[cllfst] Fwd: [CULLT:408] Re: Microsoft !!

["Imen Karoui" <karoui.imen@xxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Antoine Reveillon <areveillon@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Jan 10, 2007 9:29 PM
Subject: [CULLT:408] Re: Microsoft !!
To: CULLT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


info du net :

Un nouveau brevet logiciel qui vous paraît absurde ? Normal, ça vient
de Microsoft. La firme de Redmond vient d'annoncer qu'elle brevetait
la manière de conjuguer les verbes...

Microsoft vient de breveter votre voix, votre accent et votre cheveu
sur la langue

Mais penchons-nous un peu sur l'affaire avant de crier au scandale. Le
but de ce brevet n'est pas de demander une compensation financière à
toute personne utilisant un verbe conjugué dans ses phrases, mais
simplement de protéger un nouveau logiciel en développement à Redmond
. Le logiciel en question est un outil linguistique permettant d'aider
l'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère. Le brevet aura alors pour but
de protéger la manière avec laquelle le logiciel conjuguera les verbes
et détectera la conjugaison utilisée pour un verbe ainsi que le verbe
en question.
Slashdot.com :


Cependant, ce brevet n'obligera pas les internautes ou les citoyens à
payer une quelconque taxe dès qu'ils auront besoin conjuguer un verbe.
Inventée par Eric J. Voetberg, Jinsong Yu, Mark D. Stumpf et Robert E.
Parkin, tous employés de Microsoft, cette méthode n'a pour but que de
protéger un futur logiciel de la société américaine. Ce logiciel, qui
sera destiné aux étudiants et aux personnes souhaitant apprendre des
langues étrangères, devrait les aider dans cet apprentissage si
difficile.
Les conjugaisons françaises, espagnoles et de bien d'autres langues
étant parfois très complexes, notamment pour les anglophones, la
méthode de détection et de conjugaison de Microsoft est censée réduire
ces difficultés. Pour être plus précis, dès lors que l'utilisateur
tapera un verbe, le logiciel pourra dans un premier temps reconnaître
parfaitement le verbe, peu importe la langue, et dans un second temps
de proposer toutes les terminaisons possibles existantes.

Le brevet en lui même :

0002] Software tools are currently available to help a user who is
learning a new language to conjugate verbs. Many of these software
tools are available via the Internet. Although there are many
variations of these software tools, they typically receive as input an
infinitive form of a verb and display its verb forms. The verb forms
may be identified by a verb form description that may include mood,
tense, number, person, and gender. The moods may include indicative,
subjunctive, and imperative; the tense may include past, present, and
future and other tenses; the number may include singular and plural;
the person may include first, second, and third; and the gender may
include masculine, feminine, and neuter. The software tools typically
use the infinitive form of a verb as an index into a table that
contains the verb forms of that verb. Some software tools may even
allow a user to input a non-infinitive form of a verb and then display
the verb forms corresponding to that verb.

[0003] When a user inputs a verb, some software tools search multiple
languages to determine whether the languages have a verb with the same
spelling. For example, when a user inputs "comer," the software tool
may report that both Portuguese and Spanish have a verb with that
spelling. The software tool allows the user to select the language of
interest and then displays the verb forms of the input verb in the
selected language.

[0004] Although these software tools may be useful in conjugating
verbs, they have various limitations. For example, if a user misspells
the infinitive form or non-infinitive form of a verb, then the
software tools report an error. The reporting of an error can be quite
frustrating to a user who is trying to learn a language and has made a
simple spelling error. The user is effectively prevented from learning
the correct spelling of that verb. As another example, a user who
wants to see the verb forms in a target language (e.g., a language
that the user is studying) for a certain verb, but only knows that
verb in a base language (e.g., the user's native language), cannot
obtain the verb forms directly. Rather, the user first needs to locate
a base language to target language dictionary (e.g., a bilingual
dictionary) and use the verb in the base language to locate the verb
in the target language. Once the user has located a verb in the target
language, then the user can input that verb to a software tool to
conjugate the verb. As another example, some software tools for verb
conjugating will locate matching infinitive forms of a verb in
multiple languages. For example, if a user inputs "como," which is a
non-infinitive form, the software tool may display the infinitive
forms of "com re" for Latin and "comer" for both Portuguese and
Spanish. The software tools may, however, search for only one matching
verb for a language and display only the infinitive form of that verb
even when multiple verbs match. As another example, some software
tools may not display all tenses and moods of a verb. It would be
desirable to have a technique for overcoming these and other
limitations of existing software tools for conjugating verbs.

