Processing method and processor for machine translation

A machine translation processor according to the present invention includes an input section having a keyboard with a partial translation command key, a translation processing section having dictionaries for performing translation of an original sentence, a time measuring section for measuring the actual translation time performed in the translation processing section, a memory for storing both the original and translation sentences, a dividing section for dividing the original sentence into phrases in accordance with a predetermined rule for division, and a control section for controlling the translation of the original sentence such that when the partial translation command key is operated or the actual translation time measured reaches a predetermined maximum translation time, the original is divided into phrases by the dividing section and the phrases are translated by the translation processing section. Overall translation time is reduced by dividing the difficult original sentence into phrases that may easily translated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a processing method and a processor for 
processing a sentence written in a first natural language (original 
sentence) to be translated and output as a sentence described in a second 
natural language (translated sentence). 
2. Description of Prior Art 
In recent years, automatic translation (machine translation) system by 
which an English sentence is translated into a Japanese sentence by means 
of a computer system has been attracting the attention of various people. 
A translation processor of this kind is composed in such a way as to 
construct a large-scale data base that is required for the translation 
processing, and to obtain a high quality product of translation processing 
by taking full advantage of highly advanced philological and intellectual 
information processing techniques while retrieving the data base. For this 
reason, the processing time necessary for translation processing generally 
takes a relatively long time. That is, a long time period is required 
between the inputting of an original sentence and obtaining the translated 
result, the time period being proportional to the degree of complexity of 
the languages used and the length of the original sentence that is input. 
A long translation time period is, of course, inconvenient. 
This fact leads also to another inconvenience, in a system which performs a 
conversational translation operation by receiving the response to the 
translated result while inputting the original sentence, namely, 
psychological and physical burdens to the operator are increased due to 
the waiting time for response so that an improvement in the translation 
processing efficiency cannot be expected. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
An object of the present invention is to provide a processing method and a 
processor for machine translation which is capable of sharply increasing 
the efficiency of translation processing. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing method 
and a processor for machine translation which is capable of performing a 
translation processing in a short time even when there is input a complex 
original sentence. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing method 
and a processor for machine translation which is capable of obtaining in a 
short time a complete or a partial translated result for an original 
sentence input. 
One feature of the present invention is a method of performing a machine 
translation processing, which comprises the steps of: (a) translating an 
original written in a first language into a second translated language by 
means of dictionary and grammers, sentence by sentence; (b) measuring 
actual translation time spent for the translation; (c) determining if the 
actual translation time thus measured reaches a predetermined translation 
time; (d) dividing the original sentence or sentences into phrases in 
accordance with the result of said determination and repeating the 
translation processing; (e) displaying corresponding translated phrases in 
the second language on a display; and (f) editing the translated phrases 
and sentences in the second languages on the display by display control 
means. 
Other feature of the present invention is a machine translation processing 
method further comprising the step of dividing the original sentence or 
sentences into phrases and performing a partial translation of the 
sentence by the operation of a partial translation command key of a 
keyboard. 
Another feature of the present invention is a machine translation processor 
which comprises: (a) input means for inputting an original written in a 
first language; (b) translation processing means having dictionaries for 
performing translation of the original; (c) memory means for storing both 
the original and translated sentences; (d) time measuring means for 
measuring actual translation time performed in said translation processing 
means; (e) dividing means for dividing a sentence into phrases 
constituting the sentence of the original in accordance with a 
predetermined rule for division; and (f) control means constructed for 
controlling such that when the actual translation time reaches a 
predetermined translation time, the original is divided into phrases by 
said dividing means and the phrases are translated by said translation 
processing means. 
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention 
will be more apparent from the following description of a preferred 
embodiment, taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to FIG. 1, a machine translation processor embodying the present 
invention is shown with reference numeral 10. The machine translation 
processor 10 for processing an original sentence (English sentence) that 
is input to be translated into a translated sentence (Japanese sentence), 
comprises an input unit 12 that consists of a keyboard, an original 
sentence memory unit 14 for storing the English sentence that is given via 
the input unit 12, a knowledge data base 16 for storing grammar and 
translation dictionary, a translation unit 18 for performing translation 
processing for the original sentence by the use of the grammar and 
translation dictionary, an elapsed time measuring unit 20 for measuring 
the processing time of analysis stage in the translation unit 18, an 
original sentence division unit 24 for processing the original sentence by 
dividing it by means of a division grammar 22 for performing partial 
translation processing in the translation unit 18, when the measured time 
in the elapsed time measuring unit 20 reached a predetermined time, a 
translation memory unit 25 for storing translated sentence that is 
translation-processed, a display control unit 26 and a display unit 28 for 
displaying the translated sentence that is translation-processed, a 
printing unit 30 for printing translated sentence displayed, and an 
edition control unit 32 for controlling the translation processing in the 
translation unit 18 by receiving an original sentence from the input unit 
12. Further, the screen of the display unit 28 consists, as shown in FIG. 
3, of an editing region 34, an original sentence display region 36, and a 
translated sentence display region 38. 
Now, referring to FIG. 2, the translation processing method in the machine 
translation processor 10 will be described. 
First, when an original sentence (English sentence) is input to the input 
unit 12, it is stored in the original sentence memory unit 14 via the 
edition control unit 32. The stored original sentence is supplied to the 
translation unit 18 sentence by sentence via the edition control unit 32. 
(step 100) The separation and feeding of the sentences are carried out, 
for example, by detecting the period signs or the like in the sequence of 
input characters. Next, for a piece of sentence that is separated in the 
translation unit 18, information such as the parts of speech are 
supplemented to the words that are partitioned by spaces of the like. 
Further, the construction and the meaning of the sentence are analyzed by 
the use of the translation dictionary and the translation grammar that are 
stored in the knowledge data base 16, translated phrase or phrases are 
added, and transformation, generation, and the like of the construction 
are carried out, in order to obtain a translated sentence. (step 102) In 
this case, the processing time for the analysis stage of the translation 
unit 18 is measured in the elapsed time measuring unit 20. (step 104) The 
edition control unit 32 judges whether or not the processing time reached 
the predetermined time. (step 106) If it is found that it reached the 
predetermined time, the edition control unit 32 interrupts translation 
processing and sends the original sentence to the original sentence 
division unit 24. The original sentence division unit 24 performs division 
processing by the use of the division grammar. (step 108) Namely, when an 
example of English sentence as shown in FIG. 5A is input, it is divided 
into elemental units of the sentence "This tool was used", "to develop the 
machine", and "in Japan" as shown in FIG. 5B. Then, those three phrases are 
sent to the translation unit 18 via the edition control unit 32, 
translation processed, and partial translation for each part is obtained. 
(step 102) Namely, in the case of the above example of sentence, there 
will be obtained three partial translations as "kono tsuuru o mochiita" 
31, "sono kikai o kaihatsu suru tame" 33, and "nippon de" 35 that are 
composed of hiraganas, Chinese characters (kanjis), and katakanas of 
Japanese language, as shown in FIG. 5B. Then, in step 110, it is judged 
whether or not translation is completed. When translation is completed, 
the original sentence and the translated sentence are displayed in 
corresponding manner on the display device 10, under the control of the 
display control unit 26 (see FIG. 5B). When the translation is partial, 
display control processing as will be described below is carried out. 
(step 112) Upon completion of the display control processing, the original 
sentence and the translated sentence are displayed. (step 114) 
Next, referring to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 5A to 5H, the display controller shown 
in step 112 in FIG. 2 will be described. 
When an English sentence is input, the English sentence is displayed in the 
original sentence display region 36 of the screen as shown in FIG. 5A. If 
the translation processing is not completed yet at the stage when the 
translation processing time reached the predetermined time, the words 
"bubun yaku" 37 in terms of kanjis of Japanese language or "partial 
translation" in English are displayed in the translated sentence display 
region 35 as shown in FIG. 5A. (step 200) Then, when the partial 
translation is displayed in the translated sentence display region 38 as 
shown in FIG. 5B, the user can readily judge that the displayed translated 
sentence is not a bona fide translated sentence. Next, under the indication 
by the user through the keyboard, the partial translation as displayed in 
the translated sentence display region 38 in the preceding stage, and the 
corresponding English sentence are displayed in the editing region 34 as 
shown in FIG. 5C. Then, in order to edit the order of the sentence, the 
cursor is moved to the position where "nippon de" in Japanese is 
displayed, and by the indication through the selection key, the translated 
expression "nippon de" in Japanese is moved and displayed in the translated 
sentence display region 38, as shown in FIG. 5D. (step 202) Here, if it is 
desired to insert the particle "wa" 37 in Japanese hiragana which is 
missing in the translated sentence, by indicating the key for "wa" on the 
keyboard, instead of the selection key, it will be moved to the translated 
sentence display region 38 and displayed as "nippon dewa" 39 there, as 
shown in FIG. 5D. In this manner, the user is able to supplement the 
translated phrase with information on auxiliary words that are missing, in 
addition to select a partial translation. (step 204) 
In addition, the operation of supplementing missing information can be 
continued to be input until the cursor on the screen is shifted to a 
partial translation to be selected next. (step 206) Thus, for example, if 
the partial translation was "nippon" instead of "nippon de", it is 
possible to shift the word and display it as "nippon dewa" in the 
translated sentence display region 38, by indicating two Japanese 
hiraganas "dewa" through the keyboard and by shifting the cursor. (step 
208) Here, the operation of selection, shifting, and displaying for one 
partial translation will be completed when the cursor is moved in the 
vertical direction. Further, by shifting the cursor in the horizontal 
direction, a translated word in the partial translation can be manipulated 
as follows. For example, by shifting the cursor to "kikai" 41 in FIG. 5E, 
it is possible to select and change it to another translated word "mashin" 
43 through the operation of the selection key, as shown in FIG. 5F, to 
shift and display the word in the translated sentence display region 38. 
