术语管理是识别的过程, 存储, 管理客户, 公司, 或者需要以明确的方式翻译的产品特定术语. 简单地说, it’s the process of building a glossary with preferred translations (or ones the client doesn’t want used due to personal preferences) that you’ll then upload to a termbase. 术语库不仅由术语组成, 还有关于他们的基本信息, 比如图像, 笔记, 定义, 和例子. 下面将检查其中的一些用法, 特性, 以及术语管理对翻译人员和项目经理的好处.
术语管理的好处
There are some clear benefits of having a solid terminology management process in place for your translation 和 localization projects.
- It allows you to achieve effective 和 accurate translations by organizing the usage of terms with a clear set of rules to ensure that the correct term is used within a specified context.
- It ensures 一致性 with the client’s preferred terminology across all projects 和 improves the translation quality by reducing the possibility of choosing incorrect translations for specific terms.
- 它提供了一种快速简便的方法来检查翻译中是否正确使用了术语,从而节省了时间, 它允许你在一个集中的地方管理指令和偏好.
换句话说,术语管理有助于一致性、准确性和效率.
术语和词汇
有时术语glossary和术语库可以互换使用,但它们是不同的.
In its most basic form—和 in the context of this industry—a glossary contains a list of terms along with their preferred translations. It’s usually created using Excel or CSV files 和 includes two columns: one for the source term 和 another for the target term. 取决于项目的复杂程度, 添加诸如定义和用法示例之类的说明也很有用.
这时,词汇表就变成了术语库, which is a list of terms paired with corresponding terms in the target language along with additional information about the terms, 包括定义, 例子, 和说明. 术语库通常集成到计算机辅助翻译(CAT)工具中, 哪一个可以运行质量检查并确保术语库始终被正确使用.
可以添加到术语库的一些有用信息包括:
- 上下文中有关用法的信息. 例如, 您可以指定术语库中包含的翻译是否应该用于特定的上下文中, such as call to action (CTA) buttons (prompts on a website that tells the user to take some specified action), 或者当这个词充当动词或名词时使用.
- 说明该术语属于演讲的哪一部分, 它的性别, 数量, 以及它的定义.
- 可能需要视觉背景的术语的参考图像.
- 禁止使用的术语列表(客户不希望您使用的术语).
- 区分大小写的规则.
创建Termbase
大多数CAT工具允许您在程序本身中创建术语库. You can also create a termbase from a glossary that you import into the “Termbase Editor” of your CAT tool. 这个术语表可以是一个Excel文件,但是, 取决于所使用的工具, 也可以是其他格式.
一旦你选择了要上传到工具的文件,最重要的考虑是:
- 哪一列将作为terms导入.
- 哪些列将作为定义导入(如果有的话).
- 哪一列将作为“其他字段”(如果有的话)导入.
- Which content will be included as “do not import” (especially if you only want to import some languages to your termbase from the total included in your glossary).
这些选项在您的CAT工具中可能以不同的方式显示, but Figure 1 below shows how you can leverage the glossaries 你有 in Excel 和 turn them into a termbase.
术语库是如何工作的
当术语库正确集成到CAT工具中时, 源文本将自动搜索相关术语. 您建议的翻译也搜索您的术语库中包含的所有术语. 这些术语将显示在CAT工具编辑器的屏幕上. It’s then the translator’s or reviewer’s job to decide if the translation shown by the tool is suitable for the context.
图2显示了CAT工具中的截图. 在术语库中输入的术语以蓝色高亮显示. 例如, “西班牙鲭鱼”和“鲭鱼王”的英文名, 鱼有哪些种类, 你有 “maccarello reale” 和 macarello real macarello macarello macarello 在意大利.
每个CAT工具可以使用不同的代码来导入信息和术语条目. 例如, 在memoQ, if you highlight a term in red in the Excel file 和 specify that it’s a “NonTerm” in the “Term_Info” column (column “I”), 它将作为禁止术语导入. (参见图3).)
术语库与翻译记忆库
让永利登录网址看一下术语库与翻译记忆库的不同之处, 因为这两个概念经常被混淆. 所有的CAT工具都包括这两个特性,但是它们的用途不同.
A termbase is a searchable database or glossary containing single words or expressions that are included in a deliberate manner. A translation memory stores whole segments included in one or several projects once a linguist has confirmed those segments. 而术语库将显示术语的首选翻译, a translation memory will allow you to look for previous translations for whole paragraphs or even for single terms or expressions. 以前的翻译可能并不总是适合您当前的需求, 所以语言学家必须做出决定. This decision is based on the 数量 of previous entries that use the same translation as well as the context of each one.
多语言项目中的在线术语库
当您有不同的翻译人员使用术语库时, 大多数CAT工具都提供了一个设置,允许您从创建术语库的那一刻起对其进行调节. Moderating a termbase means 你有 to confirm any term entries before they can be seen by all the translators working with that termbase. 换句话说,您实际上承担了术语学家的角色.