et aussi :

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] A method and system for conjugating verbs is provided. In one
embodiment, a verb conjugating system allows a user to input a form of
a verb and display the verb forms (conjugated verbs) of that verb. The
verb conjugating system allows the user to input the infinitive form
and non-infinitive forms of a verb. When a user inputs a
non-infinitive form of a verb, the verb conjugating system identifies
the corresponding base form (i.e., infinitive form) of the verb. The
verb conjugating system then uses the base form to retrieve and
display the verb forms for the verb. In one embodiment, the verb
conjugating system may highlight the input non-infinitive form of the
verb within the displayed verb forms to assist the user in locating
the verb form of interest. The verb conjugating system may also
initially scroll a window in which the verb forms are displayed so
that the verb form of interest is visible. In this way, a user can
search using the infinitive form or a non-infinitive form of a verb
and readily identify a non-infinitive form of interest within the
displayed verb forms.

[0021] In one embodiment, the verb conjugating system provides the
verb forms in a target language when a user enters a verb in a base
language. For example, a user who speaks English and is learning
Spanish may have English as their base language and Spanish as their
target language. Such a user may want to see the verb forms in Spanish
that correspond to the English verb "eat." When the user enters the
verb "eat," the verb conjugating system identifies that the
translation of "eat" is "comer" in Spanish. The verb conjugating
system then displays the verb forms in Spanish for the verb "comer."
The verb conjugating system may allow the user to enter verbs in
either the base language or the target language and then displays the
corresponding verb forms in the target language. In this way, the user
does not need to use a separate bilingual dictionary when the user
does not know a verb in the target language.

[0022] In one embodiment, the verb conjugating system identifies when
a user enters a spelling of a verb that ambiguously specifies
different verbs in a language. For example, when the target language
is Spanish and the user enters the verb form "comieron," the verb
conjugating system identifies that the spelling actually matches a
verb form of the verbs "comer" and "comerse." The verb conjugating
system displays the infinitive forms of the verbs that match and
allows the user to select a verb of interest. The verb conjugating
system may also display the definition of the matching verbs in either
the base language or the target language to assist the user in
selecting the verb that is of interest. For example, the verb
conjugating system may display "eat" as the definition of "comer" and
"skip" as the definition of "comerse." When the user selects the verb
of interest, the verb conjugating system displays the verb forms of
the selected verb and may highlight the verb form that the user
originally input. In this way, the verb conjugating system allows a
user to see matching verbs and to select the matching verb of
interest.

[0023] In one embodiment, the verb conjugating system allows a user to
input a phrase that includes a verb and will display the verb forms
corresponding to the verb of the phrase. For example, the phrase may
include a pronoun and a verb (e.g., "you eat") or an auxiliary and a
verb (e.g., "had eaten"). The verb conjugating system may match the
phrase to a corresponding phrase (e.g., "yo como") in either the base
language or the target language and display the corresponding verb
forms of the verb in both languages. The verb conjugating system may
highlight the phrase within the displayed verb forms.

[0024] In one embodiment, the verb conjugating system detects a
misspelling of a verb form and provides suggestions for what the
correct spelling may be. For example, when a user inputs "comr," the
verb conjugating system may suggest the verb forms of "comer," "come,"
"comb," "coma," "comi," and "como." The suggested spellings may
correspond to words in either the base language or the target
language. For example, the verb "come" is the correct spelling for
verbs in both English and Spanish that have very different meanings.
The verb conjugating system displays the suggested verbs and allows
the user to select the verb to conjugate. The verb conjugating system
may also display the definition of the verbs to assist the user in
deciding which verb is really of interest. The verb conjugating system
then displays the verb forms for the selected verb.

[0025] FIGS. 1-9 are display pages that illustrate the various aspects
of the verb conjugating system in one embodiment. FIG. 1 is a display
page that illustrates a search dialog box of the verb conjugating
system in one embodiment. A display page 100 includes a search dialog
box 101 and a text input field 102. In this example, the user has
selected a target language of Spanish as indicated in the highlighted
portion of the language bar 103. The base language is English. To
search for verb forms, the user enters the infinitive form or
non-infinitive form of a verb or a phrase in the text input field. The
user then selects the go button to start the search. FIG. 2 is a
display page that illustrates the results of a search based on a verb
in the base language in one embodiment. A display page 200 includes a
search dialog box 201, a text input field 202, an infinitive form area
203, and a verb form area 204. As indicated by the text input field,
the user is searching for the verb forms in Spanish corresponding to
the English verb "eat." The infinitive form area indicates that the
infinitive form of the corresponding Spanish verb is "comer." The verb
form area includes the verb form in both Spanish and English along
with the corresponding pronouns and auxiliaries. FIG. 3 is a display
page that illustrates the results of a search in the target language
in one embodiment. A display page 300 includes a search dialog box
301, a text input field 302, an infinitive form area 303, and a verb
form area 304. As indicated by the text input field, the user is
searching for the verb forms in Spanish corresponding to the Spanish
verb "comer," which corresponds to the English verb "eat." As such,
the verb form area 304 contains the same content as the verb form area
204.

