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'Tower of Babel' Translator Under Development

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the what-did-he-say dept.

monopole writes "The BBC is reporting on a bilingual translator under development by Carnegie Mellon University which senses sub-vocalized speech, recognizes it, translates it and then synthesizes the translation. The overall effect would be to dub the speech of the speaker."

5 of 220 comments (clear)

  1. Other Languages by Longfinger · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If this technology gets good enough, none of us would ever need to learn a second language. That would be a bad thing, right?

    1. Re:Other Languages by kfg · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Language is not composed of words. It is composed of idiomatic phrases (idiomatic phrases do not mean what the words mean) only understandable in context. True automatic translation is not possible.

      As an example, I was once called upon to translate the simple advertising slogan "Si Misura" from Italian to English. This had already been translated as "Made to Measure."

      Quick, without thinking, tell me what the product was?

      If you're a native English speaker you probably think of a suit or dress. Maybe a kitchen cabinet. Some tool with human ergonomic requirements.

      The product was a liquid chemical compound, so I translated it into the correct English idiom for such; "Custom Blended."

      And with that simple example we haven't even touched on issues of syntax yet; or more complicated issues of social usage (say formal vs. informal forms).

      KFG

    2. Re:Other Languages by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But doesn't the language itself play a part in the culture? Almost any language you look at there are bound to be words that don't translate well because the object or action or emotion in question is so innately bound to the culture that they made a word for it, but to other cultures the concept isn't all that common so they never made a word for it.

      Also, even translation by the best humans still destroys a lot of the subtlety and beauty in a language. It's a best a piecemeal game. Hell, most novels/tv shows are not even translated literally, some artistic liberty is usually taken to make the work "flow" in the language it is being translated into. Translation is great for contracts or technical documents, but if you really want to understand a culture then you need to learn its language.

      --
      Monstar L
  2. Question of the Millenium by richdun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So let's say this works - which language will we use as a primary one now that it doesn't matter, since everyone can understand everyone else easily?

    Anyone who has studied languages knows (not "no"s or "nose") that English absolutely sucks (as in is bad, not as in pulls air into itself), but we use it widely (as in across a large range of people and places, not as in having a large girth) in large part (as in a significant reason, not as in being a big piece of something) due to the primary sources of finance and technology being in English-speaking countries (not literally the countries, but their people).

    I like the idea, and see the huge, positive social impact it could have, but I feel sorry for the guy/gal responsible for it to test its ability to translate into/out of English.

  3. Communication != understanding by schwieter · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "The Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation."