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"A" language

Native language or a foreign language spoken with native proficiency from which an interpreter can render all modes of interpretation.

See also:

Active language

"B" language

Foreign language from which an interpreter can render interpretation.

See also:

Passive language

16-bit Unicode transformation format

Variable-length character encoding form that can represent Unicode or ISO characters in a 16-bit series suitable for storage or transmission in data networks. Commonly abbreviated as UTF-16.

32-bit Unicode transformation format

Fixed-length, four-byte method for encoding Unicode characters. Commonly abbreviated as UTF-32.

8-bit Unicode transformation format

Variable-length character encoding form that can represent any character from almost all the languages in the world. Commonly abbreviated as UTF-8.

Accent mark

Small symbol placed above or near a letter, usually to distinguish its pronunciation from a similar word.

See also:

Diacritical weight

Accreditation

Formal process by which the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities of an individual – such as a translator or interpreter – or an organization – such as an LSP – are evaluated.

See also:

Certification

Accredited translator

A translator who has successfully met the requirements for accreditation.

Active language

Language into which an interpreter renders interpretation.

See also:

"A" language

Ad hoc interpreter

Person who provides interpretation services on an irregular basis, usually without the benefit of any formal training or professional preparation.

Adaptation

Process of converting information into an appropriate format for the target language and culture.

Advocacy

Practice by which an interpreter acts on behalf of either of the parties for which he or she renders interpretation. This practice is encouraged by some and discouraged by others.

Agglutinating language

Language in which, through agglutination, a single word can constitute a complete sentence, sometimes resulting in units of measure other than price per word (such as price per line, per character or per page) for calculating translation costs.

Agglutination

Process of adding one or more affixes to a word or combining components of words into a single word, often conveying complex ideas.

Alignment

Process of matching segments of text with their translated renditions, creating equivalents between a source text and target text.

Alignment tool

Application that automatically pairs versions of same text in the source and target languages in a table. Also called bi-text tool.

Ambiguity

Situation in which the intended meaning of a phrase is unclear and must be verified – usually with the source text author in order for translation to proceed.

Anglophone

Person who speaks English.

Apache

Open source web server supported by the Apache Software Foundation.

API

Acronym for application programming interface.

Apostille

Official attachment or stamp sometimes applied to translations of public and private documents as proof of authenticity for countries that have signed the Hague Convention on Documents.

See also:

Certification; Notarization; Notarized translation

Application programming interface

Set of specified procedures or functions provided by a service or operating system to computer programs’ requests for support. Commonly abbreviated as API.

Abbreviation for availability quotient.

Arabic Eastern numerals

See Eastern Arabic numerals.

Arabic numerals

Set of ten numerals (0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) that comprise the most commonly used symbolic representation of numbers throughout the world.

See also:

Western Arabic numerals

Artificial intelligence

Branch of Computer Science devoted to creating intelligent machines that produced the first efforts toward machine translation.

Artificial language

Language used by machines

Authoring

Process of producing textual content.

Automated publishing

Computerized production of content and presentation.

Automated translation

Synonym for machine translation.

See also:

Automatic translation; Machine translation

Automatic recognition

Method that automates the translation of terms through the use of an electronic dictionary and computer-assisted translation software, proposing target language equivalents and facilitating consistency of terminology and style.

Automatic translation

Synonym for machine translation.

See also:

Automated translation ; Machine translation

Availability quotient

Metric that objectively ranks what percentage of the total online population can access each level of experience on any given site. Commonly abbreviated as AQ.

Back translation

Process of translating a previously translated text back into its source language.

BIDI

Abbreviation for bidirectionality.

Bidirectional

Script that normally reads from right to left but contains some exceptions in which other characters, like numerals, read from left to right. Hebrew and Arabic are examples of bidirectional languages.

Bidirectional interpretation

Interpretation that takes place in both directions. For example, spoken language is rendered from English into Japanese, and from Japanese into English.

Bidirectionality

Quality or characteristic in a software program or application that facilitates work on bidirectional text. Commonly abbreviated as BIDI.

Bidule

Portable equipment used for providing simultaneous interpretation with only a microphone and sometimes headphones instead of a sound isolation booth.

Big-5

Method of character encoding used in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan for Traditional Chinese characters.

Bilingual

Person who speaks at least one language fluently and exhibits near-native proficiency or fluency in the second.

Bilingual corpus

See bi-text database.

Bi-text

Document consisting of versions of a particular text in both the source and target languages.

Bi-text database

Collection of bi-texts. Also called bilingual corpus.

Bi-text tool

See alignment tool.

Bitmap

Grid of pixels with individual color values.

BRIC

Abbreviation for Brazil, Russia, India, and China, the four countries with economies expected to surpass the richest countries in the world by the year 2050. This term was first used in a thesis by Goldman Sachs investment bank.

Browse CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor learns about a category, options, and benefits.

Buy CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor completes a financial or equivalent contractual transaction.

C2JK

Abbreviation for the four most commonly requested Asian languages for translation projects: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Also called CJK and KCCJ.

CAI

Abbreviation for computer-assisted interpretation.