[0026] FIG. 4 is a display page that illustrates the results of a
search that matches multiple verbs in one embodiment. A display page
400 includes a search dialog box 401, a text input field 402, an
infinitive form area 403, and a matching verb area 404. As indicated
by the text input field, the user is searching for "comieron," which
is a Spanish verb form. The Spanish verb form "comieron" matches the
Spanish verbs "comer" and "comerse," which are displayed in the
matching verb area. Although not shown, the matching verb area may
also include a definition of the verbs. The user selects a matching
verb to view the corresponding verb forms. FIG. 5 is a display page
that illustrates the results of selecting a matching verb in one
embodiment. A display page 500 includes a search dialog box 501, a
text input field 502, an infinitive form area 503, and a verb form
area 504. As indicated by the text input field, the user was searching
for the verb "comieron." As indicated by the infinitive form area, the
user selected the matching verb "comer." The verb conjugating system
highlighted the searched-for verb form 505 in the verb form area and
scrolled the verb form area so that the searched-for verb form is
initially visible to the user.

[0027] FIG. 6 is a display page that illustrates the results of a
search in which no matching spelling is found in one embodiment. A
display page 600 includes a search dialog box 601, a text input field
602, a no results area 603, and an alternate spelling area 604. As
indicated by the text input field, the user is searching for the
misspelled verb "comr." The no results area indicates that no form of
a verb in either the base language or the target language matches the
spelling "comr." The verb conjugating system identifies alternate
spellings for the misspelled verb and displays the alternate spellings
in the alternate spelling area. The verb conjugating system may also
display the definition of the verbs with the alternate spellings. When
a user selects a verb with an alternate spelling, the verb conjugating
system then displays the verb forms for that selected verb.

[0028] FIG. 7 is a display page that illustrates the results of a
search based on a phrase that includes a pronoun in one embodiment. A
display page 700 includes a search dialog box 701, a text input field
702, an infinitive form area 703, and a verb form area 704. As
indicated by the text input field, the user is searching using the
phrase "usted comia" with "usted" being the pronoun and "comia" being
the verb. The verb conjugating system identifies the corresponding
infinitive form of the verb as "comer" as indicated in the infinitive
form area. The verb form area contains the corresponding verb forms.
The verb conjugating system may also highlight and scroll to the
phrase "usted comia" 705 (although not shown as highlighted in FIG.
7).

[0029] FIG. 8 is a display page that illustrates the results of a
search based on a phrase that includes an auxiliary in one embodiment.
A display page 800 includes a search dialog box 801, a text input
field 802, a multiple found area 803, and a multiple results area 804.
As indicated by the text input field, the user is searching using the
phrase "hemos comido" with "hemos" being the auxiliary and "comido"
being the verb. The verb conjugating system identified two verbs as
matching and displayed the infinitive form of the verbs in the
multiple results area as "comer" and "comerse." When the user selects
one of the verbs, the verb conjugating system displays the
corresponding verb forms.

[0030] FIG. 9 is a display page that illustrates the results of a
search based on a word that is a verb in both the base language and
the target language in one embodiment. A display page 900 includes a
search dialog box 901, a text input field 902, a multiple found area
903, and a multiple results area 904. As indicated by the text input
field, the user is searching using the word "come," which is the
correct spelling of a verb form in both English and Spanish. The
multiple found area indicates that multiple results were found for the
verb. The multiple results area indicates that the verb form matches
the verbs "venir," "comer," and "comerse" in Spanish. When a user
selects one of the verbs, the verb conjugating system displays the
corresponding verb forms.

