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Computer-AidedTranslationTechnologyAbstract:Thisarticlebeginswithabriefanalysisofthesignificanceoftranslationtechnologyinmodernlife,followedbyadistinctionbetweenmachinetranslation(MT)andcomputer-aidedtranslation(CAT).Itthendescribessomepositiveaspectsofcomputer-aidedtranslationsforstudents,finallyitcomestoaconclusionthatitwouldbegreatlyefficientandproductiveforthetranslatorstoacquirethenewskillsinthetranslationworkplace.Keyword:machinetranslation;computer-aidedtranslation;applicationIIntroductionWhyshouldwebeinterestedinusingcomputersfortranslationatall?Thefirstandprobablymostimportantreasonisthatthereisjusttoomuchthatneedstobetranslated,andhumantranslatorcannotcope.Thelong-awaitedglobalmarketisfastbecomingareality,aninternationalmarketmaybeemergingorstillgrowing,andsalesabroadcanhelptofinancethenextgenerationofproducts.Furthermore,mostproductcanbemoreprofitableoverseasbecausethesemarketsoftensupporthigherprices.Therefore,inordertostaycompetitiveandincreaseprofits,companiesinavarietyoffieldarelocalizingtheirproductsandwebsites.Thishasresultedinanincreaseinthevolumeoftranslation,particularlytechnicaltranslation.Meanwhile,thenatureandfunctionoftranslationisinevitablyaffectedbythesechangeswithincreasinglyinternationalexchangeofproductsandservices.Lastly,companieswanttoreducetranslationcosts,theyarelookingfortranslatorswhocanworkcheaplyandquickly,butstilldeliverhigh-qualitywork.Thus,computer-aidedtranslationcomesintobeing.2Thedistinctionbetweenmachinetranslationandcomputer-aidedtranslationItisimportanttomakeadistinctionbetweenmachinetranslation(MT)andcomputer-aidedtranslation(CAT).Computer-Aidedtranslationisaformoflanguagetranslationwhereahumantranslatorusescomputersoftwaretosupportandfacilitatethetranslationprocess.Itissometimescalledmachine-assisted,ormachine-aidedtranslationanditisnottobeconfusedwithMachineTranslation.Thesetwotechnologiesareinfactbasedonverydifferentapproaches.Therespectiveresultstheyareintendedtoachievearealsoextremelydifferent,sincetheyareusedinquitedistinctandspecificcontexts.2.1machinetechnologytranslation(MT)Machinetranslation,sometimesreferredtobytheabbreviationMT,isasub-filedofcomputationallinguisticsthatinvestigatetheuseofsoftwaretotranslatetextorspeechfromonenaturallanguagetoanother.Machinetranslationresearchbeganinthe1950s.MT(machinetranslation,oftencalledautomatictranslation)systemsarethosethatuselinguisticinformationaboutthelanguagesbeingtranslatedtoautomaticallygeneratetranslations.machinetranslationaimsatassemblingalltheinformationnecessaryfortranslationinoneprogramsothatatextcanbetranslatedwithouthumanintervention.Asweknow,thetranslationoftenreliesoninextralinguisticmessage,however,thedifficultintranslationliesinthecomplexityandextensivenessoftheextralinguisticsmessagewhichcannotbeappropriatelycapturedincomputerterminology,inotherword,thecorrectunderstandingofnaturallanguagedependsheavilyonlanguageintuitionofhumanbeings.2.2computer-aidedtranslation(CAT)ConsideringthedrawbacksofMT,thecomputer-aidedtranslation(CAT)wasbornatverycrucialtime.Itisaformoflanguagetranslationinwhichahumantranslatorusescomputersoftwaretosupportandfacilitatethetranslationprocess.CATisacomplexprocessinvolvingspecifictoolsandtechnologyadaptabletotheneedsoftranslator,whoisinvolvedinthewholeprocessandnotjustintheeditingstage.AndCATincorporatesthemanualeditingstageintothesoftware,makingtranslationaninteractiveprocessbetweenhumanandcomputer.Thecomputerbecomesaworkstationwherethetranslatorhasaccesstoavarietyoftexts,toolsandprogram.CATisgreatlybeneficialtothosepeoplewhoareworkinginthetranslationfield.WiththegreathelpofCAT,thetranslatorsareabletomaketheirworkmoreefficientandproductive.3thesignificanceofcomputer-aidedtranslation(CAT)Computer-Aidedtranslationincreasesproductivityandqualityatthesametime.Inpractice,mosttranslatorsgiveprivilegetocomputer-aidedtranslationtohelpthemdealwiththepilesofdocumentsabouttheirtranslationwork.CATusesanumberoftoolstohelpthetranslationworkmoreaccuratelyandquickly,themostimportantofwhichareterminologydatabasesandtranslationmemories.Computer-Aided(CAT)incorporatesthatmanualeditingstageintothesoftware,makingtranslationaninteractiveprocessbetweenhumanandcomputer.Theautomaticmachinetranslationsystemsavailabletodaycannotproducehigh-qualitytranslationswithouthumanaid:theiroutputmustbecheckedbyahumantocorrecterrorsandimprovethequalityoftranslation.Theuseoftranslationtechnologyisontherise,andthisincreaseisneeds-driven-theglobalmarkethasresultedinagreatervolumeoftranslationalongwithincreasedpressuretoproducetranslationsquicklyinordertofacilitatesimship.3.1Theadvantageofcomputer-aidedtranslationWithtraditionaltranslationmethod,thetranslatorhastorefertodictionariesandreferencebooksrepeatedlyandwritethetranslationonthepaperwordforword,whichistime-consumingandmechanical.However,avoidingthementionedrepeatedlabor,CATenjoysthefollowingadvantages.1)itincreasesefficientlyoftranslation.Whentimeisacrucialfactor,CATcansavetheday.Thereisnoneedtospendhoursporingoverdictionariestotranslatethewords.Indeed,