Grouping Synonyms by Definitions

We present a method for grouping the synonyms of a lemma according to its dictionary senses. The senses are defined by a large machine readable dictionary for French, the TLFi (Tr\'esor de la langue fran\c{c}aise informatis\'e) and the synonyms are given by 5 synonym dictionaries (also for French). To evaluate the proposed method, we manually constructed a gold standard where for each (word, definition) pair and given the set of synonyms defined for that word by the 5 synonym dictionaries, 4 lexicographers specified the set of synonyms they judge adequate. While inter-annotator agreement ranges on that task from 67% to at best 88% depending on the annotator pair and on the synonym dictionary being considered, the automatic procedure we propose scores a precision of 67% and a recall of 71%. The proposed method is compared with related work namely, word sense disambiguation, synonym lexicon acquisition and WordNet construction

A Survey of Paraphrasing and Textual Entailment Methods

Paraphrasing methods recognize, generate, or extract phrases, sentences, or longer natural language expressions that convey almost the same information. Textual entailment methods, on the other hand, recognize, generate, or extract pairs of natural language expressions, such that a human who reads (and trusts) the first element of a pair would most likely infer that the other element is also true. Paraphrasing can be seen as bidirectional textual entailment and methods from the two areas are often similar. Both kinds of methods are useful, at least in principle, in a wide range of natural language processing applications, including question answering, summarization, text generation, and machine translation. We summarize key ideas from the two areas by considering in turn recognition, generation, and extraction methods, also pointing to prominent articles and resources.Comment: Technical Report, Natural Language Processing Group, Department of Informatics, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece, 201

MEANING EXTRACTION OF SYNONYMS AMONG ADVANCED ARAB-ENGLISH TRANSLATORS: A PILOT STUDY

This pilot study examined the semantic extraction process of L2 English synonyms during the dictionary consultations and the associated challenges involved in the process among four Arabic-English translators, and whether such a process is influenced by the mother tongue. Participants were provided with dictionary definition excerpts of synonym pairs, one pair at a time, to examine and write down any differences in meaning, to report on any meaning extraction challenges, and to provide translation equivalents. The results indicated that participants did not demonstrate any distinctions between the target synonyms which suggests that dictionary definitions did not provide enough disambiguation criteria for synonyms and that is exactly what was expressed in the interview data. Finally, cross-linguistic effects were not found in the data. However, participants produced more accurate responses than the semantic English task which suggests that translators link L2 synonyms to their Arabic translations rather than their L2 definitions.  Article visualizations

On the Mono- and Cross-Language Detection of Text Re-Use and Plagiarism

Barrón Cedeño, LA. (2012). On the Mono- and Cross-Language Detection of Text Re-Use and Plagiarism [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/16012Palanci

A Parallel Corpus-Based Study of Collocations from English to Persian: Criticism, and Resolution

Since, translation was known and identified as a science, by James. S. Holmes in 1994, under the title of “Translation Studies”, its cruciality was revealed and so, more was taken into account by the scholars of this field. Based on him, translation is not just the act of converting words by considering the token of equivalence, but the action that different factors such as, politics, religion, culture, and the like can affect and control it. In fact, from one context to another context, such these meta-textual factors can be different in comparison to each other, or even can be completely in contrast with each other, and consequently can be the causes of particular production as the original text and its translation that can be regarded as it has differences or it is completely different to its original. On the other hand, collocations, as the items that are frequently brought together, are more in the danger of mistranslation. In this regard, this research as comparative, critical, and qualitative corpus-based study was stablished, in order to explore the bad Persian translations performed on the English collocational items, based on the factors of biasness, ideology and power, lack of the skill of coinage, lack of the knowledge of translation strategies like, calque, superficial translation, transliteration, etc…, lack of the knowledge of source/target collocational item/lack of the knowledge of source/target linguistic norm, and lack of target linguistics knowledge, and to present resolutions. To do so, different English materials from different fields were gathered which can be categorized into general English language (GEL), medicine, law, economics and commerce, politics and news, literature, religion, sport, advertisement, engineering, and art, which were translated after the Islamic revolution of Iran. This study benefited from Pirhayati’s (2019) model of TQA and TC and frameworks, and also considered Wouden’s (2004) definition of collocation and Lewis’s (2000) categories of collocational items. Those who may benefit from this research are translation students, translators, and the scholars of TS and language

Exploring the use of parallel corpora in the complilation of specialised bilingual dictionaries of technical terms: a case study of English and isiXhosa

