JPH0442704B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a machine translation device that can improve the efficiency of translation and editing work.

[Technical background of the invention and its problems]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, machine translation devices that use a computer to automatically translate an input original text and obtain a translated text have been attracting attention. For example, various attempts have been made to develop machine translation devices for natural language that input a Japanese sentence and obtain its English translation, or input an English sentence and obtain its Japanese translation.

This type of device basically performs morphological analysis, syntax analysis, etc. on an input original text, and divides it into predetermined processing units, such as words (phrases). Then, the translation dictionary is searched for each of the above processing units to find the translated words (translated phrases) corresponding to each processing unit, and these translated words (translated phrases) are combined according to predetermined translation rules to find the translated sentence. be done.

By the way, document information is composed of character data expressing the contents of the document, and non-character data indicating the format of the entire document and various attributes regarding characters. The main purpose of machine translation processing is to translate original text information indicated by character data in such document information and obtain a translated text.

For this reason, if only the character data in the input document information is extracted and machine translation processing is performed sequentially, various non-character information contained in the document information will be missing, and the translation There was a risk that the results would be very difficult to understand.

Specifically, for example, even if an important word (sentence) is underlined in the original text to call attention to it, the underline will be missing in the translated text obtained as a result of translation. A problem arises in that important words (sentences) are buried in the words (sentences).

[Purpose of the invention]

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

[Summary of the invention]

The present invention provides a machine translation device that translates an input original text using knowledge information stored in a translation dictionary section and outputs a translated text obtained by this translation processing, in which a string of character data forming the original text is translated. It is characterized by comprising means for detecting character attribute data indicating the attributes of each character included, and means for adding the character attribute data detected by this means to the character data string constituting the translated sentence. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when the translation process is completed and the translation result is outputted (displayed or printed), the character attribute data included in the character data string making up the original text is changed to the character data string making up the translated text. will be added. As a result, if the character attribute data is data indicating that a specific character is underlined, the word or phrase in the translated text that corresponds to the word in the original text to which the character is underlined will also be underlined. and output it.

Therefore, it becomes possible to clearly show the correspondence between the original text and the translated text, and it becomes possible to significantly reduce the burden of post-processing and editing of the translation results.
Therefore, great practical effects can be achieved, such as simplifying the translation and editing work and making it possible to easily and efficiently obtain a translated text with an appropriate language expression.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

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

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an input section 1 consisting of a keyboard and the like. The keyboard constituting this input unit 1 includes, for example, a key group 1a for inputting character data as shown in FIG.
b, an editing key group 1c, a function control key group 1d, a cursor control key group 1e on the display section 8, and the like.

However, the English sentence inputted from the lever input unit 1 etc. is stored in the original text storage unit 2 as the original text to be subjected to translation processing.
is stored in At this time, non-character data such as format information and character attribute information input from the input section 1 along with the character data forming the original text are recognized by the non-character data recognition section 3. According to the recognition result, the information on the non-character data is stored in the original text storage unit 2 in association with character data near the detected location or with a sentence number or the like that manages the input original text.

The editing control unit 4 sequentially reads out the original text stored in the original text storage unit 2 under the management of sentence numbers and provides it to the translation unit 5. In the translation section 5, the translation dictionary section 6
Using knowledge information for translation processing stored in advance in , the original text read from the original text storage section 2 is subjected to machine translation processing in sequential predetermined processing units.

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

Therefore, when storing the translated text in the translated text storage unit 7, the editing control unit 3 expands and inserts the information of the non-character data into the translated text according to the information of the non-character data recognized from the input original text. There is. To expand and insert this non-character data into the translated text,
This is performed by the non-character data expansion section 8. The non-character data expansion unit 8 adds format information to the translated text in association with the sentence number, for example, according to the detected position of non-character data in the original text.
It performs processing such as adding character attribute information such as an underline in association with the translated word for the original word.
By expanding and inserting the information of the non-character data into the translated text, information regarding the non-character data is added to the translated text stored in the translated text storage section 7.