Captioning

Text-based versions of dialogue in films and television programs in the same language or another language, most commonly displayed at the bottom of the screen.

CAT

Abbreviation for computer-assisted translation.

CAT tools

See computer-assisted translation software.

CCJK

Abbreviation for the four most commonly requested Asian languages for translation projects: Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. Also called CJK and KCCJ.

CEL

Abbreviation for customer experience level.

Certification

1. Process by which the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities of an individual – such as a translator or interpreter – or an organization – such as an LSP – are evaluated. 2. Statement from a translator regarding his or her qualifications and attesting to the accuracy of the translation.

See also:

Accreditation

Certified interpreter

Interpreter who has successfully met the requirements
of a certification process.

Certified translation

Translation that is accompanied by a statement from the language service provider, and/or translator or a third party individual or authority attesting to the accuracy of the translation.

See also:

Sworn translator

Chance interpreter

Person who provides interpretation services on an irregular basis, usually without the benefit of any formal training or professional preparation.

See also:

Ad hoc interpreter

Character encoding

Character encoding. Mapping from a character set definition to the actual code units used to represent the data.

Character set

Collection of symbols or characters that correspond to textual information in a language or language group.

Chuchotage

Delivery method for simultaneous interpretation in which the interpreter sits behind the listener, simultaneously interpreting while the speaker talks and whispering the rendition into the listener’s ear.

Chunk

Smallest unit of content in a content management system.

CJK

See C2JK.

CJKV

Acronym for Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

Coarse-grained TM

Translation memory based on large clause or sentence-based segments.

Code page

Character set that assigns code point value or numeric value to each character.

Cognates

Words that share a common origin.

Collaborative translation

Emerging approach to translation in which companies use the elements of crowdsourcing in a controlled environment for working on large corporate projects in short periods of time.

Collation sequence

Order of a character set that can be represented on a computer.

Collocation

Group of words that work together to express a single concept, object, or action.

Colophon

Description, logo, or note at the end of a text.

Community interpreting

Interpretation provided in social and public services settings.

Computational linguistics

Study of processing natural languages through information technology.

Computer-aided translation

See computer-assisted translation.

Computer-assisted interpretation

Process by which a human interpreter uses computer software to facilitate interpretation. Commonly abbreviated CAI.

Computer-assisted translation

Process by which a human translator uses computer software to facilitate translation. Commonly abbreviated CAT.

See also:

Computer-aided translation

Computer-assisted translation software

Also called CAT tools.

Concatenation

Procedure of linking multiple files or messages together as a single document, often to facilitate processes such as search and replacement, term list extraction, collocation finding, and repetition rate establishment.

Concordance

Process through which a computer-assisted translation software program compiles a list of contexts for terms in order to define the term and its equivalent in the target language more precisely.

Conference interpreting

Interpretation provided in conference settings.

Consecutive interpretation

Process through which an interpreter orally conveys a speaker’s words into another language after the speaker completes an utterance, usually relying on memory and note-taking, or through voice-silencing technology, which allows the interpreter to record the speaker's words and then convey them in real-time.

Consistency

Measure of how often a term or phrase is rendered the same way into the target language.

Content delivery application

Program that uses and compiles information to update a web site.

Content management system

Tool that stores, organizes, maintains, and retrieves data.

Context

Information outside of the actual text that is essential for complete comprehension.

Controlled language

Language in which grammar, vocabulary and syntax are restricted in order to reduce ambiguity and complexity and to make the source language easier to understand by native and non-native speakers and easier to translate with machine and human translation.

Controlled vocabulary

Standardized terms and phrases that constitute a system’s vocabulary.

Corpus

Compilation of texts that is helpful for collecting data, conducting research, and analyzing natural language text.

Country code

Abbreviation of two or three characters to signify a country or dependent area. ISO 3166 specifies country codes, such as “AL” for Albania and “CZ” for the Czech Republic. There are also country codes for telephone numbers, such as +1 for the U.S. and Canada and +49 for Germany.

Court interpreting

Interpretation that takes place in court settings.

Creole

Language that develops when speakers of different languages remain in ongoing and persistent contact with one another, usually with one language group characterized by having greater political or economic power than another.

CT3

Abbreviation for community, crowdsourced, and collaborative translation.

See also:

Collaborative translation

Cultural adaptation

Adjustment of a translation to conform with the target culture.

Cultural assessment

Examination of an individual’s or group’s cultural preferences through comparative analyses.

Cultural brokering

Practice by which an interpreter provides cultural information in order to help the listener gain a better understanding of the speaker's intended meaning.

Cultural competence

Ability of an individual or organization to work effectively with individuals or groups with diverse cultural backgrounds.

Cultural sorting

Organization of a text in an order typical for a certain culture, such as alphabetical order in the United States and character stroke order in China.

Culturally-sensitive translation

Translation that takes into account cultural differences.

Customer experience level

Level that describes the experience of a web site visitor. Commonly abbreviated CEL.

DBE

Abbreviation for double-byte enabled.

Desktop publishing

Applications like FrameMaker, PageMaker, and QuarkXPress to prepare documentation for publication.

