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Structured Specifications and Translation Parameters (v5a)
(This document reproduced with permission from http://www.ttt.org/specs.)
Introduction
Translation parameters are factors relevant to translation projects. A structured set of 21 parameters has been developed to aid in describing and organizing a translation project. Each of these parameters should be given a value, called a specification, before the production phase of a translation project begins. In some cases, a specification will be flexible, for example, “workplace to be determined by the translation service provider.” In other cases, a specification will be rigid, for example, “translate into French tailored to the Quebec region of Canada.” The approach described here—namely, using predetermined and hierarchical parameters and corresponding project-specific values—results in structured specifications.
The structured specification approach and its formalized parameters were first published in the 2006 ATSM Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation (ASTM F2575-06). Previous references to translation specifications include Melby (1990), which paralleled work on Skopos theory and the translation brief, and Nord’s extension of Skopos theory (1997) that is known as Functionalism in translation theory and practice, an approach that is compatible with structured specifications. The American Translators Association (ATA) has made freely available a brochure titled “Translation: Buying a Non-commodity” (2008) to introduce the concept of specifications. Structured specifications also constitute much of the basis of an ISO translation guidance document currently in development (ISO/DTS 11669).
The 21 parameters can be represented in a concept system called a translation parameter tree, which is central to Linport, a project to develop a universal translation “package” called a portfolio.
The details of the parameters are periodically revised. The exact names of the parameters and their categories may vary among the many projects that utilize this approach. This webpage presents an up-to-date and continually updated overview of the parameters as they develop.
Parameter Categories
For convenience, the parameters are organized into four main categories, with two subcategories:
Linguistic [1-13]: Parameters that describe the translation source and product. This category is further split into two groups:
Source content [1-5]: Parameters that describe the source content.
Target content [6-13]: Parameters that describe the target content.
Production tasks [14-15]: Parameters that detail the production aspects of the project.
Environment [16-18]: Parameters that describe where and with what tools the translation will take place.
Relationships [19-21]: Parameters that enumerate deadlines, delivery, compensation, and other aspects of the project.
List of Parameters
Below is a list of the 21 parameters. The outline can be viewed as hierarchical. Note the following divisions:
categories (indicated by capital letters)
parameters (indicated by numbers in square brackets)
sub-parameters (indicated by lowercase letters followed by a parenthesis)
“steps” (indicated by a number followed by a parenthesis), which are important tasks to be performed during in-process quality assurance (14c).
A. Linguistic [1–13]
Source-content information [1–5]
[1] textual characteristics
a) source language
b) source type
c) source audience
d) source purpose
[2] domain-specific language
a) source subject field
b) source terminology
[3] volume
[4] complexity
[5] origin
Target-content information [6–13]
[6] language
a) target language
b) target terminology
[7] target audience
[8] target purpose
[9] content correspondence
[10] usage register
[11] file format
[12] style
a) style guide
b) style relevance
[13] layout
B. Production tasks [14–15]
[14] typical production tasks
a) pre-translation
b) initial translation
c) in-process quality assurance
1) self-checking
2) revision
3) review
4) final formatting
5) final reading
[15] additional tasks
C. Environment [16–18]
[16] technology
[17] reference materials
[18] workplace requirements
D. Relationships [19–21]
[19] permissions
a) ownership
b) recognition
c) restrictions
[20] submissions
a) qualifications
b) deliverables
c) delivery
d) deadline
[21] expectations
a) compensation
b) clarification
Descriptions of the Parameters
This section briefly describes the translation parameters and provides example specifications (examples shown in blue after an em-dash).
A. Linguistic [1–13]
Source-content information [1–5]
[1] textual characteristics
Detailing the nature of the source content, including the primary language, region, content type, audience, and purpose.
a) source language
The language and geographic region of the source content.
— e.g. Bulgarian in Bulgaria (bg-BG); Spanish in Mexico (es-MX); Spanish in Argentina (AR)
b) source content type
The type and genre of the source content.
