[lbo-talk] "Machine translation" (was: Protection of Chinese language urged)

[Jon Johanning]

On Saturday, June 5, 2004, at 04:34  PM, dano wrote:

> Machine translation - getting better, still expensive.
> about: <http://www.languageweaver.com/how_it_works.php>
> Chinese: 
> <http://www.languageweaver.com/language-translation-for-chinese.php>
>
> I have not seen their Chinese translation (subject of the thread) but 
> have seen them translate Arabic (Al Jazeera) on the fly with expert 
> Arabic speakers who confirmed that the translation is high quality. 
> The Chinese may be as good or it may not.

This web site, of course, like many other similar ones, is an 
advertisement for a commercial company, which puts the best possible 
face on the products it has for sale.

The quality of "machine translation" software is difficult to evaluate 
in a simple manner, since it depends on the purposes the user of the 
software has in mind, and what the user is willing to accept. The 
statistical method used by this company's software is one of the more 
adaptable kinds of MT systems, but no current MT system can replace 
human translators for all purposes, and it is very doubtful that MT 
systems ever will, though this is a hotly debated question in the 
translation and computational linguistics communities. Basically, in my 
opinion, as well as that of many other translators, MT will only be 
"high-quality" when robots which can essentially  think and operate in 
the world like human beings (e.g., Commander Data on Star Trek) are 
made, which obviously will take a while.

Where communications of a political nature are concerned, especially, 
it is very unlikely that "machine-translated" texts will be considered 
satisfactory. The most satisfactory employment of MT currently is in 
fields where the vocabulary is limited, the source texts are frequently 
written on purpose in a very simplified and controlled manner (in 
syntax, etc.) to facilitate the MT processing, and the resulting texts 
in the target language are extensively edited to make them 
comprehensible. Thus, MT is normally used where very large volumes of 
very similar texts, which can be effectively analyzed statistically, 
must be churned out: technical manuals, for example. Note that Language 
Weaver states, concerning its Chinese module:

"Especially in cases of domain specific text where there is repetition 
in the text and a limited universe of phrasing, such as technical 
documentation handbooks, Language Weaver’s SMTS technology can save 
customers considerable money and time through automation of the 
translation process, as well as enable cost effective, real-time 
translations of previously untranslated text, like Web based customer 
and product support information."

These are very typical MT applications, and very different from 
political contexts, in which the terms used vary rather wildly in 
meaning, disagreements over their meanings are very frequent, and 
misunderstandings consequently common (see for example this list, which 
is conducted in only one language). The satisfactoriness of MT rises in 
proportion as the language becomes more stereotyped and rigid, which is 
not conducive to good political activity.

Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
__________________________________
When I was a little boy, I had but a little wit,
'Tis a long time ago, and I have no more yet;
Nor ever ever shall, until that I die,
For the longer I live the more fool am I.
-- Wit and Mirth, an Antidote against Melancholy (1684)