# Bidirectional American Sign Language to English Translation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.02795 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1701.02795/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 10 Jan 2017.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Classification of Phonological Parameters in Sign Languages](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.12072/) (2022)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We outline a bidirectional translation system that converts sentences from American Sign Language (ASL) to English, and vice versa. To perform machine translation between ASL and English, we utilize a generative approach. Specifically, we employ an adjustment to the IBM word-alignment model 1 (IBM WAM1), where we define language models for English and ASL, as well as a translation model, and attempt to generate a translation that maximizes the posterior distribution defined by these models. Then, using these models, we are able to quantify the concepts of fluency and faithfulness of a translation between languages.