But there is at least one thing Siri can do that the other assistants cannot: speak 21 languages localized for 36 countries, a very important capability in a smartphone market where most sales are outside the United States.

不过，至少有一件事是Siri可以但其竞争对手做不到的，即会说36个国家的21种语言。这个功能在智能手机市场至关重要，因为大部分智能手机都是销往美国以外的地区的。

Microsoft Cortana, by contrast, has eight languages tailored for 13 countries. Google's Assistant, which began in its Pixel phone but has moved to other Android devices, speaks four languages. Amazon's Alexa features only English and German. Siri will even soon start to learn Shanghainese, a special dialect of Wu Chinese spoken only around Shanghai.

微软“小娜”为13个国家定制了8种语言。谷歌语音助手会说4种语言，该服务一开始只在谷歌自家的Pixel手机里有，后来又应用到其他安卓设备。亚马逊的Alexa只会说英语和德语。而Siri甚至马上要开始学说上海话了，这是一种只在上海及其周边地区使用的吴语方言。

The language issue shows the type of hurdle that digital assistants still need to clear if they are to become ubiquitous tools for operating smartphones and other devices.

这说明，智能助手要想成为无所不在的智能手机和其他设备操控工具，就必须跨越语言的障碍。

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