The possibility of language : a discussion of the nature of language, with implications for human and machine translation
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The possibility of language : a discussion of the nature of language, with implications for human and machine translation
(Benjamins translation library, v. 14)
J. Benjamins, 1995
- : us
- : eur
Available at 27 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [229]-238) and indexes
Description and Table of Contents
Description
This book is about the limits of machine translation. It is widely recognized that machine translation systems do much better on domain-specific controlled-language texts (domain texts for short) than on dynamic general-language texts (general texts for short). The authors explore this general - domain distinction and come to some uncommon conclusions about the nature of language. Domain language is claimed to be made possible by general language, while general language is claimed to be made possible by the ethical dimensions of relationships. Domain language is unharmed by the constraints of objectivism, while general language is suffocated by those constraints. Along the way to these conclusions, visits are made to Descartes and Saussure, to Chomsky and Lakoff, to Wittgenstein and Levinas. From these conclusions, consequences are drawn for machine translation and translator tools, for linguistic theory and translation theory. The title of the book does not question whether language is possible; it asks, with wonder and awe, why communication through language is possible.
Table of Contents
- 1. Abbreviations
- 2. Acknowledgments
- 3. Foreword: Rapprochement and reconciliation (by Gaddis Rose, Marilyn)
- 4. Foreword: Languages and machines (by Hutchins, W. John)
- 5. Preface
- 6. 1. Limits in search of a cause
- 7. 2. Macine translation
- 8. 3. The wall
- 9. 4. Possibilities
- 10. 5. Implications
- 11. Appendix
- 12. Endnotes
- 13. Bibliography
- 14. Glossary
- 15. Subject index
- 16. Author index
by "Nielsen BookData"