Báo cáo khoa học: "Some Problems in the Mechanical Translation of German"

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RELATIVE CLAUSES The problems discussed are those of syntactical ambiguity and multimeaning in translating relative pronouns from German to English. The former, which is of concern for the English word order, arises from the coexistence in German of homomorphous inflections and variable word order, the latter from this combined with gender dissimilarities in the two languages.

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[Mechanical Translation, vol.5, no.2, November 1958; pp. 60-66] Some Problems in the Mechanical Translation of German Leonard Brandwood, Birkbeck College, London, England* I. RELATIVE CLAUSES T he problems discussed are those of syntactical ambiguity and multimeaning in t ranslating relative pronouns from German to English. The former, which is of c oncern for the English word order, arises from the coexistence in German of h omomorphous inflections and variable word order, the latter from this combined w ith gender dissimilarities in the two languages. Some statistics are given of the frequency with which such ambiguities were encountered in scientific texts, and some p ossible solutions or partial solutions discussed. OUR CONCERN will be primarily with the prob- without a preposition the feminine dative form lems of word order and multimeaning, and with i s very seldom encountered. For instance, in samples of text amounting to about 30, 000 words these not in all their aspects — which would be i t never occurred once, while the masculine t oo vast a subject for a short article — but nominative occurred over 50 times. In the sec- o nly in connection with one particular part of o nd type of ambiguity the dative form is like- s entence structure, the relative clause. w ise rare without a preposition, preference be- B esides relative adverbs, such as worin. i ng given to the formally distinct denen. The d arin , etc., which cause no difficulty, German p resence of a preposition, on the other hand, u ses three words to introduce relative clauses d oes not solve the problem as before, unless — der, welcher and was. Certain grammatical t he preposition is of the type which can be con- forms of these are common to two cases, with s tructed either with accusative or with dative, t he result that the syntactical function of such but not with both. forms is ambiguous, the types of ambiguity be- However, we need not continue to discuss the i ng three in number. s olution of these first two types, since it will be contained in that of the main problem, the 1. The masculine singular nominative of der distinction of nominative from accusative in the a nd welcher i s identical to the feminine singu- f eminine and neuter singular and the plural of l ar dative. a ll genders. 2. T he masculine singular accusative of wel- In English the functions of subject and direct c her is identical to the dative plural. o bject in a relative clause are indicated by the fact that, when the relative pronoun is the sub- 3. T he nominative form is identical to the ac- j ect, the direct object is separated from it by c usative in the feminine singular of der a nd t he verb, e.g., w elcher, i n the neuter singular of der , welcher a nd was , and in the plural (all genders) of der A nimals which eat men. a nd welcher. W hen the relative pronoun is the direct ob- The first two types are rare in comparison with j ect, the subject occurs on the same side of the t he third, the first especially so, because it can v erb, e.g., a rise only when the relative pronoun is not pre- A nimals which men eat. c eded by a preposition. If it is preceded by a p reposition, it is thereby denoted as the femi- I n German this distinction cannot be made by n ine dative, since no preposition is constructed the position of the verb because of the rule that w ith the nominative case. On the other hand, i n a subordinate clause the verb must normally c ome at the end. How, then, are we to deter- mine the function of the relative pronoun in those instances where the form of the relative provides * Now at the University of Manchester, Man- no help? c hester, England.
