[Localization] Suti: Bolivia

[Greg Smith]

Hi Yama,

Thanks for the report and great work.

I have a low priority question for you.

How is "name" - "suti" used in Aymara? Is the same word used for people 
and things? Do people have one "suti" or more (e.g. first, last middle, 
etc). Do you use different names depending on who is speaking and the 
relationship between the speaker and the person they are speaking to? 
How do they separate Proper Nouns from other nouns (like XO from 
computer or Boston from city)?

Any other interesting aspects of how people using Aymara think and use 
the concept of "name"?

I could probably look this up on the Internet, but I thought you might 
have some insight based on your first hand experience.

Not important for the roll out or the software. Just for my own 
edification and joy of learning.

Thanks,

Greg S

Yama Ploskonka wrote:
> (Suti means "name" in Aymara.  The first activity a child using an XO
> does is to give a name to his computer, and thus 'name' was the first
> string we translated, at 7:05 pm EST Friday the 12th)
> 
> 
> An enthusiastic team kept working well past the 6 pm official end time
> on Saturday 13th to do as much as possible for the translation of
> Sugar to Aymara, in La Paz, Bolivia, proving that if we had started
> slow on Friday, that was no reason to do less than all that was
> possible.
> 
> Some of the basic Sugar PO files were localized to 100%, though none
> have yet been uploaded to the official Pootle server as of Monday the
> 15th.  Connectivity is a major issue, and such infrastructure
> limitations will likely be a challenge to future deployments in this
> South American country.
> 
> The usual fun of finding suitable terms was had by all for this
> ancient language learning new tricks.  The "Memorize" Activity will be
> understood now as the "Safekeep In My Head" Activity among Aymara
> kids, as rousing matches of wits happened between the etymologists and
> the semanticists to figure out the best term that would convey the
> right meaning, and we are glad we have been so far spared the major
> religious wars existing between Aymara pentavocalists and trivocalists
> and others such issues.  I make a mention of this, because the next
> steps such as fine tuning quality and reaching acceptance are not in
> the bag yet, as no consensus exists among specialist in this language
> for spelling, grammar, and obviously neologisms.
> 
> Yet the news this week for Bolivia was not this advance in
> computer-based education.
> As other events unfolded, concern for the future of our country was
> high among those working in the Scouting District Center of La Paz.
> While our personal safety was not in jeopardy, we were aware that the
> best we could do under the circumstances was to keep working, and so
> we did.  We all hope that helping the Aymara find their voice and role
> through OLPC tools will help do a little towards our country achieving
> mutual respect among those of different races and cultures, within our
> borders, and with those working to build a whole world community,
> where quality education for all is a reality.
> 
> (Translators, technicians, support team for an end-of-event picture.
> The logo was a modified XO with the national colors of
> red-yellow-and-green, wearing a 'lluchu' hat and the Scout neckerchief
> of the Impeesa Group, our hosts)