Generation in machine translation from deep syntactic trees

Abstract

In this paper we explore a generative model for recovering surface syntax and strings from deep-syntactic tree structures. Deep analysis has been proposed for a number of language and speech processing tasks, such as machine translation and paraphrasing of speech transcripts. In an effort to validate one such formalism of deep syntax, the Praguian Tectogrammatical Representation (TR), we present a model of synthesis for English which generates surface-syntactic trees as well as strings. We propose a generative model for function word insertion (prepositions, definite/indefinite articles, etc.) and sub-phrase reordering. We show by way of empirical results that this model is effective in constructing acceptable English sentences given impoverished trees.