More on Statistical Language Translation 193
DrLudicrous writes "The NYTimes is running an article about how statistical language translation schemes have come of age. Rather than compile an extensive list of words and their literal translations via bilingual human programmers, statistical translation work by comparing texts in both English and another language and 'learning' the other language via statistical methods applied to units called 'N-grams'- e.g. if 'hombre alto' means tall man, and 'hombre grande' means big man, then hombre=man, alto=tall, and grande=big." See our previous story for more info.
So statiscally... (Score:5, Funny)
France = "Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey"
George Bush = "Neo-Imperialist Moron"
Tony Blair = "Lap Dog"
WMD = "No where to be found"
and of course
Dossier = Creative Story Telling
Works it does! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Same words, different meanings (Score:5, Funny)
The US Gov't was funding an early computer group to translate documents from Russian-to-English and back. The hope, obviously, was to eliminate the need for human translators. A particular sentence was fed to the computer, which translated it into Russian. The computer was then fed the Russian, and it translated it back to English.
The original sentence was "The spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak".
The resulting sentence? "The vodka is good, but the meat is rotten".
The computer didn't know which of the many possible words to use when translating spirit, so it used "vodka". Likewise, it tried to put the word "strong" into context, and since strong vodka is prized in Russia, it decided that the vodka was good. Likewise, flesh got translated to meat, and weak flesh became bad meat.
Re:Same words, different meanings (Score:2, Funny)
example:
Original English Text:
I am a lame anonymous coward
Translated to French:
Je suis un lache anonyme boiteux
Translated back to English:
I am a lame anonymous coward
Translated to German:
Ich bin ein lahmer anonymer Feigling
Translated back to English:
I am a lame anonymous coward
Translated to Italian:
Sono un vigliacco anonimo zoppo
Translated back to English:
They are vigliacco an anonymous cripple
Translated to Portuguese:
Sao vigliacco um o aleijado anonymous
Translated back to English:
Anonymous is vigliacco the one cripple
Translated to Spanish:
Anonimo es el vigliacco el un lisiado
Translated back to English:
Anonymous a disabled one is vigliacco
Yoda? (Score:5, Funny)
Yoda, is that you?
Re:Why the change and Internationalization (Score:0, Funny)
Re:So statiscally... (Score:2, Funny)
Not illegeal, just when you try to run it in windows it will mysteriously crash. Microsoft won't want there to be a program that will translate their EULAs into "w3 0wnz0r j00 50ul!!!!!111"
I'm still holding out for one that will translate CS-speak into english. God i'm sick of having to translate "3y3 g0t m4d d34gl3 l0lz!!!1"
who wants to help me build a tower to heaven? (Score:2, Funny)
Now, all we need is to pinpoint Kolob and we'll be set!
Re:Same words, different meanings (Score:2, Funny)
Re:So statiscally... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:We used to do this for fun at my last job (Score:1, Funny)
Babelfish [ altavista.com ] with something type and translate of English > to German > French > English. If you are creative, you receive indeed some-of the merriest translations. If you can use words of jargon, all in general loses general context in the translation. Consequently, to pay free attention spoken foreign about films and hearing French and to read English subtitles so much outside. Simple to make against is not to You directly with English translateable, because we do not have formellement/familiar geeinbaut. Somebody that to make with an old lady on a bus says that, you do not know in France, receives you outside gemeckert.
A true story from the seventies (Score:1, Funny)
Step 2 - Step 1 machine translated to Russian
Step 3 - Step 2 machine translated back to English
Result:
"Invisible idiot"
Mr. Spock would say: Logical!