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Date: Wed, 06 Nov 2002 19:15:35 +0900 From: John Edward Philips <philips@cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp> Subject: Web browsing in African languages The localization projects for Mozilla, the open-source browser that Netscape is based on, include several African languages, mostly South African, including Afrikans. I saw no west African languages, and only Swahili and Arabic among other African languages. The presence of so many South African languages suggests that the greater economic development in the area, including the greater computerization and better Internet links, will lead to a greater use of African languages on computers there. The generally low level of connectivity in West Africa would explain the low level of computer development in languages in that subregion. It is also possible that this greater computerization of languages in the southern Africa subregion is a side effect of Bantu education. Zimbabwean languages are not included in the list, while such small South African languages as Venda are. Certainly I found in the Northern Nigerian archives that Hausa was chosen by Lugard as the colonial language of administration there not to promote the Hausa language and culture but to prevent Africans from learning English. On the other hand, several minor European languages are represented, including ones that do not have official status (e.g. Basque and Breton) and "Bosnian," "Croatian" and "Serbian" are listed as separate languages, whatever linguists may say technically about such claims. Clearly, using a computer in one's own language is a matter of some pride to many groups of people. Ought not more Africans be included in their numbers? What do others here think about the possibility and desirability of computer applications and even operating systems in African languages, especially Hausa? I think an exchange of views about this topic would be timely, and especially appropriate for H-Hausa. The languages of the Mozilla localization project can be accessed at: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/l10n/mlp_status.html --
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