Text in EnglishAbstracts in English, isiXhosa and AfrikaansThe Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996, mandates the state to take practical and positive measures to elevate the status and the use of indigenous languages. The implementation of this pronouncement resulted in a growing demand for specialised translations in fields like technology, science, commerce, law and finance. The lack of terminology and resources such as specialised bilingual dictionaries in indigenous languages, particularly isiXhosa remains a growing concern that hinders the translation and the intellectualisation of isiXhosa. A growing number of African scholars affirm the importance of specialised dictionaries in the African languages as tools for language and terminology development so that African languages can be used in the areas of science and technology. In the light of the background above, this study explored how parallel corpora can be interrogated using a bilingual concordancer, ParaConc to extract bilingual terminology that can be used to create specialised bilingual dictionaries. A corpus-based approach was selected due to its speed, efficiency and accuracy in extracting bilingual terms in their immediate contexts. In enhancing the research outcomes, Descriptive Translations Studies (DTS) and Corpus-based translation studies (CTS) were used in a complementary manner. Because the study is interdisciplinary, the function theories of lexicography that emphasise the function and needs of users were also applied. The analysis and extraction of bilingual terminology for dictionary making was successful through the use of the following ParaConc features, namely frequencies, hot word lists, hot words, search facility and concordances (Key Word in Context), among others. The findings revealed that English-isiXhosa Parallel Corpus is a repository of translation equivalents and other information categories that can make specialised dictionaries more user-friendly and multifunctional. The frequency lists were revealed as an effective method of selecting headwords for inclusion in a dictionary. The results also unraveled the complex functions of bilingual concordances where information on collocations and multiword units, sense distinction and usage examples could be easily identifiable proving that this approach is more efficient than the traditional method. The study contributes to the knowledge on corpus-based lexicography, standardisation of finance terminology resource development and making of user-friendly dictionaries that are tailor-made for different needs of users.Umgaqo-siseko weli loMzantsi Afrika ukhululele uRhulumente ukuba athabathe amanyathelo abonakalayo ekuphuhliseni nasekuphuculeni iilwimi zesiNtu. Esi sindululo sibangele ukwanda kokuguqulelwa kwamaxwebhu angezobuchwepheshe, inzululwazi, umthetho, ezemali noqoqosho angesiNgesi eguqulelwa kwiilwimi ebezifudula zingasiwe-so ezinjengesiXhosa. Ukunqongophala kwesigama kunye nezichazi-magama kube yingxaki enkulu ekuguquleleni ngakumbi izichazi-magama ezilwimi-mbini eziqulethe isigama esikhethekileyo. Iingcali ezininzi ziyangqinelana ukuba olu hlobo lwezi zichazi-magama luyimfuneko kuba ludlala iindima enkulu ekuphuhlisweni kweelwimi zesiNtu, ekuyileni isigama, nasekusetyenzisweni kwazo kumabakala obunzululwazi nobuchwepheshe. Olu phando ke luvavanya ukusetyenziswa kwekhophasi equlethe amaxwebhu esiNgesi neenguqulelo zawo zesiXhosa njengovimba wokudimbaza isigama sezemali esinokunceda ekuqulunqweni kwesichazi-magama esilwimi-mbini. Isizathu esibangele ukukhetha le ndlela yophando esebenzisa ikhompyutha kukuba iyakhawuleza, ulwazi oluthathwe kwikhophasi luchanekile, yaye isigama kwikhophasi singqamana ngqo nomxholo wamaxwebhu nto leyo eyenza kube lula ukufumana iintsingiselo nemizekelo ephilayo. Ukutyebisa olu phando indlela yekhophasi iye yaxhaswa zezinye iindlela zophando ezityunjiweyo: ufundo lwenguguqulelo oluchazayo (DTS) kunye neendlela zokuguqulela ezijoliswe kumsebenzi nakuhlobo lwabasebenzisi zinguqulelo ezo. Kanti ke ziqwalaselwe neenkqubo zophando lobhalo-zichazi-magama eziinjongo zokuqulunqa izichazi-magama ezesebenzisekayo neziluncedo kuninzi lwabasebenzisi zichazi-magama ngakumbi kwisizwe esisebenzisa iilwimi ezininzi. Ukuhlalutya nokudimbaza isigama kwikhophasi kolu phando kusetyenziswe isixhobo sekhompyutha esilungiselelwe ikhophasi enelwiimi ezimbini nangaphezulu ebizwa ngokuba yiParaConc. Iziphumo zolu phando zibonise mhlophe ukuba ikhophasi eneenguqulelo nguvimba weendidi ngendidi zamagama nolwazi