JPH09171512A - Translating method and translation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively obtain translation result without impairing the information shown by various kinds of non-character data contained in document information. SOLUTION: When a translation processing is performed for an inputted original sentence in a translation part 5 by using the information stored in a translation dictionary part 6 and the obtained translated sentence is outputted, the character data row forming the original sentence and the non-character data showing the title part in the original sentence are stored in an original sentence storage part 2. Then, the data series is read from this original sentence storage part 2 and the non-character data showing the title part detected from this data series is added to the character data string constituting the translated sentence.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a translation method and a translation device capable of improving the efficiency of translation editing work.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, a machine translation apparatus that automatically machine-translates an input original sentence by using a computer and obtains the translated sentence has attracted attention. For example, various attempts have been made to develop a machine translation device for a natural original language that inputs a Japanese sentence to obtain its English translation, or inputs an English sentence to obtain its Japanese translation.

This type of device basically divides an input original sentence into predetermined processing units such as words (phrases) by performing morphological analysis and syntactic analysis. Then, the translation dictionary is searched for each processing unit to obtain translation words (translation phrases) corresponding to each processing unit, and these translation words (translation phrases) are combined according to a predetermined translation rule to obtain the translation sentence. .

[0004]

By the way, in the conventional machine translation apparatus, the character data string forming the document information of the original sentence is input, and this is translated by the above-mentioned procedure to generate the translated sentence. .

Therefore, if only the character data in the input document information is extracted and the machine translation process is executed sequentially,
Various kinds of non-character information included in the document information are lost, and the translation result is very difficult to understand. Specifically, if the format information is missing, for example, a great deal of labor is required to format the translated sentence that is the translation result. Moreover, if the paragraph information is lost, it causes a problem that the semantic interpretation of the translated text becomes very difficult.

The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and its purpose is to effectively translate a translation result without damaging the information indicated by the non-character data contained in the original sentence. It is to provide a machine translation device that can be obtained.

[0007]

According to the present invention, an input original sentence is translated using information stored in a translation dictionary unit,
When the translated text obtained by this translation processing is output, the data series is read from the storage unit that stores the character data string forming the original text and the data series containing the non-character data indicating the title part in the original text, and the read The non-character data included in the data series, the detected non-character data,
Characterized by adding to the position corresponding to the position of the non-character data included in the data series of the character data string forming the translated sentence and maintaining the correspondence with the original sentence in accordance with the added non-character data. And

According to the present invention, when the translation process is completed and the translated sentence resulting from the translation is displayed and output, the character data string forming the translated sentence is converted into the title portion according to the non-character data indicating the title portion added to the original sentence. It is output as you can see. That is, the title part in the original sentence and the title part in the translated sentence can be associated with each other.

Therefore, it becomes possible to clearly show the correspondence between the original sentence and the translated sentence, and the burden on the post-processing and editing of the translation result can be greatly reduced. Therefore, it becomes possible to simplify the translation editing work, and to easily and efficiently obtain a translated sentence of an appropriate language expression.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In this embodiment, an English sentence is input and this is mechanically translated into Japanese. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the embodiment apparatus.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is an input unit 1 including a keyboard and the like. The keyboard constituting the input unit 1 includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a key group 1a for inputting character data, a key 1b for translation instruction, and a key group 1 for editing.
c, a function control key group 1d, a cursor control key group 1e in the display section 8 and the like.

Therefore, the English sentence input from the input unit 1 or the like is stored in the original sentence storage unit 2 as an original sentence to be subjected to translation processing. At this time, the non-character data such as the format information and the character attribute information input from the input unit 1 together with the character data forming the original sentence is recognized by the non-character data recognition unit 3. Then, according to the recognition result, the information of the non-character data is stored in the original text storage unit 2 in association with the character data in the vicinity of the detected position or in association with the sentence number or the like for managing the input original sentence.

