Process of automatically generating translation-example dictionary, program product, computer-readable recording medium and apparatus for performing thereof

A process of creating a translation-example dictionary for an Example-based Machine Translation is provided. The process of the invention includes the steps of: a) comparing first translation-example information and another first translation-example information to detect if there is any differing portion; specifying a word class of each of differing portions, if any, detected in the step a); c) generating variables by linking the at least one differing portion detected in the step a) and the word class specified in the step b) so as to create second translation-example information; and d) registering the second translation-example information into the translation-example dictionary.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a machine-translating process and particularly relates to a process of automatically generating a translation-example dictionary in which some portions of translation-example information are expressed by variables.

2. Description of the Related Art

When translating an original text written in a source language into another language using a machine translation system, it is often insufficient to use a basic dictionary and/or a technical term dictionary provided in a computer for providing a translation which corresponds well to the meaning of the original text. Accordingly, an Example-based Machine Translation process has been proposed in which frequently-used translation examples each including an original text and a translated text are pre-registered by a person in charge of translation and then a translation process of the relevant original text is performed.

A translation-example dictionary used in the Example-based Machine Translation may be a type of dictionary in which some portions of the translation example information, for example nouns, are expressed as variables. Such a dictionary is used for a machine translation process in which, when there is a correspondence between the original text to be translated and the original text data in the translation-example dictionary where from the variable have been excluded, the variables of the original text data and the translated text data are substituted by data included in the basic dictionary and/or technical term dictionary.

In order to create a translation-example dictionary having some portions of the translation-example information expressed as variables, the person in charge of translation must determine which portion of the original text and the translated text are to be expressed as variables. Also, since the variables must be manually registered into the dictionary by the person in charge of translation, many steps are required for creating the translation-example dictionary, and also, there is a problem that the judging criteria for portions to be expressed as variables may differ between different persons in charge of translation.

Also, it is understood that the reliability of a translated text obtained by translation using a translation-example dictionary having many variables is lower than the reliability of a translated text obtained by translation using a translation-example dictionary having a few variables. Often, however, no material is provided for determining the reliability of the translated text.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide a process for automatically generating a translation-example dictionary which can solve the problems described above.

It is another and more specific object of the present invention to provide a process for automatically generating a translation-example dictionary in which some portions of the translation-example information are expressed as variables, and to record a number of portions expressed as variables in the translation-example information.

In order to achieve the above object, a process of a process of creating a translation-example dictionary for an Example-based Machine Translation is provided, the process including the steps of:

a) comparing first translation-example information and another first translation-example information to detect if there is any different portion;

b) specifying a word class of each of different portions, if any, detected in the step a);

c) generating variables by linking the at least one different portion detected in the step a) and the word class specified in the step b) so as to create second translation-example information; and

d) registering the second translation-example information into the translation-example dictionary.

The process of the present invention is particularly useful for automatically generating a translation-example dictionary in which some portions of the translation-example information are expressed as variables. For example, the translation-example dictionary in which a part of the translation-example information are expressed as variables can be automatically generated from an existing translation-example dictionary without needing many steps and in such a manner that judgment criteria for portions to be expressed as variables do not differ between different persons in charge of translation.

Also, as in a case where it is required to distinguish between a translated text with a comparatively high reliability which has been translated using a translation-example information with less portions expressed as variables and a translated text with a comparatively low reliability which has been translated using a translation-example information with more portions expressed as variables, and display them separately, a number of portions expressed as variables in the translation-example information may also be recorded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following, principles and embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1is a schematic diagram showing an information processing apparatus which may implement a process of the present invention. A computer system shown inFIG. 1is formed by a general computer system such as a personal computer (PC). The computer system10generally includes a main body part11which includes a CPU, a disk drive and the like, a display unit12which displays an image on a display screen12ain response to an instruction to the computer system10, a keyboard13which is used to input various kinds of information to the computer system10, a mouse14which is used to make access to an external data base or the like and to download a program or the like stored in another computer system. A program which is stored in a portable recording medium such as a disk17or is downloaded from a recording medium16of another computer system by use of a communication unit such as the modem15, is input to and is compiled in the computer system10. This program includes a program for causing the CPU of the computer system10to carry out a process of creating a translation-example dictionary for using in an Example-based Machine Translation.

