Glossary of Translation and Interpreting Terminology

Translation Software and Technology

Trados

(Translators memory and terminology management software)

Wordfast

(Translation memory tool)

PASSOLO

(Localization software tool)


Term Glossary

What is Computer-aided translation (CAT):

Computer-assisted ~, machine-aided or -assisted Translation with the aid of computer programs, such as translation memory, terminology management and localization tools, designed to reduce the translator’s workload and increase consistency of style and terminology. Not to be confused with machine translation!

What is Desktop publishing (DTP):

DTP is offered by translators and translation companies/agencies as a value-added service to provide a one-stop solution for customers’ publishing needs. Special applications are required to handle languages that use different typescripts.

What is a Freelance translator:

Self-employed translator, who may undertake work for translation agencies, localization companies and/or directly for end clients. Often specializes in one or more particular fields, such as legal, financial, commercial or technical.

What is Localization?

The process of adapting a product (usually software, but also, for example, websites) to a specific locale, i.e. to the language, cultural norms, standards, laws and requirements of the target country.

What is Machine translation (MT):

1. Translation produced by a computer programme;

2. Use of a translation programme to translate text without human input in the actual translation process. The quality of machine-translated text, in terms of terminology, meaning and grammar, varies depending on the nature and complexity of the source text, but is never good enough for publication without extensive editing. Machine translation (usually using highly customized MT programmes) is occasionally used by some translators and translation companies to assist them in their work, but rarely to translate entire documents. Some search engines, e.g. AltaVista, interface with a translation programme to provide translations of websites. Not to be confused with computer-aided translation!

Mother-tongue:

One’s native language. Often used as an indicator of a translator or interpreter’s ability to translate into a particular language. Because a person who has lived in another country for many years (perhaps from childhood) may be more fluent in their “new” language than they are in their original mother-tongue, the terms language of habitual use, dominant language and native language are often used instead.

Source language:

Language in which the text to be translated is written.

Source text:

The text to be translated.

Target language:

Language into which a text is to be translated.

Target text:

The translation, i.e. the result of the translation process.

Trados:

Publishers of the Translator’s Workbench translation memory programme.

Transcription:

Something written, especially copied from one medium to another (e. g., from audio or video files), as a typewritten version of dictation.

Translation memory (TM):

Computer-aided translation programme that stores translated sentences (translation units or segments) with their respective source segments in a database (usually called the “memory”). For each new segment to be translated, the program scans the database for a previous source segment that matches the new segment exactly or approximately (fuzzy match) and, if found, suggest the corresponding target segment as a possible translation. Translator can then accept, modify or reject the suggested translation.

Translator’s Workbench:

Translation memory programme published by Trados.

Voice-over, voiceover:

Commentary in, e.g., a film, television programme, video, or commercial spoken by an unseen narrator. Foreign-language voice-over consists of two parts: translating the narrative, whereby, e.g., timing (coordinating the voice with the film sequence) is an important consideration; recording the voice-over, which may be performed by a linguist with special training and/or expertise or by an actor. Voice-over services are provided by some translators and translation agencies/companies.

Word count:

A standard measure of the size of a text. Translation projects, for example, are often priced on a per-word or per-1000-word basis. On Word document word count facility is as follows: Tools-word count-words (in Word 2007, Vista: Review-word count-words.

How to order a translation service with our company?
Step 1

Complete a short Free No Obligation Translation Service Quote or simply e-mail us at sales@reflectivesource.com

Step 2

E-mail the translation documents to sales@reflectivesource.com for review by our Project Management team.

Step 3

Your documents will be accurately translated, checked and returned to you by email and/or post by the agreed time. If you ordered interpreting services, our instructed interpreter will attend as requested.

Step 4

To proceed with the job, confirm the translation or interpreting services quote by e-mail. Private customers are requested to make the payment in advance. We accept all major credit and debit cards, UK cheque and bank transfer.

