Eleka presents the improved version of the automatic translator Matxin

2009/12/15 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Softwarea

Matxin is an open source application that is part of the Opentrad platform. Two features can be highlighted in the newly updated version. On the one hand, the translator from Spanish to Basque has been improved. That is, what is now presented is a renewed version of the prototype that was presented in 2006 and that has significantly improved the quality of the translations. On the other hand, the first prototype of the translator Matxin from Basque to Spanish was created. Both translators are available for free at www.opentrad.com.

In the world of machine translation two methods of translation are used: rules-based and statistical. The rules-based system works with linguistic information, i.e. rules are created based on that information. The statistic, on the other hand, is based on translations already made and uses this knowledge when making subsequent translations. In the case of the Spanish-Basque automatic translator both techniques have been developed and integrated into Matxin. In the case of the Euskera-Castilian translator only statistical techniques have been used.

The most important added value of the Spanish-Basque Matxin system is that Opentrad is within the open source system. Consequently, once the Spanish-Basque engine has been developed, it remains in the hands of the community. Thus, anyone can adapt to their needs without having to pay the license.