Some Tentative First Steps Towards a Star Trek Universal Communicator

Explore the development of a universal translator for endangered languages in this 44-minute conference talk from linux.conf.au. Dive into the challenges of creating translation software for languages with limited written documentation, and learn about innovative approaches to lexicon building and grammar extraction. Discover the Leaftop database project, which aims to become the largest lexiconary by automatically extracting words from 1400 languages. Examine unique distance metrics, unicode character sets, and the complexities of various languages like Hiligaynon, Swahili, and Khmer. Gain insights into machine learning techniques, language preservation efforts, and the potential impact of technology on saving the world's linguistic diversity.