Spoken content retrieval: A survey of techniques and technologies

Speech media, that is, digital audio and video containing spoken content, has blossomed in recent years. Large collections are accruing on the Internet as well as in private and enterprise settings. This growth has motivated extensive research on techniques and technologies that facilitate reliable indexing and retrieval. Spoken content retrieval (SCR) requires the combination of audio and speech processing technologies with methods from information retrieval (IR). SCR research initially investigated planned speech structured in document-like units, but has subsequently shifted focus to more informal spoken content produced spontaneously, outside of the studio and in conversational settings. This survey provides an overview of the field of SCR encompassing component technologies, the relationship of SCR to text IR and automatic speech recognition and user interaction issues. It is aimed at researchers with backgrounds in speech technology or IR who are seeking deeper insight on how these fields are integrated to support research and development, thus addressing the core challenges of SCR

Creativity in the translation of the subtitles of Pixar Films

This study has carried out a detailed corpus-based research on the techniques used in the creative translation of the Pixar films with the Intertext Editor and Excel. Since some of the linguistic features of the English movie subtitles, such as the intonation of the lines, cannot be directly revealed in the Chinese version, this study has tried to unfold how those creative features are made explicit in the translation based on the subtitles of Ratatouille, Up and Coco. This study has shown the creativity of translation from the words, the syntax, and the intonation

Multimedia question answering

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

The Arabic (Re)dubbing of Wordplay in Disney Animated Films

Although audiovisual translation (AVT) has received considerable attention in recent years, evidence suggests that there is a paucity of empirical research carried out on the dubbing of wordplay in the Arabophone countries. This piece of research sets to identify, describe and assess the most common translation techniques adopted by translators when dubbing English-language animated films into Arabic. The focus is on the special case of dubbing Disney animated films into Egyptian Arabic (EA) and their subsequent redubbing into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), during the 1975-2015 period. The ultimate goal is to ascertain the similarities as well as the differences that set the two versions apart, particularly when it comes to the transfer of wordplay. To reach this objective, the methodological approach adopted for this study is a corpus of instances of wordplay that combines a quantitative phase, which has the advantage of identifying correlations between the types of wordplay and particular translation techniques and results and is then followed by a qualitative analysis that further probes the results and determines the different factors that contribute to the way wordplay is translated. The analysis reveals that, in their attempt to render this type of punning humour, in both Arabic dubbed versions, Arabic translators resort to a variety of translation techniques, namely, loan, direct translation, explication, paraphrase, substitution and omission. The examination of the data shows that achieving a humorous effect in the target dialogue is the top priority and driving factor influencing most of the strategies activated in the process of dubbing wordplay into EA. Dissimilarly, there is a noticeable lower amount of puns crossing over from the original films to the MSA dubbed versions, highlighting the fact that the approach generally taken by the dubbing teams seems to give priority to the denotative, informative dimension rather than the socio-pragmatic one. By shedding light on the intricacies of dubbing, it is hoped that this study would contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the translation of wordplay in the Arabophone countries and, more specifically, in the field of dubbing children’s programmes

Language technologies for a multilingual Europe

This volume of the series “Translation and Multilingual Natural Language Processing” includes most of the papers presented at the Workshop “Language Technology for a Multilingual Europe”, held at the University of Hamburg on September 27, 2011 in the framework of the conference GSCL 2011 with the topic “Multilingual Resources and Multilingual Applications”, along with several additional contributions. In addition to an overview article on Machine Translation and two contributions on the European initiatives META-NET and Multilingual Web, the volume includes six full research articles. Our intention with this workshop was to bring together various groups concerned with the umbrella topics of multilingualism and language technology, especially multilingual technologies. This encompassed, on the one hand, representatives from research and development in the field of language technologies, and, on the other hand, users from diverse areas such as, among others, industry, administration and funding agencies. The Workshop “Language Technology for a Multilingual Europe” was co-organised by the two GSCL working groups “Text Technology” and “Machine Translation” (http://gscl.info) as well as by META-NET (http://www.meta-net.eu)

Internet como factor central na tradução

Mestrado em Tradução EspecializadaThe main objective of this dissertation is to develop a guide for people who set about to carry out a translation. Nowadays, given the multitude of resources available online, translating a text has become much easier – one simply must know how to make the best of these resources. From my experience as a translator, I am aware of how valuable the discovery of a high-quality dictionary, glossary, or other resources can be both in attaining high quality translations and in expediting the processes, especially when it comes to performing a technical translation. I hope my work will help future and present translators in their professional lives.O objectivo principal deste trabalho é elaborar um guia para orientar as pessoas que se empenham em fazer uma tradução, quer ela seja de um texto oral ou escrito. Hoje em dia, face à grande quantidade de fontes de apoio à tradução disponíveis online, traduzir um texto torna-se muito mais fácil – mas é essencial saber como tirar o maior partido dessas fontes. Pela minha experiência como tradutor, sei o quanto a descoberta de um glossário, ou de um dicionário pode significar a diferença na qualidade final do produto de tradução e no tempo dispendido, especialmente quando se trata de uma tradução técnica, pois estes e outros instrumentos podem auxiliar e optimizar todo o trabalho de tradução