Heizmann Susanne. Human Strategies in Translation and Interpreting what MT can Learn from Translators

Report 43
November 94
19 p.
Abstract
Translation whichwe think of as a broader concept above written translation as well as interpreting is basically a complex decision pro cess The decisions are based on available information Translation problems arise when the translator does not have necessary informa tion available at the momentof the translation This is where trans lation strategies come into e ect which translators use consciously or subconsciously We think that both forms of translation use basically the same type of strategies which are however not easy to detect or to measure Furthermore we think that the model of translation as a decision process also applies to machine translation
In our paper wetryto prove this using the example of reduction as a translation strategy Reduction is used both in written transla tion and in interpreting but is more prominentin the latter In our
work we focus upon dialogue interpreting a non simultaneous type used in face to face interactions We try to outline how reduction strategies could be modelled in a machine interpreting system such as VERBMOBIL using the concept of the target of translation