Diacritical mark

Symbol that signifies an alteration to the character around which it is placed, such as the apostrophe [‘] and circumflex [^].

Diacritical weight

Relative value of a diacritical mark in a collation sequence.

Dialect

Variety of a language spoken by members of a particular locale and characterized by a unique vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.

Diaspora

A dispersion of people, language or culture from its original homeland.

Dipthong

Speech sound that shifts vowel tones within one syllable. Examples include the words “low” (English), “oui” (French), and “muita” (Portuguese).

Direct speech interpretation

Practice by which the speaker's utterances are rendered into the target language directly, without changing pronouns or prefacing renditions with the words, "he said," or "she said." A direct speech interpretation of the words, "I have three children, " is "I have three children," as opposed to, "She says she has three children."

See also:

First person interpretation

Disambiguation

Process of cleaning up a text in order to eliminate ambiguities to make translation more accurate.

Distortion

Alteration from the original source.

DITA

XML-based architecture for authoring, producing and delivering technical information.

D-M18N

Abbreviation for domestic multiculturalization.

DNT

Abbreviation for do not translate.

Do not translate

List of phrases and words such as brand names and trademarks that do not require translation. Commonly abbreviated DNT.

Document type definition

Description of how content should be structured, providing rules for tags and characteristics, to enable programs to more easily process and store the document. Commonly abbreviated DTD.

Domain

Area of knowledge that is communicated within a text, translation, or corpus.

Domestic multiculturalization

Multiculturalization that takes place within a country's borders. Commonly abbreviated D-M18N.

Dominant language

1. Language in which a person primarily communicates, usually his or her native language. 2. Language spoken by those who hold political and/or economic power.

See also:

Language of habitual use

Double-byte character set

Character set that enables representation of double-byte languages.

Double-byte enabled

Quality of an application or program that supports double-byte languages. Commonly abbreviated DBE.

Double-byte language

Language – such as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese – that requires two bytes (16 bits) to represent each character precisely.

DTD

Abbreviation for document type definition.

DTP

Abbreviation for desktop publishing.

Dubbing

Recording or replacement of voices commonly used in motion pictures and videos for which the recorded voices do not belong to the original actors or speakers and are in a different language.

Dynamic content

Data produced in response to changeable, unfixed and retrieved from a database through user requests.

Eastern Arabic numerals

Set of symbols used to represent numbers in combination with the Arabic alphabet in various countries, including Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, and parts of India. Also called Arabic Eastern numerals.

Editing

Second level of review in the traditional TEP process.

Encoding scheme

System that assigns a numeric value to each character, in order to convert the character set to an automated form for transmitting and maintaining information.

Enter CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor arrives at a site and establishes interest or leaves.

Escort interpreting </

Interpretation that takes place for a person or delegation, for casual and/or professional communications.

Ethnic marketing

Marketing that is designed to reach a specific linguistic or cultural group, usually a minority group.

Exact match

Indication that a unit of text is 100% identical to a previously translated unit within a translation memory.

Example-based machine translation

Form of machine translation that uses previously translated texts to produce a new translation, rather than creating a new translation from an actual translation and analysis of the source text.

Extended characters

Characters that exceed the ASCII character range of seven bits, such as characters with diacritical marks or non-Roman characters.

Extensible markup language

Metadata language used to describe other markup languages. Commonly abbreviated XML.

Extreme globalization

Globalization projects that involve immense scalability, huge complexity, the use of XML-based and web services, extraordinary organizational efforts, and the need for massive amounts of translation and localization leverage.

F2F

Abbreviation for face-to-face interpretation.

Face cognates

Words that are thought to share a common origin but actually do not. For example, the words “embarrassed” and “embarazada” (Spanish for “pregnant”).

Face-to-face interpretation

Spoken language conversion by a human interpreter in the same location as the two parties who wish to communicate. Commonly abbreviated F2F.

False friends

See false cognates.

FAQT

Abbreviation for fully automated quality translation.

See also:

Fully automated quality translation

Faux amis

See false cognates.

Federal court interpreter

Interpreter who has obtained certification that permits him or her to interpret during U.S. federal court proceedings.

FIGS

Abbreviation for French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

Fine-grained TM

Translation memory based on word or syntagm-level segments.

First language

Language a person learns first in life.

See also:

Mother tongue

First person interpretation

Practice by which the speaker's utterances are rendered into the target language directly, without changing pronouns or prefacing renditions with the words, "he said," or "she said." A first person interpretation of the words, "I have three children," is "I have three children," as opposed to, "She says she has three children."

Fixed booth

Area built into a meeting room from which interpreters can perform simultaneous interpretation.

Foreign language

Language that is not one’s native language.

Freelance translator

Translator who works as a freelancer.

Freelancer

Individual who is self-employed and works for multiple companies on a per-project or contractual basis.

Full match

See exact match.

Fully automated quality translation

Machine translation output with no human post-processing or editing, but suitable as a replacement for human translation. This type of MT is the ultimate goal of technologists. Commonly abbreviated FAQT.

