A Statistical Theory of Language Translation Based on Communication Theory

We propose the first statistical theory of language translation based on communication theory. The theory is based on New Testament translations from Greek to Latin and to other 35 modern languages. In a text translated into another language, all linguistic variables do numerically change. To study the chaotic data that emerge, we model any translation as a complex communication channel affected by “noise”, studied according to Communication Theory applied for the first time to this channel. This theory deals with aspects of languages more complex than those currently considered in machine translations. The input language is the “signal”, the output language is a “replica” of the input language, but largely perturbed by noise, indispensable, however, for conveying the meaning of the input language to its readers. We have defined a noise-to-signal power ratio and found that channels are differently affected by translation noise. Communication channels are also characterized by channel capacity. The translation of novels has more constraints than the New Testament translations. We propose a global readability formula for alphabetical languages, not available for most of them, and conclude with a general theory of language translation which shows that direct and reverse channels are not symmetric. The general theory can also be applied to channels of texts belonging to the same language both to study how texts of the same author may have changed over time, or to compare texts of different authors. In conclusion, a common underlying mathematical structure governing human textual/verbal communication channels seems to emerge. Language does not play the only role in translation;this role is shared with reader’s reading ability and short-term memory capacity. Different versions of New Testament within the same language can even seem, mathematically, to belong to different languages. These conclusions are everlasting because valid also for ancient Roman and Greek readers.

Speech Acts and the Truth-Conditional Analysis of Temporal Expressions

Truth-conditional approaches to tense and other temporal expressions have relied on both linear-time and branching-time frameworks as needed. However, in the truth-conditional enterprise generally, it seems advisable to settle on a single depiction of time. Linear time is the simpler framework, and branching time faces difficulties for which we seem to have no immediate solutions. This paper defends the applicability of linear time. The apparent branching of time results from the use of speech acts other than factual assertion. Truth in correspondence with specific conditions is relevant when making factual assertions. However, we are in no epistemic position to advance factual assertions about the future, but only suppositions and predictions. For these, the truth-conditional content is employed differently. For suppositions and predictions, we only ＂pretend＂ to reference things, to assert facts, and to accept them as ＂true.＂ There is a wide array of alternatives about what we can suppose or predict, giving the impression of branching options. Suppositions and predictions under active consideration are often marked with present tense, whereas those that are inactive （not presently under active consideration but nonetheless relevant） are often marked with past tense.

The Collection of Thesis Manuscripts on Modern Chinese Language

The book,The Collection of Thesis Manuscripts on Modern Chinese Language,is made up of independent and interrelated 36 papers.These papers fall into six parts.The first part,'Research on Alternative Complex Sentences and Alternative Conjunctions,'is the focus of the book.The papers in this part make an indepth study on alternative complex sentences and main alternative conjunctions in modern Chinese applying