The display unit 9 also displays the English sentence (original text) stored in the original text storage unit 2 under the control of the display control unit 10;
and the Japanese sentences (translated sentences) stored in the translated sentence storage section 6 are displayed in association with each other. The display section 9 also displays selection information of translation word candidates necessary for machine translation processing. This display section 9
For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the display screen is divided into a translation editing area 9a at the top of the screen, an original text display area 9b on the left side of the screen, and a translated text display area 9c on the right side of the screen.
It is divided into three parts. In this original text display area 9b, the input original texts stored in the original text storage section 2 are sequentially displayed, and in the translated text display area 9c, the translated texts stored in the translation text storage section 7 correspond to, for example, the original text from which the translated text was obtained. and are displayed horizontally.
The translation editing area 9a displays information necessary for the translation process, such as translation word candidates searched from the translation dictionary section 6 and provided for the translation process, as described above.

In this way, the original text and its translated text are displayed on the display section 9, and the translated text is subjected to post-editing processing.
This post-editing process is executed in accordance with control information input from the input section 1, for example, by referring to knowledge information stored in the translation dictionary section 6, as will be described later.

The translated text (Japanese text) for the original text (English text) completed by such post-editing processing is then processed by the non-text data development unit 8 based on the information of the non-text data. , the print section 11 outputs a hard copy.

FIG. 4 shows the basic operation sequence of the embodiment apparatus configured as described above. According to such an operation sequence, the editing control section 4 determines the translation end information given from the translation section 5 and various key information input from the input section 1, and interactively performs the translation/editing process. Control.

That is, the editing control section 4 monitors the translation processing state in the translation section 5 (step A), and when it detects that the translation processing of one original text in the translation section 5 is completed, the editing control section 4 updates the translated text obtained by the translation processing. is expanded according to the non-character data information, and the non-character data information is inserted and stored in the translation storage section 7, and the translated text is displayed on the display section 9 in correspondence with the original text (step B). ).

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

In this translation processing, for example, as shown in the processing sequence in FIG. 5, first, the language form of the original text to be translated is analyzed using the rule/irregular variation dictionary 6a (step P). Through this morphological analysis, for example, a language that has undergone conjugation changes or inflections is converted into its original (basic) form. Specifically, it consists of converting words expressed in the past tense or progressive tense into the present tense, and converting words expressed in the comparative or superlative tense into their original forms.

Next, information such as part-of-speech information and translation word candidates is obtained for each original word of the original sentence morphologically analyzed as described above using the translation dictionary 6b (step Q). This process is performed using the translation dictionary 6 using the original word as a headword.
This is done by searching b.

Thereafter, the connectability of the translation word candidates is verified in accordance with the dictionary searched information (step R). This verification is performed using the unconnectable part-of-speech sequence rule 6.
c and is repeatedly performed until a consistent parsing result (arrangement of part-of-speech sequences of translation word candidates) is obtained. Through this syntactic analysis, the arrangement structure of the parts of speech of the language constituting the original text, their dependency relationships, the mode of tense, etc. are determined.

Thereafter, the structure of the parsed original sentence is converted into the syntactic structure of the translated sentence using the translation dependency dictionary 6d, and a translated sentence is generated based on the arrangement of translation word candidates for each source language (step S). At this time, each translated word candidate is subjected to conjugation transformation and ending transformation processing according to the syntactic analysis result of the original sentence, and the translated sentence is expressed in an appropriate language.

Through such translation processing, a translated text for the original text is obtained.

On the other hand, returning to FIG. 4, if the input key information is a "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 section 2, and the character pattern is displayed on the display section 8 (Step I).
The original text input from the input section 1 is displayed by displaying each character pattern of the character code stored in this input buffer.

