Linguistics And Multilingual Website
The Multilingual Web
The Multilingual Web
When it comes to web usability, it is really important that websites are user-friendly. And as we are now in the information era, people always go to the Internet to gather data. But not all online users are speakers of the English language. According to the Internet World Stats, in 2010, only 26.8 percent of the Internet users are English speakers and the 73.2 percent belongs to other languages such as Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, German, Arabic, French, Russian and Korean. Because of this, multilingual websites has started to emerge because companies are also taking considerations to non-English-speaking Internet users.
However, developing a multilingual website is not as easy as using online translators to translate your web content. There are several factors to consider when developing a multilingual websites like language barriers and cultural preferences.
Language Barriers- to become an effective communication tool, a multilingual website must surpass language barriers, which may have rooted to the unlikeliness in alphabet, grammar and syntactical rules of different languages. Also, idioms and expressions may have different meanings when literally translated into another language.
Cultural Preferences- People in different countries and regions have different cultural preferences. Symbols, icons and colors are associated within ones culture, thus they may give different meanings to different users.
The Role of Linguistics in Multilingual Websites
Linguistics
In simple definition, Linguistics is a scientific study of human language, which also includes the nature, structure, and variation of language. Like any other science, linguistics has subfields of study which could help you in solving language barriers and cultural preferences of your target markets for your multilingual website.
Grammar- in linguistics, it is the set of structural rules. These rules direct the composition of clauses, phrases and words in any given natural language. It also involves morphology, which concentrates on the formation and composition of words, syntax which is the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from these words, and phonology or sound systems.
Semantics- is a branch of linguistics dealing with the meaning of words, phrases and sentences. It focuses on the objective and conventional meaning. It tells how meaning is inferred from words and concepts. It also studies the relationship between signifiers like words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for.
Enthnolinguistics- it studies a language and its association to ones culture. It is also concerned with the way different ethnic groups perceive the world. It tells how language relates to culture and ethnicity.
Implications on Multilingual Website
A multilingual website goes beyond the literal translation of web contents, in which language software translators are used convert one language to another language. The language of your target market must be carefully studied if you want to clearly convey your message to them, which cannot be done comprehensively by language software translators. If you decided to use the preferred language of your users, you must understand their grammar rules and how they give meaning to the words, phrases, signs and symbols so that you can create perceivable information on your website. Furthermore, understanding the culture of your target audience will guide you towards achieving emotional connection with them.
by: Web Outsourcing Gateway
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