President Barzani expresses support for Kurdish volunteers of Google Translate

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Thursday received a number of volunteers who contributed to the recent addition of the Sorani dialect of Kurdish language to Google Translate, expressing his support for their project, according to a statement by the Office of the President. 

Google revealed on May 11 that it had added 24 new languages to Google Translate, including Sorani dialect. This would not be possible without the huge contribution by a number of Kurdish volunteers. 

Barzani received the volunteers on Wednesday, encouraging them to continue working as a team to develop Kurdish language in technology. 

He also “expressed his strong support for the activities and projects of this volunteering group and all groups who want to develop Kurdish language in IT and technology,” read the statement from the Office of the President. 

The volunteers briefed Barzani on how they began working on the addition of Sorani dialect to the online translation service. 

The American company had already added the Kurmanji dialect of the Kurdish language to Google Translate. 

Sorani is dominant in Kurdistan Region’s Erbil, Sulaimani and Halabja provinces, as well as the disputed province of Kirkuk. It has a large number of speakers in Kurdish areas of Iran, and is the official dialect of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). However, the dialect is not common in Duhok province where the Badini dialect is mostly spoken.