Our loyal customers are based locally, nationally and worldwide…

Anglesey (Llangefni, Amlwch, Beaumaris, Holyhead, Menai Bridge) Brecknockshire (Talgarth, Brecon, Builth Wells, Llanwrtwd Wells, Hay-on-Wye) Caernarfonshire (Bangor, Caernarfon, Conwy, Llandudno, Pwllheli, Porthmadog) Carmarthenshire (Carmarthen, Kidwelly, Ammanford, Llanelli, Llandovery, St. Clears) Cardiganshire (Cardigan, Aberystwyth, Lampeter, New Quay, Tregaron) Denbighshire (Wrexham, Denbigh, Llangollen, Ruthin, Abergele) Flintshire (Mold, Flint, Rhyl, Prestatyn, Connah’s Quay, Holywell, Buckley, St. Asaph) Glamorgan (Cardiff, Swansea, Merthyr Tydfil, Barry, Caerphilly, Bridgend, Neath, Pontypridd) Merioneth (Dolgellau, Bala, Tywyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Barmouth, Harlech) Monmouthshire (Newport, Monmouth, Cwmbran, Blackwood, Chepstow, Abergavenny, Tredegar) Montgomeryshire (Newtown, Montgomery, Machynlleth, Welshpool, Llanidloes) Pembrokeshire (Pembroke, Tenby, Milford Haven, Fishguard, Haverfordwest, St. David’s) Radnorshire (New Radnor, Llandrindod Wells, Presteigne, Knighton, Rhayader)

Bedfordshire (Bedford, Dunstable, Luton, Biggleswade, Leighton Buzzard, Sandy) Berkshire (Reading, Maidenhead, Bracknell, Newbury, Wokingham, Windsor, Abingdon) Buckinghamshire (Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, Slough, Buckingham, High Wycombe) Cambridgeshire (Cambridge, Wisbech, Ely, March, Whittlesey, Chatteris, Linton) Cheshire (Chester, Stockport, Birkenhead, Wallasey, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Crewe) Cornwall (Bodmin, Truro, Camborne, Redruth, St. Austell, Falmouth, Penzance, Newquay) Cumberland (Carlisle, Whitehaven, Workington, Penrith, Keswick, Brampton) Derbyshire (Derby, Chesterfield, Ilkeston, Swadlincote, Buxton, Matlock, Ashbourne) Devon (Exeter, Plymouth, Torquay, Paignton, Barnstaple, Tiverton, Newton Abbot, Tavistock) Dorset (Dorchester, Poole, Weymouth, Sherborne, Wimborne Minster, Shaftesbury) Durham (Durham, Sunderland, Stockton-on-Tees, Darlington, Hartlepool, Gateshead, Washington) Essex (Chelmsford, Basildon, Romford, Southend, Colcheter, Harlow, Brentwood, West Ham) Gloucestershire (Bristol, Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Cirencester) Hampshire (Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Basingstoke, Newport) Herefordshire (Hereford, Ross-on-Wye, Leominster, Ledbury, Bromyard, Kington) Hertfordshire (Hertford, Watford, St. Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage, Hatfield) Huntingdonshire (St. Ives, Huntingdon, St. Neots, Ramsey, Yaxley) Kent (Maidstone, Canterbury, Bromley, Rochester, Margate, Folkestone, Dover, Greenwich) Lancashire (Lancaster, Liverpool, Preston, Manchester, Bolton, Barrow-in-Furness, Warrington) Leicestershire (Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Melton Mowbray, Coalville, Lutterworth) Lincolnshire (Lincoln, Grimsby, Scunthorpe, Boston, Grantham, Stamford, Skegness, Louth) Middlesex (City of London, Westminster, Staines, Harrow, Enfield, Ealing, Potters Bar) Norfolk (Norwich, Great Yarmouth, King’s Lynn, Dereham, Cromer, Hunstanton) Northamptonshire (Peterborough, Northampton, Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough) Northumberland (Alnwick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Morpeth, Hexham, Berwick-upon-Tweed) Nottinghamshire (Nottingham, Mansfield, Worksop, Newark, Retford, Southwell) Oxfordshire (Oxford, Witney, Banbury, Bicester, Henley-on-Thames, Thame, Carterton) Rutland (Oakham, Cottesmore, Uppingham) Shropshire (Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Telford, Oswestry, Whitchurch, Ludlow, Market Drayton) Somerset (Bath, Taunton, Yeovil, Bridgwater, Weston-super-Mare, Wells, Glastonbury) Staffordshire (Walsall, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Cannock, Lichfield) Suffolk (Ipswich, Lowestoft, Felixstowe, Bury St. Edmunds, Sudbury, Bungay, Haverhill) Surrey (Croydon, Guildford, Woking, Sutton, Wimbledon, Wandsworth, Brixton, Kingston-on-Thames) Sussex (Brighton, Chichester, Worthing, Hastings, Crawley, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Horsham) Warwickshire (Birmingham, Warwick, Rugby, Coventry, Nuneaton, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon) Westmorland (Kendal, Appleby, Ambleside, Windermere, Kirkby Lonsdale) Wiltshire (Swindon, Trowbridge, Warminster, Salisbury, Chippenham, Devizes, Marlborough) Worcestershire (Worcester, Dudley, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, Halesowen, Malvern, Evesham) Yorkshire (York, Leeds, Sheffield, Middlesbrough, Northallerton, Hull, Scarborough, Whitby, Beverley, Bridlington, Driffield, Hornsea, Filey, Wakefield, Bradford, Halifax, Harrogate)

