Camellia: Benchmarking Cultural Biases in LLMs for Asian Languages
Tarek Naous, Anagha Savit, Carlos Rafael Catalan
et al.
As Large Language Models (LLMs) gain stronger multilingual capabilities, their ability to handle culturally diverse entities becomes crucial. Prior work has shown that LLMs often favor Western-associated entities in Arabic, raising concerns about cultural fairness. Due to the lack of multilingual benchmarks, it remains unclear if such biases also manifest in different non-Western languages. In this paper, we introduce Camellia, a benchmark for measuring entity-centric cultural biases in nine Asian languages spanning six distinct Asian cultures. Camellia includes 19,530 entities manually annotated for association with the specific Asian or Western culture, as well as 2,173 naturally occurring masked contexts for entities derived from social media posts. Using Camellia, we evaluate cultural biases in four recent multilingual LLM families across various tasks such as cultural context adaptation, sentiment association, and entity extractive QA. Our analyses show a struggle by LLMs at cultural adaptation in all Asian languages, with performance differing across models developed in regions with varying access to culturally-relevant data. We further observe that different LLM families hold their distinct biases, differing in how they associate cultures with particular sentiments. Lastly, we find that LLMs struggle with context understanding in Asian languages, creating performance gaps between cultures in entity extraction.
Asian option valuation under price impact
Priyanshu Tiwari, Sourav Majumdar
We develop a tractable framework for valuing Asian options when trading the underlying generates market impact and execution costs. Starting from a discrete-time, quote-level model, we construct a reference midpoint suitable for Asian payoffs and separate market impact into a transient component and a permanent drift distortion driven by signed trading. This specification admits continuous-time limits where the midpoint and impact state converge to a coupled system in which the midpoint drift depends on the transient impact state and in the endogenous regime on the hedger's trading rate, with correlated price and order-flow shocks. We study valuation in two complementary regimes. In an exogenous benchmark, the impact state evolves independently of the hedger. When the order-flow volatility is deterministic, we obtain a closed-form expression for the geometric Asian call. In an endogenous regime, trading volumes feed back into prices and costs, leading to a stochastic control problem and Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equations. We define reservation bid and ask prices via cost-based indifference which produces an impact-driven bid-ask spread. For computations, we propose a CRR-style tree-based Bellman algorithm. Numerical experiments show that exogenous impact effects are modest relative to frictionless benchmarks, while endogenous indifference prices generate nontrivial bid-ask spreads that grow super-linearly in impact parameters, widen when execution costs are lower, and shrink with faster mean reversion, highlighting the interaction between averaging in Asian options, price impact effects, and strategic trading.
The Prayer of Nabû-šuma-ukīn (BM.40474): An Anti-Witchcraft Prayer
Lenzi, Alan
In 1999 Irving Finkel published the editio princeps of The Prayer of Nabû-šuma-ukīn and argued that the text provides historical corroboration for the imprisonment of Amēl-Marduk (Evil-Merodach) prior to his brief rule over Babylon (561‑560 BCE). In this study, I evaluate Finkel’s interpretation and argue The Prayer has nothing to do with Amēl-Marduk. It is, rather, a prayer to combat witchcraft that has plagued the supplicant in the form of gossip, slander, and character assassination.
Oriental languages and literatures, Asian. Oriental
Maritime networks as a vector for early farming/language dispersals: A comparative review
Mark Hudson, Junzo Uchiyama, Claudia Zancan
et al.
Maritime networks have been proposed as a mechanism for early agricultural and, by extension, language dispersals in several coastal and island regions. In Island Southeast Asia, such networks have sometimes been discussed as an alternative to the farming/language dispersal hypothesis. However, the relationships between Neolithic maritime networks and maritime economies are poorly known. Here, we summarise published information for three regions where Neolithic maritime networks are thought to have been associated with language dispersals (whether hypothetical or directly attested): the Mediterranean, Island Southeast Asia and Japan. We conclude that while maritime networks played an important role in the Neolithic dispersals considered here, maritime trade and resources did not necessarily represent alternative or opposing economic strategies to agriculture. It was only from the Bronze Age that long-distance trade integrated maritime exchange and resources into a broader economic system. Our review illustrates the complex relations between subsistence, technology and mobility in prehistoric maritime networks and the paper concludes with suggestions for future research.
