#Italian talmud translation project lilith magazine software#
The texts, he said, could not be translated literally, as a modern work might be, but instead required an interpretive translation with explicative integrations.Įxisting translation programs just were not up to the task, so new software had to be designed. “I am not a Talmudic expert, but after four years I came to understand the complexity of these cryptic texts,” said Emiliano Giovannetti, coordinator of the institute’s research unit.
The translation program was designed specifically to support the translation of ancient texts like the Talmud, adopting a multidisciplinary approach combining software engineering and computational linguistics. It is called Traduco, which means “I translate” in Italian. “We were 12 at first, now we’re more than 80,” she said of her team.ĭozens of translators have been able to work simultaneously using a collaborative web application designed by the Institute for Computational Linguistics of the National Research Council. “What’s really incredible is that the project is headed by a woman,” joked Professor Piperno, an energetic law professor who managed to raise the funds, involve the Ministry of Education and Italy’s Jews, and assemble the team of experts who tackled the translation. Clelia Piperno, who became the director of the operation.
The Italian translation was made possible five years ago when the national government allocated five million euros to the project, at the urging of Rabbi Di Segni and Prof. Until now, the best-known versions have been in English, German and modern Hebrew. Some are trying to take out the competition by poisoning the dogs that accompany truffle hunters.Ĭonsisting of 2,711 double-sided pages of Hebrew and Aramaic, the Babylonian Talmud, originally completed 1,500 years ago, has defied widespread translation.
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