Further, if the input key information is an "edit key" (step E), editing processing corresponding to the edit key is executed on the translated sentence (step J). Similarly, if the input key information is a "function key" (step F), the process corresponding to the function key is executed (step K).

If no key information is input, or if the input key information is something other than the above-mentioned "key", other processing, such as the translation storage unit 6, is performed.
The translated text is then output as a hard copy.

According to such an operation sequence of the editing control unit 3, for example, when an operator inputs characters by operating the character input key group 1a of the keyboard, the character information is sequentially set in the input buffer and the original text to be subjected to translation processing. The original text is sequentially stored in the original text storage unit 2 as (steps D and H). The input original text is then displayed in the original text display area 8b of the display section 8 (Step I).

However, if you operate the translation instruction key 1b at any point in character input, for example, at the end of inputting one sentence,
Translation processing for the input original text stored in the input buffer is started in accordance with the key input information (steps C and G). When the translation process is completed, the translation thus obtained is displayed in the translation display area 8c of the display section 8 (steps A and B).

If it is necessary to edit the input original text, for example, while inputting the original text by operating the character input key group 1a, operate the cursor control key group 1e to move the cursor to the correction point, correction·
The editing process is executed by operating the editing key group 1c such as insertion and deletion (steps E and J).

In this way, the basic operation of the machine translation process is controlled, and the translated text for the original text obtained through this translation process is stored in the translated text storage unit 7 and displayed in correspondence with the original text. . still,
If multiple types of translations for one original text are obtained, for example, only one translation may be displayed, and at the same time, the existence of other translations may be identified and displayed.

Here, a brief description will be given of the translation editing process for the translated text by inputting instructions using the editing keys.

The translation editing process for this translated text is to perform processing corresponding to the operated edit key on the word (original word, original word phrase, translated word, translated word phrase) indicated by the cursor on the screen of the display section 9. This is realized by Specifically, by operating the insert key, you can insert a character before the cursor position, by operating the delete key, you can delete the character string in the range indicated by the cursor, and by operating the movement key. Move the character string in the range indicated by the cursor, Disable each editing function specified by each of the above keys by operating the Cancel key, Move the cursor as indicated by operating the Dependency key It consists of translation editing processing such as displaying other modification candidates for the word/phrase being used.

Further, when the above-mentioned function control keys are operated, the following functions are provided and are used for translation editing of the above-mentioned translated text. That is, when the translation display key is operated, the translated word is displayed for the word in the translated text that the cursor points to, and when the dictionary display key is operated, the word in the original text that the cursor is pointing to is displayed. Displays the contents of the translation dictionary as a headword. When the dictionary registration key is operated, the character string indicated by the cursor is registered in the dictionary as a new word/idiom. When the dictionary deletion key is operated, the new word registered in the dictionary is displayed. - Delete the registration of an idiom. When the partial translation key is operated, this is indicated by the cursor and is realized by functions such as displaying a partial translation of the original text for which translation processing has failed.

Note that the above-mentioned instruction of character strings (words) etc. with the cursor can be made by moving the cursor on the display screen by operating the cursor movement keys and changing the cursor size by using the cursor control keys. It will be done.

By using these various functions, post-processing such as correcting the translated text as described above is performed interactively.

The above are the basic translation processing functions that this device has. Here, the processing for non-character data, which is a feature of this device, will be explained in more detail.

Original text information (document information) inputted through the input section 1 is divided into character data constituting the text itself and non-character data indicating format, character attributes, and the like.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the classification. That is,
The data inputted from the input section 1 includes: character data that constitutes a sentence; character position control data that controls the position of character data such as tabs, line breaks, page breaks, spaces, and indents; character type, size, and underline. Character attribute data related to character attributes such as presence/absence, shading, etc., layout data that specifies tab settings, chart areas, paper size, etc. It is added during preprocessing editing of the original text and is used to aid the translation process. It can be classified as a translation aid consisting of inserted phrase specification information, conjunction scope information, etc.

