Google Translate...

It would awesome if it were possible to connect to Google translate with non-English modern languages the way we can look up Greek words on Perseus.
The Latin capabilities of Google Translate aren't quite as reliable, but I've been impressed with their German, French, and Dutch abilities.
And since the URLs are pretty transparent, so it wouldn't be too terrible to implement.
Consider, for example, the first line of the Iliad in German:
Google:
Sing the wrath, O goddess, of Achilles,
Him, who roused the Achaeans flared ineffable sorrow,
And a lot of brave souls of the heroic sons to the AIS
Sent, but they represented themselves as a prey to dogs,
And the birds around.
Murray's translation (Loeb):
The wrath sing, goddess, of Peleus’ son, Achilles, that
destructive wrath which brought countless woes upon the
Achaeans, and sent forth to Hades many valiant souls
of heroes, and made them themselves spoil for dogs and
every bird;
That's not bad. That's not bad at all--and with Google's ability to let you see alternative translations for particular words and phrases, you can find translates that do pretty well.
Comments
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[Y]
Wonder if Google Translate team is at work on Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek translation? [;)]
Actually, their Hebrew translator is not bad for the first few verses of Genesis:
Beginning God created the heavens and the earth;
And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon - the abyss and the spirit of God moved on - the water:
And God said, Let there be light: and there - light;
And God saw the - the light that - good and God divided the light from the darkness.0 -
Couldn't this be done with a right click menu option tied to "Selection"? I think so - for now I've got a link to translate.google.com on my toolbar and just copy and paste when I hit latin.
Sarcasm is my love language. Obviously I love you.
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