# An algebraic approach to translating Japanese

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.05834 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.05834/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 5 of its 23 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 10 Mar 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [The Frobenius anatomy of word meanings I: subject and object relative pronouns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1404.5278/) (2014)
- [Interacting Conceptual Spaces I : Grammatical Composition of Concepts](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1703.08314/) (2017)
- [The Frobenius anatomy of word meanings II: possessive relative pronouns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1406.4690/) (2014)
- [Translating and Evolving: Towards a Model of Language Change in DisCoCat](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1811.11041/) (2018)
- [π-augmented pregroups and applications to linguistics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.05160/) (2023)

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

- [Animating Language Practice: Engagement with Stylized Conversational Agents in Japanese Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.06483/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We use Lambek's pregroups and the framework of compositional distributional models of language ("DisCoCat") to study translations from Japanese to English as pairs of functors. Adding decorations to pregroups we show how to handle word order changes between languages.