FIG. 2is a system block diagram showing the construction of an important part within the main body part11of the computer system10ofFIG. 1. InFIG. 2, the main body part11generally includes a CPU21, a memory part22including a RAM, ROM or the like, a disk drive23for the disk17, and a hard disk drive24which are coupled via a bus25. The display unit12and the like are coupled to the bus25.

The construction of the computer system10is not limited to that shown inFIGS. 1 and 2and various known constructions may be used in place thereof.

Referring now toFIGS. 3 to 5, an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 3is a schematic diagram showing a principle structure of the present invention. An automatic translation-example dictionary generating program100includes a translation-example input step101, a translation-example comparing step102, a word class specifying step103, a variable generating step104and a translation-example dictionary registering step105.

An automatic translation-example dictionary generating apparatus150includes a first translation-example dictionary110, the automatic translation-example dictionary generating program100which may operate in the apparatus150, and a second translation-example dictionary120.

As shown inFIG. 4, the first translation-example dictionary110includes first translation-example information200each having an original text data201and a translated text data202and not having any variable portions.

As shown inFIG. 5, the second translation-example dictionary120includes second translation-example information300each having an original text data301and a translated text data302and having at least one variable portion. The second translation-example information300may include information related to a number of variable portions expressed as variables303in the original and translated text information.

In translation-example input step101, the first translation-example information200including the original text data201and the translated text data202shown inFIG. 4is read out from the first translation-example dictionary110.

In translation-example comparing step102, a comparison is made to detect differing portions between the original text data201of the first translation-example information200read out in the translation-example input step101and an original text data of other translation-example in the first translation-example dictionary110.

In the word class-specifying step103, a word class of the differing portion detected in the translation-example comparing step102is specified.

In the variable generating step104, the differing portion detected in the translation-example comparing step102and the type of the word class specified in the word class-specifying step103are linked so as to create the second translation-example information300having the original text data301and the translation information302having variable portions. Note that the variable generating step104may create data of the number of variable portions expressed as variables303as a part of the second translation-example information as well as the original text data301and the translated text data302.

In the translation-example registering step105, the second translation-example information300shown inFIG. 5which have been created in the variable generating step104is registered in the second translation dictionary120.

An embodiment of the present embodiment will be described with reference toFIGS. 6 to 12.

The present embodiment will be described based on an example where reference translation-example information610and comparison translation-example information620are read out from the old translation-example dictionary401. If the reference translation-example information610and comparison translation-example information620are similar, the second translation-example information630including the differing portions expressed as variables are registered into a new translation-example dictionary403.

The reference translation-example information and the comparison translation-example information are read out from the first translation-example dictionary according to steps S0to S4below.

A value received from the user is set as an initial value of value x to be used as a threshold value for determining whether the translation-example information are similar to each other. Variables m and n for indicating reading position of the first translation-example dictionary, y for determining the number of differing portions, and variable L used for determining the differing portion are initialized to a value 0. (Step S0).

Position m of the reference translation-example information to be read from the old translation-example dictionary401and position n to be compared are determined (Step S1).

Reference translation-example information610is read out at an mth position from the old translation-example dictionary401. (Step S2).

A read out position of the comparison translation-example information to be compared with the reference translation-example information610is set to an n+1th position. (Step S3).

The comparison translation-example information620is read out at an nth position from the old translation-example dictionary401. (Step S4).

The original text data of both the reference translation-example information610and the comparison translation information620are divided into a plurality of parts corresponding to units of word class and then compared so as to determine whether the translation-example information are similar to each other according to steps S5to S10below.

