MEDKORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFORD, OREGON
Pronouns Flubbed
WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 25. 196J
Translation Machines Not So Smart;
They Have Trouble With Spelling
BY DICK WEST
WASHINGTON (UPI) - As a
drowning man will grasp at a
straw, I never lose an oppor-
. tunity to seize
upon something
that human be-
inys can sun
do better than
machines. Re
cently. I have
been reading
quite a bit
about the de
v e 1 o pment of
west translation ma
chines. These are electronic compu
ters that are multi-lingual and
can make rapid translations
from one language to another.
The big show-offs.
I was gratified to note, how
ever, that the machines are hav
ing troubie with spelling, pro
nouns and idioms, even as you
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and I.
In fact, they can't begin to
handle idioms as well as hu
man translators, as witness the
following two examples:
I 1. A human interpreter em
ployed by the United Nations to
j translate English into Spanish
: ran up against the phrase "once
j in a blue moon." A literal
translation would not have
meant much in Spanish, so he
I changed it to "every time a
f bishdp dies."
2. A translation macnine was
given the expression "out of
sight, out of mind" to convert
to Japanese. It came up with
the Japanese characters for
"invisible, insane."
This was a clear cut vic
tory for Ihe human race. Such
victories are rare these days
and we should cherish them
while we can.
At a recent hearing by a
house education subcommittee,
examples were shown of a
computer's handiwork in trans
lating Russian and Chinese into
English.
In places, the poor thing's
spelling was atrocious. It rcn- j
dered "rapacity" both as "ca-;
pacittyy" and "capaeityi" be- i
fore finally settling down to j
eight letters.
But what amused me the most
was the way it flubbed the pro
nouns. Being unable to decide
which pronoun was correct, it
would occasionally list all the
alternatives.
Thus, when a pronoun was
encountered, the machine would
print "him-his-it-its" or her-it-hers-its."
Which, of course, is
the coward's way out.
I have often wished that I
could handle "who-whom"
In that maner, but we hu
mans are not permitted to es
cape that easily. We have to
go ahead and pick the wrong
one.
Among the material trans
lated by Ihe machine was an
article originally printed in Red
China. One of the key para
graphs came out like this:
"Soviet Union successfully
launch artifical cosmos stellar
body but American imperalism
then many times failure."
Ugh. Computer speak with
forked tongue.
Paper Shuffling Necessary Before Treaty in Effect
WASHINGTON ( UP) - U. S
Senate ratification of the nuclear
test ban treaty still leaves con
siderable international rigama
role to be completed before the
treaty formally goes into effect.
Since there is no international
custodian of treaties, countries
signing such pacts designate one
or more governments as "depos
itaries" to keep the official
copies.
In this case, the depositaries
are the three original signers of
the test ban treaty the United
States, Britain, and the Soviet
Union.
The treaty goes into effect
when each of these nations has
placed notices of ratification in
all three "depositaries." which
means nine acts of shuffling pa
per. j President Signs Copies
Following Senate action, Pres
' ident Kennedy has to sign four
1 identical "instruments of ratifi
' cation." Three are the "deposit"
I copies one for London, one for
Moscow and one to be kept in a
vault at the U. S. State Depart
ment. The fourth copy is what might
be called this country's personal
copy and will be kept either at
the State Department or in the
U. S. National Archives. 1
When each of the three coun
tries has forwarded its notice
of ratification to the other two,
the treaty will be in effect. Pres.
ident Kennedy then will sign a
proclamation declaring that the
treaty is henceforth binding on
all U. S. citizens.
The three original signatories
STIIX BURNING
NEW YORK (UPD-The old
gas light was not like the dodo
bird. It was never to become
extinct. The Gas Applicance
Manufacturers Association re
ports the gas light did go into
eclipse in 1914 after attaining
a peak of 250.000 but today,
GAMA says, more than 825.000
gas lights are in use.
also plan to register the treaty
with the United Nations.
Now Before President
The Soviet Union has its own
version of the U.S. ratification
process. The treaty has passed
through a series of committees
of the Soviet legislature and at
last report was pending before
1 Soviet.
Britain is handling its ratifi
j cation more simply. Having lain
1 21 days without objection, the
treaty is considered fully ap
I proved by the British govern
ment and ready (or the docu-
ments of ratification to be sent .
out. i
I Many of the more than 90 oth-1
er nations which also have sign
ed the treaty have ratification
procedures in their own consti-
A 3
tutions, and will be forwarding
notices of ratification to depos
itary governments. But this only
affects their own legal status.
