Automatic Translation Software Technology
Automatic translation software
(also referred to as Machine Translation) systems use sophisticated
translation technology with comprehensive dictionaries along with a
collection of linguistic rules that translate one foreign language
into another without relying on
human translators.
An automatic translation software system interprets the structure of sentences
in the source language (the language the user is translating
from) and generates a translation based on the rules of the target
language (the language the user is translating to). The process involves
breaking down complex and varying sentence structures; identifying parts
of speech; resolving ambiguities; and synthesizing the information into the
components and structure of the new language.
Automatic language translation software is considered a “gisting” application,
producing translations that enhance the end-user’s understanding of
the original document. It does not produce the same level of translation
that a human translator could provide. The "gisting" level can be improved
to publishable results with a combination of software and a human translator.
Types of Translation Technology
Dictionary-Based: This is also referred to as word for word translation.
This is where a document is translated using dictionary filled with pre-translated
terms. The software performs a search and replace of the individual words
without regard to the context of the word and how it was used in the sentence.
This is the least accurate form of automatic translation.
Dictionary-Based Context Sensitive: This
is very close to the original word for word translation but with the improvement
of being able to control the
translations based on part of speech for each word. Example, if you
have the word ‘ship’ in the dictionary, it can have two entries
along with the part of speech for the word, one will be a noun and one will
be
a verb. When used in conjunction with Rule Based Translation software,
the words surrounding ‘ship’ will determine if the translation
should refer to a ship (noun) on the ocean, or to ship (verb) a package.
This form
of a dictionary increases the translation results dramatically.
Rule Based Translation: The translation engine uses a set of linguistic
rules for each language. The rule based system analyzes every word, the sentence
structure, grammar, punctuation and determine the translated results. By
using the grammar rules of each language this form of translation produces
a translation that can produce more fluid results retaining the meaning of
the original sentence. For example, if the original language uses a different
verb word order, with rule based it will change the order to the correct
usage in the results.
Statistical Translation: This
system is based on training. Out of the box the system cannot do any automatic
translation until the system has been
trained. To train the system, millions of previously translated documents
are fed into the database in both languages. The software then looks
for patterns and statistical relationships between the words.
There are pros and cons to this type of system, it requires heavy training
and training can be expensive. If trained properly however, it can
produce very good translations of even text that can be considered
difficult for
Rule Based systems.
Systran Technology
Systran utilizes a combination of technology in their translation engine.
Rule based, context sensitive dictionaries and translation memory and
with the release of version 6.0 in 2007 statistical
methods. With the next versions you are sure to see more developments
as the technology is improved.
Learn more about translation
software technology
See a list of translation software products.
Related Items:
Translation
Software Technology - Learn more about the tools and technology. History
of Systran - see the time line.
Translation Tips - Getting higher accuracy with software.
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