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288 1959 PROCEEDINGS OF THE WESTERN JOINT COMPUTER CONFERENCE

Symbolic Language Translation


EUGENE C. GLUESINGt

INTRODUCTION needed may entail the increase in machine bit repre-


sentation of characters from six to seven (excluding the
.n..
ALTHOUGH inteiest in the problems and develop-
ment of techniques for machine translation of
languages has been growing in the United States,
parity bit). This would give an additional 64 characters,
deemed sufficient for the purpose. Alternatively, and
perhaps more reasonably, would be the employment of
no organized program comparable to that of the Rus-
combinations of presently existing machine symbols to
sians has been developed. In that country, teams of
fulfill the requirements of the additional symbolic
specialists have been working in this area for several
notations.
years. Announcement of a "breakthrough" in the field
In essence, the entire system may be compared in ap-
comparable to that of Sputnik in space travel is not to
plication to the pictogram type of symbolic characters
be unexpected from them.
of the Chinese language. The diagrammatic representa-
The ideas expressed in the following report were first
tion of objects or ideas there makes it frequently possi-
suggested by an article by N age1. 1 Basically, they can be
ble to conduct written discourse among some groups
summarized, and at least partially justified, by the
even though they cannot communicate orally.
definition of language translation offered by Richens
and Booth. 2
THE PROBLEM DEFINED
"Taken in its most general sense, translation is the
substitution of one language for another to express the The problem of language translation through sym-
same set of ideas. [The emphasis is mine.] It should bolic conversion seems more and more to approach that
proceed by a one-one substitution of symbols for each of finding an appropriate symbolic vehicle, i.e., a set of
of the ideas expressed .... " rules and expressions which will adequately convey the
meaning of a statement from one language to another
SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE TRANSLATION and at the same time lend itself quite readily to trans-
lation from language to the symbols and vice versa.
The vagaries, anomalies, and ambiguities of language Because of the complexity and variability of language
format and meaning, as well as widely variant linguistic structure, flexibility in the intermediate symbolic lan-
structures have confused many literary translators; guage is important.
also, they offer many obstacles and complications to the For example:
adaptation of computers to language translation. For
most practical translations of one language into another 1) @ ? [XR(XR' MW)]
it is necessary and sufficient that the meaning of th~ That is to say, "How does one convince himself
texts be conveyed from the reference language to the that he knows what a word means?"
object language. Structure and harmony and beauty of 2) (ALM) [T(P)(S~M')] = 1
phraseology need not be preserved provided this mean- or, "In logic and mathematics the statement that
ing is conveyed. the same statement always has the same meaning
The intent of this paper is to indicate that through is largely true."
the use of an intermediate language, it is both possible
and practical to apply electronic computers to the task The above two statements,3 translated into symbolic
of translating any existing language (or languages). form, are illustrative of both the problems and the
The intermediate language proposed for use in transla- probabilities of the use of symbolic notation in language
tion, consists basically of that of symbolic logic, with translation. This translation was made by using the
perhaps an extended set of symbols designed to simulate generally accepted symbols of symbolic logic supple-
specific grammatical groupings or terms such as parts mented by symbols supplied as needed by the writer.
of speech, phrases, and possibly some idiomatic ex- The use of any set of such symbols desired may be de-
pressions, which are not traditionally represented in veloped by the individual translator if the interpreta-
symbolic logic. The increase in the number of symbols tion of the symbol is provided.
To illustrate, let us take statement 2) above and give
the step-by-step translation of language to symbols
t Remington Rand Univac, St. Paul 16 Minn. to language, using English and German.
1 E. Nagel, "Symbolic logic, haddock's eyes and the walking dog
ordinance," in "The World of Mathematics'" Simon and Schuster
New York, N. Y., pp. 1878-1900; 1956. ' ,
2 See [9], p. 25. 3 See [7], p. 71.

From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)


Gluesing: Symbolic Language Translation 289

English Symbols German


In all logic and mathematics (ALM) Fur aIle Logik und Mathematik
the truth of a statement (P) T(P) die Wahrheit einer Festellung (P)
that a symbol implies a meaning (S---'tM') dasz ein Symbol eine Bedeutung enthalt
is near to 1. =1 ist nahezu Eins.

