Automatic ( Transference , Translation , Remittance , Shunting )

THE TITLE of this paper is a crude translation, such as a simple machine might prepare, of the title of a Russian paper, Автоматический Перевод. То understand why the machine translation of languages has grown to be the subject, not of science-fiction tales, but of serious scientific investigation, some understanding of the operating principles of the type of machine under consideration is essential. The first part of this paper is therefore devoted to a brief and, it is hoped, intelligible description of some important basic properties of automatic data processing machines. The attempted application of machine methods to language translation, and its consequences, is the subject of the second part of the paper. Translation from Russian to English is taken as an example throughout. The use of automatic machines imposes on the investigator of the problems of translation a rigorously objective analytical point of view, a view of language that can be of interest to translators in general. Conversely, translation being a fine art whose origins antedate those of automatic machines by many centuries, the investigator of machine translation has much to learn from the experience of fleshand-blood translators. Ultimately, no doubt, these two points of view will fuse into a single one from which man, relieved by automatic drudges from tedious routine manual and mental labors, can continue to apply his insight and imagination to new problems.