Moreover, if it is desired to add a Japanese hiragana "ni" 45 which is 
missing in the translated expression to the end of the translation "suru 
tame", the word will be shifted and an expression "suru tameni" will be 
displayed in the translated sentence display region as shown in FIG. 5G, 
by indicating "ni" on the keyboard. 
By performing the above-mentioned operations, a translated sentence as 
shown in FIG. 5H becomes possible to be obtained. (step 210) In this way, 
at the time point when it reaches a predetermined time after inputting of 
the original sentence, the user is able to obtain a regular translated 
result or a partial translation. Moreover, in editing the translated 
sentence by the use of partial translations, it becomes possible to add 
missing information (particles or the like), change translated words, and 
others, in addition to the selection of partial translation. Therefore, 
the psychological and physical burdens to the user become reducible, 
making it possible to improve sharply the effciency of the translation 
processing, including the edition efficiency. 
Referring to FIG. 6, a second embodiment of the machine translation 
processor is shown with reference numeral 40. The machine translation 
processor 40 is arranged to be switched forcibly to the partial 
translation processing, through the indication of partial translation by 
the user. For this purpose, the processor 40 has, as shown in FIG. 7, an 
input unit 44 that consists of a keyboard that has a partial translation 
indication key 42, and an edition control unit 46 that interrupts the 
translation processing in execution and controls it to perform partial 
translation processing upon striking of the partial translation indication 
key 42. The other composition, namely, the original sentence memory unit, 
knowledge data base, translation unit, division grammar, original sentence 
division unit, translated sentence memory unit, display control unit, 
display unit, and printing unit are the same as in the first embodiment, 
so that their description will be omitted by assigning them identical 
symbols. 
Next, referring to FIG. 8, the translation processing method or the device 
40 in the second embodiment will be described. 
First, when an original sentence (English sentence) is input to the input 
unit 44, it is stored via the edition control unit 46 in the original 
sentence memory unit 14. The original sentence stored is supplied via the 
edition control unit 32 to the translation unit 18 by being separated and 
sent out sentence by sentence. (step 300) Next, for one sentence that is 
separated and sent out from the translation unit 18, information such as 
part of speech is supplemented to each word that is partitioned by spaces 
or the like, its construction and meaning are analyzed by the use of the 
translation dictionary and the translation grammar that are stored in the 
knowledge data base, translation of the words are added, and 
transformation, generation, and the like of the construction are 
performed, in order to execute the translation processing. (step 302) 
Then, whether or not the partial translation indication key 42 on the 
keyboard 44 is struck is judged. (step 304) When it is judged that the 
partial translation indication key 42 is struck, the edition control unit 
46 interrupts the translation processing that is going on in the 
translation unit 18, sends the original sentence to the original sentence 
division unit 24 where division processing is carried out by the use of 
the division grammar. (step 306) Next, the subdivided sentences are sent 
via the edition control unit 46 to the translation unit 18 where they are 
processed and partial translation for each parts are obtained. (step 302) 
Then, whether or not translation is completed is judged in step 308, and 
if it is found that the translation is finished, display control 
processing and display of the original sentence and the translated 
sentence are carried out similar to the first embodiment. (steps 310 and 
312) Here, the display control processing in step 310 is similar to that 
in the first embodiment so that its detailed description will be omitted. 
Furthermore, in the first and second embodiments, description was made in 
conjunction with a composition which possesses the function for shifting 
automatically to partial translation processing by measuring the 
translation processing time and the function for forcibly shifting to 
partial translation processing under sending of a partial translation 
indication by the operator. It should be noted that it is quite obvious 
that a machine translation processor with both functions can readily be 
realized. 
Moreover, in the foregoing embodiments it has been assumed that the 
original sentence is an English sentence and the translated sentence is a 
Japanese sentence. However, the present invention is by no means limited 
to this combination, and it can be applied to combinations of a variety of 
languages. 
In summary, according to the present invention, the contents of translation 
processing will be changed after elapse of a predetermined translation 
processing time. Thus, for instance, it becomes possible to output a 
nearly reliable partial translation result within a time that is small 
compared with the processing time that is necessary for obtaining a 
regular translation result. 
Accordingly, it becomes possible to reduce sharply the waiting time for the 
response, from the point in time at which an original sentence was input to 
the time at which the result of its translation processing is obtained, as 
well as to obtain the response to the input original sentence in real 
time. Therefore, significant practical effects such as a reduction in the 
psychological and physical burdens to the operator can be achieved, 
through a conspicuous improvement that can be realized in the efficiency 
of conversational information processing. 
Various modifications become possible for those skilled in the art after 
receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from 
the scope thereof.