Their absence also means that many of these languages ​​have not even created words for modern scientific concepts. With tangible consequences in education, Suspension British review temper nature, which gives the example of Zulu – one of the most widely spoken languages ​​in southern Africa, with 14 million speakers. used word, Germs, bactericidal, but does not contain a separate word for virus or bacteria. Experts have yet to agree on a word for evolution.

the project in question, decolonization scienceIt was launched last year in partnership with AfricArXiv’s publishing server. The latter, in turn, launched an appeal this summer, giving authors until August 20 to submit articles they would like to see translated.

“African languages ​​are seen as something that you speak at home, not in school, not in business meetings. It is the same thing in science”, he regrets temper nature Kathleen Cimino, one of the researchers involved in this project. Google has become one of the sources of funding, because along with this first wave of translations it is a real dictionary of scientific terms in these six languages decolonization science wants to pose. A tool that can suddenly be used outside the scope of researchers: local journalists, promoters, and even in schools.