Controlled language in machine translation
Encyclopedia
Using controlled language in machine translation
poses several problems.
In an automated translation, the first step in order to understand the controlled language is to know what it is and to distinguish between natural language
and controlled language.
The main problem in machine translation
is a linguistic problem. Language is ambiguous and the system tries to model a language
on lexical and grammatical way. In order to solve this problem there are a lot of alternatives, e.g. a glossary
related with the text’s topic can be used.
Machine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
poses several problems.
In an automated translation, the first step in order to understand the controlled language is to know what it is and to distinguish between natural language
Natural language
In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
and controlled language.
The main problem in machine translation
Machine translation
Machine translation, sometimes referred to by the abbreviation MT is a sub-field of computational linguistics that investigates the use of computer software to translate text or speech from one natural language to another.On a basic...
is a linguistic problem. Language is ambiguous and the system tries to model a language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
on lexical and grammatical way. In order to solve this problem there are a lot of alternatives, e.g. a glossary
Glossary
A glossary, also known as an idioticon, vocabulary, or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms...
related with the text’s topic can be used.
A controlled language with ten rules
Grammar rules are different for each language. Because of this, the rules for controlled languages are different from one language to another. And there are no rules that have optimal results for all languages. There are however rules which reduce ambiguities in most texts in many languages. By Muegge and according to CLOUT (Controlled Language Optimized for Uniform Translation) the following ten rules should be applied:- Write sentences that are shorter than 25 words.
- Be brief ( well structured)
- Avoid ambiguity and subordination
- Evaluate the information
- Write sentences that express only one idea.
- Simple sentences
- Avoid ( gerunds , juxtaposition , etc)
- Write the same sentence if you want to express the same content.
- Don’t be afraid to repeat
- Avoid synonyms
- Write sentences that are grammatically complete.
- Sentences grammatically and Orthographic correct
- Avoid ellipsis.
- Write sentences that have a simple grammatical structure.
- Avoid Juxtapostion, subordination, relatives pronouns, etc.
- Write sentences in the active form.
- Avoid passive voice
- Write sentences that repeat the noun instead of using a pronoun.
- Avoid pronouns like it, their, etc.
- Write sentences that use articles to identify nouns.
- Use the, this, etc
- Write sentences that use words from a general dictionary.
- Do not use technical words
- Write sentences that use only words with correct spelling.
- Avoid mistakes
Benefits of using a controlled language
It is enabling to produce texts easier to read, more comprehensible and easier to retain, as well as with better vocabulary and style. Reasons for introducing a controlled language include:- Documents that are more readable and comprehensible improve the usability of a product.
- Controlled-language guarantees giving objective and structured support in a typically rather subjective and unstructured environment.
- Tools-driven controlled language environments enable the automation of many editing tasks and provide objective quality metrics for the authoring process.
- More restrictive and controlled language, more uniform and standardized resulting source document and higher the match rate in a translation memory system, and the translation cost is cheaper.
- A controlled language designed for machine translation will significantly improve the quality of machine-generated translation proposals and it will reduce the time and cost of human translators editing.