Computers in Translation

A Practical Appraisal

John Newton editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:27th Aug '92

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Computers in Translation cover

Researchers have been attempting to develop systems that would emulate the human translation process for some forty years. What is it about human language that makes this such a daunting challenge? While other software packages have achieved rapid and lasting success, machine translation has failed to penetrate the worldwide market to any appreciable extent. Does this merely reflect a reluctance to adopt it, or does it signal a more fundamental and intractable problem? Computers in Translation is a comprehensive guide to the practical issues surrounding machine translation and computer-based translation tools. Translators, system designers, system operators and researchers present the facts about machine translation: its history, its successes, its limitations and its potential. Three chapters deal with actual machine translation applications, discussing installations including the METEO system, used in Canada to translate weather forecasts and weather reports,and the system used in the Foreign Technology Division of the US Air Force.

`For those with a passing knowledge of MT and who would like an overview of what is happening in the field this book is useful both as a reminder of the problems still unsolved and as an indicator of current research directions.' - Computers Educ. Vol 20 No 3

`The difficulty with publishing an introductory work is divining the level of knowledge of the suject being addressed that the potential reader is likely to have...I believe John Newton has got it just right. His Introduction and Overview, the first chapter of the book, would serve as a valuable reference in its own right... His list of contributors reads like a Who's Who....This book would be an excellent reference for anyone wishing to keep abreast of a subject that dates very rapidly.' - Bob Clark, Language International

`The book gives us some real achievements and much hard thinking, rather than a bunch of empty promises....This book gives many examples of the best current thinking and the main lines of research: all credit to the editor and contributors.' - Times Higher

"...essential `state-of-the-art' reading for anyone interested in translation." - The Linguist

`... a mine of information for anyone new to the field.' - Doug Thompson, ReCall

`a very readable introduction to the latest developments in the application of computers to translation work' - Doug Thompson, ReCall

ISBN: 9780415054324

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 430g

260 pages