Analyzing machine translation errors in texts of different genres in the Yakut-Russian language pair

The article analyzes errors of web translators Google Translate and Yandex Translate in the YakutRussian language pair in three texts of different genres. The Yakut language was introduced to web translators several years ago, and their mainstream use is at an early stage. Analyzing machine translation in the Yakut-Russian language pair can contribute to the development of recommendations for the effective training of both machine systems and human translators, primarily in machine translation post-editing. Thus, the classification of machine translation errors in this article is relevant in the current development stage of the Yakut-Russian theory and practice. For the experiment’s purposes, the following texts were translated via the specified services: a) an excerpt from a scientific paper in Russian; b) an excerpt from a translation of the Bible into Yakut (reverse translation into Russian); c) a poem in Yakut on morality. The classification of machine translation errors in this language pair is based on typologies of other language pairs: a) lexicosemantic and lexico-stylistic errors; b) errors in standards and usage; c) grammar errors; d) spelling errors; e) punctuation errors. The nature of errors is described and the reasons for their occurrence are explained. The main causes of errors are: a) the difference in the volume of initial data in the machine systems for analyzing the language of the text being translated; b) the special nature of similarities and differences of contacting languages, associated with polysemanticity and grammar gaps. Upon comparing the quality of translations of both services, their strengths and weaknesses in translation with the Yakut language are noted. The article concludes that the linguistic databases of these services need improvements, and human translators who work with the Yakut-Russian language pair need to acquire corresponding expertise.