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alexpgpI'm doing a short document for a Houston client and was puzzled for a bit by the following address line:
Livermore, ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО 94550
Of course, there should be a "CA" sitting where the ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО lies.
The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that somewhere along the line, since ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО means "APPROXIMATELY," either a really stupid human or a really smart computer decided that "CA" was the abbreviation commonly used for circa, which is typically used to indicate approximate dates (i.e., "this masterpiece was painted ca. 1312").
The end result is nonsense, of course, but I am left wondering: what was the original language of my source document (i.e., is it a translation of a translation?), and who/what compiled it?
No time to dwell on this, though. I've got to lay some words onto phosphor before the day burns away.
Cheers...
Livermore, ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО 94550
Of course, there should be a "CA" sitting where the ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО lies.
The only plausible explanation I can come up with is that somewhere along the line, since ПРИБЛИЗИТЕЛЬНО means "APPROXIMATELY," either a really stupid human or a really smart computer decided that "CA" was the abbreviation commonly used for circa, which is typically used to indicate approximate dates (i.e., "this masterpiece was painted ca. 1312").
The end result is nonsense, of course, but I am left wondering: what was the original language of my source document (i.e., is it a translation of a translation?), and who/what compiled it?
No time to dwell on this, though. I've got to lay some words onto phosphor before the day burns away.
Cheers...
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Date: 2002-03-24 12:22 pm (UTC)I doubt true machine translation will happen because languages are so irregular and illogical. Context is critical. When I've worked with translators for our manuals and documents, I've been impressed about how much they know about the technical aspects of the product as well as the languages. I sometimes feel useless because I can process the techie stuff only in English, but on the other hand, someone needs to write the original document.
no subject
Date: 2002-03-24 05:27 pm (UTC)Machine translation is a far way off, that's for sure. However, I guide myself with the experience of having avidly followed the progress of computer chess, various levels of which were authoritatively declared to be impossible, all the way to when Kasparov was unceremoniously beated by a bunch of electrical charges chasing one another through channels made of silicon.
I would expect that within 20 to 50 years, good machine translation will be possible.
Cheers...