GB2193018A - Translation machine system - Google Patents

Abstract

A translation machine system displayed the input original sentence and the sentence translated from it including the parts mentioned below; a device for designating desired words in the original sentence requiring further translation in that display; a device for displaying synonyms of the translated words and their dictionary contents for the word designated above; and a device for replacing any of the designated words in the translated sentence with the chosen corresponding word. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Translation machine system BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conversation type translation machine system capable of achieving correct translation by allowing interaction between the machine and the operator.

Conventional conversation type translation machine apparatus or systems have not yet been provided with such a function to replace any desired word of the translated sentence with a synonym.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of the invention is to provide a translation machine apparatus capable of freely replacing desired words with synonyms in the translated sentence.

Another object of the invention is to provide a translation machine apparatus capable of easily replacing translated words with desired words to obtain better translation results in a short period of time, in the manner shown in FIG. 6 for example, which is executed by the following steps.

For example, after translating the original input sentence "They consider him a good teacher" into any language, Japanese for example, if the cursor is set to the position of "good", the words "good" and the corresponding Japanese translation "yoi" are highlighted. If the operator presses the word translation display key, a window containing a variety of synonyms for the translated word "yoi" is displayed. The translation machine apparatus related to the invention then allows the operator to easily replace "yoi" that was chosen by the system with any corresponding word shown in (a) through (d) of the 0th row, or with any desired word in the first and following rows of the dictionary.

Briefly speaking, the invention provides a translation machine system capable of displaying the original input sentence and the corresponding translated sentence. The invention comprises the following; means of designating the desired words in the original input sentence requiring translation; means of displaying synonyms of the translated words and the content of the dictionary related to the words designated; and means of replacing the word of the translated sentence with the desired word from the said dictionary.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will be better understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention and wherein: FIG. 1 is the simplified block diagram denoting a preferred embodiment of the translation machine system related to the invention; FIG. 2 is the simplified block diagram denoting a preferred embodiment of the translation module related to the invention; FIG. 3 is the schematic chart explaining the processes of the translation machine related to the invention; FIG. 4 is the block diagram of the translation module related to the invention; FIG. 5 (a) through (e) are respectively the structural charts denoting the contents stored in respective buffers; FIG. 6 is an example of the display content; and FIG. 7 is the operation flowchart related to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the translation machine system related to the invention are described below.

FIG. 1 is the simplified block diagram denoting the constitution of the translation machine system embodied in the invention. This system is provided with a main memory 2 storing a variety of programs needed to allow a central processing unit (CPU) 1 to properly execute translation; a display (CRT) 3 executes display of information needed to execute translation; a keyboard 4 allows the operator to optionally input information needed to execute translation; a translation module 5 stores a variety of information and a table 6 contains the dictionary, grammatical rules and tree-structure conversion rule, which are required for the translation process.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram denoting a preferred embodiment of the translation module 5 related to the invention. The translation module 5 is comprised of 5 buffers (A through E), CPU, and translation program memory. Each of these buffers A through E stores a variety of data in respective analytical levels of the translation process, as described later.

Next, a conventional method of executing the translation machine is explained below. Generally, a variety of levels are applied to the translation machine as shown in FIG. 3. When the source word is input from the upper left side, the machine proceeds with analytical processes including (1) dictionary lookup, (2) morpheme analysis, and (3) syntax analysis. The translation machine is grouped into two parts by the above analytical levels. The first part is called the "pivot" format in which the system applies its analysis to a specific concept (called interim word 6) which is not dependent on each word, before the system eventually generates language generator words.The other is called the "transfer" format in which the system applies its analysis to any of the following (2) morpheme analysis, (3) syntax analysis, (4) meaning analysis, and (5) context analysis, before the system determines to the constitution of the source word.

The system then converts the structure of the source word into the structure of the language generator word with the same level as the source word before the system eventually generates the language generator word. The details of respective analytical levels are shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Analytical level Analytical content Dictionary The system first refers to the dictionary lookup and and then identifies grammatical informa morpheme tion like the part of speech of the analysis original input sentence before eventually analyzing the translated word for tense, person, and number.

