Semantically Governed Machine Translation of BE-clauses with Ad- 
verbs and Prepositional Phrases. 
Demonstration of a Ring-Model for German~English, English/German 
including Analysis-Synthesis, Transformation, Transition, and 
Generation. 
Klaus G~nther Schweisthal, Forschungsgruppe LIMAS, Bonn 
Research in methods of lexicalization, classification, analysis- 
synthesis, transformation, transition, and generation, which has 
been carried on independently in the German and English sections 
at LIMAS, has recently been consolidated for the purpose of con- 
structing a Ring-Translation-Model for German/English, English/ 
German. 
This model has to meet the following requirements: 
I. It must;produce a translation which is identical in meaning 
to the original and stylistically acceptable. 
2. Some Of the difficulties which have heretofore appeared in 
machine translation must be resolved. 
The starting point (Figure I) is a German adverbial phrase, which 
is to be analyzed and then converted into a factor formula by 
means of a morpho-nomo-transformation. An explicative homo-homo- 
transformation together with prepositional governing factors then 
expand the factor formula for the adverbial expression into a 
formula for a prepositional phrase, which in turn becomes ex- 
pressible through a nomo-morpho-transformation. The factor formula 
for the German prepositional phrase is converted into an English 
factor formula according to the coordinator's system of maximum 
agreement. This takes place through a nomo-nomo-transition if the 
identical factor formula is present in English, otherwise through 
a nomo-~omme~ra~afQ~mation. A nomo-morpho-tr&nsformation then 
creates an expressible English prepositional phrase which is se- 
mantically equivalent to the German. The factor formula for an 
English adverbial phrase is made possible by a reductive nomo- 
homo-transformation plus a nomo-morpho-transformation. The last 
step of the cycle again takes place in the coordinator. The factor 
formula for the English adverbial phrase is converted into the 
corresponding formula for the German adverbial phrase by means of 
transition or a homo-homo-transformation. The morphological 
realization of this factor formula is identical to that of the 
initial German adverbial phrase. 
A sample output of the ring would be: 
vater ist drinnen .... Vater ist innerhalb des Hauses .... 
Father is inside (of) the house .... Father is inside .... 
Vater ist drinnen. 
The automatic reversible process of the ring model is determined 
by several association lists and function matrices. At first a 
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lexicon of German Jand English semantic factors is necessary. 
This list forms the upper row for the necessary nomo'association 
lists of the German-English words (Figure 2). In this figure are 
illustrated three different types of semantic association. 
List A/D illustrates the association of the factors to the German 
adverbs, A/P to the German prepositions, and N/D to the various 
German noun classes. In a strict sense the noun class association 
is to be specified once again according to the two syntactic 
functions of the noun in the sentence, i.e. BE-subject* and BE- 
complement*. 
~For English the association has been organized in a similar man- 
ner in the lists A/S, P/E, N/S, but in such a way that they are 
independent of German. 
An example may make this a little more clear. Assume that A/D1 
is the German adverb "drinnen" and the factors I, 3, 5, 8, 
are coded symbols for the factors 0r___~t, La~e, Einschlu~, Bet~hung 
der einschlie~enden Grenzen, Hinweis, then according to the'~prin- 
Qiple of maximum agreement we are able to determine the same fac- 
tor combination Place, Location, Interior, Accent on boundaries, 
Reference, in A/E under 1, which in English is the word "inside,. 
With this same set of factors we find that in the lists P/D a~d 
P/E according to maximum agreement the results are P/D I and P/E1, 
which are expressed as "innerhalb" and "inside of". 
In the list N/D all five preposition factors appear in the noun 
class B, so that if we were to choose as BE-complements the words 
Garten or Haus the resultant phrase would be: innerhalb des Gar- 
ten--~Hauses--~. Because this set of factors also appears under B 
in N/E, it is possible through transition to produce the English 
phrase "inside of the garden (house)". 
In view of this schematic arrangement one might think that it is 
possible to associate all @erman prepositions word for word w£th 
English prepositions. (This method was used frequently in the 
early days of machine translation resulting in untold difficul' 
ties.) Such word for word association is almost 100 % possible 
for the prepositions of place. 
But if, for example, we are dealing with the German word nach, 
which can either be P/D~ plus factor 7 (Zeit) or P/D h plus fac- 
tor 2 (0rt), we are not-able to make a direct association, but ~ 
must decide according to the method of maximum agreement whether 
English ,after" or "to" is meant. 
The corresponding words in A/D and A/E would be "danach"-"dort- 
hin", and Wafter that"-"there". 
See accompanying sheet for LIMAS terminology 
- 9- 
NOMO-ZUORDNUNGEN VON WOERTERN DE UTSC H - E NG LISCH 
Inhaltfaktoren . 
