| TERM |
DEFINITION |
| Translation |
The process that refers to the conversion
of written material from one language to another. |
| Accredited |
In the translation industry, being “accredited”
usually refers to a translator having completed and passed
the rigorous performance and quality assessment examination
given by the American Translator’s Association.
This accreditation establishes a minimum eligibility requirement
for a translator to work with MGE Lingual Services. |
| Alignment |
The process of creating a Translation
Memory from previous projects. It analyses the source
and target language text of past translations and creates
a file pair by corresponding and matching segments or
sentences. This file pair can then be imported into a
Translation Memory for use in future projects. |
| ATA |
An abbreviation for the “American
Translator Association”. The American Translator
Association is a non-profit organization that promotes
excellence in all areas of foreign-language services. |
| Bi-directional |
Refers to languages that are read from
the right to the left and also software that is able to
accommodate these languages. (Note: usually refers to
either Arabic or Hebrew). |
| CAT |
An abbreviation for Computer Aided Translations |
| CG |
An abbreviation for “callout graphic”.
Callout graphics are on-screen pictures or text that are
edited and placed on video footage. |
| CJK, C2JK and KCCJ |
Abbreviations when referring to the more
common Asian languages. (Simplified Chinese, Traditional
Chinese, Japanese and Korean). |
| Concatenation |
Concatenation is a term that is often
used in projects relating to automatic voice systems.
A concatenation is made up of two or more independent
strings that can be joined and linked together in a series.
For example, the three separate elements “one hundred”,
“twenty” and “three” can be combined
to make “one hundred twenty-three”. (Note:
grammatical rules in other languages may not accommodate
certain concatenations in English and usually demand some
reprogramming of automated platform systems). |
| Cross Platform |
Refers to the transfer of information
from one type of computer operating system to another.
(Example: MAC to IBM). |
| Desktop Publishing (DTP) |
The design, duplication and production
of publications such as manuals, brochures, newsletters,
trade journals by using computer typesetting applications
with graphics capability. |
| Double-Byte (Multi-Byte) |
Double-Byte character encoding accommodates
the complex forms and quantity of characters in Asian
and other types of languages. Single-Byte encoding has
been used primarily for languages using Roman based characters. |
| Editing |
Is the process in which changes and modifications
are made to a translation and terminology to better reference
the meaning of the original language. |
| EPS |
Is an abbreviation for an “encapsulated
post script” file. It is an extension of the graphics
file format developed by Adobe Systems. EPS are graphics
files that are to be incorporated into other documents.
An EPS file includes giving information such as the bounding
box, page number and fonts used. Some applications that
use EPS formats are also able to record fonts as outlines
or curves. This allows for the printing of text as graphics
without having the specific foreign-language typesetting
systems or fonts. On some computers, EPS files include
a low- resolution version of the PostScript image. On
the Macintosh, this is in a PICT format, while on the
IBM it is in a TIFF or Window’s Metafile format. |
| FIGS |
Abbreviation when referring to the more
common European languages. (French, Italian, German, Spanish). |
| Globalization |
The process by which a company decides
to enter a global market. Globalization reflects a progressive
attitude of a company to expand its domestic market internationally. |
| Hard Copy |
Refers to materials that are in printed
form. |
| In-language |
Refers to a native speaker of a language
or country specific tools or applications. |
| Internationalization |
Internationalization (i18n) is the creation
and design of a product for international use. Unlike
“Localization” which adapts a domestic product
for use internationally, “Internationalization”
takes into consideration international issues while the
product is in the design phase. Internationalization usually
leads to one product and design for all markets. |
| Interpretation |
Sometimes referred to as “oral translation”.
There are three distinct types of interpretation: simultaneous,
consecutive and whispered. The choice depends on the type
and location of the meeting, the number of languages involved,
the type of equipment and the number of participants in
each language group. Each mode demands a different interpretation
technique, but all three require academic training. |
| Leveraging |
The process of borrowing and using duplicate
text that has already been translated in the past and
recorded in translation memory. See also “Translation
Memory” in this glossary and “Translation
Tools” on the main menu. |
| Localization |
Localization (l10n) is the adaptation
of a product initially designed for domestic use in another
country. Translation is only one aspect of localization.
Product color and appearance might also change to better
consider another culture. Localization usually leads to
different products and designs for each market segment. |
| Machine Translation |
Automatic translation by a computer from
one language into another. Although there have been recent
advances in machine translations, they are far from a
viable reality in producing quality translations without
the intervention of a human translator. |
| Proofreading |
Is the process in which errors are detected
through a careful reading of a translation. |
| Simplified Chinese |
A simplified writing style for Chinese
that is used in Mainland China and Singapore. |
| Softcopy |
Refers to materials that are in electronic
form and can be read and manipulated by a computer. |
| Source Count |
Refers to the number of words in the original
text to be translated. |
| Source Language |
The language or text from which a translation
is being made. |
| Target Count |
Refers to the number of words in the translated
text. |
| Target Language |
The language or text into which a translation
is being made. |
| Terminologist |
A terminologist acts as a terminological
hub between translators. A terminologist categorizes and
assesses the adequacy and quality of terminology provided
by a team of translators. He knows the client’s
requirements and their sensitivity to the quality of terminological
data. |
| Terminology Management System |
Terminology databases that allow us to
standardize terminology and create versatile industry,
company or project-specific dictionaries. |
| Traditional Chinese |
A traditional writing style for Chinese
that is used in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia and the United
States. |
| Translation Memory |
In it’s basic form, translation
memory is a full text database where translations are
recorded. Any future material that uses similar or identical
text can borrow from the database. This “leveraging”
of text can be beneficial not only by increasing consistency,
but by reducing translation time and cost. Basically,
translation memory records segment pairs (usually a sentence).
The source language segment is combined together with
a target language segment. If an identical (or similar)
source language segment comes up in another translation
later, the translation memory program will find the previously
translated segment and suggest it as the basis for the
new translation. The suggestion may be either approved
as it is, edited to match the current context or rejected
entirely. Not only do these systems suggest “exact
matches”, but also "fuzzy matches" that
display similar segments that have been translated in
the past. |
| Unicode |
Unicode is a standard coding that allows
all characters (past and present) of all known languages
to be used in computer applications. Unicode provides
a unique number for every character, no matter what the
platform, program or language. In the past, the 8-bit
ASCII standard only allowed for 256 different characters.
The Unicode standard is not only compatible with ASCII,
but this 16-bit format allows for the use of approximately
65,000 different characters. With the availability of
Unicode-enabled applications such as Microsoft Office
2000, one can read and print all languages. |
