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Weidner Multi-Lingual Word Processing System

The Weidner Multi-Lingual Word Processing System was a computer-assisted translation technology released in 1977 by Weidner Communications Corporation (WCC), a now defunct US company established by Stephen Weidner. The system represented a significant breakthrough in machine translation and multilingual word processing, dramatically improving translation efficiency and output for commercial applications.

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History

Market introduction and impact

Following its market introduction in 1977, the system garnered significant attention from major publications and industry experts. In 1978, the Wall Street Journal reported that the system was "Quadrupling Translation Volume," while the Deseret News noted it was "halving translation costs and of increasing output by at least 400 percent."23

The technology received formal validation from translation professionals during a demonstration held on September 12, 1978, at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Thomas Bauman and Leland Wright of the American Translators Association arrived at the university on September 11, 1978, to evaluate the system's capabilities. Bauman's response to the demonstration was notably enthusiastic, stating he had "never been so converted to anything so fast in my life." He subsequently extended an invitation for Wydner to attend the annual meeting of the American Translators Association the following October.4

The system also gained international recognition, with translation experts at the European Commission stating that Wydner's new translation system "renewed [their] hope" for machine translation.5

During the mid-1980s, WCC was the largest translation company by sales volume in the United States.6

While translations were rough, they still led to significant improvement in performance over fully manual work. Once text was input into the translation system, the software generated a list of untranslatable terms from the source material. Human translators were then required to provide translations for these terms, including detailed linguistic information such as noun gender, plural formation, and alternative word meanings. While this process was time-consuming initially, the expanding computer dictionary reduced the manual effort needed for subsequent translations.7

Corporate challenges and restructuring

The company faced significant challenges in the early 1980s. In 1982, Stephen Weidner encountered financial difficulties related to a Research and Development Tax Shelter he had established. Legal disputes over Weidner's assets eventually required court intervention, leading to a court-ordered liquidation.

In 1984, as part of the court ordered settlement, the company was purchased by Bravis International, one of Japan's largest translation companies. WCC continued to operate, maintaining offices in both Chicago and Paris.

Internal conflicts and technology rights

The development and control of the Weidner technology became complicated by internal conflicts between the Weidner brothers. Bruce Wydner was the principal agent for the company Inns of the Temple Inc., that retained the research and development rights to the Weidner Multi-lingual Word Processor, and separated himself from his brother Stephen in early 1979. Following this separation, Bruce ceased providing updated software developments. Weidner had offended his brother over a matter of having Eyring Research Institute send their bi-lingual employee to remove Wydners intellectual property from his home, of which Wydner claims was stolen from him.8

Technology legacy and acquisitions

Lionbridge and iTranslator

The influence of the Weidner Multi-Lingual Word Processing software extended internationally when the German Government requested a copy for Siemens in September 1980. This version became known as the Siemens-Weidner Engine, initially designed for English-German translation. According to John White of Siemens, this revolutionary multilingual word processing engine became foundational in the development of the Metal MT project.9

The Siemens copy of the Weidner Multi-lingual Word Processing software followed a complex path of corporate acquisitions. It was eventually acquired through the purchase of assets from Lernout & Hauspie by Bowne Global Solutions, Inc. Bowne Global Solutions was subsequently acquired by Lionbridge Technologies, Inc., where the technology became integrated into their iTranslator software.10

WordPerfect

The Weidner technology played a crucial role in the development of WordPerfect, a market leader in word processing. The Eyring Research Institute served as a development environment for Bruce Bastian, who co-founded WordPerfect and was among the original programmer helpers for Bruce Wydner in creating the original Weidner Spanish-English Multi-lingual Word Processor.

This multilingual system became the foundation for the WordPerfect monolingual Word Processor, which was initially produced for English and subsequently adapted for Spanish.11

Ronald G. Hansen, the President of the Eyring Research Institute, reportedly asked Bruce Wydner the following in 1978: "Bruce Bastian says that this Multilingual Wordprocessor of yours has a lot more uses than just translating languages. He says that it could be used to produce monolingual word processors and wants to know if you will let him do that".12

