
    LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY Nature: India is a nation of vast linguistic diversity. The Constitution of India now recognizes 23 languages, spoken in different parts thecountry. These consist of English plus 22 Indian languages: Assamese, Bengali, Bodo,Dogri, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Maithili, Malayalam, Meitei,Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.Language While Hindi is the official language of the central government in India, withEnglish as a provisional official language, individual state legislatures can adopt any regional language as the official language of that state. The Constitution of India recognizes 23 official languages, spoken in different parts of the country, of which two official and classical languages : Sanskrit and Tamil. MEANING Linguism is a division among members of a society on the basis of When India got her independence, it was decided that English should continue as official language along with Hindi for a period of 15 years. But English has continued to remain till today an associated official language mainly because of the revolt by the South Indian states against the compulsory learning of Hindi as official and national language. The issue of linguism raises a very crucial question in the area of education is what should be the language burden on school going child? CAUSES OF LINGUISM There are many causes at the root of linguism in our country; the major ones are the following. 1. Psychological causes People of a particular region are attached to the regional language which is their mother tongue. Hence they do not easily accept to learn another Indian language 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Limburgish' As a Regional Language in the European Charter For
    The Status of ‘Limburgish’ as a Regional Language in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages: A study on language policy, beliefs, and practices in Roermond Huub Ramakers (630512) Tilburg University School of Humanities Master Management of Cultural Diversity Thesis Supervisor : prof. dr. J.W.M. Kroon Second Reader : dr. J. Van Der Aa Date : 27-6-2016 Abstract This thesis deals with the implementation of The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) regarding Limburgish in the city of Roermond. In 1996, the dialect of Limburgish was accepted into, and recognized under part II of the ECRML. The Charter explicitly states that dialects of the majority language should not be considered. Limburgish however, through the ECRML gained the status of a Regional Language. To investigate the consequences of Limburgish being part of the ERCML, the focus of this thesis was narrowed down to the city of Roermond in Central-Limburg. The research question that guides this investigation runs as follows: “How did the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages materialize in the city of Roermond regarding the city’s actual language policies and practices and its inhabitants’ beliefs with respect to Limburgish?” The goal of the research was to investigate the policy regarding Limburgish at three different levels: as text, i.e. the ECRML as a policy document, as beliefs, i.e. the opinions and attitudes of inhabitants of Roermond regarding the ECRML, and as practices, i.e. the actual implementation of the ECRML in Roermond. Data collection included (1) a study of the ECRML as a document as well as journal articles, books, and other texts specifically related to the ECRML; (2) three interviews with key informants in the domains of administrative authorities and public services & cultural activities and facilities, education, and media in Roermond; (3) an online survey among more than 100 inhabitants of Roermond dealing with their attitudes and practices regarding Limburgish.
    [Show full text]
  • Legitimating Limburgish: the Reproduction of Heritage
    4 Legitimating Limburgish The Reproduction of Heritage Diana M. J. Camps1 1. Introduction A 2016 column in a Dutch regional newspaper, De Limburger, touted the following heading: “Limburgse taal: de verwarring blijft” (Limburgian lan- guage: the confusion remains). In its introduction, Geertjan Claessens, a jour- nalist, points to the fact that it has been nearly 20 years since Limburgish was recognized as a regional language under the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages (ECRML2) but asks “which language is recog- nized?” (Claessens 2016). In 1997, Limburgish, formerly considered a dialect of Dutch, was acknowledged by local and national authorities as a regional language under the ECRML. In his editorial, Claessens points to the multi- plicity of dialects that constitute Limburgish as a regional language, each with their own unique elements and nuances. As such, expert opinions about how to conceptualize Limburgish as a “language” still widely differ, and nego- tiations and tensions about how to write Limburgish continue. Despite the creation of an official spelling standard in 2003, Claessens asserts that these discussions about spelling norms will not see an end any time soon. Spelling was also highlighted in a Limburgian classroom I observed in 2014, where nearly a dozen adult students focused on the reading and writ- ing of their local Limburgian dialect. Rather than framing spelling as a potential point of debate, however, the teacher presents an instrumentalist view, stating: dit is een spelling en dat is als ‘t ware een technisch apparaat om de klanken zichtbaar te maken want dao geit ‘t om [. .]en dat is ‘T grote idee van de spelling [pause] de herkenbaarheid this is a spelling and that is in essence a technical device to make the sounds visible because that is what it is about [.
    [Show full text]
  • A Speaking Atlas of the Regional Languages of France
    A Speaking Atlas of the Regional Languages of France Philippe Boula de Mareüil1, Frédéric Vernier1, Albert Rilliard1,2 1LIMSI, CNRS & Univ. Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France; 2 Univ. Federal de Rio de Janeiro, Brazil {philippe.boula.de.mareuil, frederic.vernier, albert.rilliard}@limsi.fr Abstract The aim is to show and promote the linguistic diversity of France, through field recordings, a computer program (which allows us to visualise dialectal areas) and an orthographic transcription (which represents an object of research in itself). A website is presented (https://atlas.limsi.fr), displaying an interactive map of France from which Aesop’s fable “The North Wind and the Sun” can be listened to and read in French and in 140 varieties of regional languages. There is thus both a scientific dimension and a heritage dimension in this work, insofar as a number of regional or minority languages are in a critical situation. Keywords: geolinguistics, dialectology, speaking atlas However, the Internet, which now makes it possible to 1. Introduction contact a number of associations for the protection and Even if the modern Western world appears to be domina- promotion of minority language, was less developed at that time, as were the means of collecting and storing ted by just a few widespread languages dialectologists in large quantities of recordings. Since most of these dialects the field quickly observe a great deal of diversity. The idea of reporting this diversity on maps is not novel (Le and languages are now endangered, we describe here a speaking linguistic atlas that aims to preserve them. This Dû et al., 2005): from 1897 to 1901, E.
    [Show full text]