Editing Translation software

{{Era|Forerunner|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}
'''Translation software''' is computer software designed to help translate information from a foreign language into the native language of the person viewing or hearing the information.

==Overview==
===Covenant===
Despite having [[Covenant languages|their own native languages]], the races of the [[Covenant]] use the [[Sangheili]] [[Sangheili language|language]] as a ''lingua franca'' for interspecies interaction. However, some races, such as the [[Huragok]] and [[Yanme'e]], have difficulty speaking another languages. To better interact with the Yanme'e, [[signal unit]]s contain translation software which translate another language into the Yanme'e language.<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 311''</ref> While Huragok usually communicate with other races by a sign language,<ref> '''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 53''</ref> Covenant ships also possess extensive lexicons which can give Huragok orders.<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''pages 98-99''</ref> In the Covenant's early history, Sangheili could attach a translation device to their hearing membranes that allowed them to simply speak into the device,<ref>'''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]''', ''page 100''</ref> which then translated what the Sangheili was saying into [[hologram|holographic]] symbols that the Huragok could read.<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 107''</ref> On the other hand, upon extended contact with humans following the [[Human-Covenant War]], the Huragok were easily able to devise speech synthesizers in [[data pad]]s, enabling them to communicate with comparative efficiency using the humans' spoken language.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 309''</ref> Some Huragok created their own translation devices that allowed them to understand and speak to [[Kig-Yar]] and [[human]]s.<ref>'''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]''', ''page 135''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 335''</ref>

By [[2552]], the Covenant had created small disk-like translation devices that required connection to a Covenant ship in order to function. Once the devices were attached to the skin above Sangheili hearing membranes, the ship provided cybernetic input that could translate any language previously identified by the Covenant.<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 277''</ref> The [[San'Shyuum]]'s [[anti-gravity chair]]s had their own built-in translation software which automatically translated other, previously known languages for them.<ref>'''Halo: Broken Circle''', ''page 22''</ref>

===Forerunner===
The Forerunners possessed extremely robust translation software in their computers. When [[John-117]] accessed the [[Terminal/Halo 3|terminal]]s on [[Installation 00]], the computer used words and measurements native to humanity for approximate translations. As [[The Forerunner Saga|more Forerunner records]] were discovered and translated by the UNSC's AI translator systems, the terms used by the terminals' translation software were maintained.<ref name="cryptum">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 5''</ref>

The San'Shyuum managed to access a number of files within the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] thanks to those systems, but they misinterpreted a number of glyphs, coming to believe that the [[Halo Array]] was used to "transcend life", instead of wipe out life.<ref>'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 112''</ref>

===UNSC===
Early into the war with the [[Covenant]], the [[United Nations Space Command]] developed software to help translate the languages the alien races of the Covenant spoke, such as the [[TSV-442]] or the [[Interrogator]], which assisted in interrogations of Covenant prisoners.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''2010 Adjunct''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "Blunt Instruments", ''page 197''</ref> However, while the UNSC was able to make a literal translation for Covenant words, the true meaning behind them could often be extremely disjointed. This was solved when the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Cortana]] managed to access a Covenant lexicon aboard the ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'', making a more accurate English-Covenant lexicon.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''Chapter 21''</ref> It would seem that it was around this time that the Sangheili language was deciphered, as translation software in the weeks preceding and succeeding the events of [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]] was heavily updated. By 2552, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] had still not completely translated the Yanme'e language due to lack of information about the species. However, [[Hopalong|one Yanme'e]] tampered with the translation device's inner circuitry, making direct translation possible.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "Blunt Instruments", ''page 199''</ref>

The UNSC also uses a form of advanced AI translator in [[xenoarchaeology|xenoarchaeological]] studies of Forerunner records, such as the [[Halo: Cryptum|Bornstellar Relation]]. This software, much like that in the Forerunners' [[Z-9930 Information Vector Console|own terminals]], translates titles and otherwise meaningful names of individuals to their English equivalents; for example, "[[Ur-Didact|the Didact]]" or "[[Mendicant Bias]]" are used, as opposed to rendering the titles in the original Forerunner language. Similarly, the translator substitutes many of the original proper names and terms with analogous words familiar to the viewer, derived from the history, culture and mythology of the modern human civilization. This explains several proper names which appear to be out of place in their Forerunner context, such as "[[Promethean]]", "[[Maginot Line]]" or "[[wisdom of Harbou]]".<ref name="cryptum"/>

==Sources==
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[[Category:Communications technology]]