olunokuphucula izichazi-magama zeli xesha. Kaloku abaguquleli basebenzise amaqhinga ngamaqhinga ukunika iinguqulelo bekhokelwa yimigomo nemithetho yoguqulelo enxuse abasebenzisi bamaxwebhu aguqulelweyo. Ubuchule beParaConc bokukwazi ukuhlela amagama ngokwendlela afumaneka ngayo kunye neenkcukacha zamanani budandalazise indlela eyiyo yokukhetha imichazwa enokungena kwisichazi-magama. Iziphumo zikwabonakalise iintlaninge yolwazi olufumaneka kwiKWIC, lwazi olo olungelula ukulufumana xa usebenzisa undlela-ndala wokwakha isichazi-magama. Esi sifundo esihlanganyele uGuqulelo olusekelwe kwiKhophasi noQulunqo-zichazi-magama zobuchwepheshe luya kuba negalelo elingathethekiyo kwindlela yokwakha izichazi-magama kwilwiimi zeSintu ngokubanzi nancakasana kwisiXhosa, nto leyo eya kothula umthwalo kubaqulunqi-zichazi-magama. Ukwakha nokuqulunqa izichazi-magama ezilwimi-mbini zezemali kuya kwandisa imithombo yesigama esinqongopheleyo kananjalo sivelise izichazi-magama eziluncedo kwisininzi sabantu.Die Grondwet van die Republiek van Suid-Afrika, Wet 108 van 1996, gee aan die staat die mandaat om praktiese en positiewe maatreëls te tref om die status en gebruik van inheemse tale te verhoog. Die implementering van hierdie uitspraak het gelei tot ’n toenemende vraag na gespesialiseerde vertalings in domeine soos tegnologie, wetenskap, handel, regte en finansies. Die gebrek aan terminologie en hulpbronne soos gespesialiseerde woordeboeke in inheemse tale, veral Xhosa, wek toenemende kommer wat die vertaling en die intellektualisering van Xhosa belemmer. ’n Toenemende aantal vakkundiges in Afrika beklemtoon die belangrikheid van gespesialiseerde woordeboeke in die Afrikatale as instrumente vir taal- en terminologie-ontwikkeling sodat Afrikatale gebruik kan word in die areas van wetenskap en tegnologie. In die lig van die voorafgaande agtergrond het hierdie studie ondersoek ingestel na hoe parallelle korpora deursoek kan word deur ’n tweetalige konkordanser (ParaConc) te gebruik om tweetalige terminologie te ontgin wat gebruik kan word in die onwikkeling van tweetalige gespesialiseerde woordeboeke. ’n Korpusgebaseerde benadering is gekies vir die spoed, doeltreffendheid en akkuraatheid waarmee dit tweetalige terme uit hulle onmiddellike kontekste kan onttrek. Beskrywende Vertaalstudies (DTS) en Korpusgebaseerde Vertaalstudies (CTS) is op ’n aanvullende wyse gebruik om die navorsingsuitkomste te verbeter. Aangesien die studie interdissiplinêr is, is die funksieteorieë van leksikografie wat die funksie en behoeftes van gebruikers beklemtoon, ook toegepas. Die analise en ontginning van tweetalige terminologie om woordeboeke te ontwikkel was suksesvol deur, onder andere, gebruik te maak van die volgende ParaConc-eienskappe, naamlik, frekwensies, hotword-lyste, hot words, die soekfunksie en konkordansies (Sleutelwoord-in-Konteks). Die bevindings toon dat ’n Engels-Xhosa Parallelle Korpus ’n bron van vertaalekwivalente en ander inligtingskategorieë is wat gespesialiseerde woordeboeke meer gebruikersvriendelik en multifunksioneel kan maak. Die frekwensielyste is geïdentifiseer as ’n doeltreffende metode om hoofwoorde te selekteer wat opgeneem kan word in ’n woordeboek. Die bevindings het ook die komplekse funksies van tweetalige konkordansers ontknoop waar inligting oor kollokasies en veelvuldigewoord-eenhede, betekenisonderskeiding en gebruiksvoorbeelde maklik identifiseer kon word wat aandui dat hierdie metode viii doeltreffender is as die tradisionele metode. Die studie dra by tot die kennisveld van korpusgebaseerde leksikografie, standaardisering van finansiële terminologie, hulpbronontwikkeling en die ontwikkeling van gebruikersvriendelike woordeboeke wat doelgemaak is vir verskillende behoeftes van gebruikers.Linguistics and Modern LanguagesD. Litt. et Phil. (Linguistics (Translation Studies)

Terminological issues in the translation of chemistry terms from English to Northern Sotho

No abstract availableDissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012.African Languagesunrestricte

Developing Translation Competence in Thermal Power Engineering Students

An engineering graduate today should be able to apply a variety of professional and the so-called deep learning competences including communication and translation competence. The paper gives a review of the notion of translation competence and presents key pre-requisites and creative tasks that enable thermal power engineering students of the National Research Tomsk Polytechnic University, Russia, develop and master translation competence