The localisation into isiXhosa of the iLanga telephone system

Abstract

In this paper we describe the localisation of iLanga, a VoIP PBX system, into isiXhosa. In South Africa, for social and political reasons, making systems available in the African languages is becoming more and more important. On the one hand, it gives access to the use of technology to people who are not fluent in English. On the other hand, it has a strong symbolic value. Although a variety of software is already available in a number of African languages, localisation in such language is still in its early stage. The process presented interesting challenges both from the technical and the linguistic point of view.