Setup of term lists and term bases for terminology checking LRC XI, 25./26. October 2006 Angelika Zerfass Consultant and Trainer for Translation Tools

2 Terminology Checking  When can terminology be checked?  What is being checked?  How are term lists and term bases set up for terminology checking?

3 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

4 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

6 Source document  Consistent use of terminology  Use of “forbidden” terms

7 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 cable power cord  power cable cord  cable

8 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

10 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

11 Example (Wordfast) Translation from term list not found

12 Example (Wordfast) Blacklisted term found

13 Example (Quintilian, Add-in for Word) Hit or Miss for terms from Excel list

14 Example (across) Wrong translation (building = Gebäude) Missing translation

15 Example (Transit) Wrong translation (building = Gebäude) Several translations Missing translation in term database

16 Examples (Déjà Vu) Wrong translation (building = Gebäude) Examples (SDLX) Several translations for one word

17 Examples (Trados) - Forbidden term (Monitor) - Wrong term (Auswahlschalter) - No target (menu)

18 Term base with forbidden terms

Check point 3 After translation

20 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)

21 Example (ErrorSpy)  Excel term list / suffix and prefix lists or MultiTerm term base

22 Example (QA Distiller)  Excel term list converted to internal dictionary

23 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?