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Computer-assisted translation (CAT) is a computer software solution to help a translator with his or her work. We can define it as something halfway between human translation and a machine translation. With the use of a CAT tool, a translator translates the works in matched sentences. These sentences are then kept as the translation memory of a concrete piece of translation, in a concrete style, in a concrete language, for a concrete project. These translation memories can also be kept as a kind of dictionary for new work so when a similar work is presented, the software translates all of its contents into the original combination of the language.
Computer-assisted translation tools (CAT tools) are computerized tools that are designed to help a translator to translate documents quickly and easily. Examples of this kind of tools are: Déjà vu, TRADOS workbench, PROMT and Reverso. Unassisted translation is very uncommon because of the ubiquity of translation tools that are much quicker than human translation.
Computer-assisted translation is a relatively new concept, having only existed for a few years. Before CAT, there were three different kinds of translation, depending on degree of automation:
- Human-assisted machine translation (HAMT): The translation is done by a computer, but before, during or after the process of translation, the source language text (SL) is changed by a human translator. In other words: machine translates, human assists.
- Machine-assisted human translation (MAHT): The translation is done by a human translator, who uses the computer as a tool to make the translation process faster or to improve it. In other words: humans translate, machine assists.
- Fully-automated machine translation (FAMT): The source language text (SL) is put into the computer as a file, and the translation is made automatically without the intervention of any human person.