Glossary of Translation and Interpreting Terms
This glossary from trans-k provides an explanation to many of the terms frequently used in connection with translation and interpreting. Whether you need to communicate effectively with translators or translation companies, or just want to know what Unicode or translation memory are all about, you’ll find the answers here.
The German translations link to the corresponding term in the
German glossary.
Abbreviations are listed separately at the end of this page.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G H
I J
K
L
M
N
O
P Q
R
S
T
U
V
W X Y Z
In the UK a translator who has received accreditation from a professional institute such as the
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Spoken translation between two languages in informal conversations between two or more people. Used, for example in business meetings, for phone calls, during site visits and social events. The term is sometimes used loosely to include
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Modifying a text to make it suitable for a different purpose, target readership, region or country. Regional adaptation is a part of
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The
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Text in the source or target language providing
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Information relating to the subject matter of the
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A
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Someone with communicative skills in two languages. The term is often reserved for someone with native or near-native proficiency in two languages. Bilingualism is one of several required abilities of a translator or interpreter.
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A language that a translator or interpreter can speak, read and write almost as well as their native language (or
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A translation that has been reviewed by a translator or
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In the USA a translator who has received accreditation from the American Translators Association (ATA). An approximate German equivalent would be
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A language that a translator or interpreter can read and understand well enough to translateout of, but cannot write or speak well enough to translate or interpret into. (See also
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Translation with the aid of computer programs, such as
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Interpreter with highly specialized skills who provides
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Oral translation of a speaker’s words into another language when the speaker has finished speaking or pauses for interpreting. More formal than
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Language with a restricted vocabulary and restricted rules of formulation. Used, for example, in technical documentation to make the text easier to understand for users or for non-native speakers and to facilitate
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Writing of advertising or publicity copy. It cannot be stressed too strongly that advertising copy will not translate satisfactorily due to the different cultural contexts and advertising cultures of other countries and regions. Adverts for foreign countries should therefore always be produced in those countries. There are some advertising agencies who provide this service.
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Interpreter with special subject knowledge, providing interpretation during legal proceedings. Requirements regarding accreditation and certification for court interpreting vary from country to country.
DTP is sometimes offered by translators and translation companies/agencies as a value-added service to provide a one-stop solution for customers’ publishing needs. They will usually have the special equipment required to handle languages that use different typescripts.
German standard specifying requirements for translation contracts, published April 1998. Was been replaced by European Standard
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European standard “Translation Services – Service requirements”, published in 2006. Has been replaced by international standard
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Self-employed translator, who may undertake work for translation agencies, localisation companies and/or directly for end clients. Often specializes in one or more particular fields, such as legal, financial, commercial or technical.
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An association of translation companies, localization teams, language technology providers, universities and other organizations that enable communication and business across languages and cultures.
Producing a rough or outline translation of a text to provide an insight into the subject and overall content of the
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The process of developing and manufacturing products intended for worldwide distribution. Most commonly applied to software, but also used for websites and other publications and products, it covers two aspects:
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An invaluable tool for the translator. Beside making use of the wealth of specialized mono- and multilingual online-glossaries on the Internet, most translators compile and maintain their own subject-, customer- and project-specific glossaries. Companies publishing documentation in several languages can also benefit from maintaining multi-language glossaries of their own. This not only makes translators’ work easier, but – by reducing the amount of terminology research required – speeds up subsequent translation projects. In addition, it ensures consistent and correct terminology usage in all languages. Some translators and most translation companies offer glossary compilation and maintenance, either as a separate service or as part of a translation agreement. (See the
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Text intended for internal use, generally not seen by people outside the originating organization. Includes internal correspondence, memos, work instructions, etc.
An international grouping of associations of translators, interpreters and terminologists that aims to promote professionalism in the disciplines which it represents.
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The process of designing or redesigning a product (e.g. software) to allow its
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Provides oral (spoken) translation of a speaker’s words from one language into another. (cf.
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The act of rendering spoken words from one language into another. (cf.
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International standard that "provides requirements for the core processes, resources, and other aspects necessary for the delivery of a quality translation service that meets applicable specifications." Replaces European standard
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Often used as a measure of line or page length in defining the size of a translation job. Includes all visible characters as well as spaces and line breaks/paragraph marks. (See also
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The Euromap Report, published in 1998 on behalf of the EUROMAP Consortium, defines language engineering as “the application of knowledge of written and spoken language to the development of systems able to recognize, understand, interpret, and generate human language”. These language technologies include
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The language that a person is most familiar with, usually the language spoken in the country in which the person lives. More appropriate than
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The languages between which a translator or interpreter works.
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Provider of translation and other language-related services that may include typesetting, publishing, project management, internationalization and language teaching (cf.
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Interpreter who provides – usually
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Translation that closely adheres to the wording and construction of the
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The process of adapting a product (usually software, but also, for example, websites) to a specific locale, i.e. to the language, cultural norms, standards, laws and requirements of the target country.
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One’s native language. Often used as an indicator of a translator or interpreter’s ability to translate into a particular language. Because a person who has lived in another country for many years (perhaps from childhood) may be more fluent in their “new” language than they are in their original mother-tongue, the terms
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Terminology program. Developed by Trados, now published by SDL International. A component of the Trados
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Oral and written command of a language equivalent to that of a person who not only learned the language as a child and has continued to use it as his/her
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Austrian standards specifying requirements for translation services and translation contracts respectively. Published in 2000. Has been replaced by international standard
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Austrian standards specifying requirements for interpreting services and interpreting contracts respectively. Published in 2002.