A morphological analysis of the original text611of the translation-example information610read out in step S2is implemented and it is divided into a plurality of parts in accordance with word class units. (Step S5).

A morphological analysis of the original text621of the translation-example information620read out in step S4is implemented and it is into a plurality of parts in accordance with word class units. (Step S6).

The comparison position of the part units divided in steps S5and S6is set to L+1th position. (Step S7).

A comparison is made to determine whether respective character strings of Lth parts divided in steps S5and S6match. Note that determination of a match may be performed using semantic correspondence. (Step S8).

If the comparison result of step S8does not indicate a match, the number of differing position y is incremented by +1. (Step S9).

The number of differing position y is determined. If the differing position is greater than or equal to x, it is determined that the comparison translation-example information620is not similar to the reference translation-example information610, and after setting the number of differing position y and the comparison position of part unit L is set to 0, proceed to the comparison translation-example reading process (S4) to read a new translation-example information620to be compared. (Step S10).

A process for expressing the differing portions of the original text data as variables is carried out in steps S31and S32shown inFIG. 8and described below.

If the differing position y is less than x, a word class of the differing portion is specified. (Step S31).

A differing portion between the original text data611of the reference translation-example information610and the original text621of the comparison translation-example information620is linked to the word class specified in step S31and expressed as a variable. (Step S32).

A process for expressing the differing portions of the translated text data as variables is carried out in steps S33to S38shown inFIGS. 8 and 9and described below.

A morphological analysis of the translated text data622of the comparison translation-example information620is implemented and it is divided into a plurality of parts corresponding to word class units. (Step S33).

A comparison is made between types of the word class specified in step S31and the word class of the Jth part divided in step S33. (Step S34).

If there is no match between the types of word class, increment J such that J=J+1, and implement comparison for the next portion. (Step S35).

If the type of word class matches, translate the Jth part of the parts divided in step S33to the language of the original text data using commonly used dictionaries402such as the basic dictionary or the technical term dictionary. (Step S36).

If there is no matching translation for the differing portion of the original text data and the translation obtained in step S37, increment J such that J=J+1, and implement comparison for the next portion.

If there is a matching translation in step S36, link the Jth part of the translated text data621of the comparison translation-example information620and the word class of the Jth portion, and express it in as a variable. (Step S38).

A process for registering the second translation-example information630in which a part of the translation-example information is expressed as variables into the second translation-example dictionary is carried out in step S50shown inFIG. 10and described below.

The translation-example information630created in steps S32and S38are registered in the new translation-example dictionary403together with the number of portions expressed as variables631. Note that when the number of differing portion is zero, it is not necessary to implement registration into the new translation-example dictionary403. The variable L used for a process of determining the differing portion is initialized to a value 0 (Step S50).

It is to be noted that the above embodiment has been described for a case provided with a single old translation-example dictionary401and a single new translation-example dictionary403, but a plurality of new translation-example dictionaries403may be created from a dictionary403may be created from a plurality of old translation-example dictionaries401, or a plurality of new translation-example dictionaries403may be created from a single old translation-example dictionary401.

Also, the new translation-example dictionary402may not necessarily be completely new, but may be added to an existing translation-example dictionary.

An embodiment of using the number of portions expressed as variables631is described with reference toFIG. 13. A group of original text data720are translated using a translation-example dictionary710having the number of parts expressed as variables, so as to create a group of translated text data730.

A first original text data721is translated into a first translated text data731using a first translation-example information711having only one portion that has been expressed as a variable by a translation-example dictionary, and the thus-created first translated text data731is displayed in green.

A second original text data722is translated into a second translated text data732using a second translation-example information712having two parts that have been expressed as variables, and the thus-created second translated text data732is displayed in yellow.

A third original text data723is translated into a third translated text data733using a third translation-example information713having three parts that have been expressed as variables, and the thus-created third translated text data733is displayed in red.

Further, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The present application is based on Japanese priority application No. 2001-102266 filed on Mar. 30, 2001, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.