Fully automated useful translation

Machine translation output with no human intervention, but typically with a lower bar for quality than fully automated quality translation. Commonly abbreviated FAUT.

Functional quality assurance

See functional testing.

Functional testing

Reviewing software applications and programs to ensure that the localization process does not change the software or impair its functions or on-screen content display.

Fuzzy logic

Process that creates near matches in text to translation memory terms when exact matches cannot be found.

Fuzzy match

Indication that words or sentences are partially – but not exactly – matched to previous translations.

G11N

Abbreviation for globalization, with the number 11 representing the number of characters between the G and N.

GB 18030

Non-Unicode code page that contains room for 1.6 million one, two or four-byte characters and includes characters for Traditional Chinese, Mongolian, Tibetan, Yi and Uyghur scripts.

GCMS

Abbreviation for global content management system.

Geolocation

based on their IP address.

GILT

Acronym for globalization, internationalization, localization, and translation.

GIM

Abbreviation for global information management.

Gist translation

Use of human or machine translation to create a rough translation of the source text that allows the reader to understand the essence of the text.

Global content management system

Program that manages the translation and frequently changing content on global websites.

Global information management

Term used by some suppliers to describe multilingual content management applications.

Globalization

Process of adapting and modifying a product, website, or company for multiple international markets. Commonly abbreviated G11N.

Globalization content management system

Obsolete term for when globalization management system vendors positioned their products as replacements for content management systems.

Globalization management system

See translation management system.

Globalization service buyer

Companies or managers who purchase language services or technology. Commonly abbreviated GSB.

Glocal

Combination of the words ‘global’ and ‘local,’ used to describe products or services intended for international markets and have been customized for different languages, countries, and cultures.

Glyph

Visual representation of a character depending on the font.

GMS

Abbreviation for globalization management system.

GSB

Abbreviation for globalization service buyer.

HDL

Abbreviation for high-demand languages.

Healthcare interpreting

Interpretation that takes place in medical or healthcare settings.

High-demand languages

Languages for which there is high demand in a given market; for example, Spanish in the U.S. Commonly abbreviated HDL.

Homographs

Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings, origins, or pronunciations. For example, "read" (present tense) vs. "read" (past tense).

Homonyms

See homophones.

Homophones

Words that sound alike but have different meanings, origins, or spellings. For example, "heir" and "hair," and "red" and "read" (past tense of verb).

Human translation

Translation carried out by a human, with or without the help of machines or software. Commonly abbreviated HT.

Human translator

Individuals who perform translation without the help of machines or software.

Human-assisted machine translation

Machine translation complemented by human post-editing. Commonly abbreviated HAMT.

See also:

Human translation; Machine translation

Human-delivered service company

A company that offers process-centric services largely delivered by humans. Translation companies, accountancy, and ad agencies are examples of such firms.

I18N

Abbreviation for internationalization, in which the number 18 represents the number of letters between the first and last letters.

IBMS

Abbreviation for interpretation business management system.

ICU

Abbreviation for international components for Unicode.

Ideographic language

Written language where each character represents an idea or concept or meaning, and not just a pronunciation or sound. Examples of ideographic languages are Chinese and Japanese.

Abbreviation for interpretation memory.

Inbound text

Text intended only for use within an organization.

In-country review

Evaluation of a translated text by an individual who resides within the country where the target text will be used.

Indirect speech interpretation

Practice by which the speaker's utterances are rendered into the target language indirectly, changing pronouns and prefacing renditions with words such as, "he said," or "she said." An indirect speech interpretation of the words, "I have three children," is "She says she has three children," as opposed to, "I have three children."

In-house translator

Translator who works full-time for a given organization.

In-language review

Evaluation of a translated text by an individual who speaks the target text natively.

Input method editor

Tool that allows users to input characters not located on the original keyboard.

Integration testing

Evaluation carried out to confirm that multiple information technology components can communicate with one another.

International components for Unicode

Set of libraries for Java and C/C++ that enables applications to produce the same results across multiple platforms. Commonly abbreviated ICU.

Internationalization

Process of designing a product in such a way that it can be easily changed or adapted or localized for numerous countries, regions or languages. Commonly abbreviated I18N.

Interpretation

Process of rendering oral spoken or signed communication from one language to another, or the output that results from this process.

Interpretation business management system

Software and web-based applications that support the delivery of and access to interpreting services. Commonly abbreviated IBMS.

Interpretation memory

Spoken language words or utterances that have been previously transcribed, translated, and recorded in order to automate future interpretation. Commonly abbreviated IM.

Interpreter

Person who provides interpretation.

Interpreting

Act of providing interpretation.

ISO 2603

Guide that lists standards for fixed booth interpretation.

ISO 4043

Guide that lists standards for mobile booth interpretation.

ISO 639

Standard list of codes for language names.

ISO 8859

Group of character sets that encode characters based on the alphabets of different locales.

ISO/IEC 10646

Standardized coded character set designed with the goal of giving a unique coded representation to every character in all written languages in the world.

JIS

Abbreviation for Japanese Industrial Standard.

L10N

Abbreviation for localization, in which the number 10 represents the letters between the first and last letters.