Text intended for publication, i.e. for a readership outside the originating organization. Essentially designed to sell products and services. Includes PR articles, brochures, catalogues, advertising copy, etc.
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Text in the source or target language that is comparable to the text to be translated in terms of subject matter or
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A form of English that is clear, concise, direct, and natural. Advocated by an increasing number of people as a style of language that should be used by authors of technical texts – such as user manuals, legal documents, articles and speeches –, plain English is easier and more enjoyable to read than legalese or texts laden with technical jargon and complex sentences for both experts and laypersons. (Ffi. see the
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Strictly, checking a proof before printing to ensure that no mistakes have been made in typesetting. The term is often used by translators in the sense of
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Reading a text to identify errors, inconsistencies, incorrect grammar and punctuation, poor or inappropriate style, and, in the case of a translation, conformance with the
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Publishers of the SDL Trados Studio
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A set of writing rules and a dictionary of controlled vocabulary aimed at improving the readability of technical documentation. Developed by the Association of European Airlines (AEA), it is also used to write texts for translation using
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Oral translation of a speaker’s words into another language while the speaker is speaking. The interpreter usually sits in a booth and uses audio equipment. (cf.
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Familiarity with the relevant subject matter and command of its special language conventions.
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A standard measure of the size of a text. The standard line length varies from country to country. In Germany, for example, it is usually 55
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A standard measure of the size of a text, used esp. in the publishing industry and in literary translation. The standard page length may vary from country to country and depending on the sector, but is generally in the region of 1500 to 1800
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(In the UK) a translator who has taken an oath and can therefore produce
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The group of people that an interpreter addresses. Used mostly in connection with simultaneous interpreting. Sometimes used (incorrectly) in the sense of
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The group of people for which a text is translated, for example subject experts, novices, prospective customers. It is important to specify the target readership when commissioning a translation so that the translator can choose an appropriate style and vocabulary.
The creation of a corpus of monolingual or multilingual subject-specific terminology by extracting individual terms and phrases from a body of text.
A computer program that provides functions to assist with or automate the extraction of terminology from a body of text.
Terminology program published by Star. A component of the Transit
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The function served by a text, e.g. to sell a product, to provide instruction on the use of a product, to convey information about an event. It is important to specify the text function when commissioning a translation to so that the translator can choose an appropriate style and vocabulary.
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Class of text (e.g. abstract, news report, light fiction, commentary) with specific characteristics of style, sentence formation, terminology, etc.
Standardized translation memory exchange format, designed to allow easier exchange of
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Former publishers of
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The act of rendering written text from one language into another. (cf.
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Ability to render text into the target language correctly in terms of language, subject matter and idiomatic style, having regard to the
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Provides translation and interpreting services, acting as middleman between customers and freelance translators. May offer value-added services such as typesetting, publishing, project management.
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Provides translation services using mainly in-house translators. May specialize in a particular field – such as legal, patents or technical – and may offer value-added services such as typesetting, publishing, project management. The term is often used synonymously with
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Provider of translation and related services. Includes both companies/agencies and self-employed translators.
A computer program, or a suite of programs, that provides functions to aid human translators in their translation tasks. Includes
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1.
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Renders written text from one or more languages into an other language, usually into her
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Transforming text from one script to another, usually based on phonetic equivalences. For example, Russian text might be transliterated into the Latin script so that it can be pronounced by English speakers.
Character encoding standard which, unlike ASCII, uses not 8 but 16 bit character encoding, making possible the representation of virtually all existing character sets (e.g. Latin, Cyrillic, Japanese, Chinese). The use of Unicode simplifies multiple language document and program creation. (See also
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Commentary in, e.g., a film, television programme, video, or commercial spoken by an unseen narrator. Foreign-language voice-over consists of two parts: translating the narrative, whereby, e.g., timing (coordinating the voice with the film sequence) is an important consideration; recording the voice-over, which may be performed by a linguist with special training and/or expertise or by an actor. Voice-over services are provided by some translators and translation agencies/companies.
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Similar to
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A standard measure of the size of a text. Translation projects, for example, are often priced on a per-word (US) or per-1000-word (GB) basis.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Abbreviations
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Sources
- ASD Simplified Technical English Maintenance Group (STEMG)
- Deutsches Universalwörterbuch (Duden)
- ECSC-EC-EAEC: EuroDicAutom
- IBM Glossary of Unicode terms
- International Writers’ Group: The Tool Kit newsletter
- Longman Dictionary of the English Language
- Norm DIN 2345 für Übersetzungsvorhaben
- North-West Translators’ Network: The Language Barrier and how to beat it
- Per Dohler: Facets of Software Localization
- The Euromap Report
- Thomas Irlbeck: Computer-Englisch (DTV)
- Translation Journal (www.bokorlang.com/journal)
- Wikipedia (de.wikipedia.org)
- www.iso.org
- www.gala-global.org
For their invaluable advice and support in creating and maintaining this glossary, I am especially grateful to Joy Burrough-Boenisch, Chris Durban, Petra Kopp, Steven Marzuola, John May, Nathalie Mège, Judyth Mermelstein, Ruth Partington and Anke Vogelhuber.
Legal note: The reproduction of excerpts of this glossary (but not of the entire glossary) for educational purposes with a source reference (link to trans-k glossary or homepage) is permitted. If you would like to use this glossary or parts of it for commercial purposes, please get in touch.