A Stochastic Finite-State Word-Segmentation Algorithm for Chinese
  We present a stochastic finite-state model for segmenting Chinese text into dictionary entries and productively derived words, and providing pronunciations for these words; the method incorporates a class-based model in its treatment of personal names. We also evaluate the system's performance, taking into account the fact that people often do not agree on a single segmentation. 
Richard Sproat (AT&T Bell Laboratories), Chilin Shih (AT&T Bell   Laboratories), William Gale (AT&T Bell Laboratories), and ...