Aberdeenshire (Peterhead, Aberdeen, Inverurie, Huntley, Ellon, Fraserburgh, Turriff) Angus/Forfarshire (Dundee, Forfar, Arbroath, Kirriemuir, Brechin, Montrose, Carnoustie) Argyllshire (Oban, Inveraray, Dunoon, Lochgilphead, Campbeltown, Tobermory) Ayrshire (Ayr, Kilmarnock, Irvine, Kilwinning, Largs, Troon, Saltcoats, Cumnock) Banffshire (Banff, Buckie, Keith, Portsoy, Dufftown, Macduff) Berwickshire (Eyemouth, Greenlaw, Duns, , Lauder, Coldstream) Buteshire (Millport, Brodick, Rothesay, Lochranza) Cromartyshire (Ullapool, Cromarty) Caithness (Castletown, Wick, Thurso, Halkirk) Clackmannanshire (Tillicoultry, Clackmannan, Alloa, Tullibody) Dumfriesshire (Dumfries, Gretna, Annan, Lockerbie, Langholm, Moffat, Sanquhar) Dunbartonshire/Dumbartonshire (Dumbarton, Alexandria, Clydebank, Cumbernauld, Kirkintilloch, Helensburgh) East Lothian/Haddingtonshire (Haddington, Dunbar, Tranent, North Berwick, East Linton) Fife (St. Andrews, Cupar, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Burntisland) Inverness-shire (Inverness, Kingussie, Fort William, Portree, Newtonmore) Kincardineshire (Inverbervie, Stonehaven, Banchory, Laurencekirk) Kinross-shire (Milnathort, Kinross) Kirkcudbrightshire (New Galloway, Kircudbright, Dalbeattie, Castle Douglas) Lanarkshire (Glasgow, Lanark, Hamilton, Motherwell, East Kilbride, Coatbridge, Carluke) Midlothian/Edinburghshire (Edinburgh, Penicuik, Dalkeith, Musselburgh, Bonnyrigg) Morayshire (Elgin, Rothes, Forres, Lossiemouth, Fochabers) Nairnshire (Ferness, Nairn, Auldearn, Cawdor) Orkney (Kirkwall, Balfour, Sromness) Peeblesshire (West Linton, Peebles, Innerleithen) Perthshire (Perth, Blairgowrie, Crieff, Coupar Angus, Pitlochry, Callander, Rattray, Kincardine) Renfrewshire (Barrhead, Renfrew, Paisley, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmalcolm, Johnstone) Ross-shire (Stornaway, Dingwall, Tain, Invergorden, Alness) Roxburghshire (Melrose, Jedburgh, Kelso, Roxburgh, Hawick) Selkirkshire (Galashiels, Selkirk, Clovenfords) Shetland (Lerwick, Baltasound, Scalloway) Stirlingshire (Falkirk, Stirling, Grangemouth, Kilsyth, Denny, Bridge of Allan, Alva) Sutherland (Durness, Dornoch, Helmsdale, Golspie, Lairg, Brora, Tongue) West Lothian/Linlithgowshire (Armadale, Livingston, Linlithgow, Bo’ness, Broxburn, Whitburn, Bathgate) Wigtownshire (Wigtown, Whithorn, Newton Stewart, Stranraer)