The editing control section 4 sequentially reads the original texts stored in the original text storage section 2 under the control of the sentence numbers and gives them to the translation section 5. The translation unit 5 uses the knowledge information for translation processing stored in advance in the translation dictionary unit 6 to sequentially machine-translate the original text read from the original text storage unit 2 in predetermined processing units.

The knowledge information stored in the translation dictionary unit 6 includes, for example, a rule / irregular change dictionary 6a, a word (translated word) dictionary 6b, an unconnectable part-of-speech sequence rule dictionary 6c, a translated sentence dependency dictionary 6d, and the like. . A Japanese sentence, which is a translated sentence obtained by machine-translating the above original sentence using such knowledge information,
The translated sentence storage unit 7 is sequentially managed by associating with the obtained original sentence.
Is stored in

When storing the translated sentence in the translated sentence storage unit 7, the edit control unit 3 develops the information of the non-character data in the translated sentence according to the information of the non-character data recognized from the input original sentence. Inserting. The expansion / insertion of the non-character data into the translated text is performed by the non-character data expansion unit 8. The non-character data expansion unit 8 adds format information to the translated text in association with the sentence number, or associates character attribute information such as underline with the translated word for the original word, for example, according to the detection position of the non-character data in the original sentence. Processing such as adding. By expanding and inserting the information of the non-character data into the translated text, the information about the non-character data is added to the translated text stored in the translated text storage unit 7.

Under the control of the display control unit 10, the display unit 9 mutually translates the English sentence (original sentence) stored in the original sentence storage unit 2 and the Japanese sentence (translated sentence) stored in the translated sentence storage unit 6 into each other. It is displayed in association with each other. The display unit 9 also displays translation word candidate selection information necessary for machine translation processing. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the display unit 9 has a display screen having a translation editing area 9a at the top of the screen, an original text display area 9b at the left side of the screen, and a translated text display area 9c at the right side of the screen.
It is divided into three parts. In the original sentence display area 9b, the input original sentences stored in the original sentence storage unit 2 are sequentially displayed, and in the translated sentence display area 9c, the translated sentence stored in the translated sentence storage unit 7 corresponds to, for example, the original sentence from which the translated sentence is obtained. Then, each is displayed horizontally. In the translation editing area 9a,
As described above, the information necessary for the translation process such as the translation word candidates that are provided for the translation process retrieved from the translation dictionary unit 6 is displayed.

In this way, the original sentence and its translated sentence are displayed on the display unit 9 and are used for post-editing processing of the translated sentence. The post-editing process is executed according to the control information input from the input unit 1, for example, by referring to the knowledge information stored in the translation dictionary unit 6 as described later.

A translated sentence (Japanese sentence) to the original sentence (English sentence) completed by such post-editing processing.
Is subjected to expansion processing based on the non-character data information by the non-character data expansion section 8 and then outputted in hard copy by the printing section 11.

FIG. 4 shows a basic operation sequence of the embodiment apparatus configured as described above. In accordance with such an operation sequence, the editing control unit 4 determines the translation end information given from the translation unit 5 and various key information inputted from the input unit 1, and interactively controls the translation / editing process. .

That is, the edit control unit 4 monitors the translation processing state in the translation unit 5 (step A), and when the completion of the translation process of one original sentence in the translation unit 5 is detected, it is obtained by the translation process. The translated sentence is expanded according to the information of the non-character data, and the information of the non-character data is inserted and stored in the translated sentence storage unit 7, and the translated sentence is displayed on the display unit 9 in association with the original sentence (step B). .

When the translation unit 5 does not give a signal indicating the completion of the translation process, the edit control unit 4 determines the key information input from the input unit 1 (steps C, D, E). , F). When the input key information is the "translation instruction key" (step C), the edit control unit 4 gives the input original sentence stored in the original sentence storage unit 2 to the translation unit 5 to start the translation process (step G).

In this translation processing, for example, as shown in the processing sequence in FIG. 5, the language form of the original sentence to be translated is first analyzed using the rule / irregular change dictionary 6a (step P). By this morphological analysis, for example, an original word that has undergone inflectional transformation or word ending change is converted into its original form (basic form). Specifically, it is a process of converting a word expressed in the past tense or progressive tense into the present tense, and converting a word expressed in the comparative or superlative into its original tense.

