Using the Internet for Specialised Translation
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USING THE INTERNET FOR SPECIALISED TRANSLATION 1 Translation Technology “much translation work is carried out in a computer-assisted translation (CAT) environment, which may vary from a standard desktop equipped with word processing software and a browser to a full-blown translator workstation consisting of a multiplicity of tools specifically created for translators of technical texts and localizers." “Tra ns la tion agencies organize their workflow around project management systems that distribute translation tasks, memories and terminologies to and around individual translators.” (F. Zanettin 2014, “Corpora in Translation”) Translation technologies • electronicdictionaries and terminologicaldatabases, the arrival of the Internet with its numerous possibilities for research, documentation and communication, and the emergence of computer-assisted translationtools. Alcina A. (2008) «Translation technologies - Scope, tools and resources». Targ et 20:1, 79–102 Degrees of Translation automation Degrees of Translation automation • The term traditional human translation is understood to refer to translation without any kind of automation • Fully automatichigh quality translation (FAHQT) means translation that is performed wholly by the computer, without any kind of human involvement, and is of “high quality” • Human-aided machine translation (HAMT) refers to systems in which the translation is essentially carried out by the program itself, but aid required from humans • Machine-aided human translation (MAHT) comprises any process or degree of automation in the translation process, provided that the mechanical intervention provides some kind of linguistic support. Tools vs.Resources • The word tool refers to computer programs that enable translators to carry out a series of functions or tasks with a set of data that they have prepared and, at the same time, allows a particular kind of results to be obtained. • Internet search engines • Word processor • Trados, Wordfast, Déjà Vu, Across, OmegaT, … • Antconc, Wordsmith… • By resources we refer to all sets of previously gathered linguistic data which are organized in a particular manner and made available in some electronic format so that they can be used or looked up or used by translators used in the course of some phase of processing. Te r m i n o l o g i c a l databases (e.g. IATE), glossaries, … • (online) dictionaries • British National Corpus, … why and how can we mine the web? Extended units of meaning • the study of words “by presenting them in thecompany they usually keep - that is to say, an element of their meaning is indicated when their habitual word accompaniments are shown” • “Extended units of meaning” at work in language (Sinclair, 1996) • collocation Words must be studied in • colligation context rather than in • semantic preference isolation • semantic prosody Extended units of meaning • Differences in Italian between (from Taylor, 1998: 61): ◦ “pressione alta” = “high (blood) pressure”[medical] ◦ “alta pressione” = “(banks of) high pressure” [meteorological] • collocation Words must be studied in • colligation context rather than in • semantic preference isolation • semantic prosody Collocation • “Tendency of certain words to co-occur regularly in a given language” (Mona Baker, 1992: 47) • As observed in actual texts (vs. intuition) • Key features of collocations o language-specific (collocations vary from language tolanguage) • Collocations are not stable or fixed o they may change diachronically (over time) in generallanguage o they may change in LSP vs. generallanguage o they may change across LSPdomains 11 Semantic prosody •“A consistent aura of meaning with which a form is imbued by its collcates” (Louw1993) • “Feeling” or “aura” that is evoked by using certain words (reinforced by collocates, due to co-selectional implications and restrictions) •Usually this feeling is “positive or negative” • “Provide” tends to occur with words denoting things which are desirable, necessary or good, such as “information”, “service(s)”, “support”, “help”, “money”, “protection”, “food”,“care” • cf. Italian “fornire” and “elargire” • “Cause” tends to occur with words denotingnegative repercussions/consequences, such as “pain”, “damage”, “harm” • cf. Italian “causare” •Not20necessarily accessible to intuition. Semantic prosody •“A consistent aura of meaning with which a form is imbued by its collcates” (Louw1993) • “Feeling” or “aura” that is evoked by using certain words (reinforced by collocates, due to co-selectional implications and restrictions) •Usually this feeling is “positive or negative” • “Provide” tends to occur with words denoting things which are desirable, necessary or good, such as “information”, “service(s)”, “support”, “help”, “money”, “protection”, “food”,“care” • cf. Italian “fornire” and “elargire” • “Cause” tends to occur with words denotingnegative repercussions/consequences, such as “pain”, “damage”, “harm” • cf. Italian “causare” Semantic preference •Relation between a lemma and a set of semantically related words (Stubbs, 2001: 65) • Lemma: base form (lexeme) or dictionary entry of a word • “Commit” is used with a group of semantically similar words, e.g. “murder”, “crime”, “suicide” (cf. Italian “commettere”) •“Revoke” is used with e.g. “licence”, “permit”,“authorization” •Semantic prosody à positive/negativeevaluation •Semantic preference à relation to words belonging to a particular, definable semantic field 14 Semantic preference •Relation between a lemma and a set of semantically related words (Stubbs, 2001: 65) • Lemma: dictionary entry of a word • “Commit” is used with a group of semantically similar words, e.g. “murder”, “crime”, “suicide” (cf. Italian “commettere”) •“Revoke” is used with e.g. “licence”, “permit”,“authorization” •Semantic prosody à positive/negativeevaluation •Semantic preference à relation to words belonging to a particular, definable semantic field 15 Colligation •Relation between a pair of grammatical categories or a pairing of lexis and grammar (Stubbs, 2001: 65) • hear, notice, see, watchenters into colligation with the sequence of object + either the bare infinitive or the -ing form; e.g.Corr • We heard the visitors leave/leaving. • We noticed him walk away/walkingaway. • We heard Pavarotti sing/singing. • We saw it fall/falling.esponding collocations and colligations in Italian for “break the law”? 16 Colligation •Relation between a pair of grammatical categories or a pairing of • hear, notice, see, watch enters into colligation with the sequence of object + either the bare infinitive or the -ing form; e.g. • We heard the visitors leave/leaving. • We noticed him walk away/walkingaway. • We heard Pavarotti sing/singing. • We saw it fall/falling.esponding collocations and colligations in Italian for •Relation “break betweenthe law”? a pair of grammatical categories or a pairing of lexis and grammar (Stubbs, 2001: 65) 17 Conclusion on using the Web for specialised translation – Main advantages • massive amount of texts and multi-source information can be searched • content is constantly “refreshed” (i.e. updated and extended) • a lot of sources, text types and domains/topics are representedHow to friend and unfriend someone on Facebook - Computer Hope 1.https://www.computerhope.com › ... › Facebook Help • many24 gen languages2018 - Before (Englishyou can is dominant,connect with anothergood presenceperson on of Italian)Facebook and view their full profile, you must first become friends. Below are the steps on how to find new friends on Facebook, add • replicablefriends, and search how to techniquesunfriend any of across your current (yourfriends. How to find working/target)friends on Facebooklanguages; How to friend someone on ... • it is available at any time, at virtuallyno cost! Conclusion on using the Web for specialised translation – Main advantages • massive amount of texts and multi-source information can be searched • content is constantly “refreshed” (i.e. updated and extended) • a lot of sources, text types and domains/topics are represented • many languages (English is dominant, good presence of Italian) • replicable search techniques across (your working/target) languages • it is available at any time, at virtuallyno cost! Main disadvantages andproblems o need to differentiate good/reliable sources from questionableinformation §for facts (limited control over user-generated content like Wikipedia) §for linguistic usage (badly translated, non-native texts, poorauthors) §it may be difficult to identify differences between expert/non-expert use o data/results still need to be interpreted Main disadvantages andproblems o Google focuses on content/information, rather than linguistic forms • the ranking and sorting of results are performed according to criteria like • “popularity” of the websites, or geographic relevance • the same search can yield different numbers of hits, depending on unpredictable and uncontrollable factors as the time of the day, or the location from which the query is made -- word counts are not reliable +it is difficult to compare frequencies to verify translation hypothes • data on which searches are performed isunstable/changes Main disadvantages and problems Particularly relevant to linguists/translators: § no possible/meaningful sorting of hits/results(esp. L/R-hand collocates) - e.g. alphabetical sorting of collocates, from least to most frequent,etc. - think of e.g. the “a * range/array of”, “on the verge of” exercises § punctuation and upper case (capitals) are ignored, e.g. “aids”