[0031] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of the verb
conjugating system in one embodiment. The verb conjugating system 1000
includes a build system 1010 and a search system 1020. The build
system inputs verbs and their verb forms in the base language and the
target language and generates data structures that are optimized for
use by the search system. The search system provides the user
interface for searching for and displaying verb forms. The build
system includes a raw verb translation table 1011, a raw verb form
table 1012, a generate tables component 1013, a verb main table 1014,
a verb form table 1015, a verb search table 1016, and a display verb
form table 1017. The generate tables component inputs the raw tables,
generates tables that are optimized for searching, and provides those
optimized tables to the search system. The raw verb translation table
and the raw verb form table may be generated by an editor defining the
verbs and their verb forms. The raw verb translation table may contain
an entry for each form of a verb and its translation in both the base
language and the target language. For example, the raw verb
translation table may contain an entry that includes the verb "eat"
and its translation "comer," and another entry that contains the verb
"eat" and its translation "como." The raw verb form table contains an
entry for each verb form that includes the verb form and verb form
description (e.g., the combination of mood, tense, number, person, and
gender) and may include a pronoun or an auxiliary. The verb main table
includes an entry for the infinitive form of each verb in the target
language. The entry includes the infinitive form, the translation of
the infinitive form, and an indication of the language of the
infinitive form and its translation. The verb form table includes an
entry for each verb form of the target language. The entries include
the verb form, the translated verb form, and the verb form description
and may include a pronoun and translated pronoun, and an auxiliary and
translated auxiliary. The entries also include a mapping to the
corresponding infinitive form of the verb. The verb search table
contains an entry for each verb form (including infinitive forms) and
each phrase that can be searched in the base and target languages. The
entries include the verb form and a mapping to the corresponding entry
in the verb form table. The display verb form table includes an entry
for each verb in the target language. The entries include the verb
forms in a format that is suitable for displaying and may also include
a definition of the verb. The format may be an XML or HTML format that
includes a complete conjugation of the verb in the base and target
languages.

[0032] The search system includes a process search request component
1021, a perform search component 1022, an identify alternate spellings
component 1023, a display verb forms component 1024, a display
multiple verbs component 1025, and a display alternate spellings
component 1026. The process search request component determines
whether an input verb identifies a single verb, multiple verbs, or a
misspelling. The component then invokes the display verb forms
component, the display multiple verbs component, or the display
alternate spellings component. The process search request component
invokes the perform search component to perform the search. The
process search request component also invokes the identify alternate
spellings component to identify alternate spellings. The identify
alternate spellings component may use conventional technology applied
to a list of all possible forms and phrases in both the base language
and target language to suggest alternate spellings.

[0033] The computing device on which the verb conjugating system is
implemented may include a central processing unit, memory, input
devices (e.g., keyboard and pointing devices), output devices (e.g.,
display devices), and storage devices (e.g., disk drives). The memory
and storage devices are computer-readable media that may contain
instructions that implement the verb conjugating system. In addition,
the data structures and message structures may be stored or
transmitted via a data transmission medium, such as a signal on a
communication link. Various communication links may be used, such as
the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, a
point-to-point dial-up connection, a cell phone network, and so on.

[0034] Embodiments of the verb conjugating system may be implemented
in various operating environments that include personal computers,
server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics,
digital cameras, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,
distributed computing environments that include any of the above
systems or devices, and so on. The computer systems may be cell
phones, personal digital assistants, smart phones, personal computers,
programmable consumer electronics, digital cameras, and so on.

[0035] The verb conjugating system may be described in the general
context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules,
executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program
modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data
structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or implement
particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the
program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various
embodiments.

[0036] FIG. 11 is a block diagram that illustrates tables used by the
search system of the verb conjugating system in one embodiment. A verb
main table 1110 includes an entry for each verb in the target
language. Each entry includes the infinitive form of the verb and its
translation and an indication of its language. For example, entry 1111
of the table indicates that the verb is "comer," the translated verb
is "eat," the verb is in Spanish, and the translated verb is in
English. The verb form table includes an entry for each verb form in
the target language. Each entry includes the verb form, its
translation, and the verb form description, and may include a pronoun
or an auxiliary and its translation. For example, entry 1121 of the
table indicates that the verb form is "como," the translated verb form
is "eat," the pronoun is "yo," the translated pronoun is "I," and the
verb description (not shown) indicates a mood of indicative, a tense
of present, a number of singular, a person of first, and a gender of
masculine or feminine. The entry also includes a mapping to the
corresponding verb in the verb main table. The verb search table
includes an entry for each verb form and phrase that can be searched
in both the base and target languages. The entries contain the verb
form and an identifier to the corresponding entry in the verb form
table. For example the first entry contains the verb "como" and a
reference to entry 1121 of the verb form table.