正如那句老话所说,当你的厨房里有太多的厨师时,事情最终会变得一团糟. 这就是为什么强烈建议在与几个翻译人员一起工作时使用缓和的术语库, 特别是如果是一大群人的话, as people will not only have different preferences for the translation of the same term but will have a different criterion as to which terms should be added to your termbase.
导出术语库
CAT工具允许您导出术语库. This is useful because it allows you to backup your termbase 和 share it with other colleagues who may be working with different CAT tools. 导出还允许您在CAT工具之外快速更改术语库并将其导入.
Exporting is particularly useful when you’re working with several languages 和 want to make many changes simultaneously, 你可以快速添加, 修改, 或者删除您想要的所有信息,然后简单地重新导入它,以保持术语库的更新. 如果要使用此过程修改现有条目,请始终记住这一点, 你必须特别注意条目ID(又名概念ID). (参见图4).)
质量保证
术语库最强大的用途之一是与质量保证(QA)工具结合使用. 这些工具帮助永利登录网址自动检测翻译中的错误. 大多数CAT工具都有集成的QA特性, 但也有独立的工具, 比如XBench, Verifika, 和QA蒸馏器. These can be set up according to your needs 和 allow you to check things such as the use of proper punctuation, 数字, 间距, 一致性, 和术语.
QA工具可以设置为在术语库中的术语未被使用时显示警告. 还可以对其进行配置,以便在使用禁止的术语时发出警告.
在图5的示例中,不使用 “maccarello reale” 意大利语中的"鲭鱼王"在英语中,译者使用了 “Scomberomorus regalis.”
Please note that in most CAT tools you can set a QA warning when a forbidden term is used as a translation for a given term or every time the forbidden term is used at all (regardless of having a specific matching term in the source text).
管理术语条目:正则表达式
现在永利登录网址已经回顾了如何创建和使用术语库, 让永利登录网址把重点放在持续术语包含的选项上. 这就是正则表达式(RegEx)可能有用的地方.
RegEx的一个简单定义是,它们是定义搜索模式的字符序列. 它们是一组被理解为编程语言的指令. RegEx涉及使用各种各样的字符, 每一个都有其特定的含义, to form a string of those characters meant to represent a pattern that can be matched against other strings of text. RegEx最常用于文本搜索, 查找和替换操作, 对于输入验证.
例如, in most CAT tools the pipe (|) symbol is used to indicate multiple options for a match—either expression to its left or right matches the target string. 例如,“a|b”匹配“a”和“b”.“再举一个例子, “canci | ón” 会匹配两个单数吗 “cancion里” 复数形式 “cancion里.”
在使用术语库和QA工具时, 使用“管道”可能会拯救生命, 尤其是在俄语或波兰语等有很多变体的语言中. 只需在单词的词根后面插入管道, 您将能够消除所有假错误(也称为“假阳性”),(当QA工具报告的错误实际上不是错误时), 词尾变化, 或者使用复数.
False positives due to the use of plurals can also be avoided by inserting an asterisk (*) at the end of your term. 星号被称为中继器符号, 这意味着前一个字符可以被找到0次或更多次. 例如,正则表达式ca*t将匹配字符串ct、cat、caat、caaat等.
RegEx的用法可能因使用的工具而异. 我只提供了一些基本的例子, 因此,我强烈建议您深入研究这个主题,以便有效地管理术语.
总结……
Terminology management is the process of building a glossary with preferred translations (or forbidden ones) to be uploaded to a termbase. That termbase can work in the context of a QA tool or CAT tool with an integrated quality assurance feature.
The nature of the content to be translated can impact directly on the criteria or treatment used for the creation of your termbase. 如果您正确设置了术语库,您将能够:
- 在语境中有更喜欢的翻译吗.
- 设置首选大写规则.
- 管理禁忌术语.
Other essential tools that should be used in t和em with termbases are style guides 和 translation memories, 哪些可以帮助您提高翻译质量,同时减少在实际工作上花费的时间.
在一天结束的时候, 需要强调的是,所有这些工具都需要由人来管理和利用. Relying on the expert linguist’s ability to make logical 和 contextualized decisions is the best terminology management tool that you can possibly have.
玛丽娜·伊拉里,康涅狄格州 is an ATA-certified English>Spanish translator with over 17 years of experience in the translation industry. 她是英语和西班牙语翻译工具和项目管理方面的专家. 她做过翻译, 编辑器, 和 quality assurance specialist for many companies around the world with a special focus on creative translations 和 video game localization. 她是泰拉翻译公司的首席执行官,也是翻译播客的联合主持人, En Pantuflas. marina@terratranslations.com