Mechanical Translation of German 61 1. The first step is to look at what follows im- s olve as the direct object of its clause, and m ediately after the relative pronoun, leaving a dopts the appropriate word order, it will be p articles and the like out of consideration. If wrong once in every six such instances. Judg- what follows is not a substantive, or if it is, but ing from the frequency of relative pronouns in i ts form excludes the possibility of it being texts investigated, this would mean about three n ominative, then the relative pronoun may be times in every 10, 000 words. An idea of what t aken to be the subject of the clause. This ap- t he incorrect word order would sound like can plies to about half of all the instances where the b e obtained from the verbatim translation of function of the relative pronoun is ambiguous. e xample 2 above. I f a more positive solution is required, it will 2. O n the other hand, if the form of the sub- b e necessary to consider not only the relative stantive following the relative pronoun can only p ronoun, but also the substantive to which it re- b e nominative, the relative pronoun must be fers . Identification of this substantive alone will t he direct object. This accounts on average s ometimes produce a solution by enabling a re- f or another 10 per cent of the total number of lative pronoun ambiguous in respect of number instances. a s well as case to have its number determined. 3. T hirdly, the substantive following the rela- P rovided this differs from that of the succeed- t ive might be either nominative or accusative ing substantive, congruence with the verb will a ccording to its form, but is indicated as one i ndicate which is the subject, e.g., or the other by its congruence or otherwise with 3. Wir werden die Gleichungen in der Form t he verb (for this of course the relative pronoun anschreiben, welche sie bei Verwendung must be identifiably the opposite number in each dieser Einheiten annehmen. case). This too applies to about 10 per cent of all instances. (We shall write the equations in the form T he remaining 30 per cent are those where which they assume when these units are used.) the functionally ambiguous relative pronoun is followed by an equally ambiguous substantive. I f, on the other hand, the number of the rela- I t is these which pose the real problem. Con- tive pronoun proves to be identical with that of s ider, for example, the following two sentences t he following substantive, other means of ar- 1. Wir werden die Eigenschaften solcher riving at a solution will be required. A diction- F elder zu untersuchen haben sowie die a ry for the machine must be compiled which Bahnen, welche die Elektronen in diesen c lassifies words and indicates not only which F eldern beschreiben. o nes can be constructed together but also in w hat way. Thus in the sentence (We shall have to investigate the properties o f such fields, as well as the paths which the 4. Allerdings wird die Wirkung dieser Felder e lectrons describe in these fields.) auf Elektronen, welche sie zu verschiedenen Z eiten durchlaufen, verschieden sein. 2. Aus diesem Grunde müssen die Gleichun- ( To be sure, the effect of these fields on g en in einer Form vorliegen, welche d ie e lectrons which traverse them at different times u nmittelbare Verwendung d ieser verallge- w ill be different.) meinerten Koordinaten erlaubt. ( For this reason the equations must be in a " electrons" can "traverse" "fields, * but not form which permits the direct use of these gen- v ice versa: nor, since Wirkung m ay be the e ralized co-ordinates.) o ther word referred to by welche o r sie, a re " electrons" likely to "traverse" an "action." N ow it should be remarked that, in the 70 per T he possibility, an "action" "traverses" "elec- c ent cases so far solved, the relative pronoun trons, " is at once excluded by congruence with turns out to be the subject in 56 per cent of the t he verb, and so on. Similarly in sentence 3 i nstances, the direct object only in 14 per cent. " the equations" may "assume" a "form, " but W e would therefore expect the ratio to be re- not the other way round. v ersed in the remaining 30 per cent so far un- solved; and the expectation is fulfilled, the How such a classification can be achieved, relative pronoun being the subject in only 5 per a nd, if it is achieved, whether it will provide c ent, the direct object in 25 per cent. In short, the complete solution, are questions still to be if the machine interprets every functionally am- answered. biguous relative pronoun which it has failed to