Next, for each original word of the original sentence subjected to the morphological analysis as described above, the translation word dictionary 6b is used to obtain information such as part-of-speech information and translation word candidates (step Q). This processing is performed by searching the translation word dictionary 6b using the original word as a headword.

Thereafter, the connectability of the translated word candidate is verified according to the information retrieved from the dictionary (step R). This verification is performed with reference to the unconnectable part-of-speech sequence rule 6c, and is repeated until a consistent syntactic analysis result (arrangement of part-of-speech sequences of translation word candidates) is obtained. By this syntactic analysis, the arrangement structure of the part of speech of the original language that constitutes the original sentence, its dependency relationship, the mode of tense, and the like are obtained.

After that, the structure of the parsed original sentence is converted into the syntactic structure of the translated sentence by using the translated sentence dependency dictionary 6d to generate a translated sentence composed of a sequence of translated word candidates of each original language (step S). . At this time, in accordance with the result of the syntactic analysis of the original sentence, each translated word candidate is subjected to inflectional transformation and ending transformation processing to make the translated sentence an appropriate language expression.

By such a translation process, a translated sentence for the original sentence is obtained.

On the other hand, returning to FIG. 4, when the input key information is "character key" (step D), the character code indicated by the character key is stored in the input buffer (step H). Then, the character code is stored in the original text storage unit 2, and the character pattern is displayed on the display unit 8 (step I). By displaying each character pattern of the character code stored in the input buffer, the original text input from the input unit 1 is displayed.

When the input key information is the "edit key" (step E), the edit process corresponding to the edit key is executed on the translated sentence (step J). Similarly, when the input key information is the "function key" (step F), the process is executed corresponding to the function key (step K).

When no key information is input, or when the input key information is other than the above-mentioned "key", other processing, for example, hard copy output of the translated sentence obtained in the translated sentence storage unit 6 is performed. And so on.

When the operator operates the character input key group 1a of the keyboard to input a character by the operation sequence of the editing control unit 3 as described above, the character information is sequentially set in the input buffer and is used for translation processing. The original texts are sequentially stored in the original text storage unit 2 (steps D and H). Then, the input original text is displayed in the original text display area 8b of the display unit 8 (step I).

However, at any time of character input, for example, 1
When the translation instruction key 1b is operated at the end of sentence input, the translation process for the input original sentence stored in the input buffer is started according to the key input information (step C,
G). When the translation process is completed, the translated sentence obtained by this is displayed in the translated sentence display area 8c of the display unit 8 (steps A and B).

If editing such as correction of the input original sentence is required, the cursor control key group 1e is operated while the original sentence is being input by operating the character input key group 1a to move the cursor to the corrected portion. And the edit key group 1c for correction / insertion / deletion etc. is operated, the edit processing is executed (steps E and J).

In this way, the basic operation of the machine translation process is controlled, and the translated sentence for the original sentence obtained by this translation process is stored in the translated sentence storage unit 7 and is displayed corresponding to the original sentence. It When a plurality of translated texts for one original text are obtained, for example, only one translated text may be displayed, and at the same time, the fact that another translated text exists may be identified and displayed.

Here, a brief description will be given of the translation editing process for the translated sentence by the instruction input of the editing key.

The translation editing process for the translated sentence is performed for the word (original language, original language phrase, translated word, translated phrase) designated by the cursor on the screen of the display unit 9 in correspondence with the edited edit key. It is realized by Specifically, (1) insert a character to insert a character before the cursor position, (2) delete key to delete the character string in the range indicated by the cursor, (3) move key Move the character string in the range indicated by the cursor by operating (4), disable each editing function specified by each of the above keys by operating the cancel key, (5) by operating the dependent key It consists of translation editing processing such as displaying other dependency candidates for the word pointed by the cursor.

