Mechanical translation apparatus and method

• US 6,651,039 B1
• Filed: 07/25/1996
• Issued: 11/18/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Akiyama, Kuniko, Yoshimura, Masako, Ikuta, Junzo
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAWAN, VIJAY B
• Application Number:
  US08/687,195
• Time in Patent Office: 2,672 Days
• Field of Search: 704/1-10
• US Class Current: 704/4
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/289 Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation

Abstract

A mechanical translation method includes a first step of dividing an input original sentence into a plurality of word trains in accordance with a predetermined division rule, a second step of converting the original sentence into a translated sentence for each divided word train, and a third step of displaying a pair of the original sentence and the translated sentence. In the first step, a predetermined symbol is inserted at partition positions of the divided original and translated sentences. In the third step, each word train of the divided original sentence and its corresponding translated sentence are displayed in a juxtaposed style. In the first step, the division operation is performed in accordance with a rule selected from a plurality of division rules. Also in the first step, the inserted symbol is different for each division rule.

Claims

1. An automated translation method, comprising:

dividing, with a grammatical processor, an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

dividing, with the grammatical processor, each of the first grammatical components into a plurality of second grammatical components according to a second division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

translating each of the second grammatical components into grammatical components of another language;

combining the translated grammatical components into a translated sentence; and

displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition.

2. The automated translation method of claim 1, wherein displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence further comprises:

displaying the original sentence with a first symbol separating each of the first grammatical components;

displaying the translated sentence with the first symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the first grammatical components;

displaying the original sentence with a second symbol separating each of the second grammatical components; and

displaying the translated sentence with the second symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the second grammatical components.

3. The automated translation method of claim 1, wherein the first and second division rules are each one of:

(a) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject component, a verb component, and an object component,

(b) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject clause and a relative pronoun clause, and

(c) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a noun phrase and a verb phrase.

4. The automated translation method of claim 1, wherein the first and second division rules are selected from a plurality of division rules by a user.

5. An automated translation method, comprising:

dividing, with a grammatical processor, an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

dividing, with the grammatical processor, each of the first grammatical components into a plurality of second grammatical components according to a second division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

dividing, with the grammatical processor, each of the second grammatical components into a plurality of third grammatical components according to a third division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

translating each of the third grammatical components into grammatical components of another language;

combining the translated grammatical components into a translated sentence; and

displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition.

6. The automated translation method of claim 5, wherein displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence further comprises:

displaying the original sentence with a first symbol separating each of the first grammatical components;

displaying the translated sentence with the first symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the first grammatical components;

displaying the original sentence with a second symbol separating each of the second grammatical components;

displaying the translated sentence with the second symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the second grammatical components;

displaying the original sentence with a third symbol separating each of the third grammatical components; and

displaying the translated sentence with the third symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the third grammatical components.

7. The automated translation method of claim 5, wherein the first, second, and third division rules are each one of:

(a) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject component, a verb component, and an object component,

(b) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a plurality of clauses, and

(c) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a noun phrase and a verb phrase.

8. The automated translation method of claim 5, wherein the first, second, and third division rules are selected from a plurality of division rules by a user.

9. An automated translation method, comprising:

dividing, with a grammatical processor, an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

dividing, with the grammatical processor, each of the first grammatical components having more than a prescribed number of words into a plurality of second grammatical components according to a second division rule executed by the grammatical processors;

translating each of the second grammatical components into grammatical components of another language;

translating each of the first grammatical components, which were not divided into second grammatical components, into grammatical components of another language;

combining the translated grammatical components into a translated sentence; and

displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition.

10. The automated translation method of claim 9, wherein the prescribed number of words is selected by a user at the time of sentence translation.

11. The automated translation method of claim 9, wherein the first and second division rules are selected from a plurality of division rules by a user at the time of sentence translation.

12. An automated translation method, comprising:

(a) dividing, with a grammatical processor, an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule executed by the grammatical processor;

(b) translating each of the first grammatical components into grammatical components of another language;

(c) combining the translated grammatical components corresponding to the first grammatical components into a translated sentence;

(d) displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition;

(e) determining whether a subsequent division rule is established;

(f) dividing, with the grammatical processor, each of the first grammatical components into a plurality of subsequent grammatical components, or each of a previous plurality of subsequent components into the plurality of subsequent grammatical components, according to the established subsequent division rule that is executed by the grammatical processor;

(g) translating each of the subsequent grammatical components into grammatical components of another language;

(h) combining the translated grammatical components corresponding to the subsequent grammatical components into a subsequently translated sentence;

(i) displaying the original sentence and the subsequently translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition;

(j) determining whether a subsequent division rule is established; and

(k) performing steps (f) through (k) again if the subsequent division rule is determined to be established in step (j).

13. The automated translation method of claim 12, wherein the first and each subsequent division rule are selected from a plurality of division rules by a user at the time of sentence translation.

14. The automated translation method of claim 12, wherein displaying the original sentence and the translated or subsequently translated sentence further comprises:

displaying the original sentence with a first symbol separating each of the first grammatical components;

displaying the translated sentence with the first symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the first grammatical components;

displaying the original sentence with a second symbol separating each of the subsequent grammatical components; and

displaying the translated sentence with the second symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the subsequent grammatical components.

15. The automated translation method of claim 12, wherein:

the first and subsequent division rules are selected by a user at a time of the translation; and

the first and subsequent division rules are each one of;

(a) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject component, a verb component, and an object component,

(b) dividing a sentence or sentence component into clauses, and

(c) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a noun phrase and a verb phrase.

16. An automated translator, comprising:

a grammatical processing means for;

(a) dividing an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule, and

(b) dividing each of the first grammatical components into a plurality of second grammatical components according to a second division rule;

a translating means for translating each of the second grammatical components into grammatical components of another language; and

a displaying means for combining the translated grammatical components into a translated sentence and displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition.

17. The automated translator of claim 16, wherein:

the displaying means displays the original sentence with a first symbol separating each of the first grammatical components;

the displaying means displays the translated sentence with the first symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the first grammatical components;

the displaying means displays the original sentence with a second symbol separating each of the second grammatical components; and

the displaying means displays the translated sentence with the second symbol separating each of the translated grammatical components corresponding to the second grammatical components.

18. The automated translator of claim 16, wherein the first and second division rules are each one of:

(a) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject component, a verb component, and an object component,

(b) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a subject clause and a relative pronoun clause, and

(c) dividing a sentence or sentence component into a noun phrase and a verb phrase.

19. An automated translator, comprising:

a first grammatical processing means for dividing an original sentence into a plurality of first grammatical components according to a first division rule;

a word number counting means for determining which of the first grammatical components have more than a prescribed number of words;

a second grammatical processing means for dividing each of the first grammatical components determined to have more than the prescribed number of words into a plurality of second grammatical components according to a second division rules;

a first translating means for translating each of the first grammatical components, which were not divided into second grammatical components, into grammatical components of another language;

a second translating means for translating each of the second grammatical components into grammatical components of another language; and

a display means for combining the translated grammatical components into a translated sentence and displaying the original sentence and the translated sentence in vertical juxtaposition.

20. The automated translator of claim 19, wherein the prescribed number of words is selected by a user at the time of sentence translation.

21. The automated translation method of claim 19, wherein the first and second division rules are selected from a plurality of division rules by a user at the time of sentence translation.