A Template-Based English-Chinese Translation System Using FOPA and UAMRT

Abstract

This paper presents a template-based English-Chinese translation system characterized by two important features: Fast Optimal Parsing Algorithm (FOPA) and Universal Algorithm of Matching and Replacing Templates (UAMRT). First, the FOPA parses an English sentence into an optimal parse tree or template structure quickly. Second, the UAMRT matches each source template with the optimal structure and replaces it with the corresponding target template. The basic idea of the template-based system is to represent all translation knowledge in uniform templates which can be shown as context-free grammar rules. It then translates an English sentence into Chinese with FOPA and UAMRT. System evaluation shows encouraging and promising results for quality and speed, and the system may perform better by adding more templates without any other changes.