— e.g. user manual; commercial website; literary novel
c) source audience
The intended audience of the source content.
— e.g. users of a specific washing machine; 14-year-old students studying the environment
d) source purpose
The intended purpose of the source content.
— e.g. instructional; informative; entertainment
[2] domain-specific language
Describing domain-specific language in the source content.
a) source subject field
The subject fields or domains of the source content, detailed as specifically as possible.
— e.g. climate, meteorology, environmental engineering
b) source terminology
Monolingual list of domain-specific terms or other notable terminology in the source content.
— e.g. see provided list of terms: terms.doc
[3] volume
Size (usually in number of words) of the source content. Because of variations in in the method of counting words, use of the GMX-V tool is recommended.
— e.g. 2,430 words; 10,500 words; [GMX-V code]
[4] complexity
Notes about the complexity of the source content and about any potential challenges.
— e.g. no style guide or terminology available; highly complex and technical source content
[5] origin
Notes about the origin or source of the source content.
— e.g. article from the Journal of Book Publishing vol. 1, pp. 53–78; article previously translated from Russian into German
Target-content information [6–13]
[6] language
Information about the language of the target content, including language, region, and bilingual terminology.
a) target language
The target language and geographic region (used to identify regional language variants).
— e.g. Japanese in Japan (ja-JP), American English (en-US), British English (en-GB)
b) target terminology
Procedures for the treatment of terminology.
— e.g. translate given terms according to provided document: bilingualterms.doc; translator should create a bilingual glossary of terms during translation
[7] target audience
The target audience of the project, described and defined as narrowly as possible
— e.g. participants at the 2012 Conference on Sociology; users of a specific cell phone model (usually ages 15–30)
[8] target purpose
The intended purpose of the project.
— e.g. entertainment; informative; persuasive
[9] content correspondence
How the source content is to be translated. By default, the specifications are localized, idiomatic, and full translation. A partial translation or summary translation may be desired in some cases.
— localized: The text is made to appear ‘covert,’ as if it were a text originally written in the target locale.
— idiomatic: The text is made to appear as if it were written by a skilled native speaker of the target language and incorporating idiomatic expressions.
— full: All of the source content should be translated fully.
[10] usage register
Desired usage register of the target content, described as specifically as possible.
— e.g. informal conversation between family members; formal business presentation
[11] file format
File format to be used for the target content.
— e.g. word processing document (.doc); HTML file (.html); JPEG image (.jpg)
[12] style
Details about the style of the target document, including a style guide and general style. For terminology style, see 6c.
a) style guide
Style guide to be used in the production of the target content. This may be a freely available style guide or one provided by the requester.
— e.g. provided style guide file: style.doc; Chicago Manual of Style 16th edition
b) style relevance
Relevance of style to the project.
— e.g. style very important in this project; style not as important as accuracy and information
[13] layout
Information about the layout and appearance of the target document.
— e.g. 1-inch margins, single-spaced; use provided template: template.dot
B. Production tasks [14–15]
[14] typical production tasks
Description of production tasks. Typical production tasks are listed below. Due to the varying nature of translation projects, none of the following tasks are mandatory.
a) pre-translation
Tasks to be undertaken before translation begins. Typical tasks include:
— terminology work: Using terminology software and verifying identified terms against provided terminology.
— resource availability: Ascertaining that all needed resources are accessible.
— specification validation: Ensuring that all parameters have been given specifications and that the specifications are appropriate for the project.
b) initial translation
The initial translation of the source content.
c) in-process quality assurance
Tasks that ensure the quality of the target content. There are five steps of in-process quality assurance:
self-checking: The translator reviews his or her work, or post-edits the product of machine translation.
revision: A bilingual reviser revises the translator’s work, typically performing the following checks: accuracy, completeness, and terminology.
review: A reviewer reviews and edits the translation (in the target language) with respect to the conventions of the relevant subject field(s) and language.
final formatting: The final target document is formatted or compiled.
final reading: The final target document is proofread for accuracy and mechanics.
