Reference

A working reference for translators

Five sections, each asking a different question about the same sentence. What the translator does to it, what the language system leaves them no choice about, how the concept behind a term is designated and on whose authority, what was already fixed before the job arrived, and what the target community expects on top of all of it. The sections are cross-linked, and a pointer that does not resolve stops the build, so the connections cannot go stale.

158 entries in 5 sections

Translation techniques

What does a translator do?

56 entries/techniques/

Language structures

What does the language system make them do?

21 entries/structures/

Terminology

How is a concept designated, and on what evidence?

31 entries/terminology/

Phraseology

What is already fixed before the translator arrives?

25 entries/phraseology/

Conventions

What does the target community expect?

25 entries/conventions/

How the five fit together

The first two sections are semasiological: they start from a stretch of source text and ask what happens to it. The third is onomasiological, starting from a concept and asking what it is called, in which language community and on whose authority. The fourth is neither: it starts from a unit whose target form was settled before the translation began. The fifth starts from the target community, because where the system leaves options open the community has usually chosen among them. Each is a different axis rather than a subset of another, which is why they sit alongside one another without repeating.

Translation that can be checked

If a decision in your text can be named, it can be discussed, and a supplier who can name it can be held to it.

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