Skuce, Douglas,Miller, David R.2009-03-252009-03-2519941994Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 34-02, page: 0516.9780612004870http://hdl.handle.net/10393/9811http://dx.doi.org/10.20381/ruor-16515The aim of this thesis is twofold. First, on a theoretical level, it aims to examine knowledge from two standpoints: translation theory and artificial intelligence (AI). Second, on a more practical level, it aims to explore the applicability of research in the branch of AI known as knowledge engineering to the eventual development of knowledge-base systems for translators (KBSTs). The "opaqueness" of a text, or its resistance to understanding, often reflects a difference between the translator's knowledge profile and the knowledge profile that the author of the original text assumed for his reader. Consequently, knowledge maximization can be considered a viable translation strategy for countering opaqueness. When translators work without sufficient knowledge, they are forced to fall back on a "transcoding" or word-bound approach, which, although it sometimes produces acceptable results, is likely to produce an unidiomatic text and is much more prone to serious translation errors. The goal of a KBST, therefore, must be to provide enough knowledge to allow the translator to engage his "interpretative" or meaning-based mode of translating. A knowledge-management system developed at the University of Ottawa called CODE (Conceptually Oriented Description Environment) offers a knowledge acquisition and retrieval environment that can be adapted to the needs of translators. A knowledge base on stock-market options, called optionCODE, was developed by the present author using the system to explore the principle and problems of designing and using KBSTs. An informal experiment demonstrated that translators using this knowledge base as their sole source of knowledge to translate a text concerning options performed as well as, if not better than, a translator using traditional sources. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)228 p.Language, General.Thesis