Archaeology, Prehistoric archaeology
Making Beshbarmak: Games for Central Asian Cultural Heritage
Amina Kobenova, Adina Kaiymova
This paper introduces "Making Beshbarmak", an interactive cooking game that celebrates the nomadic ancestry and cultural heritage of Central Asian communities worldwide. Designed to promote cultural appreciation and identity formation, the game invites players to learn and recreate the traditional dish Beshbarmak through an engaging step-by-step process, incorporating storytelling elements that explain the cultural significance of the meal. Our project contributes to digital cultural heritage and games research by offering an accessible, open-source prototype on p5.js, enabling users to connect with and explore Central Asian traditions. "Making Beshbarmak" serves as both an educational tool and a platform for cultural preservation, fostering a sense of belonging among Central Asian immigrant populations.
Asian options for local-stochastic volatility models in the short-maturity regime
Dan Pirjol, Lingjiong Zhu
We derive the short-maturity asymptotics for Asian option prices in local-stochastic volatility (LSV) models. Both out-of-the-money (OTM) and at-the-money (ATM) asymptotics are considered. Using large deviations theory methods, the asymptotics for the OTM options are expressed as a rate function which is represented as a two-dimensional variational problem. We develop a novel expansion method for the variational problem by expanding the rate function around the ATM point. In particular, we derive series expansions in log-moneyness for the solution of this variational problem around the ATM point, and obtain explicit results for the first three terms. We give the ATM volatility level, skew and convexity of the implied volatility of an Asian option in a general local-stochastic volatility model, which can be used as an approximation for pricing Asian options with strikes sufficiently close to the ATM point. Using numerical simulations in the SABR, Heston and an LSV model with bounded local volatility, we show good performance of the asymptotic result for Asian options with sufficiently small maturity.
A Breadth-First Catalog of Text Processing, Speech Processing and Multimodal Research in South Asian Languages
Pranav Gupta
We review the recent literature (January 2022- October 2024) in South Asian languages on text-based language processing, multimodal models, and speech processing, and provide a spotlight analysis focused on 21 low-resource South Asian languages, namely Saraiki, Assamese, Balochi, Bhojpuri, Bodo, Burmese, Chhattisgarhi, Dhivehi, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Khasi, Malayalam, Meitei, Nepali, Odia, Pashto, Rajasthani, Sindhi, and Telugu. We identify trends, challenges, and future research directions, using a step-wise approach that incorporates relevance classification and clustering based on large language models (LLMs). Our goal is to provide a breadth-first overview of the recent developments in South Asian language technologies to NLP researchers interested in working with South Asian languages.
Bouquet, Olivier. 2019. Quand les Ottomans firent le point : Histoire graphique, technique et linguistique de la ponctuation turque ottomane.
Edith Ambros
Indo-Iranian languages and literature, Literature (General)
Transport via Partial Galois Connections and Equivalences
Kevin Kappelmann
Multiple types can represent the same concept. For example, lists and trees can both represent sets. Unfortunately, this easily leads to incomplete libraries: some set-operations may only be available on lists, others only on trees. Similarly, subtypes and quotients are commonly used to construct new type abstractions in formal verification. In such cases, one often wishes to reuse operations on the representation type for the new type abstraction, but to no avail: the types are not the same. To address these problems, we present a new framework that transports programs via equivalences. Existing transport frameworks are either designed for dependently typed, constructive proof assistants, use univalence, or are restricted to partial quotient types. Our framework (1) is designed for simple type theory, (2) generalises previous approaches working on partial quotient types, and (3) is based on standard mathematical concepts, particularly Galois connections and equivalences. We introduce the notion of partial Galois connections and equivalences and prove their closure properties under (dependent) function relators, (co)datatypes, and compositions. We formalised the framework in Isabelle/HOL and provide a prototype. This is the extended version of "Transport via Partial Galois Connections and Equivalences", 21st Asian Symposium on Programming Languages and Systems, 2023.
Do All Asians Look the Same?: A Comparative Analysis of the East Asian Facial Color Desires using Instagram
Jaeyoun You, Sojeong Park, Seok-Kyeong Hong
et al.
