Machine translation or Automatic translation or Computerassisted translation

Machine translation or Automatic translation or Computer-assisted translation 1

The translation of a piece of writing from one language into another language using a computer and a special software 2

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PRE-EDITING FOR MACHINE TRANSLATION Avoid idiomatic expressions. If you are not sure whether a phrase is an idiom, consider the literal meaning of the words. If the literal sense is not clear, try to express the same idea in a different way. 1. Not Suggested: moon. Suggested: It happens once in a blue It rarely happens. 4

2. Use a pronoun before a verb, even if it can be implied and the sentence is understood without it. Not Suggested: I studied history, but did not learn much. Suggested: I studied history, but I did not learn much. 5

3. Do not omit the words that, which, who, and whom. Use them liberally. These words are often understood (implied) in English, but they are required in other languages. Not Suggested: I know she works on Monday. Suggested: I know that she works on Monday. 6

4. Use 's only for possessives, not to contract is or has. Not Suggested: Mary's singing at the church tonight. Suggested: Mary is singing at the church tonight. 7

5. Keep your sentence structure clear, simple, and direct. Break up longer sentences filled with many ideas into short sentences expressing one idea each. Not Suggested: The local government completed projects such as the construction of a new bridge which allows travel between our city and Springfield and has increased commerce in both communities. Suggested: The local government completed projects such as the construction of a new bridge. The bridge allows travel between our city and Springfield. It has increased commerce in both communities. 8

6. Avoid the passive voice. An active sentence uses the form "agent-actionobject. " A passive sentence reverses the point of view and emphasizes the object as the recipient of the action. Writers often overuse the passive voice. Not Suggested/Passive: hit by the boy. Suggested/Active: The ball was The boy hit the ball. 9

7. Do not split separable English verbs, such as "pick up" and "look up. " Not Suggested: I have to look the information up in our database. Suggested: I have to look up the information in our database. 10

8. When writing dates, we suggest that you use the format: month day, year or day month, year. Avoid using numbers alone to convey the date. Not Suggested: 24/10/97 or 10/24/97 Suggested: October 24, 1997 24 October, 1997 11

9. Write your documents in standard, formal English. In formal English, grammatical connections are clearly expressed: subjects agree with predicates, modifiers relate to what they modify. Unnecessary words are kept to a minimum. Clear, formal writing which is easiest for your reader to understand will result in the most comprehensible translations possible. Informal English is marked by loose grammatical style that is typical of a conversation. This may be perfectly appropriate for conversation. It is not beneficial for the translation process. 12

10. If your text program includes a spell checker, use it prior to importing the document into the automatic translation program. The program will not recognize words that are spelled incorrectly. 13

When a text has been machine -translated, post-editing may be needed. 14

u Pre-editing: preparation of a text for machine translation. u Post-editing: revision of the machinetranslated text. 15

A type of software for MT: 16

The same software and text edited : 17

An on-line MT site: 18

The same MT site with an edited text : 19