When the above-mentioned function control key is operated, the following functions are provided and are used for translation editing of the above-mentioned translated text. That is, (1) When the translated word display key is operated,
The translated word is displayed for the word in the translation pointed by the cursor. (2) When the dictionary display key is operated, the contents of the translation dictionary in which the word in the original text pointed by the cursor is the entry word, as described below. Is displayed, (3) When the dictionary registration key is operated, the character string pointed by the cursor is registered as a new word or phrase in the dictionary. (4) When the dictionary deletion key is operated, the new word or phrase registered in the dictionary is displayed. (5) When the partial translation key is operated, it is realized by the function of displaying the partial translation of the original sentence for which the translation processing has failed, when the partial translation key is operated.

The character string (word) by the above-mentioned cursor
These instructions are given by moving the cursor on the display screen by operating the cursor moving keys and changing the cursor size with the cursor control keys.

By using such various functions, post-processing such as translation correction of the translated text is interactively performed.

The above is the basic translation processing function of this apparatus.

Here, the processing for the non-character data, which is a feature of this apparatus, will be described in more detail.

Information of the original sentence (document information) input via the input unit 1 is character data constituting the sentence itself,
It is divided into non-character data indicating the format and character attributes.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the classification. That is, the data input from the input unit 1 is (1) character data that constitutes a document, (2) character position control data that controls the position of character data such as tabs, line feeds, page breaks, blanks, and indents, (3) Character attribute data related to character attributes such as character type, size, presence / absence of underlining, and shading, (4) Layout data for specifying tab setting position, chart area, paper size, etc. (5) Original text It can be classified as translation auxiliary data that is added at the time of preprocessing editing and is used as an aid for translation processing, including insertion phrase designation information, conjunction scope information, and the like.

Here, the character position control data is usually assigned to one code unit like the character data. Character attribute data is expressed by using several bits of one code unit to represent the character attribute, or by preparing a shift code or code sequence indicating the attribute and embedding this code in the input data sequence. It The layout data is expressed by setting a code sequence indicating the layout and embedding the code sequence in the input data series.

The translation auxiliary data can be given as information expressed as a special code or a character attribute.

The expression method for such non-character data can be arbitrarily set according to the specifications of the apparatus. Here, as shown in FIG. 7, character position control data and translation auxiliary data are coded respectively. Further, the character attribute data is given as a code indicating shift-in / shift-out of various character attributes, and further the layout data is given by setting code sequences of various layout information.

The non-character data recognizing section 3 has a code table as shown in FIG. 7, and recognizes the non-character data in the input data series by the sequence shown in FIG.

That is, first, the data sequence input from the input unit 1 is read into the recognition unit 3 (step a), and the non-character data conversion rule 3a prepared in the recognition unit 3 is used to read the non-character data in the input data sequence. We are aware of the data. This non-character data conversion rule 3a includes, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a condition part (I) describing a pattern for an input data series,
A conversion unit that describes the conversion process for that pattern (II)
It is composed of

Such a pattern of the condition part (I) is sequentially subjected to pattern matching processing with the input data series (step b), and at the time of pattern matching, the non-character data is developed into the input data series by detecting non-character data. (Step c), the information of the conversion unit (II) is output (step d).

Specifically, X = [abc] ... Substitute abc for X {Z} ⁺ ... Matching with repetition of Z of 1 or more {Z} ^* ... Matching with repetition of Z of 0 or more Word ... The data series is pattern-matched according to a rule such as matching with a non-blank character which is surrounded by 0 or more blanks before and after it. The item information "immediately preceding character" is information about the matching start point in the pattern matching process, and the conversion pattern specifies how to replace the matched pattern.

When a data sequence of C / R 2.1 Software Model C / R C / R is given by such a rule (step a), the blank point next to the first C / R is set as a start. The data series up to the C / R position that appears next is pattern-matched (step b). In this case, since the pattern matching is performed with the first condition of the conversion rule of FIG. 8, the input data sequence is converted as, for example, C / R TS 2.1 Software Model C / R C / R (step c). The pattern matching illustrated here indicates detection of the title portion (TS) in the original sentence.

