Harris Mowbray

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Harris Mowbray
Born(1999-10-03)3 October 1999
CitizenshipAmerican
Alma materAmerican University
OccupationComputational linguist
Known forWork on Braille for world languages

Harris Mowbray (/ˈhæ.ɹɪs ˈmoʊ.breɪ/; born 1999) is an amateur linguist and programmer from the United States. He is notable for creating several proposals to encode minority languages around the world in Braille.

Early life[edit]

Harris was born in New York City to Michele Madansky, a marketing research consultant who, at the time, served as an executive at Yahoo and Travis Mowbray, a clinical trials manager. He was raised in the Silicon Valley. His maternal grandfather was statistician Albert Madansky.[1] He is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.

Braille[edit]

Harris began by making Braille for the Gagauz language[2] and the Sorbian language.[3][4][5] He was widely featured in Polish press for his Kashubian Braille proposal.[6][7][8][9] His Braille alphabets' proposals have been accepted for the Livonian language, Fulani language,[10] and Lakota language. He also created a manual alphabet (sign language alphabet) for the Fulani language, based on the Adlam script.[10] In March 2021, Harris Mowbray prepared a Braille proposal for two official languages of the US Northern Mariana Islands, Chamorro and Carolinian[11][12] In mid-2021, the Udi community of Azerbaijan accepted his proposal for Braille in their language.[13] Mowbray also helped digitize Georgian Braille. [14][15]

In late 2021, Harris developed Braille for the First Nations language Smalgyax spoken in northern British Columbia,[16] the Elfdalian language,[17] and the Rusyn language.[18]

By early 2022, Harris had collaborated with the World Uyghur Congress to create braille for the Uyghur language with the support of other researchers.[19] He also worked with the Khoekhoegowab speaking community of Namibia to develop Braille for their language's orthography.[20]

Harris successfully worked with the Samogitian speaking community of Lithuania in order to create a braille standard for their language in late 2022.[21] In 2023 he worked with Crimean Tatars in Ukraine to develop Braille for their Latin alphabet.[22]

Personal life[edit]

Harris attended The American University in Washington, D.C., the city where he resides today[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Albert Madansky Obituary (2022) - Chicago, IL - Chicago Tribune". Legacy.com.
  2. ^ "Студент из США бесплатно перевел гагаузский алфавит на шрифт Брайля. Рассказываем его историю". January 18, 2021.
  3. ^ "Nowostka za slepych: Serbske Braille pismo | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de.
  4. ^ "Serbski alfabet za slepych wuwił". www.serbske-nowiny.de.
  5. ^ "Powěsće: sobotu, 16.01.2021 | MDR.DE". www.mdr.de.
  6. ^ "Kaszubski dla niewidomych". Oficjalny serwis internetowy miasta Gdynia.
  7. ^ "Wyborcza.pl". trojmiasto.wyborcza.pl.
  8. ^ "Amerykanin chce pomóc niewidomym Kaszubom". trojmiasto.pl. March 10, 2021.
  9. ^ "Alfabet Braille'a dla Kaszubów - Wiadomości radio-plus-polska * radioplus.pl". www.radioplus.pl.
  10. ^ a b "𞤇𞤀𞤛𞤚𞤀𞤂 𞤉 𞤀𞤁𞤂𞤀𞤃". February 7, 2021.
  11. ^ "In brief: News from around the Pacific". RNZ. March 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "Student creates Chamorro-Carolinian Braille system". Saipan Tribune. March 10, 2021.
  13. ^ "Студент из США Harris Mowbray перевел на шрифт Брайля удинский алфавит. — АЛБАНО-УДИНСКАЯ ХРИСТИАНСКАЯ ОБЩИНА". Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  14. ^ ქართული ბრაილის შრიფტის ელექტრონული ვერსია შეიქმნა
  15. ^ საქართველოს განათლებისა და მეცნიერების სამინისტროს ინიციატივით ქართული ბრაილის შრიფტის ელექტრონული ვერსია შეიქმნა
  16. ^ "American linguist develops braille alphabet for traditional dialect of the Ts'msyen people".
  17. ^ "Siljan News". www.siljannews.se. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  18. ^ "Announcing a Braille Alphabet". rusynsociety.com. Society for Rusyn Evolution. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  19. ^ "US student invents braille system for visually impaired Uyghurs". Radio Free Asia. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  20. ^ "American undergraduate student based in Washington DC develops braille in KhoeKhoegowab | nbc". nbcnews.na. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Amerikietis kuria Brailio raštą žemaičių kalbai". santarve.lt. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  22. ^ "У Києві презентували перший шрифт Брайля для кримськотатарської мови". crimea.suspilne.media. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  23. ^ "Amerykanin stworzył alfabet Braille'a dla Kaszubów - GazetaKaszubska.pl". 15 March 2021.