Báo cáo khoa học: A Formula Finder for the Automatic Synthesis of Translation Algorithms

A system of procedures and computer programs is proposed for the semi-automatic synthesis of Russian-English translation algorithms. For the purposes of automatic formula finding, a large corpus of Russian scientific and technical text may be processed by an automatic Russian-English dictionary, the resulting word-by-word translation postedited according to a systematic procedure, and the final translation transcribed back onto magnetic tape for input to a computer.
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Báo cáo khoa học: "A Formula Finder for the Automatic Synthesis of Translation Algorithms" [Mechanical Translation, Vol.6, November 1961]A Formula Finder for the Automatic Synthesis of Translation Algorithmsby Vincent E. Giuliano*, Computation Laboratory of Harvard University A system of procedures and computer programs is proposed for the semi-automatic synthesis of Russian-English translation algorithms. For the purposes of automatic formula finding, a large corpus of Russian scientific and technical text may be processed by an automatic Russian-English dictionary, the resulting word-by-word translation post- edited according to a systematic procedure, and the final translation trans- cribed back onto magnetic tape for input to a computer. The operation of the proposed system is based on the automatic comparison of magnetic tapes containing the original automatic dictionary outputs with ones containing the parallel post-edited texts. It is expected that, when given proper clues, the formula finder will be capable of synthesizing algorithms that can be used to convert one text into the other. The clues corresponding to a desired algorithm consist mainly of a list of logical variables that might in some combination govern the appli- cation of a specified post-editing transformation. Whenever a product of the transformation is found in the post-edited text, the formula finder examines the truth value configuration of the given variables in the auto- matic dictionary output. After examining all instances of the transforma- tion, the formula finder ascertains whether the given variables can be combined into a logical formula that implies the given transformation. The formula finder compounds the given variables into a valid and optimal translation algorithm if it is at all possible to do so. The automatic production of accurate and reliable semiautomatic synthesis of translation algorithms fromsentence-by-sentence translations between pairs of empirical data, a means of formula finding that mightnatural languages must await the resolution of com- eventually supplement current research methods. Theplex syntactic and semantic problems whose solutions proposed formula finder is a system of computer pro-must ultimately be expressed as machinable algorithms. grams that will compare an extensive body of RussianThese are well-defined rules that operate on auto- text with its parallel English translation. When givenmatically interpretable information units. The central proper clues by linguists, the programs will synthesizegoal of much current research in the field of automatic algorithms that can be used to transform one text intolanguage translation is to find and test such algorithms. the other.For example, certain syntactic algorithms presently The formula finder system to be discussed here isbeing studied at the Harvard Computation Laboratory compatible with the translating programs operating at Harvard.3,4,5 Russian is therefore taken as the sourceare designed to remove many of the ambiguities ofcase and tense residual from word-by-word analyses language for translation, English as the target lan-of Russian. These particular algorithms reflect the guage. Nevertheless, the logical principles used in de-governing influences of certain types of words upon signing the formula finder are not language-dependent.their close neighbors, and hopefully will clear the way These principles could be employed in the design offor the discovery of mor ...