Here, the character position control data is usually assigned to one code unit like character data. In addition, character attribute data can be 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 series. expressed.

Layout data is expressed by setting a code sequence indicating the layout and embedding it in an input data series.

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

The representation method for such non-character data can be set arbitrarily according to the specifications of the device, but here, as illustrated in FIG. 7, character position control data and translation auxiliary data are each expressed as a code, In addition, character attribute data can be used as a code indicating shift in/out of various character attributes.
Furthermore, layout data shall be provided by setting code sequences of various layout information.

The non-character data recognition section 3 is equipped with a code table as shown in FIG. 7, and recognizes non-character data in the input data series according to the sequence shown in FIG.

That is, first, the data series input from the input section 1 is read into the recognition section 3 (step a), and the recognition section 3
The non-character data in the input data series is recognized using the non-character data conversion rule 3a prepared in the above. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, this non-character data conversion rule 3a is composed of a condition part () that describes a pattern for an input data series, and a conversion part () that describes a conversion process for that pattern. .

The pattern of the condition part () is sequentially pattern-matched with the input data series (step b), and during pattern matching, this is detected as non-character data and the non-character data is expanded into the input data series (step b). c), the conversion unit ()
information is output (step d).

^Specifically , ...The data series is pattern-matched according to rules such as matching with non-blank characters sandwiched between zero or more blanks before and after the non-blank characters. Note that the item information "Immediately before character" is information regarding the matching starting point during pattern matching processing, and the conversion pattern specifies how to replace the pattern that has been successfully matched. .

According to such rules, for example, when a data series such as C/R2.1Software Model C/R, C/R is given (step a),
Starting from the blank point next to the first C/R, the data series up to the position of the next appearing C/R is pattern matched (step b). In this case, since the pattern is matched to the first condition of the conversion rule in Figure 8, the input data series is, for example, C/RTS 2.1 Software Model C/R, C/
(step c). still,
The pattern matching illustrated here indicates detection of a title portion in an original text.

In this way, the non-character data recognition unit 3 detects non-character data in the input data series, and deletes the non-character data, converts the non-character data series to an arbitrary symbol string, or moves the non-character data as necessary. The editing control section 4 converts the data into the data series system assumed by the editing control section 4. Information on the input original text including such non-character data information is then stored in the original text storage section 2 (step d).

Regarding the conversion process of this non-character data,
Instead of writing in the form of rules as described above, it is also possible to write directly using a program.

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

This editing control unit 4 controls whether or not to display non-character data on the display screen according to its content, and also controls whether to add information about the non-character data to character data sent to the translation unit 5. is in control. Furthermore, when outputting a translated sentence as a translation result, it is controlled whether or not to add the above-mentioned non-character data information to the character data string.

FIG. 9 shows an example of processing for such non-character data. That is, here, for example, if the information of the non-character data indicates "start of sentence", control is performed to generate and display the sentence number for displaying the original text and the translated text. Further, when the non-character data information indicates a "line feed", control is performed so that a line feed mark is added to the end of the sentence and displayed. Furthermore, if scope information of conjunctions for the original text is given, this is added to the relevant part of the original text and provided to the translation unit 5.

In this way, the editing control section 4 controls the display of information on the non-text data, etc., depending on the type of the non-text data.

Note that the processing content shown in Figure 9 does not show processing for character attributes such as character type, size, and underline, but for example, it is possible to display a character pattern that reflects the character attributes as is on the actual display screen. It is sufficient to display the attribute as an attribute symbol, such as by changing the attribute or by shifting italics.

Note that the processing format shown here is set according to the specifications of the device. Therefore, regarding information on other non-character data not exemplified here,
For example, using a similar method to display the original text, display the translated text,
All you have to do is transfer it to the translation department. Further, in this example, the layout data is not displayed on the display screen, but it is of course possible to display this information together with other data.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned processing is set assuming interactive processing, but if batch translation processing is to be performed, other non-character data processing contents may be set. Of course it is possible.