Language

System of signed, spoken, or written communication.

Language access ratio

Metric that incorporates linguistic diversity, hospital size, and spending on interpreting services to calculate the average spend on interpreting services per LEP hospital bed. Commonly abbreviated LAR.

Language combination

Group of active and passive languages used by an interpreter.

Language kit

Add-on feature that permits a keyboard to produce character sets for a given language.

Language of habitual use

Language in which a person communicates most often.

Language pair

Languages in which a translator or interpreter can provide services, usually represented as English<>Spanish, Italian<>Korean.

Language resources

Add-on feature that permits a keyboard to produce character sets for a given language.

Language service provider

An organization or business that supplies language services, such as translation, localization, or interpretation. Commonly abbreviated LSP.

Language technology

Computer software that facilitates the translation or localization of texts.

Languages of limited demand

Languages for which there is limited demand in a given market; for example, Hausa in Japan. Commonly abbreviated LLD.

LAR

Abbreviation for language access ratio.

Latin alphabet

Characters derived primarily from the Roman alphabet.

Lay interpreter

Person who provides interpretation services on an irregular basis, usually without the benefit of any formal training or professional preparation.

Learning management system

Software that facilitates the automation of learning.

Legal interpretation

Interpretation that takes place in legal settings, including situations that take place outside of courtrooms.

Legal translation

Translation of legal texts.

Lemmatization

1 Process of grouping together the various inflected forms of a word to facilitate collective analysis.
2 Process by which a machine determines the base form of a word.

LEP

Abbreviation for limited English proficiency.

Leverage

1 Practice of reusing previously translated terms and phrases in new translations.
2 Rank which evaluates how much of the previously translated text can be reused.

Lexical sorting

See cultural sorting.

Linguistic adaptation

Modification of a text in order to tailor it to an audience or locale different from the one for which it was first produced.

Linguistic data processing

See computational linguistics.

Literal translation

Translation that closely follows the phrasing, order and sentence construction of the source text.

Literary translator

Individual who translates literature and poetry.

LLD

Abbreviation for languages of limited demand.

LMM

Abbreviation for localization maturity model.

LMS

Abbreviation for learning management system.

Loanword

Word or group of words adopted directly from one language into another.

Locale

Set of attributes specific to a language and geographical region.

Localization

Process of adapting or modifying a product, service, or website for a given language, culture or region.

Localization engineering

Software engineering carried out to support localization. Activities include internationalization, bug fixing, functionality testing, dialog box resizing, help compilation, and other software-related activities. Most LSPs charge for these services by the hour.

Localization maturity model

Capability maturity model that describes localization maturity at various phases. Commonly abbreviated LMM.

Localization specialist

Individual who has specialized knowledge and skills in localization.

Localization tool

Application that assists with the translation and adaptation required for localization.

Localizer

Organization or person who performs localization.

Lossless

Describes a conversion process in which all of the information is retained.

LSP

Abbreviation for language service provider.

M18N

Abbreviation for multinationalization, with the number 18 representing the number of characters between the M and N.

Machine interpretation

Spoken language conversion that is completely automated and does not require humans. Commonly abbreviated MI.

Machine translation

Translation carried out exclusively by a machine. Commonly abbreviated MT.

Machine translation plus translation memory

A workflow and technology process in which terms not found in translation memory are automatically sent to the machine translation software for translation. Commonly abbreviated MTM.

Machine-aided translation

See computer-assisted translation.

Markup language

Artificial language that uses annotations to indicate how text should be formatted.

Markup-aware

Describes translation memory tools that do not change tags.

Match

Indication that words or sentences are matched - either partially or fully - to previous translations.

MBCS

Abbreviation for multi-byte character set.

Meaning-for-meaning translation

Translation for which the words used in both languages may not be exact equivalents, but the meaning is the same.

Medical interpreting

See healthcare interpreting.

Mega-language

One of the ten most important languages on the web, including Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

Metadata

Information that describes data.

Abbreviation for machine interpretation.

Middleware

Computer software that enables software applications or components to communicate with each other.

Minutes per month

Standard unit of measure for phone-based interpreting services. Commonly abbreviated MPM.

MLV

Abbreviation for multi-language vendor.

Mode

Method of providing interpretation, such as simultaneous interpretation.

Morpheme

Smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Morphology

Academic discipline devoted to the study of the forms and structure of words.

Mother tongue

Native and first learned language of an individual.

MPM

Abbreviation for minutes per month.

Abbreviation for machine translation.

Multi-byte character set

Character set in which the number of bytes per character varies. Abbreviated MBCS.

Multi-byte language

Language that requires the use of a multi-byte character set.

Multiculturalization

Process by which the linguistic and cultural diversity among a group of people increases.

Multi-language vendor

Language service provider that offers services in multiple language pairs. Abbreviated MLV.

Multilingual workflow

Automation of business processes related to the development of multilingual products by managing multilingual content, usually through a translation management system, machine translation, and translation memory.

Multinationalization

Process of expanding an organization's presence into multiple nations. Commonly abbreviated M18N.

Multiple language vendor

See multi-language vendor.