Since the symbols other than the conventional logic asmuch as less preparation, time, and effort would be
symbols should have an accompanying explanation, required by the coder, and the alpha characters are al-
they should be supplied with each statement. Thus: ready established in the computer.
L = "int" logic (Logik) I t must be remembered that, regardless of which ap-
M = "int" mathematics (Mathematik) proach is used, the original translation, from language
S= "int" symbol (Symbol) to symbols, must be manually (humanly) produced. The
M' = "int" meaning (Bedeutung) primary advantages would be derived from the fact
1 = "int" nearly one (nahezu Eins). that:
1) It is not necessary for the coder to know any
The above statement designates how it is possible, foreign language in order to effect a translation.
given a constant meaning for a set of symbols, to trans- 2) Translation into as many foreign languages as
late from one language into another through a computer, exist in the libraries of the computer is equally
given a set of bit configurations for each symbol and possible, once the symbolic coding is completed.
a dictionary of corresponding words and phrases, in any
A third approach to the translation problem would
given language, for each symbol. The fact that the
involve the possible combination of symbolic designa-
symbols can be interpreted in any language would make
tion with the procedures involving grammatical and
it possible, with limitations, to translate any language
structural analysis often described. No attempt has been
to any other through the symbols. For example, if the
made thus far to explore this possibility.
symbol, T(P), always refers to the truth of a proposi-
tion or statement, going from the German, "die Wahr- SOME CONSIDERATIONS
heit einer Festellung," to the symbol T(P) , it can then To return to the first approach, namely that of de-
be matched with the corresponding phase in French, veloping a complete symbolic language, a few additional
I talian, Indian, Russian, English, or any other language. explanatory remarks include:
1) The necessity for establishing a large library of
Two ApPROACHES symbols would present considerable difficulty.
One .of the more significant questions to be resolved 2) Certain well-defined rules of operation and identi-
in the development of this system is: To. what extent fication procedures would require development.
should the symbolism replace the language (i.e., words)? Examples of these:
Regardless of how the problem is handled, a large a) Verbs could all be expressed as relations, viz.,
amount of storage would be needed-virtually enough R=seeing, testing, etc. The tense may be in-
to hold the vocabulary desired. Two relatively disparate dicated by subscript notation, i.e., Rl = present,
approaches offer themselves: R2 = past, Ra = past progressive, etc. The pro-
gressive or participial form is used exclusively.
1) To develop a large number of symbols (in essence b) The subject wiIl generally be designated (x).
a new, symbolic language) to represent words c) Separate tables of symbols for prepositions,
and/or phrases, or conjunctions, certain adverbs and other parts
2) To utilize a minimum number of symbols, enough
of speech.
to convey the meaning, with identifiers which are d) Use of normal, logical symbolism wherever
immediately translated within the construct of applicable.
each statement. e) Use of some method, such as over-or-under-
The statement already discussed, 2) would fall into lining to designate various types of phrases
the first category, provided a separate library of sym- and/or clauses. For example, a line under an
bols and meanings were instituted. An example of the element to indicate it is the object of a
second type of treatment would be the proverb: preposition.
£) Introductory phrases, parenthetical phrases,
(x) (x is in the hand)
and words and phrases which do not have a
---'t(x=y)(x is a bird)(y=2x in the bush).
definite function in the sense or meaning of the
I t is believed that for all practical purposes, the sec- statement may be omitted in the symbolic
ond method would be the faster and more efficient, in- form, unless they enter into the meaning.