[15] additional tasks
Additional tasks to be performed for the project. Some possible tasks include functional testing, back translation, and random sampling.
C. Environment [16–18]
[16] technology
Technology and software to be used in the translation process.
— e.g. TTC TermBase v3
[17] reference materials
A list of reference materials to be used in the translation process.
— e.g. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, provided translation memory file
[18] workplace requirements
Any requirements about where work will take place and any special procedures regarding confidentially.
— e.g. work must be done at a secure government facility; no one other than the translator may view the documents associated with the project
D. Relationships [19–21]
[19] permissions
Description of legal and ethical considerations, including ownership and copyright, recognition, and any restrictions.
a) ownership
The owner of the translation.
— e.g. the requesting company will own the translation
b) recognition
Whether the translator’s name or company will appear on the translation.
— e.g. the translator’s name will appear on the title page of the book
c) restrictions
Any restrictions on the use of files associated with the project, including translation memory databases and project databases derived from the source content.
— e.g. translation memory database may not be used for other projects
[20] submissions
Detailing the process of submitting final documents.
a) qualifications
Qualifications that a translation service provider (TSP) or translator must have in order to work on the project.
— e.g. translator must be certified by the American Translator’s Association; TSP must appear on a list of government-approved translators
b) deliverables
Items to be delivered in the submission of the final product.
— e.g. final translation and translation memory database
c) delivery
Method of delivery and any special instructions.
— e.g. FTP; email, paper copy delivered by hand to room 452
d) deadline
Date and time (if applicable) by which the final product should be delivered.
— e.g. 15 November 2011, 9:00am
[21] expectations
Explaining any further expectations and clarifying anything other than that which was covered by the previous parameters.
a) compensation
Amount of compensation that the translator will receive.
— e.g. USD 0.10 per source-content word
b) clarification
Comments and clarification that do not fall under other parameters, as well as procedures for asking and answering questions.
— e.g. questions should be addressed to the project manager at projectmanager@translationprojects.com; once the invoice is received, payment will arrive within three weeks
References related to translation parameters and specifications
American Translators Association. 2008. “Translation: Buying a Non-Commodity” (brochure). Available at the ATA website and also at: http://www.ttt.org/specs/Translation_buying_guide.pdf (large format), http://www.ttt.org/specs/Translation_buying_guide-small.pdf (small format)
ASTM. 2006. ASTM F2575-06 Standard Guide for Quality Assurance in Translation. http://www.astm.org/Standards/F2575.htm
GMX-V. 2007. Global information management metrics exchange (formerly a LISA OSCAR standard). http://www.ttt.org/oscarstandards
Hague, Deryl, Alan Melby, and WANG Zheng. 2011. “Surveying Translation Quality Assessment: A Specification Approach.” To appear in The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 5.2 (2011): 243–67.
ISO. 2011. ISO/DTS 11669 Guidance for Translation Projects (in development). http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=50687
Linport Project. 2011. www.linport.org
Lommel, Arle L. and Alan K. Melby. 2011. “Translation Packet Overview.” V0.2. http://www.ttt.org/specs/translation_packet_overview_v0_2.pdf
Melby, Alan K. 1990. “The Mentions of Equivalence in Translation.” http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/003618ar
Melby, Alan K., Arle Lommel, Nathan Rasmussen, and Jason Housley. 2011. “The Container Project.” Presented at the First International Conference on Terminology, Languages, and Content Resources, Seoul, South Korea, 10–11 June 2001. http://swrc.kaist.ac.kr/isotc37wiki/index.php/LaRC2011
Nord, Christiane. 1997. Translating as a Purposeful Activity: Functionalist Approaches Explained. Manchester: St. Jerome, 1997.
Feedback
Feedback is requested. Please contact Alan K. Melby at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Translation Research Group (TRG) at: akmtrg –at– byu –dot– edu with “Translation Specifications” at the beginning of the subject line.
This page was last updated 7 September 2011.