In this way, the non-character data recognizing unit 3 detects the non-character data in the input data series, deletes the non-character data as necessary, converts the non-character data series into an arbitrary symbol string, Alternatively, the edit control unit 4 is moved.
Have been converted to the data series system expected by. Then, the information of the input original text including the information of such non-character data is stored in the original text storage unit 2 (step d).

Incidentally, the conversion processing of this non-character data is not described in the form of rules as described above, but
It is also possible to write directly using a program.

By the way, the editing control section 4 handles the non-character data recognized as described above as follows.

The editing control unit 4 controls whether or not non-character data is displayed on the display screen according to the contents thereof, and adds information on the non-character data to the character data sent to the translation unit 5. It controls whether or not to do. Furthermore,
When outputting a translated sentence as a translation result, it is controlled whether or not the information of the non-character data is added to the character data string.

FIG. 10 shows an example of processing for such non-character data. That is, here, for example, when the information of the non-character data indicates "sentence start", the sentence number is generated and displayed for the original sentence display and the translated sentence display. Further, when the information of the non-character data indicates "line feed", a line feed mark is added to the end of the sentence so that it is displayed. Further, when the scope information of the conjunction of the original sentence is given, this is added to the corresponding part of the original sentence and given to the translation unit 5.

In this way, the edit control section 4 controls the display of information of the non-character data according to the type of the non-character data.

Although the processing content shown in FIG. 10 does not show processing for character attributes such as character type, size, and underline, for example, display of a character pattern that reflects the character attribute as it is on an actual display screen. It is sufficient to display the attribute symbol, such as italic shift or italic shift.

The processing mode shown here is set according to the specifications of the apparatus. Therefore, for other non-character data information not illustrated here, for example, the original sentence display, the translated sentence display, the transfer to the translation unit, and the like may be performed by a similar method. Further, in this example, the layout data is not displayed on the display screen, but it is of course possible to display the information together with other data.

Further, in this embodiment, the above-described processing is set assuming interactive processing, but when batch translation processing is performed in batch, another non-character data processing content is set. Of course, it is also possible.

In addition, in addition to the processing control relating to such non-character data, the edit control unit 4 also performs correction processing of the non-character data. This correction processing moves the cursor to an arbitrary position on the display screen in accordance with the input signal from the input unit 1, inserts non-character data at the cursor position or positions before and after the cursor, or at that position. The process consists of deleting non-character data that exists in. The editing process for the non-character data is performed in the same manner as the editing process for the character data.

By this process, for example, translation auxiliary data such as a conjunction scope is added to the original sentence to facilitate the translation process.

Under the control of the edit control unit 4 as described above, the expansion / insertion of non-character data in the non-character data expansion unit 8 is performed as follows. The expansion / insertion processing of this non-character data is performed using the information of the code recognition conversion table as shown in FIG. 9, for example.

This conversion table describes what kind of output data is obtained for non-character data according to the output device of the translation result. The output format of the character data forming the original sentence and the translated sentence is controlled according to the type (property) of the non-character data.

For example, when the paragraph end code PG exists at the end of the translated sentence, a code "0A0D0A0D" is output so that two blank lines are provided after the end of the sentence. That is, the line feed of the serial printer by "0A" and the carriage return by "0D" are repeatedly instructed, and the print output of the character data series forming the translated sentence is controlled.

By controlling the output of the character data series based on such non-character data information, the output format of the translated text is controlled by reflecting the original text.

It goes without saying that such code conversion is determined according to the information of the non-character data and the control code of the output device.

Thus, according to the present apparatus having the processing function for such non-character data, when an English sentence as shown in FIG. 11 (a) is input as an original sentence for translation processing, the By recognizing the non-character code included in the data series and converting the code, the original text data including the information of the non-character data in the format shown in FIG. 11B is obtained in the original text storage unit 2. FIG.
In (b), TS is non-character data indicating the title portion.

