New languages ​​include common languages ​​such as Cantonese and Punjabi (Shahmukhi), as well as languages ​​of small indigenous peoples, some of which are in the process of revival. About a quarter of new languages ​​come from Africa, the largest spread of African languages ​​on Google today. These are Fon, Kikongo, Luo, Ha, Swati, Venda and Wolof.

One notable language is Crimean Tatar, which is classified by UNESCO as a Turkic language in need of additional protection. After Ukraine established the National Commission for the Crimean Tatar Language in January 2023, attention was again turned to this issue.

Other notable additions include:

• Afar: A tonal language spoken in Djibouti, Eritrea and Ethiopia, thanks to significant contributions from the volunteer community.
• Minsk: The Celtic language of the Isle of Man was revived after almost extinction in 1974.
• NO: A standardized form of the West African Mandinka language with a unique alphabet invented in 1949.
• Tamazight (Amazigh): A Berber language from North Africa with written forms in both the Latin and Tiffinag scripts.
• Tok-pisin: An English-based creole language that serves as the language of inter-ethnic communication in Papua New Guinea.

How and why is Google adding new languages?

Google’s approach to adding new languages ​​involves prioritizing the most common language types and working closely with linguists and native speakers. This ensures that translations are as accurate and useful as possible. For example, the Romance language model creates a text that is closest to the Southern Wallachian Romani language but contains elements of other dialects.

Integration of PaLM 2 allows more efficient learning of closely related languages ​​such as Hindi-like languages ​​(Awadhi and Marwadi) and French Creoles (Seychellois Creole and Mauritian Creole). As technology advances, Google plans to further expand the global reach and availability of Google Translate by continuing to expand support for more language varieties and writing standards.