How the rest of the EU views Brexit

Time to see how Google Translate deals with Brexit (actually it should be UKexit though the Scots and Ulstermen would differ). Anyway, we use the phrase “Britain leaves Europe” in all major languages of the European Union.

Basque:       Britainia uzten Europan

Bulgarian:  Великобритания напуска Европа

Catalan:      Gran Bretanya deixa Europa

Corsican:    Britain lassa ‘Auropa

Croatian:     Britanija napusti Europu

Czech:          Británie opustí Evropu

Danish:        Storbritannien forlader Europa

Dutch:           Groot-Brittannië laat Europa

Estonian:      Suurbritannia jätab Euroopas

Finnish:         Britannia lähtee Eurooppa

French:           Bretagne quitte l’Europe

Frisian:           Brittanje ferlit Europa

Galician:        Gran Bretaña deixa a Europa

German:         Großbritannien verlässt Europa

Greek:             Βρετανία αφήνει την Ευρώπη

Hungarian:    Nagy-Britannia elhagyja Európát

Irish:                Bhreatain duilleoga Eoraip

Italian:             La Gran Bretagna lascia l’Europa

Latin:                Britannia folia Europae

Latvian:            Britain atstāj Eiropu

Lithuanian:      Britanija palieka Europą

Luxembourgish: Groussbritannien Blieder Europa

Maltese:             Britain weraq Ewropa

Norwegian:       Storbritannia forlater Europa

Polish:                 Brytania opuszcza Europę

Portuguese:       Grã-Bretanha deixa a Europa

Romanian:          Marea Britanie părăsește Europa

Scots Gaelic:      Bhreatainn a ‘fàgail na Roinn Eòrpa

Slovak:                Británia opustí Európu

Slovenian:          Britanija zapusti Evropo

Spanish:             Gran Bretaña deja Europa

Swedish:             Britain lämnar Europa

Welsh:                 Prydain yn gadael Ewrop

That covers all national and some sub-national languages of the present EU (except Flemish?) plus Latin and Norwegian.

Having got this far, we try it in some Indian languages:

ব্রিটেন ছেড়ে

બ્રિટેન નહીં

ब्रिटेन यूरोप पत्ते

ಬ್ರಿಟನ್ ಯುರೋಪ್ ಬಿಟ್ಟು

ബ്രിട്ടൻ യൂറോപ്പ് വിടുന്നു

ब्रिटन युरोप पाने

ਬ੍ਰਿਟੇਨ ਯੂਰਪ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡਦੀ ਹੈ

برطانيه يورپ پنن (Sindhi)

பிரிட்டன் ஐரோப்பா விட்டு

బ్రిటన్ ఆకులు యూరోప్

برطانیہ یورپ چھوڑ دیتا ہے

Bengali and Gujarati are clearly wrong, Hindi is a bit of a joke and you can see if any of the others are correct. Among other Indian languages, Assamese, Kashmiri and Konkani are still not available.

If you have got this far, you may as well read this earlier one about Grexit:

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/07/03/grexit-meets-google-translate/

 

 

 

Grexit meets Google Translate

You must have got tired of cliches like Greek tragedies.

One of the new words we have had to learn is Grexit, meaning Greece’s exit from the Eurozone (though they have not yet started talking about leaving the European Union).

A prophetic sign at Athens airport the day before the referendum (courtesy of Dr Sunil Mukhi):

The European Union consists of 27 countries-refresh your memory here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_state_of_the_European_Union

And there are 20 or more official languages-which would be apparent when you see a passport or other important document from there. It goes without saying that translators have a field day translating every official communication into every other language. The UN manages with a handful of official languages.

We now see what Grexit (or rather “Greece leaves Eurozone”) translates into, courtesy of Google Translate. (“Greece exits” does not seem to convey the meaning as well as “Greece leaves”)

English:     Greece leaves Eurozone

Bulgarian:  Гърция напуска еврозоната

Croatian:   Grčka napusti eurozonu

Danish:     Grækenland forlader eurozonen

Dutch:       Griekenland verlaat de eurozone

Estonian:   Kreeka lahkub eurotsoonis

Finnish:      Kreikka jättää euroalueen

French:      Grèce quitte la zone euro

German:     Griechenland lässt Eurozone

Greek:         Ελλάδα αφήνει Ευρωζώνη

Hungarian:  Görögország elhagyja eurózóna

Irish Gaelic: An Ghréig duilleoga Limistéar an Euro

Italian:          Grecia lascia Eurozona

Latvian:        Grieķija atstāj eirozonai

Lithuanian:    Graikija palieka euro zoną

Maltese:        Il-Greċja weraq Eurozone

Polish:           Grecja opuszcza strefę euro

Portuguese:  Grécia sai da Zona Euro

Romanian:     Grecia părăsește zona euro

Slovak:           Grécko opustí eurozóny

Slovenian:      Grčija zapusti evroobmočje

Spanish:         Grecia sale de la zona euro

Swedish:         Grekland lämnar euroområdet

And the mother language:

Latin:               Greece relinquit Eurozone

Google Translate also covers a few sub-national languages such as Catalan and Welsh, though they haven’t got round to Flemish and Scots Gaelic so far.

The above translations would seem to cover most of the population of the current EU. Note that Serbia, Macedonia and Norway are not in the EU yet. Cyprus should be covered by Greek.

What short and snappy equivalents of Grexit can we expect? In Estonian it might be Kreelah (though this might be too close to Tarzan’s battle cry).  In French it could be Grèqui, and in Italian Grelas. The Irish would have a particularly bad time shortening it. The German language has a tendency to make long single words, but for the moment it could be Grieläs. The Germans are in fact also fond of short forms. In the former East Germany people were scared of the Vopos and still more terrified by the Grepos, i.e.

People’s Police: Volkspolizei: Vopo

Border Police:   Grenzpolizei: Grepo

Now let us see what Google Translate does with Indian languages for the same phrase. See for yourself how (in)effective it is.

গ্রীস ইউরো ছেড়ে

ગ્રીસ યુરોઝોનના નહીં

ग्रीस यूरोजोन के पत्ते   (particularly amusing)

ಗ್ರೀಸ್ ಯೂರೋಜೋನ್ ಎಲೆಗಳು

ഗ്രീസ് യൂറോ ഇലകൾ

ग्रीस Eurozone पाने

ग्रीस यूरोजोन छोडेर

ਗ੍ਰੀਸ ਯੂਰੋ ਨੂੰ ਛੱਡਦੀ ਹੈ

கிரேக்கம் யூரோப்பகுதியில் விட்டு

గ్రీస్ విడిపోతుందన్న ఆకులు

یونان یوروزون چھوڑ دیتا ہے

For once, the Bengali translation is slightly better than the one in Hindi. Probably you will find more amusement in the other languages. I wonder why the Tamil version is much longer than the others.