[0037] The tables of FIG. 11 are used by the search system to identify
the verb corresponding to the verb input by a user. When a user
requests to search for a verb form or phrase, the search system uses a
verb search table 1130 to identify the matching entries. For example,
if the user enters "eat," the search system will identify entries 1134
and 1135 of the verb search table. Those entries point to entries 1121
and 1122 of the verb form table 1120 (i.e., "como" and "comes")
corresponding to two different verb forms in Spanish that correspond
to the verb form "eat" in English. Entries 1121 and 1122 of the verb
form table reference entry 1111 of the verb main table. Because both
entries reference the same entry in the verb main table, there is no
ambiguity as to the verb that corresponds to "eat." As such, the
search system can then retrieve corresponding verb forms from the
display verb form table and display them to the user. As another
example, if the user requests a search on "como," the search system
will identify entries 1131 and 1132 of the verb search table. Those
entries of the verb search table point to entries 1121 and 1126 of the
verb form table. Those entries of the verb form table, however, point
to different entries in the verb main table, that is entries 1111 and
1112 (i.e., "comer" and "comerse"). As a result, there is ambiguity as
to the verb of interest. In such a case, the search system displays
the infinitive forms of both verbs and possibly their definitions so
that the user can select the verb of interest. As another example, if
the user requests a search on "yo como," the search system will
identify entry 1133 of the verb search table. That entry points to
entry 1121 of the verb form table, which points to entry 1111 of the
verb main table. The search system then displays the verb forms
corresponding to the verb of entry 1111 of the verb main table.

[0038] FIG. 12 is a flow diagram that illustrates the processing of
the process search request component in one embodiment. The component
is invoked when a user requests to search based on an input that may
be either a verb form or a phrase. In block 1201, the component
invokes the perform search component to identify all the verbs that
match the input. In decision block 1202, if a verb matches the input,
then the component continues at block 1203, else the component
continues at block 1206. In decision block 1203, if multiple verbs
match the input, then the component continues at block 1209, else only
one verb matches the input and the component continues at 1204. In
block 1204, the component retrieves the verb forms for the matching
verb. In block 1205, the component invokes the display verb forms
component to display the verb forms and then completes. In block 1206,
the component invokes the identify alternate spellings component to
identify alternate spellings of the input. In block 1207, the
component invokes the display alternate spellings component to display
the alternate spellings. In decision block 1208, if the user selects a
spelling, then the component continues at block 1201 to perform a
search, else the component completes. In block 1209, the component
invokes the display multiple verbs component to display the multiple
verbs that match the input. In decision block 1209, if the user
selects a verb, then the component continues at block 1204 to retrieve
the verb forms, else the component completes. The component then
completes.

[0039] FIG. 13 is a flow diagram that illustrates the processing of
the perform search component in one embodiment. In block 1301, the
component retrieves all the entries from the search table that match
the input. In block 1302, assuming at least one entry was retrieved,
the component retrieves the corresponding entries from the verb form
table corresponding to the retrieved entries of the search table. The
component then returns.

[0040] From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that specific
embodiments of the verb conjugating system have been described herein
for purposes of illustration, but that various modifications may be
made without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention. One
skilled in the art will appreciate that aspects of the verb
conjugating system can be used for any type of language in which verbs
are can be conjugated. Also, one skilled in the art will appreciate
that the search system may not need the verb form table since the
search table can map directly to the main verb table. One skilled in
the art will also appreciate that the verb conjugating system may also
allow a user to retrieve verb forms by inputting a description of a
verb form. For example, the user may input "present indicative of
sein," "prasens indikativ von sein," "1st person plural of sein," and
"erste Person Plural von sein"." Alternatively, the verb conjugating
system may allow a user to select from a list of verb forms. To
support such retrieval by description, the verb search table may be
modified to include a description plus the infinitive form in each
entry. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the verb
conjugating system may use a base and/or target language selected by a
user. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the
appended claims.




Je précise que c'est bien marqué à plusieurs endroits que DES
LOGICIELS WEB existe déjà pour la traduction mais que comme ils le
disent avec leur exemples espagnol / portugais de como ces logiciels
ne fonctionnent pas dans le cas d'erreur de conjugaison d'ou le besoin
de créer une nouvelle solution DEDIEE au conjugaison pour
l'apprentissage de langues étrangères très complexes au niveau
conjugaison comme le français !

Bonne soirée,
Antoine


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