From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)


290 1959 PROCEEDINGS OF THE WESTERN JOINT COMPUTER CONFERENCE

g) Where variant meanings of words exist, a sub- Here the flexibility of the language is shown in that,
script to designate the intended meaning could if a running vocabulary is maintained for each state-
be employed. Take, for example, the word ment, the corresponding terms can be translated to
"fast" : another language regardless of the symbols used.
Fl = "int" rapid Again, in the case of poetry, where in many cases
F2 = "int" motionless meanings are obscure and subject to the whim of the
Fa = "int" abstain from food interpreter, the following selection from "Music Hall
F4 = "int" having zest for living. Song"4 may be illustrative:
h) Active and passive voice or verbs could be in- (Ex) (IR2x) U(x..:..R')~
dicated by an arrow pointiug left or right above (YR"?)(IR"'x). -!
R, indicating the direction of the relation: x = "int" donkey R' = "int" going
of-
R = "int" passive R R2 = "int" having (past) R" = "int" thinking
~

R = "int" active R. Y= "int" you R'" = "int" walloping.


i) It may be better in many instances to translate - = "int" no
idiomatic and colloquial phrases into conven- Original:
tional phraseology in order to convey the
"If I had a donkey wot wouldn't go
meaning, and thence into symbolic form.
D'ye think I'd wallop him? No, no, no!"
j) Generally, terms would be units of structure in
the statement, and symbols would indicate re- Two things are suggested here:
lationships between terms. First, it may be a good idea to indicate verb mood
k) Grouping of an element with its modifiers is with some symbol.
recommended. Second, it may be better to use numeric superscripts
rather than prime designations to avoid awkwardness
I t is anticipated that many other rules would develop
in sentences with many verbs.
as the system progresses. The ones listed above are
In many cases, any attempt at literal translation
merely suggestive; they are not to be construed as
would yield only failure. Such is the case in expressions
necessary or final.
involving puns, colloquialisms, modern jive talk, and
Let us consider some further examples:
idioms. For example, "Mud thrown is ground lost,"
1) (Ax)M'(Rp..!..R'W) Iv (AS)(TUF)~P would require rewriting to explain the meaning. The ex-
x= "int" Symbolic Logic pression, "The team caught fire and won the game in
M' = "int" meaning the dying moments," would require some interpretation
R = "int" attaching and revision, as would, "Dig that cra-a-a-zy cat!"
..!.. = "int" "but not" In summary, the effective translation of the meaning
Iv = "int" because, since, as, inasmuch as, for. of language by machine involves:
Here the symbol (Iv) is used for the group of subordi- 1) The use of symbolic logic symbols as an inter-
nating conjunctions similar to "because." The state- mediate language for transmitting the meanings
ment could be interpreted: "For all symbolic logic, the of sentences.
meaning has the relation of attaching (R) to a proposi- 2) An additional set of symbols to designate word
tion (P), but not the relation of attaching to a:- word, groups, phrases, idioms, and other expressions not
because for all statements the statement is either true effected by the existing symbols of logic.
or false if and only if it is a proposition. 3) Either an extension of the bit structure of charac-
Illustrating the clarity of expression in a case where ters by one bit to include the additional symbols,
the English is not too clear, let us consider: or the combination of presently-used characters
to form new symbols.
"The graduating boy did not know whether he pre- 4) Dictionaries of corresponding terms in both the
ferred books and food, or money and clothes and pets, reference and target languages. These could be
or a new automobile." limited to the specific vocabularies required for the
Symbolically: topic areas, such as science, mathematics, and
electronics.
(Ex) (xG) [x..!..RR'(AnB) uc]n [(DnE) YF].
5) Trained and qualified individuals to translate the
A = "int" books F= "int" new automobile reference text into the intermediate symbols and
B = "int" food G = "int" graduate to translate this symbolic language into the target
C= "int" money R= "int" knowing language.
D = "int" clothes R' = "in t" pre~erring
4]. Beuler, in "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations," Oxford
E = "int" pets x = "int" a boy. University Press, Oxford, Eng., 2nd ed., p. 41; 1955.