Syntax The system determines the sentence analysis structure and modifying relationships between words.

Analysis of The system identifies the correct and meaning incorrect meanings based on the result of analysis of multiple sentence structures.

Analysis of The system determines the subject and context eliminates abbreviation and ambiguity.

Assume that the translation module executes analytical operations up to (3) syntax analysis at least. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the translation module comprises of four parts including a dictionary lookup device and morpheme analyzer 51, a syntex analyzer 52, a language converter 53, and a language generator 54.

FIG. 5 denotes the cases in which an English sentence "This is a pen" stored in respective buffers (see FIG. 2) is translated into the corresponding Japanese words. First, buffer A in FIG.

2 reads the original English sentence as shown in FIG. 5 (a). The dictionary lookup device and morpheme analyzer.51 in FIG. 4 collects the information needed for each word which is then stored in buffer B in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 (b) represents information on the parts of speech. The word "this", which is a multiple part of speech, is instantly identified by the syntex analyzer 52 in FIG. 4. As shown in Fig. 5 (c), the relationship between each word is transmitted to buffer C of FIG. 2. Simultaneously, as shown in FIG. 2, based on the grammatical rules of Table 6, the analysis shown in Table 3 is executed.

Table 3 Element Structure Sentence Subject and predicate Subject Noun phrase Predicate Verb and noun phrase Noun phrase Pronoun Noun phrase Article and noun The grammatical rules shown above indicate for example that "a sentence is composed of the subject and the predicate". As in the case of syntax analysis, the language converter 53 in FIG.

4 4 executes analysis operations based on the tree structure conversion, the result is then delivered to buffer D of FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 5 (d). The language generator 54 in FIG. 4 provides a suitable particle and an auxiliary verb, thus eventually making up a complete Japanese sentence, which is then delivered to buffer E of FIG. 2, as shown in FIG. 5 (e). This sentence is eventually output from the translation module 5.

FIG. 6 is an example of the display of the translation machine system related to the invention.

FIG. 7 is the operation flowchart of the translation machine system related to the invention.

Operations of the translation machine system related to the invention with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 are described below.

In step 1, as soon as the English sentence "They consider him a good teacher" which comprises the source words is input, the system refers to the dictionary and executes morpheme analysis. In step 2, the system sets the combination of the respective multiple parts of speech chosen to correspond with the respective words. In step 3, the sequence of parts of speech are analyzed to determine the sentence structure. Step 4 executes the language conversion. Step 5 generates the correct target words. In step 6, the result of the translation based on the parts of speech used in the syntax analysis generates the sentence structure

The Japanese sentence shown above is then displayed on the CRT display, as shown in FIG.

6. In step 7, the system checks if the user has operated the translated word display key (which display all translated words). If not operated, operation mode proceeds to step 21, in which the system identifies whether there is another sentence that requires translation or not, and then proceeds with further translation; On the other hand, if the operator pushes the translated word display key, operation mode then proceeds to steps 8 and 9, in which the group of the translated words that match the identified word "good" designated in the input sentence are displayed as shown in FIG. 6. In step 10, the Japanese word "yoi" which matches the word "good" in the input sentence is highlighted. In step 11, the system identifies whether the word "yoi" highlighted in step 10 should be replaced with the content of the window displayed during step 9.If the answer is negative, operation mode proceeds to step 16, the system corrects the display by activating editor functions (correct, delete and change order), and then fully corrects the internal expression during steps 19 and 20.

If replacing the translated words, operation mode proceeds from step 11 to step 14 to allow the correction to be executed. In step 15, the controller instructs the system which word should be replaced with the corrected word. Replacement of the translated words is executed during steps 16 and 17, and then the operation mode returns to step 7.

