Abstract: A method and apparatus for facilitating the translation of a digital message between natural languages utilizes a pivot language as an intermediate representation of the original natural language. Conversion of the digital message from the original natural language into the pivot language may include parsing into linguistic units, translating into unique concepts, and validating the translation. The digital message may be electronically communicated to a recipient in a pivot language for subsequent translation or in the target natural language after translation. The digital message may take the form of electronic mail or an instant message. An applet that initiates translation to the target natural language may be attached to the digital message. The apparatus may include a conversion module for translating from a natural language to a pivot language and a communication module. The apparatus may additionally include a speech recognition module and/or a speech synthesis module.

Abstract: Network-based communication, language translation, and content searching utilize a “pivot” or intermediate language that is readily translated into any of numerous natural languages. Web users may specify a desired language, and that selection is automatically detected by Web servers, which provide content in accordance therewith. In a search context, documents are archived in the pivot language, which serves as an intermediate representation enforcing a precise mode of expressing concepts. Word-match searches based on queries that have also been formulated in the pivot language will retrieve relevant documents with a high degree of reliability, since the concept of interest has been more rigorously formulated. Information in the form of text or messages may be broadcast or sent to recipients, who receive the information in a desired language regardless of the source language of the original information.

Abstract: Natural-language sentences are represented in accordance with a con-strained grammar and vocabulary structured to permit direct substitution of linguistic units in one language for corresponding linguistic units in another language. The vocabulary may be represented in a series of physically or logically distinct databases, each containing entries representing a form class as defined in the grammar. Translation involves direct lookup between the entries of a reference sentence and the corresponding entries in one or more target languages.