MANILA, Philippines–True to its mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful, Google Philippines is marking Buwan ng Wika with the launch of Isang Gabay sa mga Salitang Kaugnay ng COVID-19. The initiative recognizes the significant role of local languages in creating an understanding among Filipinos regarding the most commonly used COVID-19-related words and in disseminating helpful information.
Isang Gabay sa mga Salitang Kaugnay ng COVID-19 provides the Filipino and Cebuano translations and definitions of the featured terms, their part of speech, as well as usage in a sentence. Accessible on any device, the site carries a growing list of 115 commonly used words and phrases that include some scientific and medical terminologies, as well as new vocabulary that pertains to changes in business, education, and new way of life.
For the Filipino terms, Google Philippines collaborated with Assistant Professor Eilene Antoinette G. Narvaez of the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines Diliman, who is also a member of the Filipinas Institute of Translation (FIT). The Cebuano counterpart was completed with Hannah Marie R. Aranas, former literature teacher of the University of San Carlos Department of Languages and Literature, and translator of COVID-19 materials.
“The pandemic continues to bring an overwhelming amount of information that we need to process every day. Based on Google Trends insights, a lot of Filipinos are looking for the meaning of COVID-19-related terminologies in our local languages. As a response and as a Buwan ng Wika initiative at the same time, we collaborated with experts to build a progressive site to help more Filipinos better understand COVID-19-related words in Filipino and Cebuano in one place,” said Google Philippines Head of Communications and Public Affairs Mervin Wenke. “We hope that this will be useful as well to students and to those who seek to expand their knowledge.”
Visit diksyonaryongcovid19.com to see the actual site. To send comments or suggestions on how to improve the glossary, please send an email to diksyonaryongcovid19@gmail.com