Sprache Wortarten 1 2 3 4 
--- ±m~m~ Adv. 2 
D 
E 
D 
(Liste A/D)~m~ --xm~ 
~m_m 
J 
1 Adv. ~m mr-m_ 
Ym m~m x (List A/') "~'- ~ = 
,zm m---~ --- 
Pr~p. -i- .... 
( Liste P/D) ~- -- -- ~m m~m-- 
! m mm mE___ 
~m~m--m .... 
~m m i 
A ~ -ira ..... mi2_ ._~.. 
t 
,-immmm m 
Prep. 
E (List P/E ) 
Nomen Inhalt 
D Klassen 
(Liste N/D ) 
A 
E 
Semantic 
I 
Factors 
m~ m 
_m .... Lm 
m_--m~m m 
m 
Figure2 Forschungsgrurpe LIMAS 67 
/ 
The selection of the fadtors Place and Time for the respective 
noun classes in the noun class lists N/D and N/E would allow the 
generation of the phrases: "nach dem Mittagessen", ,uach K5ln", 
and "after lunch", "to Cologne". 
Already it is evident how our system differs from those of ear- 
lier machine translation projects. 
In the nomo-association list we have established the prerequi- 
sites for generation, transformation and transition. In the i 
middle function matrix P/D - P/E (Figure 3) of this diagram are 
contained the restrictions as to which prepositions may combine 
with which semantic noun classes to produce a meaningful Be-com- 
plement. A quick glance shows that the preposition-noun relakion- 
ship is differentiated in various ways. This is one proof for the 
necessity of classifying nouns according to function or semantic 
classes. 
This can be illustrated in the following Bxample. The codes in 
the preposition column are replaced by prepositions, and the row 
of noun classes by a representative of each class. 
A-rater B-Garten C-K~In --~Mitta~- Q-Gedanke 
essen 
I. innerhalb x x 
2. rechts x x x 
~. nach (Zeit) 
n. vor (Abstr. Ber.) 
X 
X 
Using the lexicon the permitted BE-complements can be programmed 
from this matrix. 
The various possibilities for generating meaningful adverbial 
BE-clauses can be seen in the matrix N/D - A/D. Here again the 
necessity of using noun classes is evident, even though some 
noun classes in the matrix (A, B, C,) appear to be similar. 
Example: Vater ist drinneu 
drau~en 
rechts 
but not danach 
But with Mittagesseu all four adverbs are possible: 
drinneu 
drauBen , 
rechts 
danach 
A further prerequisite for the generation of meaningful BE-clau- 
ses containing prepositional phrases is the coordination of the 
BE-subject noun class with the BE-complement noun class. 
The matrix Sntr/N/D - SnE/N/D supplies the necessary information. 
-5- 
J 
NOMO ZUORDNUNG VaN SATZGLIEDERN DEUTSCH- ENGLISCH 
DEUTSCH ENGLI SCH 
ERLAUBTE 
ADVERBIAL-- 
SAETZE 
Matrix: 
./D--A/D 
ERLAUBTE 
PRAE POS. 
PHRASEN 
Matri x: 
P/D 
ERLAUBTE 
FUNKTIONI 
Sntr /N Inh. 
Klasse -- 
Sn E/N Inh. 
Klassen 
Matrix: J 
A 
B 
Sn tr C 
Q 
SnE 
1 2 3 --4,,,I 
YXX 
iW'× iW WY× 
×XXX 
II 
× 
Seins- 
erg~n- 
zu rig 
p  A B C 
' ×X 
, X,X× 
× 
Q 
X 
PER M ITT ED 
A DVERBIAL 
C LAUS ES 
Matrix: 
N/E -- AlE 
PERMITTED 
PREPOS. 
PHRASES 
Matrix: 
PIE -- ~/E 
tr  PERMITTE D A B C ~ Q 
X l FUNCTIONS SeS/Sem. Noun 
u "~ X'~ :lass- 
c X ~ X bc/s~m. Noun 
.~ X ~ X ~ Classes 
° X M a,,i.: 
Figure3 Forschungsgruppe L I MA S 67 
J 
For example, a BE-subject from the noun class"abstract"is com- 
patible only with a BE,complement from the same class. 
Die Idee ist hinter dem Gedanken 
but not Der Gedanke ist hinter dem Garten 
Der Garten ist hinter dem Hans 
but not Der Garten ist hinter dem Mittagessen 
No~ until all of these factors have been formalized and all con- 
ditions which were illustrated in the matrices are taken into 
consideration it is possible to set up a final function matrix. 
