Using Intergaelic to pre-translate and subsequently post-edit a sci-fi novel from Scottish Gaelic to Irish

摘要

In this paper I describe how I used Intergaelic, an ad-hoc hybrid machine translation (MT) system, to pre-translate a novel and subsequently post-edit the resulting MT output.~1 One of the central themes in the novel is the increasingly central role of technology in society. Thus this experiment can be viewed as a metatextual translation, whereby translation is aided by one of the themes present in the material being translated. I examine whether the translation provided by the MT system reached a basic standard that would reduce overall time for translation, and by how much. I examine the process of post-editing (PE) and how it differs from translation from scratch. I compare text generated by Intergaelic with that generated by widely available MT systems. I examine areas of weakness in this use of Intergaelic. I explore what elements remain the reserve of the human translator. I describe translating the entire novel using this method and how the author and publishers responded to the process of translation. I examine possible criticisms of this approach and the future of MT and PE in literary translation.