Google will add support for 110 more languages to Google Translate, from Cantonese to Kekchi. This will be the largest update to the translator made possible by the PaLM 2 large language model.
Some of the newly introduced languages are used by more than 100 million people, while others belong to small indigenous communities.
Several of the new languages have virtually no native speakers, but they are being actively revived. About a quarter of all new languages to be added to Google Translate come from Africa, including Fon, Congo, Luo, Ga, Swahili, Wenda, and Wolof.
Among these 110 languages is Crimean Tatar, a Turkic language, the native language of the Crimean Tatars. Today, Crimean Tatar is classified as a language in need of additional protection by UNESCO. In addition, in January 2023, Ukraine established the National Commission for the Crimean Tatar Language to protect it.
Another big update is Cantonese, which has been a long-standing request for Google Translate. The company says that the problem with adding this particular language was that it is heavily intertwined with Mandarin in writing, so it was difficult to find data and train the model.
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