Natal language

See mother tongue.

National language version

Product version that is developed in the language of a given geographic region or locale.

Native language

First language that a human learns naturally, usually since childhood.

Native speaker

Person who has full mastery of a language.

Natal language

Language used by humans.

Natural language processing

Study of computer processing of natural language.

Near match

See fuzzy match.

Near-native proficiency

Ability to use a language at a level that approximates that of a native speaker.

Nearshoring

Outsourcing in which business processes or operations are relocated to locations that are geographically close by. Examples: offshoring from Germany to Bulgaria or from the United States to Mexico.

Neutral Spanish

Spanish that is mutually intelligible by speakers from various parts of the Spanish-speaking world and is not immediately identifiable with any single regional variety of the language. No standards exist for defining neutral Spanish.

Next-wave language

One of the languages of growing importance on the web.

N-gram

Sub-sequence used to analyze letters, words, or base pairs in statistical natural language processing.

Notarization

Process of authenticating a signature, statement, or document by a Notary Public.

Notarized translation

Document for which a translator has attested under oath that the translation is true and accurate before a notary public.

Notary public

Officer who is authorized to conduct notarizations.

ODI

Abbreviation for on-demand interpretation.

Offshore outsourcing

Practice of working with individuals or businesses in other countries to carry out work previously or typically performed by internal staff.

Offshoring

See offshore outsourcing.

OLIF

Abbreviation for open lexicon interchange format.

OLMT

Abbreviation for online machine translation.

See also:

Online machine translation

On-demand interpretation

Spoken language conversion, by either humans or machines, that can be accessed on demand. Umbrella term for all forms of remote and face-to-face interpreting that can be accessed immediately, without prior scheduling. Commonly abbreviated ODI.

Online machine translation

Machine translation services that are available online, usually at no cost.

On-site interpretation

Interpretation that takes place when all parties are physically located in the same location.

Ontology

Description of the relationships between concepts, objects, and other entities within a given field.

Open lexicon interchange format

Format that enables the exchange of terminological and lexical data. Commonly abbreviated OLIF.

Open-source software

Computer programs for which the source code is available, enabling users to view and/or modify it.

OPI

Abbreviation for over-the-phone interpretation.

Outsourcing

Practice of working with third party individuals or businesses to carry out work previously or typically performed by internal staff.

Over-the-phone interpretation

See telephone interpretation.

Parallel text

Text in the source language placed near translations so that each version of the text can be compared.

Participate CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor finds value in sharing experiences with others.

Passive language

Language from which an interpreter renders interpretation.

Peer-level editing

Form of editing that is most common and least expensive; entails having translators review the work of other translators.

Phonology

Area of study within linguistics dedicated to the study of sounds.

Phraseological dictionary

Compilation of frequently used phrases.

Plain English

Method of writing English that employs a clear and simple style, usually for the purpose of improving readability. Among its features are using only active verbs (no passive voices) and making sure that each word has only one meaning.

Abbreviation for project manager.

PNG

Abbreviation for portable network graphics.

Portable network graphics

Format that combines GIF and JPEG formats. Commonly abbreviated PNG.

Post-editing

Process by which one or more humans review, edit, and improve the quality of machine translation output.

Post-processed machine translation

Machine translation complemented by human post-editing. Commonly abbreviated PPMT.

PPMT

Abbreviation for post-processed machine translation.

See also:

Post-processed machine translation

PPW

Abbreviation for price per word.

Pre-editing

Process by which a text is edited prior to translation in order to clarify ambiguous terms and increase translatability.

Pre-translation

Phase of translation process in which documents are prepared for conversion into another language. Usually includes an automated analysis against translation memories so that previously translated text is inserted in a file, therefore avoiding rework and theoretically reducing cost.

Price per word

Common unit of measure used to calculate the cost of translation projects. Commonly abbreviated PPW.

Proficiency

Measure of one's ability to use a language.

Project manager

Individual who carries out management and coordination tasks for a given translation project. Commonly abbreviated PM.

Project setup

Translation preprocessing steps include tasks such as glossary and style guide preparation, project planning, file preparation, content familiarization, and training.

Proofreading

Practice of checking a translated text to identify and correct spelling, grammar, syntax, and coherency and integrity errors, (usually carried out by a second linguist or translator.) - not necessarily - proofreading can be done by editors with no second language skills.

Pseudo-localization

Automated process that simulates localization by using randomly produced code strings to test the impact of the functionality and appearance of a given product.

Pseudo-translation

Automated process that simulates translation by using randomly produced text with qualities of human-generated language to identify potential problems with translation.

Public service interpreting

Interpretation that takes place in settings where services are provided by government bodies.

QA.

Abbreviation for quality assurance.

Abbreviation for quality control.

Abbreviation for quality improvement.

Quality assurance

Process designed to ensure translation quality, in which specific processes are followed with the purpose of minimizing errors.

Quality control

Process designed to ensure translation quality, in which the target text is reviewed with the purpose of catching errors.

Quality improvement

Process designed to ensure translation quality, in which the overall goal is to enhance performance.

