LOCALIZATION OF ANDROID CONTENT IN RUNYAKITARA

Abstract

The Android17 SDK supports thirty-seven languages, none of which are indigenous to Africa. The limited progress of the localization of ICT in Africa has been identified by several authors as one of the reasons for the digital divide between Africa and the rest of the world. However, several technology companies have translated their software (ranging from entire operating systems to specific application software) to indigenous African languages such as Kiswahili in East Africa, isiZulu in South Africa, and Dinka in Central Africa. This paper discusses the implementation of localization in Africa, as well as the contribution to these current efforts by translating Android English content to Runyakitara (one of Uganda’s indigenous languages). The paper explains the key parts of the translation process, which are: the translation of basic terms, nouns, and acronyms; vowel assimilation; and naturalization.