Sources

  • Natural Language Computing: The commercial applications, Tim Johnson, Published by Ovum Ltd, London, 1985 ISBN 0-903969-22-X
  • Machine Translation: its History, Current Status, and Future Prospects, Jonathan Slocum, Siemens Communications Systems, Inc., Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, 1984, http://acl.ldc.upenn.edu/P/P84/P84-1116.pdf
  • The Fastest Way to Learn Spanish is to See IT!, by Spanish New Learning Center, Hawkes Publishing Inc., 1975, ISBN 0-89036-083-9
  • Twenty years of Translating and the Computer, John Hutchins, 1998 http://www.hutchinsweb.me.uk/Aslib-1998.pdf
  • Practical Experience of Machine Translation, Veronica Lawson, North Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, the Netherlands 1982
  • Machine Translation Today; The State of the Art, Margaret King, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, Scotland 1984
  • Machine Translation; Past, Present, Future, W. J. Hutchins, Ellis Norwood Limited, Chichester, England, 1986
  • Machine Translation, Ian Pigott, Commission of the European Communities, Luxemburg, XIII-84 IP, November 1991.
  • Language Software and Technology, Report by Michael Quinlan, President of Transparent Language to LDS Church, New Hampshire, www.transparent.com, March 8, 2000
  • Analyse des Systems zur computergestützten Übersetzung Weidner – Version Französisch-Englisch 2.5, http://www.dialog-translations.com/bilder/Diplomarbeit%20Hans%20Christian%20von%20Steuber.pdf Archived 2008-10-31 at the Wayback Machine
  • Michael G. Hundt: Working with the Weidner machine-aided translation system, in: Veronica Lawson (Hg): Translating and the computer 4 - Practical experience with machine translation, London, 1982
  • Trial of the Weidner computer-assisted translation system, Translation Bureau Canada, Project No. 5-5462, 1985
  • WCC's translation bureau, Henrietta Pons, Veronica Lawson 1982
  • Ulla Magnusson-Murray: Operational experience of a machine translation service, in Veronica Lawson (Hg): Translating and the computer 5 - Tools for the trade, London 1983, S.171-180; Tim Johnson ebd:283-286

References

  1. "SAUDI COMPUTER AIDED TRANSLATION v. Weidner Communications Corp., 663 F. Supp. 1104 (S.D.N.Y. 1987)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2025-06-08. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/663/1104/1414015/ ↩

  2. Richard A. Shaffer (1978-10-24). "California Firm to Unveil a Computer That Processes Words for Translators". Wall Street Journal. ↩

  3. Arnold Irving (1978-10-31). "Provo researchers help perfect computer-translator". Deseret News. ↩

  4. A lunch with Bruce Wydner, Geoffrey Kingscott, Language International, John Benjamins Publishing Co., Amsterdam - The Netherlands, 4/4, April, 1992 http://www.mt-archive.info/jnl/LangInt-1992-Wydner.pdf Archived 2018-03-02 at the Wayback Machine /w/index.php?title=Geoffrey_Kingscott&action=edit&redlink=1 ↩

  5. A survey of the translation market, present and future, prepared for the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General Information Market and Innovation by Bureau Marcel van Dijk, Brussels PA Conseiller de Direction, Paris, Authors G. Van Slype (Bureau Marcel van Dijk) J. F. Guinet (PA) F. Seitz (PA) E. Benegam (PACTEL) 1983 ECSC, EEC EAEC Luxembourg, ISBN 978-0-08-030534-9, EUR 7720EN /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩

  6. COMPUTER-AIDED TRANSLATION AT WCC, Margaret M. Perscheid, CALICO Journal, Volume 3 Number 1, 1985, https://calico.org/a-273-ComputerAided%20Translation%20At%20WCC.html Archived 2007-10-23 at the Wayback Machine /wiki/CALICO_(consortium) ↩

  7. Pollack, Andrew (1983-04-28). "Technology; The Computer As Translator". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-06-09. https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/28/business/technology-the-computer-as-translator.html ↩

  8. Wydner vs Novell, WordPerfect, Ashton, Bastan, et al., 2003 ↩

  9. Germans visit Utah to see language translation unit, Richard Nash, The Deseret News, Aug. 21, 1980 ↩

  10. [1] Archived 2007-05-31 at the Wayback Machine http://itranslator.lionbridge.com/bgsx/BGSXeng_us-EntryPage.htm ↩

  11. Wydner Invention Fulfills "Prophecy" of LDS "Mormon" Church Presidents, by US-Oregon Observer staff Special to the Utah Weekly, The Utah Weekly, Thursday, March 27, 2003, Vol. 2, Num. 4 (Utah Weekly, 2003) ↩

  12. Wydner Invention Fulfills "Prophecy" of LDS "Mormon" Church Presidents, by US-Oregon Observer staff Special to the Utah Weekly, The Utah Weekly, Thursday, March 27, 2003, Vol. 2, Num. 4 (Utah Weekly, 2003) ↩