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Translation memory systems make translations more consistent and cost-effective. But how can these systems help standardize terminology? This blog post offers an answer from the perspective of an experienced translator and project manager.<\/strong><\/p>\n The translation agency<\/a> you rely on is always good for a surprise. You\u2019ve been working together for years and there are plenty of entries in the translation memory, but suddenly, in the last translation you requested, the English term \u201ccountersunk screw\u201d was translated into German as \u201cSenkschraube.\u201d Until now, this term had always been translated as \u201cSenkkopf<\/strong>schraube.\u201d You can easily confirm this fact in the included translation memory. How could this happen? And more importantly, how can you systematically prevent this type of error?<\/strong><\/p>\n To answer this question, it makes sense to take a quick look at how translation memory systems work. As a translation database, a translation memory is primarily a means of rationalizing translation. The translations you ordered in the past are archived there in the form of sentence pairs.<\/p>\n Brought together by the translator: the sentence pair<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n The term \u201csentence pair\u201d requires some explanation. During translation with a translation memory system, each source text is divided into segments or translation units based on certain segmentation rules. A translation unit consists of the segment in the source language and the segment the translator just wrote in the target language. These two components are stored as a pair in the translation memory.<\/span><\/p>\n Generally, segmentation into translation units is based on sentence and paragraph separators, meaning periods, exclamation points, question marks, colons and paragraph marks. Paragraph marks, for example, allow separate individual words or items in a list to be saved as individual segments in the translation memory. Strictly speaking, you would actually have to call them \u201csegment pairs.\u201d But the typical segment is still a sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n For every sentence (or rather segment) that has to be translated, the system will automatically search the translation memory like an archive<\/strong> to see whether a similar or identical sentence is already saved in the target language there. If a matching sentence is available, the translation will immediately appear as a suggestion. Any differences between the current source-language sentence and the source-language sentence found in the translation memory are highlighted.<\/p>\n The translator saves time, and you, the customer, save money. This solution also improves consistency because identical sentences are translated the same way, and similar sentences are translated in a similar way.<\/p>\n In addition, the translator can use a concordance search function to find out whether his or her colleagues have already translated a certain word or phrase, and if so, how they translated it. However, the translator will only use this function if he or she thinks that the word might have been translated before. He or she also has to realize how important it is to look up the word, for example because the word is specifically defined in the terminology. Terminological consistency<\/strong> can only be ensured if the translator actively uses the concordance search, finds a match and applies it to the translation.<\/p>\n In the case of the countersunk screw, the translator either didn\u2019t use the concordance search, or deliberately decided to use a different term, for example because he or she mistakenly thought that \u201cSenkschraube\u201d was the more commonly used term.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Simply instructing the translators to use the translation memory as a mandatory terminology source<\/strong> can narrow down the translator\u2019s terminology choices from the very start of the project. This way, the translation memory no longer just describes the status quo, but also defines the standard<\/strong> for all terminology questions. Unless a separate list of terminology is available, this is also the general practice. For this reason, it\u2019s unlikely that the translator made a conscious decision about terminology in our example.<\/p>\n But the translator would be more likely to use the correct term if he or she had a list of customer-approved terminology in addition to the translation memory. This list would make it clear that the English term \u201ccountersunk screw\u201d has to be translated as \u201cSenkkopfschraube.\u201d<\/p>\n In order to avoid misunderstandings, this list of terminology should contain not only terms in the source and target languages, but also definitions of the terms. Definitions help translators know exactly when to use a term. An example: The English word \u201cfile\u201d can mean either a file in an archive, which would be translated into German as \u201cAkte,\u201d or a computer file, in which case it should be translated as \u201cDatei.\u201d With a clear definition, the translator is able to determine the right target term for a given context.<\/p>\n Of course, even with this type of list or database, the translator still has to consciously and actively look up terms. But, unlike the translation memory, it can also guide future translations.<\/strong> In other words, a terminology list or database can contain terms or designations that aren\u2019t in the translation memory or don\u2019t appear very often, but that will be very important for documents and topics that have not yet been translated.<\/p>\n To take it a step further, couldn\u2019t the translator receive a notification whenever he or she is translating a sentence or segment that contains a word from the terminology database? Modern translation memory systems make that possible. The relevant terminology database is integrated right into the processing environment and combined with term recognition<\/strong>. For example, if the translator is working in SDL Trados Studio with an integrated terminology database, he or she can immediately see that there is an entry in the terminology database for \u201ccountersunk screw,\u201d and the correct translation appears as a suggestion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course, this only works if an appropriate terminology database<\/strong> is available. At the same time, putting together a set of terminology<\/a> takes a certain amount of work, even if you only enter the data that is absolutely necessary. In some cases, certain steps in terminology work<\/a> (such as recording terms) can be incorporated into the translation process. But this is not the most reliable way to handle the terms (read about a systematic approach to terminology work<\/a> here), nor is systematically recording and protocolling terminology decisions the main focus of translation. On the contrary, separately recording terminology clearly represents additional work that the translator can\u2019t do for free.<\/p>\n Whether before or during translation, it pays to take a methodical approach to terminology work and use terminology databases. After all, terminology databases do things that translation memory systems can\u2019t: They set standards, not only describing the status quo, but also laying down guidelines for texts and topics that haven\u2019t been translated yet, and \u2013 through direct integration into the translation memory system<\/a> \u2013 they can help translators to systematically avoid terminology errors like \u201cSenkschraube\u201d instead of \u201cSenkkopfschraube.\u201d<\/p>\n Go ahead and ask the project managers or language experts at your translation agency where and how coordinated terminology could help you. We would be happy to advise you.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n About the author<\/strong> On Translation Memories and Terminology management Translation memory systems make translations more consistent and cost-effective. But how can these systems help standardize terminology? This blog post offers an answer from the perspective of an experienced translator and project manager. The translation agency you rely on is always good for a surprise. You\u2019ve been working together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":13356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[339,768,753],"tags":[663,664,348,473,474,662,437,387,475,665],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12088"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12088"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17374,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12088\/revisions\/17374"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.textform.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The translation memory \u2013 a database to jog your memory<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
How can you best avoid this type of deviation in terminology?<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
Terminology management within the translation process<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\nFrank M\u00fcnnich has been a translator and project manager at text&form since 2005. He currently specializes in translating marketing texts. He studied English and American Studies, as well as Germanic Linguistics, at Humboldt Universit\u00e4t in Berlin, where he earned his Master of Arts degree. From early 2007 until mid-2008, he was in charge of maintaining and enhancing extensive terminology databases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"