Method and system for translating documents using different translation resources for different portions of the documents

• US 6,208,956 B1
• Filed: 11/13/1998
• Issued: 03/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited, Ricoh Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited, Ricoh Corporation (Ricoh Company Limited)
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Isen, Forester W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDOUARD, PATRICK NESTOR
• Application Number:
  US09/190,460
• Time in Patent Office: 865 Days
• Field of Search: 704/2-8, 707/536, 707/530, 707/500, 707/513
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/221 Parsing markup language streams streaming G06F40/149
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/279 Recognition of textual entities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/45 Example-based machine translation; Alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/47 Machine-assisted translation, e.g. using translation memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation

Abstract

A system and method for translating a document from one language to another language using different translation resources depending on the document or portion of the document being translated. The original document which is to be translated contains information indicating the dictionary or translation rules which are to be utilized for the translation. The information contained within the document used to indicate different sections is encoded using Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) tags. Documents which have been previously translated can be used to train the translation system. Also, a side-by-side display of the original document and the translated document is presented to allow the user to compare both the original and translated document.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising the steps of:

inputting a document which is in the first language;

analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document;

translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected;

simultaneously displaying a section of the document which is in the first language and a corresponding section of the document which has been translated to the second language;

changing the section of the document which has been translated to the second language, after the step of displaying,

wherein the changing step comprises;

changing the section of the document by the user entering a new translation.

2. A system for translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising:

means for analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

means for selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document;

means for translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected;

means for simultaneously displaying a section of the document which is in the first language and a corresponding section of the document which has been translated to the second language; and

means for changing the section of the document which has been translated to the second language,

wherein the means for changing comprises;

means for changing the section of the document by the user entering a new translation.

3. A computer implemented method of translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising the steps of:

inputting a document which is in the first language;

analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document; and

translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected,

wherein;

the step of producing an analysis results produces a result which indicates the document in the first language is not clear,

the method further comprising step of;

informing a user that the document in the first language is not clear.

4. A method according to claim 3, where in the step of informing the user comprises:

requesting the user to make the document in the first language more clear.

5. A system for translating a document from a first language to a second language, comprising:

means for analyzing at least one tag contained within the document and producing an analysis result;

means for selecting a translation resource in accordance with the analysis result which is used for translating the document; and

means for translating the document from the first language to a second language using the translation resource which has been selected,

wherein;

the means for producing an analysis results produces a result which indicates the document in the first language is not clear,

the system further comprising;

means for informing a user that the document in the first language is not clear.

6. A system according to claim 5, where in the means for informing the user comprises:

means for requesting the user to make the document in the first language more clear.