62 L. Brandwood Finally there is the question of how the vari- (The race had to be interrupted, which was ous relative pronouns are to be translated. g reatly regretted.) Was may also be used to introduce a substan- A more, but not completely certain solution tival clause, including direct and indirect ques- results from consideration of the fact that be- tions, in which case its translation is always ing substantival the was clause is therefore a "what." It would therefore save the trouble of constituent part of an adjacent clause. having to make a distinction between this and its use as a relative pronoun, if the latter too Thus, for example, in the sentence c ould be translated as "what." This is pos- sible, however, only when was refers to a pre- 8. F ür alle, die diese Ordnung vertreten, ist ceding das, though this is the most frequent das entscheidend, was die Existenz dieser type, accounting on average for about two- Gesellschaft auszeichnet. thirds of all instances. If was is translated as "what," the das is left untranslated. Alterna- (For all who stand for this (social) order tively the das can be translated by "that" and what distinguishes the existence of this society the was by "which," e.g., i s decisive.) 5. Auch in diesem Falle ist es notwendig bei the main clause has a construction which nor- dem anzusetzen, was als das Kernmotiv mally requires a predicative, and this is sup- des Werkes erkannt wurde. p lied by the was c lause. ( In this case too it is necessary to begin On the other hand, in the sentence, with what was recognized as the central theme of the work.) 9. Unter diesen beiden Bestimmungen läßt sich alles zusammenfassen, was für die alte Ge- With all other types the relative was must be neration charakteristisch ist. translated by "which, " and consequently the relative distinguished from the substantival use. (In these two definitions can be comprehended T his is easy enough if the was i s a direct in- everything which is characteristic of the old gen- terrogative — not because of the question mark eration. ) at the end of the sentence, since a relative was might well occur in an otherwise interrogative the construction of the main clause is complete sentence, but because the direct interrogative without the was clause, which is thereby denoted use will occur in a main clause, the relative in a s relative. a subordinate clause. The problem is how to distinguish the relative from the indirect inter- With welcher too it is necessary to distinguish rogative and non-interrogative use. If the clause the relative from the interrogative use, since introduced by was is the first in the sentence, the interrogative form is always translated by w as i s substantival, e.g., " which," the relative either by "which" or "who". The solution is similar to that for was, however, and need not be repeated. 6. Was Joseph zu tun hat, ist dasselbe. The main problem with both welcher and der (What Joseph has to do is the same.) is to decide whether they are to be translated as "who" or "which." This can be done, of course, W hen the was c lause is not the first in the only by establishing whether the noun referred sentence and is substantival, it can usually be t o denotes a person or a thing. As was men- recognized as such by the absence in the preced- tioned earlier, the relative pronoun can only ing clause of a neuter substantive to which the refer either to the last substantive occurring was could refer. This is not an infallible rule, before it, or — if this substantive is a depend- however, because the relative may refer not to ent genitive or part of a dependent prepositional any particular word but to the preceding clause phrase — to the substantive governing this. If a s a whole e.g., there is more than one dependent prepositional phrase, and if these as well as the governing 7. Der Wettlauf mußte unterbrochen werden, substantive have dependent genitives, there will was sehr bedauert wurde. be several substantives to which the relative
Mechanical Translation of German 63 that is to say; when the relative pronoun gov - pronoun might refer. Such a collection is not e rns a noun, it can always be translated by common, however. In most instances — about "whose," no matter whether referring to a per- 90 per cent according to our experience — there son or thing. When, however, as sometimes i s only one substantive for the relative pro- happens, the genitive case does not indicate n oun to refer to, with the result that there is p ossession, but merely arises from construc- no problem. Nor is there if there is more than tion with a preposition or verb governing the one substantive, but all denote either persons genitive, it is to be translated in the same way or things. The problem arises only when there as other instances by "that." is a mixture of persons and things, and then only If the relative pronoun is preceded by a prepo- if the substantives concerned are equally capable sition, it can still be rendered by "that, " the of being referred to by the relative pronoun, preposition then being placed immediately after having regard to gender and number. t he verb in the English - "This is the man I n this latter case there are two possible so- with whom I went" - "This is the man that I lutions. If, as we previously suggested, the dic- went with." It is with those instances, however, tionary incorporates a system indicating which that the occasional odd-looking translation men- words are constructed together, reference to tioned will be likely to arise. this will probably decide which of the substan- tives, when substituted for the relative pronoun, Where the translation "that" fails is in the i s appropriate in the context of the relative n on-restrictive relative clause, e.g., "Mrs. clause. Alternatively, if we are prepared to Smith told Mrs. Jones, who then went and told accept some loss in variety of expression plus Mrs. Evans." In German this is common an occasional odd-looking, but not unintelligible enough with was, but not with der, the similar translation, the whole problem can be obviated use of which is frowned upon by some grammar- b y using the word "that" for all instances of ians. Apart from this and one or two other ex- d er o r welcher, w hen used as relative pro - ceptions, such as the case where the substan- n ouns. Or rather all instances except those t ive referred to is a person's name, the transla- in the genitive case. When this is possessive, tion "that" is applicable. II. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES The following is a brief consideration of the difficulty in German of determining mechanically whether a prepositional substantival phrase after a substantive is de- pendent on it or not, the solution of which is essential for correct word order, and therefore in many cases for the meaning in the English translation. As with the relative pronoun, the conclusion to be drawn is that a complete solution to the problem is not possible solely by syntactical considerations. THE PROBLEM discussed in the preceding 1. Sonst müßte die Hochfrequenzkurve ober- section, that of identifying the word to which halb des Sprungpunktes mit der unteren Kur- t he relative pronoun refers, leads to the fur- ve übereinstimmen, welche die Abhängig- ther problem of distinguishing independent and keit des gemessenen Gleichstromwiderstan- dependent prepositional phrases. des von der Temperatur angibt. Generally speaking, if the prepositional (Otherwise the high frequency curve would phrase preceding the relative pronoun is inde- have to coincide above the spring point with the pendent of the substantive in front of it, then lower curve, which shows the dependence of the the relative will refer to the substantive in the measured direct current resistance on the tem- prepositional phrase, perature. )
64 L. Brandwood In translating, for instance, If, on the other hand, the prepositional phrase is dependent on the preceding substantive, the r elative pronoun may refer either to the sub- 5. Wir haben darauf hingewiesen, daß die stantive in the prepositional phrase, as in Laplacesche Gleichung für die elektronenop- tischen Felder gegenüber den lichtoptischen 2. H ieraus läßt sich ferner die ursprüngliche Medien eine Einschränkung bedeuten. Zusammensetzung des Urans und das heuti- ge Verhältnis von Pb/U und Th/U in den t he English word order varies according to P rimärgesteinen, die a ls Muttergestein der whether neither, one, or both prepositional Bleiminerale gelten, in guter Übereinstimm- phrases are interpreted as dependent on the ung mit den für Granite experimentell gefun- preceding noun, "equation": — the different denen Zahlen berechnen. versions are 1. W e have referred to the fact that the ( From this, furthermore, it is possible to Laplace equation signifies a limitation for calculate the original composition of uranium electronoptic fields in comparison with op- and the present proportion of PB/U and Th/U tical media. in the primary rocks, which are considered to represent the parent rock of the lead minerals, 2. We have referred to the fact that the in close agreement with the figures found by ex- Laplace equation for electronoptic fields p eriment for granites.) signifies a limitation in comparison with optical media. or to the substantive preceding the prepositional phrase, as in the following sentence: 3. We have referred to the fact that the Laplace equation for electronoptic fields 3. Da in der Lichtoptik es rotationssymmetri- in comparison with optical media signi- sche Anordnungen von brechenden Flächen fies a limitation. sind, welche die Abbildungen vermitteln, werden wir unser Augenmerk auf rotations- symmetrische elektrische und magnetische This problem arises in fact only in subordi- Felder richten müssen. n ate clauses and in the part of a main clause after the finite verb. Since in a main clause, (Since in optics it is the axially symmetric unless it is interrogative or imperative, the arrangements of refracting surfaces which me- finite verb must normally be the second syntac- diate the images, we shall have to direct our tical unit, it follows that any prepositional attention to axially symmetric electric and mag- phrase following a substantive which occurs netic fields.) b efore the verb forms a single unit with this substantive. I t might be thought that the relative pronoun here would refer to "Flächen" rather than the The most obvious method of dealing with a bstract "Anordnungen," but this is by no change of word order, first proposed by Oswald means certain, as may be seen from the follow- and Fletcher, is to have on the English side of ing example: the program a prescribed sequence for the vari- ous syntactical units. Basically this is 4. Außer den γ-Strahlen ist noch eine neue Art - ( P) S V OP - von Teilchen vom Atomgewicht l vorhanden, welche die beobachteten Protonen durch elastischen Stoß auslöst. (where each of these — excluding the verb — comprises all its dependent units — preposi- ( Besides the γ -rays there is present a new tional phrase, genitives, etc. *) Such a scheme kind of particle of atomic weight 1 which re- leases the observed protons by elastic collision.) It is not so much in connection with relative * The P in parentheses indicates that if a prep- clauses, however, that the distinction of inde- ositional phrase occurs before the subject in pendent from dependent prepositional phrase is t he German, it is to be retained in the same important, as in connection with word order. position in the English translation.
