On the Study of Softwares of Computer-aided Translation (CAT)

Abstract. In the current information age, computer-aided translation (CAT) is gaining greater concern and appreciation of translators. In this paper some widely employed softwares will be briefly introduced in terms of transformation from machine translation (MT) to CAT. Softwares of CAT will be the major focus, involving the illustration of their basic working principles and advantages, and some ways to get them improved. With the rapid development of Internet, the accelerating integration of world economy, and the continuous development of network information age, how to effectively use modern methods to eliminate the language barrier between people becomes one of common problems faced by mankind. Translation is an effective manner to get over linguistic obstacles. As the costly and slow traditional human translation fails to satisfy the requirements of the translation market, MT has come to use. Machine translation (namely, automatic translation) is a process of transferring one natural language into another by using computers. It is a branch of natural language processing and has an inseparable relationship with computational linguistics and natural language understanding. It is easy and convenient to practice, but it still has certain distinctive disadvantages. So currently it can only serve as the aid to human translation. Against the backdrop, CAT is drawing people’s attention and interest. The Development Process and Present Situation of MT In 1954, the first public presentation of MT in human history happened in Georgetown University, witnessing the start of people’s research on MT. During the later years MT enjoyed a continuingl