![Screenshot of Google’s Diskyonaryong COVID-19, which was launched on Aug. 28. [https://diksyonaryongcovid19.com/]](https://www.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/screenshot-diksyonaryongcovid19.jpg)
Prof. Eilene Antoinette G. Narvaez of the UP Diliman Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature, a member of the Filipinas Institute of Translation, recently worked with Google for the Filipino terms related to COVID-19.
![Prof. Eilene Antoinette G. Narvaez. Photo from a UP Forum Roundtable Discussion in 2017. [https://www.up.edu.ph/the-up-forum-roundtable-discussion-celebrating-the-up-spirit/]](https://www.up.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RTD_narvaez.jpg)
This was for Google’s “Isang Gabay sa mga Salitang Kaugnay ng COVID-19”, the site of which, https://diksyonaryongcovid19.com/, was launched on August 28 as part of Buwan ng Wika.
In a release by the tech company, it said that the “initiative recognizes the significant role of local languages in creating an understanding among Filipinos regarding the most commonly used COVID-19-related words and in disseminating helpful information.”
The site “provides the Filipino and Cebuano translations and definitions of the featured terms, their part of speech, as well as usage in a sentence to further demonstrate their meaning.” It is accessible on any internet-connected device.
As of press time, “Isang Gabay sa mga Salitang Kaugnay ng COVID-19” has a list of at least 115 words and phrases, including scientific and medical terms, commonly used in reference to the disease. It also has “new vocabulary that pertains to changes in business, education, and new way of life.”
Hannah Marie R. Aranas, a faculty member of the University of San Carlos Department of Languages and Literature, worked on the Cebuano translation of the COVID-19 terms for Google’s e-resource.
(This was originally posted on the UP System website on August 28, 2020)