In addition to the processing control regarding such non-character data, the editing control section 4 also performs correction processing of the non-character data. This correction processing involves moving the cursor to an arbitrary position on the display screen according to the input signal from the input section 1, inserting non-character data at the cursor position, or positions before and after the cursor position, or It consists of processing such as deleting non-character data existing in . Editing processing for this non-character data is performed in the same way as editing processing for character data.

Through this process, for example, translation auxiliary data such as conjunction scopes are added to the original text to facilitate the translation process.

Now, under the control of such editing control section 4,
The expansion/insertion of non-character data in the non-character data expansion section 8 is performed as follows. This expansion/insertion process of non-character data is performed using information in a code recognition conversion table as shown in FIG. 10, for example.

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

For example, a paragraph end code PG at the end of a translated sentence.
exists, the code ``OAODOAOD'' is output, and two blank lines are placed after the end of the sentence. In other words, it repeatedly instructs the serial printer's line feed using ``OA'' and the carriage return using ``OD'' to control the print output of the character data series that forms the translated text.

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

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

Thus, according to the present apparatus equipped with a processing function for such non-character data, for example, FIG.
When an English sentence like the one shown in Figure 11b is input as the original text to be subjected to translation processing, the non-character data included in the data series is recognized and its code converted, for example, as shown in Figure 11b. Original text data including information on non-character data in a format is obtained in the original text storage unit 2.

Translation processing of the original text is controlled according to information on non-character data in the original text. Then, the information on the non-character data is added to the translated text obtained through this translation process, and the resulting text is stored in the translated text storage section 7 as a data series as shown in FIG. 11c, for example.

Then, the non-character data information added to the original text and the translated text are developed by the non-character data development section 8, and the input original text and its translated text 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 text to the display sentence, controlling the display form of the character according to the character attribute information such as underlining, etc.

Therefore, according to this device, the non-character data information given as the document information of the original text is reflected as is in the display/output of the translated text, making it possible to clearly understand the correspondence between the original text and the translated text. It becomes possible. Therefore, the translation editing process can be easily performed, and there is no need to format the translated text, which has great practical effects such as greatly reducing the burden on the operator. be given

Furthermore, since it becomes possible to effectively support the translation process using the translation auxiliary data, which is non-character data, it is possible to expect effects such as improving the efficiency of the translation process itself.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Although machine translation from English sentences to Japanese sentences has been described here, the invention can be similarly applied to machine translation between other natural languages. Further, 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 implemented with various modifications without departing from the gist thereof.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure shows a device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a schematic configuration diagram of the device, Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the keyboard, Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display screen,
Figure 4 shows the basic operation sequence, Figure 5
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the processing sequence of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the recognition processing sequence of non-character data,
Figure 7 is a diagram showing an example of classification of input data, Figure 8 is a diagram showing an example of recognition conversion rules for non-character data, and Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of recognition conversion rules for non-character data.
The figure shows an example of output control for non-character data, Figure 10 shows an example of output conversion of non-character data, Figure 11 shows an example of how non-character data is handled, and Figure 12 shows the result of translation. It is a figure which shows the example of an output display. 1... Input section, 2... Original text storage section, 3... Non-character data recognition section, 4... Edit control section, 5... Translation section, 6... Translation dictionary section, 7... Translation storage section, 8 …
...Non-character data development section, 9...Display section, 10...
Display control section, 11...Printing section.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a machine translation device that translates an input original text using information stored in a translation dictionary section and outputs a translated text obtained by this translation processing, character data forming the original text is provided. contained in the column,
means for detecting character attribute data indicating the attributes of each character; and character attribute data detected by this means.
A machine translation device comprising: means for adding to a string of character data constituting the translated text. 2. The machine translation device according to claim 1, wherein the character attribute data indicates attributes related to at least one of character type, size, presence/absence of underlining, and shading.