Preprogramming for mechanical translation

TRANSLATION is a species of communication in which the set of symbols adopted by the communicator is changed into another set of symbols before reception. It is possible to argue that all communication involves such a substitution of symbols and that communication within a single language is merely a limiting case of translation. For present purposes, however, we shall confine the scope of discussion to translation between different spoken or written languages. We have next to inquire as to what remains invariant in translation. If we try to convey the maximum significance of the symbols of the base language, it is clear that a great deal is involved: gross meaning, the subtler overtones, deliberately concealed meanings, manifestations of the subconscious mind, the sound of the base words or their appearance in script, metrical characteristics, etymology, the associations engendered by the communication, the statistical characteristics of the communication as a sample of the output of a particular author or period, and the pleasure or otherwise engendered by communication in an informed or cultivated recipient. It is obvious that a mere fraction of all this comes over in any translation and hence we derive the notion of translation as a scaled process. We translate at various levels and in respect of various characteristics. An additional limitation on the precision of translation is provided by the peculiarities of the target language which may contain no symbol for an idea in the base language, a frequent occurrence in the case of exotic plants or animals, or no method of rendering an idea without adding an inaccurate qualifier, as in Chinese-to-English translation where the neutrality of the Chinese noun with respect to number cannot be preserved. The notion of level or mode of translation is important. Machine translation has earned a certain notoriety for its indulgence in very lowlevel translation and its fondness for what has come to be known as mechanical pidgin. For certain purposes, however, such as locating allusions, low-level translation may be all that is required. Confusion only occurs if the mode of translation is not made clear. We are now in a position to discuss the notion of preprogram. Machine translation depends on collaboration between linguists, engineers and an obscure set of people interested in the bridge territory between the two, where problems of logic and semantics arise. It is not to be expected that a person whose primary interests are linguistic will appreciate the nicer details of electronic circuitry. It is therefore important to develop procedures that are comprehensible to linguists and engineers alike and can be used as the basis for developing detailed programs for any particular machine. Such general procedures are referred to here as pre programs. Till now, the devices principally used for experiments in machine translation have been punched-card machines and electronic computers. It is possible that the best machine for machine translation as regards both efficiency and expense has not yet been devised. It is important therefore to develop procedures that are not tied down to any particular machine but which can easily be applied to a particular machine when required.