Resolving query translation ambiguity using a decaying co-occurrence model and syntactic dependence relations

ABSTRACT

Bilingual dictionaries have been commonly used for query translation in cross-language information retrieval (CLIR). However, we are faced with the problem of translation selection. Several recent studies suggested the utilization of term co-occurrences in this selection. This paper presents two extensions to improve them. First, we extend the basic co-occurrence model by adding a decaying factor that decreases the mutual information when the distance between the terms increases. Second, we incorporate a triple translation model, in which syntactic dependence relations (represented as triples) are integrated. Our evaluation on translation accuracy shows that translating triples as units is more precise than a word-by-word translation. Our CLIR experiments show that the addition of the decaying factor leads to substantial improvements of the basic co-occurrence model; and the triple translation model brings further improvements.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.3 INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL

Additional Classification:
  F. Theory of Computation
  F.1 COMPUTATION BY ABSTRACT DEVICES
      F.1.2 Modes of Computation
          Subjects: Probabilistic computation

  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Natural language

General Terms:
Algorithms, Design, Documentation, Experimentation, Languages, Measurement, Performance, Reliability, Theory

Keywords:
CLIR, co-occurrence, parse, query translation, statistical model