Báo cáo khoa học: Preprogramming for Mechanical Translation

TRANSLATION is a species of communication in which the set of symbols adopted by the communicator is changed into another set of symbols before reception. It is possible to argue that all communication involves such a substitution of symbols and that communication within a single language is merely a limiting case of translation.
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Báo cáo khoa học: "Preprogramming for Mechanical Translation" [Mechanical Translation, vol.3, no.1, July 1956; pp. 20-25]Preprogramming for Mechanical TranslationR. H. Richens of preprogram. Machine translation dependsTRANSLATION is a species of communication on collaboration between linguists, engineersin which the set of symbols adopted by the com- and an obscure set of people interested in themunicator is changed into another set of sym- bridge territory between the two, where pro-bols before reception. It is possible to argue blems of logic and semantics arise. It is not tothat all communication involves such a substitu- be expected that a person whose primary in-tion of symbols and that communication within terests are linguistic will appreciate the nicera single language is merely a limiting case of details of electronic circuitry. It is thereforetranslation. For present purposes, however, important to develop procedures that are com-we shall confine the scope of discussion to trans- prehensible to linguists and engineers alike andlation between different spoken or written lan- can be used as the basis for developing detailedguages. programs for any particular machine. Such We have next to inquire as to what remains in- general procedures are referred to here as prevariant in translation. If we try to convey the programs. Till now, the devices principallymaximum significance of the symbols of the used for experiments in machine translationbase language, it is clear that a great deal is in- have been punched-card machines and electro-volved: gross meaning, the subtler overtones, nic computers. It is possible that the best ma-deliberately concealed meanings, manifestations chine for machine translation as regards bothof the subconscious mind, the sound of the base efficiency and expense has not yet been devised.w ords or their appearance in script, metrical It is important therefore to develop procedurescharacteristics, etymology, the associations en- that are not tied down to any particular machinegendered by the communication, the statistical but which can easily be applied to a particularcharacteristics of the communication as a sample machine when required.of the output of a particular author or period,and the pleasure or otherwise engendered by com- A question that is of considerable interest ismunication in an informed or cultivated reci- the optimum combination of man and machine.pient. It is obvious that a mere fraction of all It has come to be generally recognized that ma-this comes over in any translation and hence chine translation with intensive human pre-andwe derive the notion of translation as a scaled post-editing is hardly worthwhile since thisprocess. We translate at various levels and in method is largely concerned with remedying therespect of various characteristics. An addition- defects of the machine. A far more satisfactoryal limitation on the precision of translation is concept is that of companionship. An efficientprovided by the peculiarities of the target lan- translating machine that can o ...