Investigating implicature in the machine translation of selected conversations from the novel ‘The hunger games’

Abstract

This study aims at investigating implicatures in the machine translation of selected conversations from the novel “The Hunger Games” by Collins (2008). The selected conversations are nine conversations taken from the beginning, middle and end of the novel from crucial points in the novel’s plot and are conversations that push the action of the novel forward. This study analyzes conversational implicatures according to Grice’s maxims (1991). It specifically examines the MT system’s translation of instances where these maxims were flouted in the source text. This is done through putting the novel’s conversations in to Google translate and the output translation is then analyzed and compared with the source text’s implicature . The study reaches the following findings: the MT system can translate conversational implied meanings correctly when the maxims of relation or quantity were flouted. This is due to the fact that it translates the utterance literally and thus the same effect is mimicked in the target text. However, the implied meanings created through the flouting of quality or manner maxims are harder for the machine to translate. Therefore, researchers in the field of machine translation should work to improve the machine translation regarding implicature created through the flouting of these two maxims.