Since the translation machine system related to the invention easily replaces any of the translated words not only with synonyms but-also with any other word stored in the dictionary in the manner mentioned above, the system significantly saves time while achieving a more desirable translation. Furthermore, since the translation machine system related to the invention simultaneously executes a variety of operations including the correction of the dictionary content in the word replacing display window, the system can prepare a practical dictionary content, thus improving the correctness of the translation of similar sentences to be input.

As is clear from the above description, the invention provides an extremely convenient transla tion system capable of significant time savings while achieving the desired translation result. By providing the translation machine system with means for designating desired words in the display of the original sentence to be translated; means for displaying synonyms to the translated words and the dictionary content for those words; and means for replacing any word in the translated sentence with a similar corresponding word from the dictionary.

While only certain embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as claimed;

Claims (12)

1. A translation machine system of a man-machine communication type comprising: display means to display an input sentence and the corresponding translated sentence; translation means to translate the input sentence into the translated sentence; designating means to designate a desired word contained within the translated sentence displayed by said display means; dictionary means to store synonyms of the translated words related; said display means being responsive to said dictionary means to display the synonyms of the translated word specified by said specifying means; selection means responsive to said display means to select one of the synonyms as the desired translated word; and replacement means responsive to said selection means to replace the translated word with one of the synonyms as designated by said designated means.

2. A translation machine system comprising: buffer means for storing one or more source words; table means for storing dictionary details of the translation, grammatical details on the source words, the synonyms of the translated words, and tree structure conversion rules from the source language to the target language; translation means for analyzing the source words; said translation means further comprising: dictionary lookup device and morpheme analyzing means to analyze the source words and determine the necessary information for each source word including the part of speech of the words with reference to said table means; syntax analyzing means responsive to said dictionary lookup device and morpheme analyzing means to determine the grammatical relation with reference to said table means; language converting means to analyze the structure of the language of the source words and the translated words; and language generation means to generate one or more translated words; display means responsive to said translation means to display the translated words; designating means to designate any one of the translated words generated by said translated means; said display means being responsive to said specifying means to dispiay the synonyms corresponding to the translated word specified by said specified means; selection means to select any one of the synonyms displayed within said display means; and replacement means responsive to said selection means to replace the translated word with the synonyms selected by said selection means.

3. The translation machine of claim 2, wherein said display means is responsive to said designating means to display some synonyms on a display screen.

4. The translation machine system of claim 3, wherein said display means displays the synonyms in a window display which is a partial display within the display by said display means.

5. The translation machine system of claim 2, further comprising detection means to detect whether said designating means is operated to designate one of the translated words or not.

6. The translation machine system of claim 2, wherein said designating means is further operated to designate the source word corresponding to the translated word designated by said designating means.

7. A translation machine system characterized by comprising buffer means for storing one or more source words, dictionary table means for storing synonyms of translated words' the dictionary contents of the source words and the translated words for translation, grammatical details of the source words and translated words, and tree structure conversion rules from the source words to the translated words, designating means to designate one of the translated words after the translated words have been provided by said translation means, said display means further responsive to said designating means to display the synonyms of the translated words, selection means to select one of the synonyms displayed by said display means, and replacement means responsive to said selection means to replace the word specified by said specified means with the word selected by said selection means.

8. A translation machine comprising means for inputting a group of words in a first language; means for generating a translation of said group of words into a corresponding group of words in a second language; user-operable designation means permitting designation of a word in said word group in the second language for possible replacement; dictionary means for providing one or more possible replacement words for the word designated by said designation means; and selection means operable to select a said replacement word which is then substituted for the designated word.

9. A translation machine according to claim 8, including display means for displaying said groups of words in said first and second languages, and said possible replacement word or words.

10. A translation machine according to claim 8 or claim 9 wherein said designation means is operable in response to identification by the user of a word in the word group of the first language, to determine said designated word in said second language.

11. A translation machine in which an input sentence and its translation are displayed, and a selected word in the translation can be replaced by any of one or more automatically generated synongms thereof.

12. A translation machine, substantially as hereinbefore described with refere#nce to the accompanying drawings.