Language translation using a constrained grammar in the form of structured sentences formed according to pre-defined grammar templates

• US 6,301,554 B1
• Filed: 09/23/1999
• Issued: 10/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/23/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Wordstream
• Original Assignee: Wordstream
• Inventors: Christy, Samuel T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US09/405,515
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 704/2, 704/3, 704/4, 704/5, 704/6, 704/7, 704/8, 704/9, 704/10, 704/277, 707/531, 707/532, 707/536
• US Class Current: 704/7
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/211 Syntactic parsing, e.g. based on context-free grammar [CFG] or unification grammars
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation

Abstract

Natural-language sentences are represented in accordance with a con-strained grammar and vocabulary structured to permit direct substitution of linguistic units in one language for corresponding linguistic units in another language. The vocabulary may be represented in a series of physically or logically distinct databases, each containing entries representing a form class as defined in the grammar. Translation involves direct lookup between the entries of a reference sentence and the corresponding entries in one or more target languages.

Claims

1. A method of translating information from a first language into a second language, the method comprising the steps of:

a. receiving a sentence in the first language, the sentence conforming to a constrained grammar consisting of a series of predefined grammar templates which allow for provision of language-specific terms and/or modifications required by the nature of a construction rather than its linguistic content; and

b. translating the sentence into the second language by direct substitution of terms in the second language for corresponding terms in the first language.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the translation is accomplished according to steps comprising:

a. providing reference and target sets of nominal, connector, and descriptor databases in the reference and target languages, each nominal database comprising a series of nominal entries, each connector database comprising a series of connector entries each specifying a relationship between at least two nominal terms, and each descriptor database comprising a series of descriptor entries describing nominal entries, the entries of the reference set of databases corresponding to the entries of the target set of databases, the message containing entries from the reference databases arranged according to rules defining the constrained grammar;

b. addressing the target set of databases with the message entries to retrieve target entries corresponding thereto; and

c. translating the sentence by directly substituting the message entries with the target entries.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the connector items show action, being or state of being.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the descriptor items describe a quality, quantity, state or type of a nominal entry.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the translation step comprising substituting terms in the second language for the corresponding terms in the reference language by database lookup.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined grammar templates comprise the sentence structures set forth in Table 5.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

a. maintaining, for each predefined grammar template, a set of translation rules for the first and second languages;

b. converting the received sentence into an internal structure in accordance with rules specific to the first language; and

c. following the translation step, converting the translated sentence out of the internal structure in accordance with rules specific to the second language.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the predefined grammar templates are defined in terms of grammatical units comprising nominal terms, nominal constructions, descriptors and connectors.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the allowed sentence structures are further specified by categories comprising tense, tone, and mood.

10. Apparatus for translating information from a first language into a second language, the apparatus comprising:

a. a buffer for receiving a sentence in the first language, the sentence conforming to a constrained grammar comprising a series of predefined grammar templates; and

b. a processor for translating the sentence into the second language by direct substitution of terms in the second language for corresponding terms in the first language.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising reference and target sets of nominal, connector, and descriptor databases in reference and target languages, each nominal database comprising a series of nominal entries, each connector database comprising a series of connector entries each specifying a relationship between at least two nominal terms, and each descriptor database comprising a series of descriptor entries describing nominal entries, the message containing entries from the reference set arranged according to rules defining the constrained grammar, the entries of the reference set of databases corresponding to the entries of the target set of databases, the processor being configured to (i) address the target set of databases with the message entries to retrieve target entries corresponding thereto and (ii) translate the message by directly substituting the target entries for the message entries.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the connector items show action, being or state of being.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the descriptor items describe a quality, quantity, state or type of a nominal entry.

14. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising an editor for examining, prior to translation, the received sentence for conformance to one of the predefined grammar templates.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the allowed sentence types comprise the sentence structures set forth in Table 5.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a memory for maintaining, for each predefined grammar template, a set of translation rules for the first and second languages, the processor being configured to (i) convert the received sentence into an internal structure in accordance with rules specific to the first language, and (ii) convert the translated sentence out of the internal structure in accordance with rules specific to the second language.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the predefined grammar templates are defined in terms of grammatical units comprising nominal terms, nominal constructions, descriptors and connectors.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein the allowed sentence structures are further specified by categories comprising tense, tone, and mood.