fannyi.doc

Tongues of the Web网络语言 Anonymous 1 Since its earliest days, machine translation — the use of computers to translate documents from one language to another automatically — has suffered from exaggerated claims and impossible expectations. One characteristic (but apocryphal) tale tells of an American military system designed to translate Russian into English, which is said to have rendered the famous Russian saying The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak into The vodka is good but the meat is rotten. ??????自问世之初，对于机器翻译—— 即运用计算机自动把文件从一种语言译成另一种语言—— 就有人言过其实地下断言，就有人寄予不切实际的期望。一则典型的(但系杜撰的)故事讲到美国军方一个专为俄译英设计的系统，据说它把著名的俄罗斯成语“心有余而力不足”译作“酒香而肉臭”。 2 This sort of joke prompts a hollow laugh from those in the machine-translation (MT) business. It does so because it demonstrates both the difficulty of getting computers to understand human languages, and the high expectations that must be met if MT is to be taken seriously. Over the years, there have been a number of promising new approaches in the field, and ever-cheaper processing and storage technology have helped improve things. But progress has been painfully slow, and the decisive breakthrough that will transform the fortunes of MT has never appeared. ??????从事机器翻译的业内人士听了这类笑话顶多苦笑一声。这是因为，这类故事表明要计算机理解人类语言是多么困难，也表明如果要人们真把机器翻译当回事，必须满足的期望有多么高。多年来，该领域开辟了不少颇具发展前途的新途径，越来越便宜的处理和存储技术帮助作出了一些改进。但发展极其缓慢，将会改变机器翻译命运的决定性的突破尚未出现。 3 Now the Internet has given MT a much needed shot in the arm. This is odd because the ability to transmit information quickly and cheaply would not, on the face of it, appear to make the process of translation any easier. Yet, although the underlying technology of MT is still the same as it ever was, the rise of the Internet changes the way in which technology is perceived and the way it is used. And there are signs that, in future, it could improve the way it works as well. ??????如今因特网给了机器翻译以亟需的推动力。这未免奇怪，因为从表面看来，迅速而又便宜地传送信息的能力似乎不会使翻译的过程变得容易些。然而，虽然机器翻译的主要技术并无任何改进，因特网的崛起却改变了对技术的理解与使用。有迹象表明，在将来，机器翻译技术也将改进其