Computer science and translation
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Salvatore Giammarresi
Abstract
The authors present how computer scientists adapted concepts inspired by the process of translation between natural languages, and applied them to programming computers. Computers, being tireless interpreters of commands, raise some interesting questions for translation studies: what knowledge is necessary for the translation process? To what extent can it be automated? Does translation necessarily imply understanding of both source and target text? After a brief history of programming languages, the authors compare them with human languages and show how they differ in terms of context and ambiguity. They then show how machine translation, the most visible intersection between translation studies and computer science, has evolved from a cryptographer’s need to an almost everyday appliance. This evolution has been mostly technologically driven, often in spite of human translators and raises important questions regarding the future of translation studies.
Abstract
The authors present how computer scientists adapted concepts inspired by the process of translation between natural languages, and applied them to programming computers. Computers, being tireless interpreters of commands, raise some interesting questions for translation studies: what knowledge is necessary for the translation process? To what extent can it be automated? Does translation necessarily imply understanding of both source and target text? After a brief history of programming languages, the authors compare them with human languages and show how they differ in terms of context and ambiguity. They then show how machine translation, the most visible intersection between translation studies and computer science, has evolved from a cryptographer’s need to an almost everyday appliance. This evolution has been mostly technologically driven, often in spite of human translators and raises important questions regarding the future of translation studies.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Authors’ bio notes vii
- Disciplinary dialogues with translation studies 1
- History and translation 23
- Military history and translation studies 49
- Information science, terminology and translation Studies 73
- Communication studies and translation studies 97
- Sociology and translation studies 117
- Cognitive neurosciences and cognitive translation studies 141
- Biosemiotics and translation studies 169
- Adaptation studies and translation studies 189
- Computer science and translation 205
- Computational linguistics and translation studies 225
- International business, marketing and translation studies 245
- Multilingualism studies and translation studies 263
- Comparative literature and translation 287
- Game localization research and translation studies 309
- Language pedagogy and translation studies 331
- Gender studies and translation studies 349
- Name index 375
- Subject index 377
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Authors’ bio notes vii
- Disciplinary dialogues with translation studies 1
- History and translation 23
- Military history and translation studies 49
- Information science, terminology and translation Studies 73
- Communication studies and translation studies 97
- Sociology and translation studies 117
- Cognitive neurosciences and cognitive translation studies 141
- Biosemiotics and translation studies 169
- Adaptation studies and translation studies 189
- Computer science and translation 205
- Computational linguistics and translation studies 225
- International business, marketing and translation studies 245
- Multilingualism studies and translation studies 263
- Comparative literature and translation 287
- Game localization research and translation studies 309
- Language pedagogy and translation studies 331
- Gender studies and translation studies 349
- Name index 375
- Subject index 377
