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When will Inuktitut speech-to-text translation be available?

William Oberst 40 Reputation points
2025-10-18T18:06:46.62+00:00

My research requires Inuktitut speech-to-text translation (not live Inuktitut speech, but recorded speech). Translation is already available for Inuktitut text-to-text, and for Inuktitut text-to-speech. Can you tell me when Inuktitut speech-to-text translation will be available?

Azure AI Language
Azure AI Language
An Azure service that provides natural language capabilities including sentiment analysis, entity extraction, and automated question answering.
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  1. Nikhil Jha (Accenture International Limited) 3,985 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2025-10-21T10:40:23.0433333+00:00

    Hello William Oberst,

    Your understanding is correct. As of today, Inuktitut is not supported for the Speech-to-Text service. Because this core transcription capability is not yet available, "speech-to-text translation" (transcribing Inuktitut audio and translating it to another language) is also not supported.

    While the launch of Inuktitut Text-to-Speech signals Microsoft's active investment and partnership in Indigenous language preservation, no public release date has been announced for the Speech-to-Text feature.

    Thanking Azar for prompt response and sharing the insight.

    However, I will try to provide you with some recommendation steps you can try, here are the best paths forward for your research and for tracking this feature:

    1. Monitor Official Channels: This is the single source of truth for new language support. The STT table in this document will be updated the moment Inuktitut becomes available.
    2. Consider Immediate Workarounds for Your Research:
      • Option A: Two-Step Pipeline (Manual + AI) The most reliable method today is to manually transcribe your recorded Inuktitut audio into text. You can then use the existing Azure AI Translator service to perform the text-to-text translation you require.
      • Option B: Train a Custom Model If you have access to a significant amount of Inuktitut audio that also has accurate human-created transcriptions (e.g., 10+ hours), you may be able to train your own recognition model using the Azure AI Custom Speech service.
    3. Submit a Feature Request: This is the most effective way to communicate your specific research need directly to the engineering team. Strong use cases like yours help prioritize feature development.

    Please accept the answer and upvote for visibility to other community members.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  1. Azar 31,610 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2025-10-18T19:54:21.9766667+00:00

    Hi there William Oberst

    Thanks for using QandA platform

    I dont think there is specific public date from Azure AI Speech Service announcing full support for speech-to-text in Inuktitut. The official “Language support – Speech service” list does not currently show Inuktitut under supported speech-to-text locales. but Microsoft announced neural text-to-speech voices for Inuktitut (“SiqiniqNeural” and “TaqqiqNeural”)

    have a look at this - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-foundry-blog/inuktitut-a-milestone-in-indigenous-language-preservation-and-revitalization-via/4355711?utm_source=chatgpt.com

    If this helps kindly accept the answer thanks much

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