RBMT

Abbreviation for rules-based machine translation.

Register

Measure of formality of language dependent upon the tone, terminology, and grammar implemented.

Register CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor fills out a contact form, sends an e-mail, or subscribes to a newsletter.

Relay interpreting

Method of interpretation used when no interpreter for the required language pair is available, in which one interpreter transmits the source language utterance into another language, after which a second interpreter transmits this utterance into the target language.

Remote interpretation

Interpretation performed by an interpreter in a remote location.

Remote language mediation

Spoken or written language conversion that occurs with the assistance of a remote linguist, usually in real time. Commonly abbreviated RLM.

Repetition

Sentence or phrase that is repeated in the source text.

Repetition rate

Numerical representation of the percentage of terms or segments that reoccur within a text.

Resource bundle

Software component that stores application data outside of the actual program, enabling users to revise user interface attributes without the need to recompile the software, facilitating translation into other languages.

Resource description framework

Data model used to provide standard descriptions of web resources for machine-readable metadata.

Return on investment

Financial metric that measures the ratio of money gained or lost on an investment relative to the amount of money invested. Commonly abbreviated ROI.

Right-to-left language

Writing system in which the text normally reads from right to left, such as Hebrew, Arabic, Urdu, and Farsi.

RLM

Abbreviation for remote language mediation.

ROI

Abbreviation for return on investment.

Roman numerals

System of numerals that evolved from the system used in classical Rome, often used for purposes such as numbering pages in introductions or prefaces.

Romanization

Representation of a word from a language that typically uses a different writing system in the Latin alphabet.

Rules-based machine translation

Original machine translation solutions that combined the theories of traditional and generative grammarians, linguists who dealt with an idealized speaker or listener with a focus on precision; they converted their grammars into systematic, encyclopedic sets of rules encompassing grammar, morphology, and meaning, to enable programmers to encode this information in rule sets and dictionaries. Commonly abbreviated RBMT.

SDK

Abbreviation for software development kit.

Segment

Sentence or phrase that is separated from the rest of a text based on language construction rules such as punctuation.

Semantic translation

Type of translation in which transmitting the meaning of the text is of primary importance, whereas preserving the original structure, grammar, and terminology is less important.

Semantics

Area of study within the field of linguistics devoted to understanding the meaning of texts.

Senior-level editing

Form of editing that is most common for specialized translation, such as legal and medical; entails having more experienced translators review the work of less experienced translators.

Shift-JIS

Character encoding program for the Japanese language.

Shop CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor learns about specifics of one or more offerings, like pricing, availability, and terms and conditions.

Sight translation

Process of converting a written text to spoken language.

Sign language

Language that uses facial, manual, and/or other body movements.

Simplified Chinese

Contemporary written Chinese language used in mainland China and Singapore.

SimShip

Abbreviation for simultaneous shipment.

Simultaneous interpretation

Mode of interpretation in which the interpreter listens to speech and simultaneously renders it into the target language.

Simultaneous interpretation equipment

Headset, transmitter and other audio/video equipment used for simultaneous interpretation.

Simultaneous shipment

Release of a product in multiple languages at the same time. Commonly abbreviated SimShip.

Single language vendor

Language service provider that specializes in translation for a single language pair.

Single source concept

Use of one source to create multiple output formats.

Single sourcing

Process of producing a document in one format and automatically translating or publishing it into multiple formats.

Single-byte character set

Character set in which a single 8-bit byte represents a character.

Single-byte encoding

Quality of an application or program that supports single-byte characters.

SMT

Abbreviation for statistical machine translation

Social interpreting

Interpretation that takes place in settings where social services are provided.

Software as a Service

A software licensing and distribution model in which a company provides operations, storage, maintenance, and support for its product, typically over the internet. Commonly abbreviated SaaS.

Software development kit

Documentation and source code that facilitate the process of developing programs that interface with a given product. Commonly abbreviated SDK.

Software engineering

See localization engineering.

Software localization

Process of translating and adapting computer software from one language and culture into another.

Source code

Code that is compiled to develop a program.

Source count

Number of words in a text to be translated.

Source file

File that contains the source document in its original form, as opposed to a generated file, and is required for localization processes.

Source language

Original language of the text that needs to be translated.

Source text

Text to be translated.

Source text analysis

Analysis of the source text prior to translation that provides a better idea of the difficulty of the translation.

Standard line

Measure of the usual number of keystrokes per line in a certain text, which varies per country, and consists on average of 50 to 60 characters; commonly used for translation projects that are priced on a per line basis.

Statistical machine translation

Second-generation solutions that take a probability-based approach to translation through computational analysis of data, treating data as character strings, determining patterns, and leveraging regularities. Commonly abbreviated SMT.

Style guide

Document that describes the correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, style and numeric formats to ensure consistency and quality in a translated text.

Style sheet

Document or template that describes the structure and format of a document, with instructions regarding fonts, page size, spacing, margins, paragraph styles and tag mark-ups to ensure consistency and quality in a translated text.

Subtitling

See captioning.

Support CEL

Customer experience level in which a visitor experiences anxiety and seeks assistance.

