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# Reversible Machine Translation: What to Do When the Languages Don't Line Up

**Authors:** [James Barnett](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/james-barnett/), [Inderjeet Mani](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/inderjeet-mani/), Paul Martin, [Elaine Rich](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/authors/elaine-rich/) · **Year:** 1991 · **Venue:** Reversible Grammar in Natural Language Processing **Link:** [aclanthology.org/W91-0109](https://aclanthology.org/W91-0109/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) — summary only

[**3** citations in our library](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/cited-by/barnett-1991-reversible-machine-translation-what-do/) of the 140673 papers whose bibliographies we read[Reversible Grammar in Natural Language Processing](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/W91-01/)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

- [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/W91-0109/)
- [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/W91-0109.pdf)

**Authors (4)**

1. James Barnett [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/123572053)
2. Inderjeet Mani [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/1729172)
3. Paul Martin [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/2110739593)
4. Elaine Rich [Semantic Scholar](https://www.semanticscholar.org/author/3116626)

Citations and author metrics from OpenAlex (); authors with the same name are not always told apart.

## What it is about

The paper deals with translation mismatches, where the literal meaning of the source is not the meaning of the natural target sentence. An interlingua-based reversible system works when both sides carry the same information, but a source word may carry an extra fact that the target must state, or the reverse. The authors give a lexical choice algorithm that uses only reversible monolingual descriptions and a language-independent knowledge base, and they extend markedness from words to grammatical structures: a marked form blocks the unmarked one when it applies. Their example is a source word for rice that means cooked rice, where the target must add a word for cooked only if the marked form is required. The paper presents an algorithm and examples, and reports no measurements.

## Ideas

- I1. Markedness in the encoder: for each concept, record whether the unmarked chunk is enough or a marked feature must be present. Count, on the Bible pairs, the concepts whose most frequent chunk differs in the context where the marked feature is present.
- I2. Information the source lacks: the reader stores facts the target must state as implicit features on the meta token. Count how often the target has words with no source counterpart, and which concepts they belong to, then test whether a feature set can predict them.
- I3. A lexical choice step with a control: choose among chunks by the features, and compare with the plain most-frequent-chunk rule on verses where the two differ. If the paper's rule is no better, it does not enter the delta.

## For Mova

The code is `tools/translate/src/profile.rs` (the context chain for the chunk) and the frame features in `prag`. The markedness idea fits the encoder's back-off order, and the implicit-feature idea touches open problem 4 on function words and boundaries.

Topics: [Machine translation](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/machine-translation/)

## Cite

The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```
@inproceedings{barnett1991reversible,
  title = {{Reversible Machine Translation: What to Do When the Languages Don't Line Up}},
  author = {Barnett, James and Mani, Inderjeet and Martin, Paul and Rich, Elaine},
  booktitle = {Reversible Grammar in Natural Language Processing},
  year = {1991},
  url = {https://aclanthology.org/W91-0109/}
}
```

- [← previous Capturing Language-Specific Semantic Distinctions in Interlingua-based MT](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/barnett-1991-capturing-language-specific-semantic-distinctions/)
- [next → Extracting Paraphrases from a Parallel Corpus](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/barzilay-2001-extracting-paraphrases-parallel-corpus/)
- [↑ back to Machine translation](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/mtrans/)

## References

22 references, 3 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. J. Barnett and I. Mani, "Using Bidirectional Semantic Rules for Generation", Proceedings of the Fifth International Workshop on Natural Language Generation, pp.47-53, Dawson, Pa., 3-6 June, 1990. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Barnett+and+I%2E+Mani%2C+%22Using+Bidirectional+Semantic+Rules+for+Generation%22%2C+Proceedings+of+the+Fifth+International+Workshop+on+Natural+Language+Generation%2C+pp%2E47%2D53%2C+Dawson%2C+Pa%2E%2C+3%2D6+June%2C+1990%2E)
2. J. Barnett, D. D'Souza, K. Knight, I. Mani, P. Martin, E. Rich, C. Aone, J. Blevins, W. Bohrer, S. Luper-Foy, J.C. Martinez, and D. Newman, "Knowledge-Based Natural Language Processing: the KBNL System", MCC Technical Report ACT-NL-123-91, 1991. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Barnett%2C+D%2E+D%27Souza%2C+K%2E+Knight%2C+I%2E+Mani%2C+P%2E+Martin%2C+E%2E+Rich%2C+C%2E+Aone%2C+J%2E+Blevins%2C+W%2E+Bohrer%2C+S%2E+Luper%2DFoy%2C+J%2EC%2E+Martinez%2C+and+D%2E+Newman%2C+%22Knowledge%2DBased+Natural+Language+Processing%3A+the+KBNL+Syste)
3. J. Barnett, E. Rich, and D. Wroblewski, "A Functional Interface to a Knowledge Base for Use by a Natural Language Processing System", MCC Technical Report ACT-NL-019-91, 1991. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Barnett%2C+E%2E+Rich%2C+and+D%2E+Wroblewski%2C+%22A+Functional+Interface+to+a+Knowledge+Base+for+Use+by+a+Natural+Language+Processing+System%22%2C+MCC+Technical+Report+ACT%2DNL%2D019%2D91%2C+1991%2E)
4. J. Barnett, I. Mani, E. Rich, C. Aone, K. Knight, and J. C. Martinez, "Capturing Language-Specific Semantic Distinctions in lnterlingua-Based MT", in Proceedings of MT Summit 3, Washington, D.C., 1991. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Barnett%2C+I%2E+Mani%2C+E%2E+Rich%2C+C%2E+Aone%2C+K%2E+Knight%2C+and+J%2E+C%2E+Martinez%2C+%22Capturing+Language%2DSpecific+Semantic+Distinctions+in+lnterlingua%2DBased+MT%22%2C+in+Proceedings+of+MT+Summit+3%2C+Washington%2C+D%2EC%2E%2C+1991)
5. J. Barnett and I. Mani, "Shared Preferences", Proceedings of the ACL Workshop on Reversible Grammars in Natural Language Processing, Berkeley, 1991. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Barnett+and+I%2E+Mani%2C+%22Shared+Preferences%22%2C+Proceedings+of+the+ACL+Workshop+on+Reversible+Grammars+in+Natural+Language+Processing%2C+Berkeley%2C+1991%2E)
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