Shortly after Internet searching became available to the general public users began to notice the provision of a service enabling documents to be translated from one language to another, including to and from English, using automated technology. Since that time, the number of providers of such services has grown exponentially and now includes Microsoft, Google, Bing and Yahoo inter alia. However, anyone who made use of these services in the early years of the Internet and again more recently might be forgiven for thinking that little development has taken place in the intervening years. In fact the truth is quite different as this present volume shows. The “encyclopedia” provides a summary of the development of machine-aided translation in a range of developed countries, as well as a state of the art review of the subject itself. The sheer size of the volume is surely sufficient proof of the effort devoted to this area of computer technology.
Despite its title, the present volume is not an encyclopedia; it is, more properly, a collection of 42 essays by a team of specialists under the editorial control of Chan Sin-Wai, Professor in the Department of Translation at the Chinese University of Hong-Kong. The essays are arranged in three subdivisions: general issues, including history and development; national regional developments, including summaries of developments in China, France, Japan, the Netherlands, the USA and the UK; and specific topics, such as alignment, lexicography, subtitling and translation management systems. Individual contributors are listed with a résumé of their activities and published contributions. Contributors are drawn from a wide range of technologically advanced countries and are experts in their respective fields. Not all contributors are computer specialists; rather several have come to this specialist area with a linguistic background. One such is Jost Zetsche, an English-to-German translator who has published extensively on various aspects of translation. The inclusion of experts with linguistic and translation backgrounds ensures that the volume is not too heavily slanted towards the computer specialist; rather many of the essays approach the subject from the point of view of those likely to make use of machine translation. Individual essays are generally some 10 to 15 pages in length, and self-contained with extensive reading lists of both published and online references. Where appropriate essays include illustrations and explanatory diagrams and there is an excellent cross-referenced index.
As online publishing efforts are increasingly directed to the creation of large databases drawn from multilingual sources and of interest to users in a range of countries, the development of rapid and efficient systems of automated translation is likely to be of increasing importance. Whilst the present volume is not a “how to do it” manual for the computer specialist, it will surely be of interest to a wide range of experts in the field. Those responsible for the development of computer systems may be surprised that these essays include a summary of research into the field in the years following World War II. Other essays set out the need for the training of translators in the applications of modern technology. The surveys of developments in this field in a range of countries should interest both technical specialists and general reader alike. It is generally accepted that much effort remains to be done to create a system which can offer translations in something akin to natural language. The book explains the complexities involved in working towards such systems. Readers will find in the pages information on how computers have been used to undertake linguistic analysis of the grammatical structures of individual languages which, in turn, has been used to improve the creation of concordances and other natural language databases.
It should be clear that this volume will offer much of interest to a wide range of users from the non-specialist seeking a non-technical introduction to the subject through to the advanced computer specialist. Clearly, with a price tag of £260, the market for this volume is limited. However, specialists in this field will surely find the volume a mine of information and well worth the substantial purchase price. Potential purchasers may wonder how quickly the volume will be superseded; however, there is sufficient historical research in this work to ensure it remains up to date for a considerable time to come. It deserves a place in academic institutions where computer studies form part of the curriculum and should be an essential acquisition for departmental libraries in organizations where research is undertaken in this field. Publisher, Routledge, deserves every credit for providing what will surely become a standard reference work in this fast-growing field. For those with limited shelf space to house this substantial work Kindle and Apple iBookStore e-book versions are also available.