This matrix then aids the translation process in the generation 
of meaningful BE-clauses with prepositional phrases.(Figure 4) 
For example: 
A is to be replaced by Vater - (father) 
B Haus - (house) 
C K~in - (Cologne) 
Mittagessen (action) - (lunch) 
9 • vet (place) - (in front of) 
then 
NPN/D --9 A 9 A --7 Vater ist vet dem Vater 
--÷ A 9 B --) vor dem Haus 
--@ A 9 C --) vet KSln 
--4 A 9--~ (not permitted!) Vater ist vet dem Mittag- 
essen 
--@ A 9 Q (not permitted!) Vater ist vet dem Gedanken 
NPN/E --@ A 9 A --) Father is in front of the father 
--@ A 9 B --) in front of the house 
--9 A 9 C --9 in front of Cologne 
--~ A 9 ~-~ !not permitted!~ Father is in front of lunch 
--9 A 9 Q (not permitted!) Father is in front of the 
thought 
In order to show that this modei exists not only on paper but 
also in practise, we have compiled a German and English lexicon 
consisting of 16 prepositions, 16 adverbs, and one noun from 
each of the fim~noun classes. The upper row of the homo-associa- 
tion chart, which was seen in figure 2, is filled with over 30 
semantic factors. 
The outputs show that the ring model works satisfactorily. 
With the aid of these matrices (Figures I - 4), a semantically 
equivalent German/English, English/German translation can be 
executed for all the cases in which the function matrices in 
both languages are identical in structure, e.g. (NPN/D - NPN/E 
.... (transition). 
For those cases in which the function matrices are not identi- 
g 
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cal (NPN/D I N'PN/E), the proper translation is insured by means 
Of au auxiliary program. This takes place through verbalization 
of the semantic factors of the source language in the target lan- 
guage. 
For example: The English sentence The candle is inside (of) the 
father cannot be translated into German as it now is because 
there is no corresponding matrix NPN/D. The verbalization pro- 
gram, however, makes possible the translation Die Kerze ist im 
KSrper des Vaters eingeschlossen. 
If a German adverb has no English counterpart, an auxiliary pro- 
gram will create a semantically equivalent prepositional phrase, 
eig. dahinter .... behind it. All German adverbs must be provi- 
ded with the possibility of such a transformation, so that in 
the reverse process - in case it should be necessary - the proper 
German adverb can be selected for the English combination pre- 
position + p~-onoun. 
i 
-- 9 -- 
Some Terms of Ll~hkS-Terminolo~r:: 
1. Transformation 
a) Morpho-transformation: A change within the morpho-struc- 
ture involving formal constituents. 
b) Morpho-semantic-transformation: A change within the morpho- 
level involving those semantic factors which are referred 
to as "Denkweisen". These are: sentence constituent,framed, 
stressed, cyclopic, nominal, actional, and designative. 
c) Zorpho-nomo, and nomo-morpho-transformation: A transfer 
from the morpho-level to the homo-level or vice versa. 
(This is similar to a change from the deep structure to 
the surface structure and vice versa in Transformational- 
Generative Grammar.) 
d) Nomo-nomo-transformation: 
I) Within the same language: A change of the factor formula 
by means of exchange, addition, or elimination of cer- 
tain factors. 
2) Between the ~ource language and the target language: The 
factor formula of the source language is not acceptable 
in the target language, and must therefore be reshaped. 
2. Transition 
The simple transfer of a factor formula from one metalanguage 
into another. 
3. Explication 
To make explicit a semantic factor in a sentence which con- 
tains no morpheme to represent that factor. The morpheme can 
be lacking for three reasons: 
a) ellipsis 
b) non-expressed context relations 
c) a combination of semantic factors which are understood but 
not expressed. 
It is therefore important to differentiate between a) ellip- 
sis explication, b) context-relation explication , and c) fac- 
tor explication. These three types of explication can, how- 
ever, be combined. 
4. Verbalization 
The process of verbally expressing a semantic factor within 
the morpho~level which has been determined through expli- 
cation. 
_ - 10- 
~. Reduction 
The opposite of explication, i.e. a factor formula of the meta- 
language is not permitted to be verbalized. The factor is not 
really eliminated, but is implied within the morpho-level. 
6. ExplicatinG-transformation 
a) Explicating nomo-nomo-transformation: A semantic factor 
which has been determined through explication changes the 
factor formula. 
b) Explicating nomo-morpho-transformation: The semantic fac- 
tor becomes verbalized. 
Faktorenformel 
Funktionsmatrix 
Inhaltfaktor 
ist-Satz 
Nomeninhaltklasse 
Seinstr~ger (Sntr) 
Seinserg~nz~ng iSnE) - 
Traduktion (Trd 
Transformation (Tr) 
Zuordnungsliste 
factor formula 
function matrix 
semantic factor 
. Be-clause 
semantic noun class 
Be-subjectc(BeS) 
Be-complement (BeC) 
transition 
trmnsformation 
association list 
Criteria for "meaningful" BE-clauses with adverbs and prepo- 
sitional phrases: 
a) Approximately 40,000 examples of modern German taken from 
various sources. 
b) A smaller collection of English examples. 
c) Interviews with several native speakers of English from 
England and America. 
-11- 