It docs not aflect the three big
powers.
You Specify. . .
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TAPPED President Kennedy
Haid he would nominate Lt. Gen.
Wallace M. Greene, top photo,
to be Commandant of the Ma
rine Corps when Gen. David M.
Shoup, bottom photo, finishes
his term Dec. .11. (UPI)
Mme. Nhu Urges
VielNamVisil
ROME (UPI) Mme. Ngo
Dinh Nhu, preparing for her
trip to the United States, again
has invited lop American offi
cials to see for themselves what
is going on in South Viet Nam.
"The more senior officials
come to Vict Nam to see the
situation, the better it is." she
told a news conference here.
"They are more responsible
lhan the people who are sabo
taging our officials."
She was referring to the on-the-spot
assessment to be made
by U.S. Secretary of Defense
Robert S. McNamara and Gen.
Maxwell D. Taylor, chairman
of the U.S. Chiefs of Staff. Pres
ident Kennedy has ordered both
men into South Viet Nam to
find out if the government's re
ligious - political dispute with
the country's Buddhists is af
fecting its battle against t h e
Communists.
Italian youths demonstrated
against South Vict Nam's first
lady while her news conference
was going on.
Two Automobile
Manufacturers
To Hold Prices
DETROIT (UPI) - Chevrolet
and the Studebaker Corp. have
announced their prices with
prices much the same as last
year's models with the excep
tion of Chevrolet's new line, the
Chevelle.
The Chevelle prices run from
$2,220 to $2,738.
Studebaker prices remained
the same except for price cuts
on two lines. The price on the
Grantursimo Hawk was cut $137
to $2,958 and the Daytona con
vertible reduced $17 to $2,797.
Semon E. Knudsen, General
Motors vice president and head !
of Chevrolet division, said the j
division would offer the same
list prices on new models as last
year's.
Sixth Year !
"This is the sixth consecutive j
year in which Chevrolet prices j
have remained constant in spite j
of rising costs," he said.
Chevrolet, which puts its cars
on sale across the country
Thursday, followed Chrysler-
Plymouth and Dodge in holding .
the price line for 1964 models. I
There had been speculation that
rising labor costs and the selec
tive steel price increases might j
herald a general price increase
in the industry with the model
year. I
There has been no general
across-the-board increase since
1958.
Half-Font Longer (
The 1964 Studebakers had an
all new exterior and are a half-1
foot longer. ,
"Some idea of the kind of per-1
formance equipment available
to Studebaker buyers may be j
seen in the 72 new endurance
and speed records set by Stude
baker production cars at Bonne
ville a few days ago," Sherwood
H. Egbert, president of the firm,
said.
Prices on Studebaker's Chal
lenger line run $1,935 for the
two-door sedan, $2,040 for the ,
four-door sedan, and $2,430 for
the four-door station wagon with
6-cylinder motors.
Area Bank Debits
Increase in Month i
The Southwestern Oregon '
urea, including Curry. Jackson
and Josephine counties, expe-;
rienccd an increase in bank deb-1
its in Aueust, compared to the
same month in 1962. the Univer-1
tity of Oregon bureau of bii
less research has reported.
Debits (or August. 1963. total
Mi 145.001. For the preccd-
lng ear the August total was
$117,416,350.
Total debits for Oregon in
August. came to $2,553.
914.556. The previous year the
' stale total for August was $2,-4lA.T97.257
Records Sought j
In Portland Case
PORTLAND (UPI)-Attorneys
for accused slayer Robert Ev
ans, 26, Honolulu, have filed a
second motion in Circuit Court
here asking for records In Ev
ans' case.
Evans, a Hawaiian-born me
chanic, is charged in the strang
ulation death of Mrs. Irene
Davis, 41. Payette, Idaho. The
body of Mrs. Davis, a wealthy
cattle heiress, was found in a
room at the Portland Hilton
Hotel Aug. 6.
The motion asked for a court
order directing the Multnomah
county coroner's office to turn
over to the defense all records
and reprts made In its inves
tigation. The motion said these
were necessary in preparation
of a defense.
An earlier motion asked all
records and documents in the
hands of Portland police, the
district attorney's office and
the patholotf:- ,be turned over
tojihe defense.''
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