It doesn’t matter which way you go –so long as you get somewhere
- Google graces Malaysians with Google Translate Malay
Google, in the great quest to store all the worlds information, has recently blssed its great server farms with a new found ability, which is the ability to speak in even far more languages than before human. And one of the interesting gems in this, lies in the list of the languages it has mastered.
Afrikaans, Belarusian, Icelandic, Irish, Macedonian, Malay, Swahili, Welsh and Yiddish.
While it is somewhat sad that our national language took so long to be acknowldged by the great server farm, and ranks among the likes of Swahili and Yiddish (no insult to those languages, but they are a somewhat rare commodity), it nevertheless is an improvement, considering the lack of proper online translators for our Bahasa Malaysia.
But does it actually perform as one would expect? To find out, we take a sample text from the classic Malaysian literature, the UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme International Registered Hikayat Hang Tuah to form the basis of this evaluation. Already, there has been several scholarly English translations of this text, with an example found here on the University Sains Malaysia’s website.
The original text, on the first page, goes as follows…
Bismi’llahirrahmaninrahim, wabihi nasta my biHahil-ala. Ini hikayat Hang Tuah yang amat setiawan pada tuannya dan terlalu sangat berbuat kebaktian kepada tuannya.
Sekali persetua ada seorang raja keinderaan. Raja itu terlalu besar kerajaannya; pada segala raja-raja inderà seorang pun tiada menyamai dia, sekalian menurut titahnya. Syahadan apabila baginda itu keluar dihadap oleh segala raja dan menteri dan santeri, maka berapa pedang yang sudah terhunus kepada kiri kanan baginda itu dan berapa pula bentara memikul pedang benkatkan permata bertatahkan ratna mutu maknikam. Maka apabila baginda itu bertitah pada segala raja-raja dan menteri, maka baginda itu memandang ke kanan, maka segala raja-raja dan segala menteri yang dan kanan semuanya menyembah, maka bentara kananlah menyampaikan titah raja itu, maka apabila baginda itu memandang ke kiri, akan segala raja-raja dan segala menten yang di kiri semuanya menyembah, maka bentara kinlah menyampaikan titah raja itu.
Adapun nama baginda itu Sang Perta Dewa. Adapun Sang Perta Dewa itu tahu akan dirinya akan beroleh anak; maka anaknya itu akan menjadi raja kepada Bukit Seguntang; maka daripada anak cucu baginda itu akan menjadi raja besar pada akhir zaman
Crank it into the machinations of Google Translate, and out it churns this…
Bismi’llahirrahmaninrahim, wabihi nasta my biHahil-ala. Hikayat Hang Tuah this very setiawan and too highly on his loyalty to his master to do.
Once there was a king persetua Heavens. King is too large kingdom; all the kings one senses he is no match, all in accordance titahnya. Syahadan when he was out dihadap by all kings and ministers and santeri, then how is the sword terhunus right to left and how he will bear the sword herald benkatkan gems bertatahkan ratna maknikam quality. But when he was in utter all kings and ministers, so that he looked right, then all kings and all the ministers and all right to worship, then delivered a titah kananlah herald the king, but when he looked to the left, of all kings and all that is left menten all worship, the herald kinlah titah king is presented.
As his name is Jimmy Sang Perta. As Sang Perta Sam knew there would be children themselves, so that his son will become king of the Hill Seguntang then from his children and grandchildren would be the king of the big end of time.
And the actual translation…
Bismi’llahirrahmaninrahim, wabihi nasta my biHahil-ala. This is the legend of Hang Tuah, a warrior who served his king with a great ideal of a loyalty that is beyond all bounds.
The story begins its words in a world of the kings of the heavens. Great was his kingdom; among the princes of heaven none was his compare. When the great god-king held court, from afar, enrobed in royal attire, with fluttering banners and the sparkle of jewels, sacred weapons were carried before him by his heralds, and long rows of nobles, officers and attendants bowing before him. When he spoke to the princes and ministers the heralds convey words to his right and to left, and everyone bows in obediance.
His name is Sang Pertadewa. Sang Pertadewa knew, as a god knew, that he would begat a son, would be born a king into the human world at Seguntang Hill, in the Islands of Sumatra, and found there a dynasty to rule the Malays to the end of human time.
So, other than the unseemly name of Jimmy Sang Perta (lord knows how they translated that), what do you think? Understandable or work-in-progress?
- Round and round the mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush,
The mulberry bush.
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning.And here we go again. To be honest, I cannot remember the multitudes of time I’ve rebooted my blog, just to abandon it again after several minute posts. And the amount of times I find myself reiterating this wonderful line again… Let us hope that this time, it will last. But nevertheless, I will churn out the very same line, repeat the very same task, walk the very same path. For in the end, after all these years, I am, quintessential, a writer.