Sworn translator

Translator who has been appointed by an official government body as someone authorized to produce translations.

Syntagm

Syntactic string of words that forms a part of a larger syntactic unit.

Syntax

Study of structure and elements that form grammatical sentences.

T9N

Abbreviation for translation, in which the number 9 represents the number of letters between the first and last letters.

TAA

Abbreviation for total available audience.

Tagging

Marking content in a document with information about its content.

Target audience

Group of people who receive the information rendered by the interpreter in the target language.

Target language

Language into which the text is translated.

Target text

Text that has been translated.

TBX

Abbreviation for term base eXchange.

Technical interpretation

Interpretation for technical settings, such as meetings and conferences in the fields of engineering, telecommunications, and technology.

Technical translation

Translation of technical texts, such as user or maintenance manuals, catalogues and data sheets.

Telephone interpretation

Spoken language conversion that is provided by a remote human interpreter via telephone, be that through a traditional phone or via VoIP. Commonly abbreviated TI.

TEP

Abbreviation for translate-edit-proof.

Term

Word, phrase, symbol or formula that describes or designates a particular concept.

Term base

See terminology database.

Term base eXchange

XML standard for exchanging terminological data. Commonly abbreviated TBX.

Term extraction

Selecting terms in a text and placing them in a terminology database for analysis at a later time.

Term harvesting

See term extraction.

Term list

1. List of terms, usually in more than one language.
2. Input/output text files.

Term mining

See term extraction.

Terminology

Collection of terms.

Terminology analysis

Process carried out prior to translation in order to analyze the vocabulary within a text and its meaning within the given context, often for the purpose of creating specialized dictionaries within specific fields.

Terminology database

Electronic repository of terms and associated data.

Terminology list

See term list.

Terminology management

Use of computer software to manage translation resources, create terminology databases for translation projects, and improve productivity and consistency.

Terminology management tool

Computer application that facilitates terminology management.

Terminology manager

Software application that facilitates the process of translation by interacting with a terminology database.

Terminology software

Data processing tool that allows one to create, edit and consult text or electronic dictionaries.

Text expansion

Process that often occurs during translation in which the total number of characters in the target text exceeds that of the source text.

Text extraction

Process in which the text from a source file is placed into a word processing file for use by a linguist.

Text style

Characteristics of terminology, style and sentence formation within a given text.

Text type

See text style.

Text volume

Amount of text based on character count or standard lines, often used to price translation projects.

Third person interpretation

Abbreviation for telephone interpretation.

TMS

Abbreviation for translation management system.

TMS scorecard

Assessment of service offerings and features of a given translation management system.

TMX

Abbreviation for translation memory eXchange.

Token

Identifier stored as part of a user's security profile.

Total available audience

Metric that represents web users in all supported countries, speaking all supported languages, for a specific thought. Commonly abbreviated TAA.

Traditional Chinese

Original Chinese ideographic character set used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and some Chinese communities who have not adopted the simplified characters used in the People's Republic of China.

Transcoding

Process by which character data is converted between different character sets.

Transcreation

Process by which new content is developed or adapted for a given target audience instead of merely translating existing material. It may include copywriting, image selection, font changes, and other transformations that tailor the message to the recipient.

See also:

Cultural adaptation; Culturally-sensitive translation

Transcription

Process of converting oral utterances into written form.

Translatability

Degree to which a text can be rendered into another language.

Translate-edit-proof

Most common set of steps used for linguistic quality assurance in translation production processes. Commonly abbreviated TEP.

Translation

Process of rendering written communication from one language into another or the output that results from this process.

Translation agency

Organization that provides translation services.

Translation capacity

Average number of characters, words, lines, or pages that a professional translator can translate within a given time frame, such as a day, week, or month.

Translation company

See translation agency.

Translation kit

A set of files and instructions given to an LSP by a client. The purpose of a translation kit is to provide LSPs with expectations: the subject matter and target audience, files and format to be translated, delivery expectations, special considerations and any other relevant information all in one place.

Translation management system

Program that manages translation and localization cycles, coordinates projects with source content management, and centralizes translation databases, glossaries, and additional information relevant to the translation process. Commonly abbreviated TMS.

Translation manager

Person in charge of managing one or more translation project.

Translation memory

Translated text segments that are stored in a database.

Translation memory eXchange

Standard for converting translation memories from one format to another. Commonly abbreviated TMX.

Translation memory plus machine translation

A workflow and technology process in which terms not found in translation memory are automatically sent to the machine translation software for translation, with the results fed back into the translation memory. Commonly abbreviated TMT.

Translation memory system

Computer-aided translation tool that offers translation suggestions from translation memory.

Translation portal

Web-based service that enables translation agencies, freelance translators and customers to contact one another and exchange services.

Translation rate

Price of translation, usually provided on a per-word, per-line, or per-page basis.

Translation unit

Segment of text treated as a single unit of meaning.

Translation verification test

Test used to verify that all content from the source text has been translated accurately and completely.

Translator

Person who performs translation.

Transliteration

Process of converting words from a source text or audio file into a written text that facilitates pronunciation of the words.