The translation process of the original sentence is controlled according to the information of the non-character data in the original sentence. Then, the translated text obtained by this translation processing is added with the information of the non-character data, and stored in the translated text storage unit 7 as a data series as shown in FIG. 11 (c), for example. Then, the information of the non-character data added to the original sentence and the translated sentence, respectively, is developed by the non-character data developing unit 8, and the input original sentence and its translated sentence are displayed as shown in FIG. 12, for example. Become. That is, the translation result is displayed by adding the paragraph information of the original sentence to the display sentence and controlling the display form of the character according to the character attribute information such as underlining.

Therefore, according to the present apparatus, the information of the non-character data given as the document information of the original sentence is directly reflected in the display / output of the translated sentence, and the correspondence between the original sentence and the translated sentence is clearly understood. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, it becomes possible to easily perform the translation editing process, and it is not necessary to format the translated text, so that it is possible to greatly reduce the burden on the operator, which is a great practical effect. To be

Moreover, since it is possible to effectively support the translation processing by the translation assist data which is non-character data, it is possible to expect an effect that the translation processing efficiency itself can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Although the machine translation from an English sentence to a Japanese sentence has been described here, it can be similarly applied to machine translation between other natural languages. The non-character data handled here and the processing for the non-character data may be determined according to the specifications of the device. In short, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the gist thereof.

[0073]

According to the present invention, when a translated sentence is displayed and output, a character data string forming a translated sentence is output so that the title portion can be recognized in accordance with the non-character data indicating the title portion in the original sentence. That is, the title part in the original sentence and the title part in the translated sentence can be associated with each other.

Therefore, it is possible to clearly show the correspondence between the original sentence and the translated sentence, and it is possible to greatly reduce the burden of post-processing and editing on the translation result. Therefore, it becomes possible to simplify the translation editing work, and to easily and efficiently obtain a translated sentence of an appropriate language expression.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a machine translation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a keyboard in the same embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen in the same embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a basic operation sequence in the same embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a translation processing sequence in the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a recognition processing sequence of non-character data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of classification of input data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a recognition conversion rule for non-character data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an output conversion example of non-character data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of output control for non-character data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of handling non-character data in the same embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an output display example of a translation result in the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... Input part 2 ... Original text storage part 3 ... Non-character data recognition part 4 ... Edit control part 5 ... Translation part 6 ... Translation dictionary part 7 ... Translation text storage part 8 ... Non-character data expansion part 9 ... Display part 10 ... Display control Part 11 ... Printing department

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Shinji Amano 1 Komukai Toshiba-cho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside the Toshiba Research Institute, Inc. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Kawada Komukai-Toshiba, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Town No. 1 Toshiba Corporation Research Institute

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A translation method in which an input original sentence is translated by a translation unit using information stored in a translation dictionary unit, and a translated sentence obtained by this translation process is output. Character data forming the original sentence The data series is read from a storage unit that stores a data series including a column and non-character data indicating a title portion in the original text, non-character data included in the read data series is detected, and the detected non-character data is detected. Is added to the position corresponding to the position of the non-character data included in the data series of the character data string that constitutes the translated sentence, and the corresponding relation of the translated sentence with the original sentence is maintained according to the added non-character data. The translation method is characterized by outputting the output. 2. A translation device for translating an input original sentence by a translation unit using information stored in a translation dictionary unit, and outputting a translated sentence obtained by this translation process, wherein the character data forming the original sentence. Storage means for storing a data series including non-character data indicating a column and a title portion in the original text; and character position control data detection means for detecting the non-character data included in the data series read from the storage means. A non-character data adding means for adding the non-character data detected by the character position control data detecting means to a position corresponding to the position of the non-character data included in the data series of the character data string forming the translated sentence, According to the non-character data added to the translated text by the non-character data adding means, the translated text is output while maintaining the correspondence relationship with the original text. A translation device comprising a step.