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Chapter 1; Introduction*; Harold Somers; UMIST, Manchester, England; 1. Preliminary remarks; This book is, broadly speaking, and as the title suggests, about computers and translators. It is not, however, a Computer Science book, nor does it have much to say about Translation Theory. Rather it is a book for translators and other professional linguists (technical writers, bilingual secretaries, language teachers even), which aims at clarifying, explaining and exemplifying the impact that computers have had and are having on their profession. It is about Machine Translation (MT), but it is also about Computer-Aided (or -Assisted) Translation (CAT), computer-based resources for translators, the past, present and future of translation and the computer. Actually, there is a healthy discussion in the field just now about the appropriateness or otherwise of terms like the ones just used. The most widespread term, "Machine Translation", is felt by many to be misleading (who calls a computer a "machine" these days?) and unhelpful. But no really good alternative has presented itself. Terms like "translation technology" or "translation software" are perhaps more helpful in indicating that we are talking about computers, the latter term emphasising that we are more interested in computer programs than computer hardware as such. Replacing the word "translation" by something like "translator's" helps to take the focus away from translation as the end product and towards translation as a process1 carried out by a human (the translator) using various tools, among which we are interested in only those that have something to do with computers. We hope that this book will show you how the computer can help you, and in doing so we hope to show also what the computer cannot do, and thereby reassure you that the computer, far from being a threat to your livelihood, can become an essential tool which will make your job easier and more satisfying.
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Computers and Translation
Benjamins Translation Library The Benjamins Translation Library aims to stimulate research and training in translation and interpreting studies. The Library provides a forum for a variety of approaches (which may sometimes be conflicting) in a socio-cultural, historical, theoretical, applied and pedagogical context. The Library includes scholarly works, reference works, post-graduate text books and readers in the English language.
General editor Gideon Toury
Associate editor Miriam Shlesinger
Tel Aviv University
Bar Ilan University
Advisory board Marilyn Gaddis Rose
Franz Pöchhacker
Binghamton University
University of Vienna
Yves Gambier
Rosa Rabadán
Turku University
University of León
Daniel Gile
Roda Roberts
Université Lumière Lyon 2 and ISIT Paris
University of Ottawa
Ulrich Heid
Juan C. Sager
University of Stuttgart
UMIST Manchester
Eva Hung
Mary Snell-Hornby
Chinese University of Hong Kong
University of Vienna
W. John Hutchins
Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit
University of East Anglia
University of Joensuu
Zuzana Jettmarová
Lawrence Venuti
Charles University of Prague
Temple University
Werner Koller
Wolfram Wilss
Bergen University
University of Saarbrücken
Alet Kruger
Judith Woodsworth
UNISA
Mt. Saint Vincent University Halifax
José Lambert
Sue Ellen Wright
Catholic University of Leuven
Kent State University
Volume 35 Computers and Translation: A translator’s guide Edited by Harold Somers
Computers and Translation A translator’s guide
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