Mechanical Translation of German 65 will suffice for the majority of clauses to be (We let an arbitrary plane through the axis translated, and, if so desired, the exceptions of symmetry coincide with the xz plane of the c an be made the subject of subsidiary rules rectangular co-ordinate system.) p rescribing alternative syntactical patterns. T he result may be a somewhat stereotyped If we consider only the prepositional phrases word order in the English, but this is no great which follow immediately upon a substantive, detriment in translating scientific texts, which and these only in a subordinate clause or the in the German itself — as one would expect — part of a main clause after the finite verb, then tend to have a less varied and less complicated they are more often dependent on the substantive clause structure than in other literature. Hence than independent, the proportion being approxi- in most cases the only change necessary is for mately 5 : 4 . In the case of those that are de- the subject to be brought before the finite verb pendent, the substantive on which they depend in translating a main clause with inverted order, is — on an average — o r for the finite verb to be advanced from the in 20 per cent of the instances the subject, e nd of the clause to a position immediately in 25 per cent of the instances the direct after the subject in a subordinate clause: that object, is, the sequences (P) V S O P and (P) S O P V and in 45 per cent of the instances an independ- a re to be altered to that prescribed. ent prepositional phrase. In the remaining 10 per cent of the instances If this is the limit to the rearrangement of the the substantive is a predicative, an apposition, word order, the problem of the dependent prep- indirect object, etc. This means that, if the re- ositional phrase will apply only to those depend- arrangement of word order is restricted to the ent on the subject, since they are the only ones subject and to the direct object in the accusative liable to be separated from their substantive by and infinitive construction just mentioned, only the verb. It might be thought that it would also about 1 in 9 of all the prepositional phrases apply to those dependent on the direct object, following a substantive causes difficulty. On the when this occurred at the end of the clause in- basis of texts examined this is approximately stead of in its more usual place immediately 6 per 1000 words. If, however, we wish to a fter the subject or the verb — that is in a change the order of the prepositional phrases sequence such as S V P O P. In accordance themselves — if, for instance, in translating with the prescribed sequence the direct object sentence 3 we wish to emphasize the last prep- has to be transferred to the position immediate- ositional phrase and say ly after the verb. It is unnecessary, however, to determine whether the prepositional phrase "Since in optics it is the axially symmetric following the direct object is dependent on it or arrangements of refracting surfaces which n ot, because in either case it can be trans- m ediate the images, it is to axially sym- f erred along with it. Sometimes it is not de- metric electric and magnetic fields that we s irable to follow the prescribed sequence in must direct our attention." s uch instances, but this is a separate problem and does not depend on the status of the follow- we shall have to examine not one or two, but all ing prepositional phrase. of the prepositional phrases in the sentence concerned. Even if we adopt the easier course and have There are occasions, however, when it is to decide whether the prepositional phrase is necessary to determine whether a prepositional dependent or not only once in 9 instances, the phrase after a direct object,is or is riot depend- question still remains of how this is to be done. ent. These arise with verbs of perceiving and A partial solution — investigations suggest that certain others such as "permitting," when the a bout half of the relevant instances may be s ubstantive which is the direct object of the solved — can be achieved by including in the main verb is also the subject of the infinitive. program various makeshift rules such as the An illustration of this is provided by the follow- following: ing sentence: If the subject is followed by a prepositional p hrase but the direct object is not, make 6. Wir lassen eine beliebige Ebene durch die the construction passive, so that the direct Symmetrieachse mit der x, z - Ebene des object becomes the subject and the subject the rechtwinkligen Koordinatensystems zusam- a gent, e.g., menfallen.