Antrim, Ards, Armagh Ballymena, Ballymoney, Banbridge, Belfast Carrickfergus, Castlereagh, Coleraine, Cookstown, Craigavon Derry, Down, Dungannon and South Tyrone Fermanagh Larne, Limavady, Lisburn Magherafelt, Moyle, Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey, North Down Omagh Strabane

The languages we translate are local, national and worldwide…

Acholi // Afrikaans // Akan // Albanian // Amharic // Arabic // Armenian // Ashanti // Assamese // Assyrian // Azerbaijani // Aymara // Azeri // Bahasa // Baga // Balinese // Baluchi // Bambara // Bandi // Bangala // Bangaru // Banjar // Basque // Bassa // Batak // Belorussian // Bengali // Bhili // Bisayan // Bosnian // Brahui // Bravanese // Brazilian(Portuguese) // Bulgarian // Burmese // Cajun // Cambodian // Cantonese // Catalan // Chiga // Chinese // Croatian // Czech // Danish // Dari // Dutch // English UK) // English (US) // Estonian // Ethiopian

Farsi // Fijian // Finnish // Flemish // French // Fujianese // Gaelic // Galician // Gan // Ganda // Garhwali // Georgian // German // Ghanaian // Gondi // Greek // Guaraní // Gujarati // Hakka // Harari // Hausa // Hebrew // Hindi // Hindko // Hmong // Hokkian // Hungarian // Ibo // Icelandic // Igbo // Ilongo // Indonesian // Irish // Italian // Japanese // Jordanian

Kamba // Kannada // Kanuri // Kashmiri // Kazakh // Khmer // Kibajuni // Kikongo // Kirghiz // Kirundi // Kituba // Kongo // Konkani // Korean // Kosovan // Kumauni // Kurdish // Kutchi // Lango // Laotian // Latin // Latvian // Lebanese // Letzebuergesch // Ligurian // Limba // Lingala // Lithuanian // Lombard // Lomwe // Luganda // Luri // Luxembourgeois // Luo // Macedonian // Madurese // Magahi // Mahadiri // Makassar // Makonde // Makua // Malagasy // Malay // Malinke // Maltese // Mandarin // Marathi // Mauritian // Mirpuri // Mongolian // Moroccan // Ndebele // Nepalese // Nigerian // Nipongo // Norwegian // Oriya // Oromo

Pahari // Papiamento // Pashto // Persian // Philippino // Polish // Portuguese // Pothowari // Punjabi // Rahwaan // Rejang // Romanian // Rundi // Russian // Rwanda // Samoan // Sardinian // Sasek // Saudi // Sena // Serbian // Seriaki // Singhalese // Sinhala // Siraiki // Slovak // Slovenian // Soga // Somali // Spanish // Sukuma // Sunda // Susu // Swahili // Swati // Swedish // Sylheti // Syrian // Tadzhik // Tagalog // Taiwanese // Tajik // Tamil // Tatar // Telugu // Thai // Tibetan // Tigrinya // Tigrian // Tongan // Tsonga // Tulu // Tunisian // Turkish // Turkmen // Uighur // Ukrainian // Urdu // Uzbek

Venetian // Vietnamese // Welsh // Wu // Xhosa // Xiang // Yemeni // Yiddish // Yoruba // Yugoslavian // Zulu