Have you ever encountered some terms in the translation service industry that you could not wrap your head around? Here are some frequently used basic words and expressions in this field that you may find helpful.
A Language, or better known as the interpreter’s or translator’s mother tongue or native language, is the one in which they have complete mastery and competence. This is the language towards which s/he interprets/translates from all the other working languages.
B Language refers to the second language spoken or used by an interpreter or translator in which s/he is perfectly fluent, but not mother tongue. This is considered an active language, as it can be the source or target language.
CAT tool or computer assisted translation is software which helps translators during their translation process and this is not to be confused with machine translation. All types of CAT tools incorporate manual editing, making it an interactive process between humans and computers. This is made possible through the use of terminology management, translation memory, alignment, etc.
DTP: Desktop publishing is offered by some translation agencies. The DTP team’s main task is to adapt the translated document so it looks identical to the original source file, while complying with the linguistic and typography standards of each and every language and target locale.
Exact matches appear during translation memory analysis when the match between characters or sentences is 100%.
Fuzzy matches refer to words or sentences (during translation memory analysis) which are a partial but not exact match to a previous translation.
Gist translation means producing a rough and outline translation of a source text so that the most essential points are understood by the reader.
Interpretation is a process of conveying speech from one language to another.
Liaison interpreters are requested for informal settings between two or more participants who sit around the table and communicate directly, forming an atmosphere of trust.
Machine Translation (MT) refers to a translation done by a computer program without human input into the actual translation process. The result is a low-quality text, and without being reviewed by a professional translator, it cannot be ready for publication.
Native language is the first language that a person acquires from early childhood.
Proofreading is the practice of checking a translated text to identify and correct grammatical, coherence and integrity errors.
Quality assurance (QA) – a way of preventing mistakes and ensuring quality of service provided. This is a key component of any translation management system.
Source count is the number of words in the text that need to be translated.
Target language – the language into which the text is translated. It is the antonym of the source language, which is the language the text is being translated from.
Word count is the number of words in the document, often used to price translation projects.