Selfies represent people's desires, and social media platforms like Instagram have been flooded with them. This study uses selfie data to examine how peoples' desires for ideal facial representations vary by region, particularly in East Asia. Through the analysis, we aim to refute the "all Asians prefer identical visuals," which is a subset of the prevalent Western belief that "all Asians look the same." Our findings, reinforced by postcolonial interpretations, dispute those assumptions. We propose a strategy for resolving the mismatch between real-world desires and the Western beauty market's views. We expect the disparity between hegemonic color schemes and the augmented skin colors shown by our results may facilitate the study of color and Asian identity.
Review of Places in Knots: Remoteness and Connectivity in the Himalayas and Beyond by Martin Saxer
Abhimanyu Pandey
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
Lockdown as Amplifier
Sofie Dalum Kjærgaard, Sarmila Chaudhary
This article explores the amplification of challenges to sexual and reproductive healthcare provision during Nepal’s COVID-19 pandemic response and lockdown in 2020. In Nepal, the provision of essential primary healthcare is compromised by systemic weaknesses, infrastructure, and the economy. This includes healthcare and services supporting women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). During the pandemic, the government instituted a lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19. The government’s focus on controlling the disease, or on ‘pandemic preparedness’, amplified the pre-existing vulnerabilities in the healthcare system. Policy triage caused SRHR to be under-prioritized, widened the pre-existing gaps in the healthcare infrastructure, and compelled healthcare providers to rely more on improvisation. The article concludes by calling for a re-imagination of ‘pandemic preparedness’ as ‘lockdown preparedness’. In Nepal and in other low- and middle-income countries, ‘lockdown preparedness’ should inform pandemic responses and secure the prioritization of essential primary healthcare. Furthermore, ‘lockdown preparedness’ should direct political attention and priority towards decreasing systemic weaknesses and social inequalities, to counteract their amplification during future lockdowns.
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
How Gaddi Vote their Identity
Richard Axelby
This article uses decisions about voting, including the decision not to vote, as a prism to consider what it means to be Gaddi in 21st-century Himachal Pradesh (H.P.). While the results of polls can tell us how people voted, they say little about the background to electoral decision-making—the reasoning by which interests, identities, and ideologies are compressed into the simple choice between candidates. Drawing on long-term ethnographic research in rural Chamba district, the article tracks participation in elections for the H.P. State Legislative Assembly and a local Panchayat from 2000 to 2022. The paper concludes by presenting electoral contests as arenas in which the performance of citizenship is entangled with shifting forms of identity combining the social, administrative, and political.
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
Imagining Rūm in Mamluk Cairo: ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ al-Malaṭī and the Ottoman Domains
Ömer İlgezdi
Indo-Iranian languages and literature, Literature (General)
Worship in Transition
Vineet Gairola, Shubha Ranganathan
The state of Uttarakhand in India is referred to as dev bhūmi (Land of the Gods) as it is home to several devī-devtās (local deities), sages, and ṛṣis whose presence renders the geography of this land a potent one. The soundscape of temples in Uttarakhand includes bells, chants, mantras, and ḍhol-damauñ, the latter referring to two rhythmic instruments which are used to facilitate divine possession. Kandara village is situated in Uttarakhand’s Rudraprayag district where there is a temple of a goddess named Rājrājeshwarī Devī who is said to be a form of goddess Durgā. During the times of Navrātri, the nine forms of goddess Durgā are worshiped. It is also one of the times where various religious practices in conjunction with worship take place in the Garhwal Himalayan region. As a result, an older idol of the devī was replaced by a newer one during this time in the Rājrājeshwarī Devī temple of Kandara village. Like in the case of the Rājrājeshwarī Devī, through her naur (representative/medium), the Rājrājeshwarī Devī engages with her devotees and ‘remembers’ their problems and conflicts which she attempts to resolve if asked. Through these transactions, a strong intimate bond at the level of everyday living is formed with a deity. This photo essay aims to provide a closer peek into the realm of lived practices and traditions from the Central Himalayas and to document such experiences which often lie in the zone of orality. The worship of the Rājrājeshwarī Devī holds not only a cathartic value but a protective function which she fulfills by ensuring good health and prosperity for the entire village.
