Spatial Representation of Classifier Predicates for Machine Translation into American Sign Language
Matt Huenerfauth · 2004
The translation of English text into American Sign Language (ASL) animation tests the limits of traditional machine translation (MT) approaches. The generation of spatially complex ASL phenomena called “classifier predicates ” motivates a new representation for ASL based on virtual reality modeling software, and previous linguistic research provides constraints on the design of an English-to-Classifier-Predicate translation process operating on this representation. This translation design can be incorporated into a multipathway architecture to build English-to-ASL MT systems capable of producing classifier predicates. Introduction and Motivations Although Deaf students in the U.S. and Canada are taught written English, the challenge of acquiring a spoken language for students with hearing impairments results in the majority of Deaf U.S. high school graduates