Setup of term lists and term bases for terminology checking

LRC XI, 25./26. October 2006

Angelika Zerfass

Consultant and Trainer for Translation Tools

Zerfass@zaac.de

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Terminology Checking

When can terminology be checked? What is being checked? How are term lists and term bases set

up for terminology checking?

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Term Check - When

During or after authoring of the source language documents

During or after translation with a translation memory tool

After translation with a quality assurance tool

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Term Check – What

Source language documentation Consistent use of terminology Use of forbidden terms

Translated (bilingual) files or translation memories Consistent use of one target language term, even if

there are synonyms Use of target term from the term list / term base Use of forbidden target terms Terms that do not have a translation in the term

list / term base

Check point 1

During authoring

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Source document

Consistent use of terminology Use of “forbidden” terms

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Examples from AuthorAssistant and

acrocheck Terminology

Connect the AC power cord to the AC power adapter, then to the back of the photo printer

AC power cord AC power cablepower cord power cablecord cable

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Setup of term list / term base In order to check for forbidden terms,

these terms need to be marked with an attribute.

Check point 2

During translation

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Term check in TM Systems

Correct translation When terms in the source segment are found in

the term database, the target segment will be checked for the existence of the translated term

Forbidden term Terms from blacklists or term bases that should

not be used New terms

Terms that do not have a target language equivalent in the term list / term base

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Example (Wordfast)

Translation from term list not found

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Example (Wordfast)

Blacklisted term found

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Example (Quintilian, Add-in for Word)

Hit or Miss for terms from Excel list

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Example (across)

Wrong translation (building = Gebäude)

Missing translation

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Example (Transit)

Wrong translation (building = Gebäude)

Several translations

Missing translation in term database

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Examples (Déjà Vu)

Wrong translation (building = Gebäude)

Examples (SDLX)

Several translations for one word

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Examples (Trados)

- Forbidden term (Monitor)- Wrong term (Auswahlschalter)- No target (menu)

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Term base with forbidden terms

Check point 3

After translation

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Term check in QA tools

File formats Bilingual files

TRADOS DOC/RTF and TTX STAR language files TM in TMX or TRADOS TXT format

Checks Terms from term list / term base not used Terms without target equivalent in term list / term

base Target term present but source term not present

(reverse check)

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Example (ErrorSpy) Excel term list / suffix and prefix lists or

MultiTerm term base

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Example (QA Distiller)

Excel term list converted to internal dictionary

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Summary

Each checking routine only checks some possibilities, none checks the whole range

Missing translation in term list / term base Term with several translations Term with wrong translation Missing source term (reverse check)

Questions?