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
A cold high-pressure system over North China hinders the southward migration of Mythimna separata in autumn
Jian Zhu, Xiao Chen, Jie Liu
et al.
Abstract Background In warm regions or seasons of the year, the planetary boundary layer is occupied by a huge variety and quantity of insects, but the southward migration of insects (in East Asia) in autumn is still poorly understood. Methods We collated daily catches of the oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) moth from 20 searchlight traps from 2014 to 2017 in China. In order to explore the autumn migratory connectivity of M. separata in East China, we analyzed the autumn climate and simulated the autumn migration process of moths. Results The results confirmed that northward moth migration in spring and summer under the East Asian monsoon system can bring rapid population growth. However, slow southerly wind (blowing towards the north) prevailed over the major summer breeding area in North China (33°–40° N) due to a cold high-pressure system located there, and this severely disrupts the autumn ‘return’ migration of this pest. Less than 8% of moths from the summer breeding area successfully migrated back to their winter-breeding region, resulting in a sharp decline of the population abundance in autumn. As northerly winds (blowing towards the south) predominate at the eastern periphery of a high-pressure system, the westward movement of the high-pressure system leads to more northerlies over North China, increasing the numbers of moths migrating southward successfully. Therefore, an outbreak year of M. separata larvae was associated with a more westward position of the high-pressure system during the previous autumn. Conclusion These results indicate that the southward migration in autumn is crucial for sustaining pest populations of M. separata, and the position of the cold high-pressure system in September is a key environmental driver of the population size in the next year. This study indicates that the autumn migration of insects in East China is more complex than previously recognized, and that the meteorological conditions in autumn are an important driver of migratory insects’ seasonal and interannual population dynamics.
Old Demons, New Deities: Twenty-One Short Stories from Tibet
Kabir Mansingh Heimsath
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
Brothers
Aswin Sharma
This photo essay introduces readers to the two brothers Ramesh and Gopal Baraily. They live isolated, almost invisible lives, separated from their families, confined to the comfort and safety of their small home in the Darjeeling Hills, making ends meet by taking up odd, menial jobs to sustain themselves. This photo essay seeks to capture a day in the ordinary, everyday, mundane life lives of two brothers, marked by their defined physical disabilities and caste identities. Living as outcasts, shunned by family and regarded as a burden on society, these silenced realities begs us to probe deeper into how we imagine ideas of oneness, belonging and home.
Asian. Oriental, History of Asia
Widespread misperception about a major East Asian biogeographic boundary exposed through bibliographic survey and biogeographic meta‐analysis
Shohei Komaki
The Watase line, a major biogeographic boundary between Palearctic and Oriental realms in East Asia, is generally drawn between Akuseki and Kodakara Islands of the Northern Ryukyu archipelago, Japan. However, no evidence can be found to support the positioning of the boundary between these two tiny volcanic islands. This study aimed to confirm whether and where the biogeographical boundary should be drawn.
Screening of the Characteristics of Hate Crimes against Asian American and Comparison to African Americans in Bay Area
Redacted by arXiv
COVID-19 has aided the spread of racism, as well as national insecurity, distrust of immigrants, and general xenophobia, both of which may be linked to the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic. Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID19) is thought to have originated in late December 2019 in Wuhan, China, and quickly spread across the world during the spring months of 2020. Asian Americans recorded in increase in racially based hate crimes including physical abuse and intimidation as COVID-19 spread throughout the United States. This research study was conducted by high school students in the Bay Area to compare the intention and characteristics of hate crimes against Asian Americans to hate crimes against African Americans. According to studies of both victim-related and most offender-related variables, hate crimes against Asian Americans have been rapidly growing in the United States and vary from those against African Americans. This leads to an investigation into the racial disparity between Asian American offenders and those of other races. The nature and characteristics of hate crimes against Asian Americans are compared to those of hate crimes against African Americans in our research. According to studies of all victim-related factors, hate crimes against Asian Americans are similar to those against African Americans. Hate crimes against Asian Americans, on the other hand, vary greatly from hate crimes against African Americans in terms of the offender's ethnicity and all incident-related variables.