Spoken Language Translation
Researchers in the field of spoken language translation are plagued by a device from popular science fiction. Numerous television series and movies, most notably those in the “Star Trek” franchise, have assumed the existence of a Universal Translator, a d
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Spoken Language Translation Farzad Ehsani, Robert Frederking, Manny Rayner, and Pierrette Bouillon
10.1 The Dream of the Universal Translator Researchers in the field of spoken language translation are plagued by a device from popular science fiction. Numerous television series and movies, most notably those in the “Star Trek” franchise, have assumed the existence of a Universal Translator, a device that immediately understands any language (human or alien), translates it into the other person’s language (always correctly), and speaks it fluently, with appropriate prosody. While this is a useful plot device, avoiding tedious stretches of translation and the need to invent convincing alien languages, it sets up wildly unrealistic expectations on the part of the public [1]. In contrast, anything that is actually possible can only be a disappointment. Of course, these stories also feature many other plot devices that stretch or violate our current understandings of science but make the storyline work better: fasterthan-light travel, teleportation, intelligent aliens that happen to breathe oxygen, and so forth. Yet the public is not disappointed when, for example, it takes years for an actual spacecraft to reach another planet. Perhaps because there is no obvious violation of physics associated with the Universal Translator, it is much less obvious to most people that a true Universal Translator – a device that can translate every known language on this planet (or others for that matter) – is unlikely ever to exist, just as humans are unlikely ever to travel faster than light. A variety of approaches to spoken language translation are presented in this chapter, but the fundamental problem with the Universal Translator transcends any specific technology. This fundamental problem is the need to match the words of one language to the words of another language (ignoring for the moment all the other knowledge required, regarding syntax, phonology, etc.) In each language, the match between its words and their meanings is arbitrary. There is nothing intrinsic to the letters or sounds of the word “soap” that indicate that it is something you wash with, or of the word “soup” that indicate that it is a liquid you eat. (Worse still, “soap” F. Ehsani (B) Fluential, Inc, 1153 Bordeaux Drive, Suite 211, Sunnyvale, CA 94089, USA e-mail: [email protected]
F. Chen, K. Jokinen (eds.), Speech Technology, DOI 10.1007/978-0-387-73819-2_10, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2010
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can also refer to a particular kind of television show, and “soup” can also refer to a particular kind of fog.) For each language, one simply must know what each word can mean. Thus the match between words of different languages is also completely arbitrary. It is worth noting that statistical systems that achieve human-level quality will need to learn this information as well, whether explicitly or implicitly. If one takes the term “universal” seriously, this arbitrary match is an insurmountable problem. There are roughl
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