66 L. Brandwood b) because even if the prepositional phrase is 7. Im Falle b) erreicht das Potential auf der dependent on the subject and becomes separated Achse im Punkte S einen Extremwert. f rom it in the translation, the resulting word order is in many cases quite normal — as in (In case b) an extreme value is attained by the translation of sentence 4 (Part I): the potential on the axis at point S.) Similarly, where necessary, turn personal con- To be sure the effect of these fields will be structions such as sich lassen into impersonal different on electrons which traverse them ones, thereby again making the subject the di- at different times. r ect object, e.g., This scheme, besides providing only a partial 8. Wir wollen zeigen, wie sich aus dem einzel- solution, lacks uniformity. It would be more nen Lochblendenfeld die Potentialverteilung satisfactory to have a system of word classifi- in einem aus zwei Lochblenden L l und L 2 cation on the lines suggested in the section on zusammengesetzten System näherungsweise the relative pronoun. In this case, however, bestimmen läßt. a t least three factors, as well as their relative order, would have to be specified. Thus in (We intend to show how from the single aper- ture lens field it is possible to determine the Allerdings wird die Wirkung dieser Felder potential distribution in a system composed of auf Elektronen, welche sie zu verschie- two aperture lenses L 1 and L 2 by approxima- denen Zeiten durchlaufen, verschieden sein. tion. ) the members of the collocation Wirkung + auf With certain verbs, for instance folgen, when + Elektronen would be denoted as interdepend- ent, whereas in used intransitively or in the passive voice, and providing the syntactical unit preceding the verb Wir werden die Gleichungen in der Form is directly dependent on it, the inverted German anschreiben, welche sie bei Verwendung w ord order can be retained in the translation, dieser Einheiten annehmen. e .g., 9. Aus den Gleichungen (53) und (55) folgt those of the collocation Gleichung + in + Form durch Bildung der Rotation das Gesetz von would not. Examination of other examples Biot und Savart in der Form H=.. . . suggests that even this method will not be en- tirely infallible, but it could be combined with (From equation (53) and (55) follows by for- the miscellany of rules previously mentioned mation of the curl the law of Biot and Swart in and it has the advantage that it is applicable to the form H= .......... ) all prepositional phrases, not merely those after the subject or direct object. Likewise when a predicative adjective stands in f irst position, e . g . , In conclusion it may be said that for relative c lauses and prepositional phrases, as for me- 10. Bemerkenswert ist das Hineingreifen des chanical translation in general, a comparatively Feldes durch die Blendenöffnung auf die an- f ew simple rules usually suffice to solve 80 dere Seite der Blendenelektrode. p er cent or 90 per cent of any particular prob- lem. The remaining 10 per cent or 20 per cent, ( Noteworthy is the intrusion of the field however, demands a much greater program for through the diaphragm aperture to the other its solution. No doubt it would be possible to side of the diaphragm electrode.) work out eventually a complete system — and this we should certainly endeavour to do — but Those prepositional phrases which remain un- it would be so complex that whether it could be accounted for by this collection of rules are used would depend on how far the design and b est regarded as independent for two reasons, speed of operation of electronic computers had a) because, on an average, of prepositional been or could be improved. Even if a computer phrases following the subject only 4 are depend- with sufficient storage capacity could be built, ent on it to every 7 independent — that is, of the price of perfect translation might very well course, excluding those instances where the be too high in terms of computer time. subject precedes the verb in the main clause,