From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)


Highleyman and Kamentsky: Scanner for Pattern-Recognition Studies 291"

CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY

It is not expected that the method outlined here will [1] V. H. Yngve, "The translation of languages by machine" in
"Proceedings of the Third London Symposium on Inform~tion
preserve the aesthetic values of poetry, the local color of Theory," Academic Press, New York, N. Y.; 1956.
colloquialisms and idioms, nor the fluidity of oratory. In [2] S. N. !3-azumovskii, "On the question of automatizing the pro-
grammmg of problems of translation from one language into
many cases, it may even be difficult to preserve the another':' Dokl. Akad. N.,auk. USS~, vol. 113, p. 760-761; 1957.
meaning, as in the not-so-new example of the machine TranslatiOn by M. D. Fnedman, Lmcoln Lab., Lexington, Mass.
[3] I. K. Bel'skaya, L. N. Korolev, I. S. Mukhin D. Yu. Panov
translation of the Biblical quotation, "The spirit is will- and S. N. Razumovskii, "Certain problems of a~tomatic transla~
ing, but the flesh is weak," which came out in one Rus- tion" (tran~lation), U. S. Joint Publ. Res. Service, Washington,
D. c.; Apnll, 1958.
sian translation, "The whiskey is good, but the meat is [4] D. Yn. Panov, I. A. Mel'chuk, O. S. Kulagina, I. K. Bel'skaya
rotten." A method which can be put into operation with- T. N. Moloshnaya, et at., "Soviet experiments in machine trans~
lation" (trapslation), U. S. Joint Publ. Res. Service, Washington,
out too much time and difficulty is all that is intended. D. c.; Apnl 1, 1958.
The ideas presented here are neither complete nor [5] "Abstracts of the Conference on Machine Translation," First
Mosc.ow State Pedagogical Inst. of Foreign Languages, Ministry
fully developed. They are fragmentary and intended to of. HIgher Ed., USSR; May 15-21, 1958. Translation, U. S.
stimulate further thinking and development. Entry into Jomt Publ. Res. Service, Washington, D. c.; July 22, 1958.
[6J J. Lambeck, "The mathematics of sentence structure," Amer.
a new area of application is usually slow, incomplete, Math. Monthly, pp. 154-170; March, 1958.
and often muddled and confused by human stupidity. (7] J. Whatmough, "Language, a Modern Synthesis" New American
Library of World Literature, Inc., New York, N. Y.; 1946.
Such attempts, however, are necessary even to the slow (8] S. K. Langer, "Symbolic Logic," Dover Publications Inc., New
progress of fundamental understanding. Beginnings York, N. Y.; 1953.
must be made somewhere, sometime. Perhaps this re- [9] W. N. Locke and A. D. Booth, ed., "Machine Translation of
Languages," M.LT. Press and John Wiley and Sons, New York,
port will establish one such beginning. N. Y.; 1955.

A Generalized Scanner for Pattern- and


Character-Recognition Studies
w. H. HIGHLEYMANt AND L. A. KAMENTSKYt

INTRODUCTION The efficient study and evaluation of character-recog-


N the past 30 years, various ideas have been pre- nition methods requires the aid of -a machine because of

I sented for machines which could recognize spatial


patterns. With the advent of the digital computer
and its use in data processing, there has been a great
the quantity of data reduction involved. Such a ma-
chine might take one of two forms. For each recognition
method a special-purpose machine may be constructed,
increase of interest in the automatic conversion of hu- tested, developed, modified, and perhaps reconstructed,
man language to language understandable by a machine. until it either works or has proved unfeasible. The sec-
The translation to machine language of spatial sym- ond type of machine is a general-purpose machine that
bols-pattern recognition-is important to this con- is capable of simulating any recognition method, such
version. that new methods and modifications of methods re-
A subclass of pattern recognition is character recog- quire only the generation of programs on paper.
nition, i.e., the translation of a given set of hand- One of the foremost problems in the development of
written or printed symbols to machine codes represent- a general-purpose character-recognition machine is that
ing each symbol or a group of symbols. Many of the some methods require rather complex scans. These
methods proposed for character recognition have not scans reduce the input information to a more efficient
been evaluated critically. It is the purpose of the gen- form. This problem of scan complexity might be solved
eralized scanner described in this paper to facilitate a by building a relatively simple scanner, such as a, high-
systematic study of character-recognition techniques resolution raster scanner, to convert the spatial pattern
and an evaluation of methods prior to actual machine to electrical signals. A general-purpose digital computer
development. could then be used to translate this simple scan to the
more complex scan. This same computer would then
t Bell Telephone Labs., Inc., Murray Hill, N. J. simulate the recognition logic of the particular system

From the collection of the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org)

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