Microsoft Translate adds support for 4 new Indian languages

Microsoft India has added four new languages to the Microsoft Translate service, taking the count of supported Indian languages to 20. The new languages added are Bhojpuri, Bodo, Dogri, and Kashmiri, which will collectively impact 61 million people. This announcement comes a few months after Microsoft Translator expanded its language portfolio by including three Indian languages, Konkani, Maithili, and Sindhi, in May.

To be sure, Microsoft Translate supports Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Maithili, and Malayalam, among others, covering languages spoken by about 95% of the country’s population; the company aims to cover all 22 official Indian languages.

The translation services can be accessed through the Microsoft Translator app, Edge browser, Office 365, and Bing Translator to translate between over 135 languages for apps, websites, workflows, and tools. Businesses can also use Azure AI Translator API for translations of their e-content, product catalogs, documentation, and internal communication. Conversation AI firm Jio Haptik and homegrown social media company Koo are already using this service.

“We are dedicated to creating solutions that enable accessibility and broaden the reach of technology and language as a medium to empower every individual on the planet,” said Rajiv Kumar, managing director, India Development Center, Microsoft India.

With new languages added to the bouquet, Microsoft Translate will influence better education opportunities, governance, information outreach in native languages, and preserve indigenous knowledge, the company said in a statement. It is also expected to expose local businesses and artisans to a broader audience. 

Microsoft also said that it uses deep neural networks to develop language models that are sensitive to linguistic nuances, politeness level, and word type for translating and transliterating complex Indian languages