UTX is a set of formats for user-created dictionaries. Dictionary, in this case, means a set of pairs that consist of source language entry, target language entry, etc.

UTX is intended to absorb the differences between various formats for 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...

. Additionally, the formats can be used for other purposes, especially in the domain of natural language processing

Natural language processing

Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....

, such as thesaurus

Thesaurus

A thesaurus is a reference work that lists words grouped together according to similarity of meaning , in contrast to a dictionary, which contains definitions and pronunciations...

, text-to-speech, input method

Input method

An input method is an operating system component or program that allows any data, such as keyboard strokes or mouse movements, to be received as input. In this way users can enter characters and symbols not found on their input devices...

, etc. UTX is currently developed by AAMT (Asia-Pacific Association for Machine Translation).

UTX could be used to improve the efficiency of localization

Internationalization and localization

In computing, internationalization and localization are means of adapting computer software to different languages, regional differences and technical requirements of a target market...

 for open source

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...

projects.

UTX-Simple

A tab-separated text format that contains minimal information, i.e. source language entry, target language entry, and part-of-speech entry. UTX-Simple is intended to facilitate rapid creation and casual exchanges of machine-readable dictionaries.

UTX-XML (tentative name)

An XML-based format that contains more advanced information about each entry and the dictionary. UTX-XML allows multiple target language entries, as well as multiple target languages.

External links

• UTX Home
• UPF Home (A predecessor to UTX, in Japanese)
• UTX mailing list
• Glossary Markup Language (GlossML) An open XML format for storing glossaries.