1、Designation: F 2575 06Standard Guide forQuality Assurance in Translation1This standard is issued under the fixed designation F 2575; the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or, in the case of revision, the year of last revision. A number in parentheses
2、 indicates the year of last reapproval. Asuperscript epsilon (e) indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1. Scope1.1 This guide identifies factors relevant to the quality oflanguage translation services for each phase of a translationproject. The guide is intended for use
3、 by all stakeholders, withvarying levels of knowledge in the field of translation.1.2 This guide is designed to provide a framework foragreement on specifications for translation projects. Within thisframework, the participants in a service agreement can definethe processes necessary to arrive at a
4、product of desired qualityto serve the needs and expectations of the end user.1.3 This guide does not provide specific metrics.1.4 This guide also includes a list of specification param-eters that shall be considered before work begins.1.5 Translation can be viewed in a number of contexts.1.5.1 One
5、is that of globalization, internationalization, lo-calization, and translation (GILT), which takes products orservices created for one audience and makes them suitable tovarious foreign language audiences, whether in the homecountry or around the globe. In the case of products or servicesthat are ac
6、companied by or contain textual material, thisprocess must be sensitive to cultural aspects of the geographicregion and language of specific markets, sometimes referred toas locales.1.5.2 Translation can also be viewed in the context ofvarious government practices, including communicating anidentica
7、l, uniform message to many locales at the same time,that is, not altering the message even slightly for individuallocales, and, in information gathering, retaining the originalflavor of the source text, purposely avoiding localization.1.5.3 Finally, translation can be viewed in a more generalcontext
8、. Although much translation is done in a GILT contextor for government purposes (for example, diplomacy, lawenforcement, health and human services, security, and soforth), there are many other types of translation performed forthe understanding of materials (for example, journals, letters,news broad
9、casts, and communications) that have been writtenin another language. Some types of translation may not includelocalization.1.6 This guide offers an organized collection of informationand does not recommend a specific course of action. This guidecannot replace education or experience and should be u
10、sed inconjunction with professional judgment. Not all aspects of thisguide can be applicable in all circumstances. ThisASTM guideis not intended to represent or replace the standard of care bywhich the adequacy of a given professional service shall bejudged, nor should this guide be applied without
11、considerationof a projects unique aspects. The word “Standard” in the titleof this guide means only that the guide has been approvedthrough the ASTM International consensus process.1.7 This guide does not address interpreting (also calledinterpretation), which involves spoken language as opposed tow
12、ritten language (see Guide F 2089).2. Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2F 2089 Guide for Language Interpretation Services2.2 ISO Standards:3ISO 1087-1 TerminologyVocabularyPart 1: Theory andApplicationISO 1087-2 TerminologyVocabularyPart 2: ComputerApplicationsISO 9000 2005 Quality Management
13、SystemsFundamentals and Vocabulary2.3 DIN Standard:4DIN 2345 Translation Contracts3. Terminology3.1 Definitions:1This guide is under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee F15 on ConsumerProducts and is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee F15.48 on TranslationServices.Current edition approved May
14、1, 2006. Published June 2006.2For referenced ASTM standards, visit the ASTM website, www.astm.org, orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org. For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information, refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Available from American Nationa
15、l Standards Institute (ANSI), 25 W. 43rd St.,4th Floor, New York, NY 10036.4Available from Beuth Verlag GmbH (DIN- DIN Deutsches Institut furNormung e.V.), Burggrafenstrasse 6, 10787, Berlin, Germany.1Copyright ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959,
16、 United States.3.1.1 adaptation, nlocalization procedure through whichthe translator replaces a culture-specific aspect of a product,service, or document, such as a software utility, color, icon, orother cultural artifact from the source culture with an equiva-lent appropriate to the target culture
17、to accommodate theexpectations of the target audience.3.1.1.1 DiscussionIn some cases, the translator may haveto create or supply an equivalent when the source text refers tosomething that does not apply to the target culture, forexample, replacing a graphic image of a Caucasian using aproduct with
18、an image of an Asian using the product orreplacing an English thesaurus with a French thesaurus. Notethat the term adaptation is sometimes used to refer to theadaptation of a translation to fit a particular medium when theoriginal cannot be changed or recreated to accommodate acomplete and faithful
19、translation (for example, adapting thetranslation of a video script to suit a video originally shot inanother language).Also, the term adaptation is sometimes usedin the sense of internationalization in which a source text isadapted to facilitate translation.3.1.2 aligned text, nsource text that has
20、 been segmentedand for which the segments have been paired with theirindividual translations.3.1.2.1 DiscussionThe synonym is bitext when only twolanguages are involved, not parallel text or comparable text.3.1.3 back translation, nretranslation of a translated textback into its source language.3.1.
21、3.1 DiscussionA back translation will not result in atext that is identical to the source text, and furthermore, a backtranslation is not necessarily a good indicator of the quality ofthe translation.3.1.4 computer-assisted translation, (CAT), ntranslationin which a variety of computer programs (too
22、ls) are used tosupport the task of human translation.3.1.4.1 DiscussionCAT tools include terminology extrac-tion and management, text alignment, translation memory,term lookup showing context of use, indexing and frequencycounts, and various specialized editing tools designed toprotect code and faci
23、litate translation of resource text.3.1.5 contraction, nnatural decrease in the amount of textused in the target language to express the same semanticcontent (meaning) as compared to the corresponding segmentin the source text. See expansion.3.1.5.1 DiscussionThe translation for the same conceptexpr
24、essed in different languages may require a different num-ber of words, such as clase de natacin (three words, Spanish)versus swimming class (two words, English) versus simlektion(one word, Swedish).3.1.6 controlled language, nsubset of a language withrestricted grammar, domain-specific vocabulary, a
25、nd con-strained style designed to allow domain specialists to formulateunambiguous texts pertaining to their subject field.3.1.6.1 DiscussionControlled language facilitates clear,concise, technical communication by for instance, adhering toa one term-one meaning principle. It can be accurately andef
26、ficiently analyzed by a computer, but is expressive enough toallow natural usage. Advantages can include consistency instyle and reading level, reduced training times, increasedreadability for non-native speakers, as well as improvedmachine translation effectiveness and translatability for humantran
27、slators.3.1.7 editor, nbilingual member of the translation teamwho compares a completed translation to the source text for thepurpose of validating the accuracy of the final target text, andgives detailed feedback.3.1.7.1 DiscussionIn many cases, the editor can also beasked to make changes when nece
28、ssary to improve the natu-ralness of the language or accommodate the specified registerof the translated text. The editing function is sometimesconfused with proofreading, which is essentially a monolingualactivity. Furthermore, there are several terms other than editor(for example, reviser, reviewe
29、r, and so forth) used to designatepersons who perform various aspects of the editing activity.3.1.8 end user, nperson who ultimately avails himself orherself of the translation, as opposed to various intermediatetranslation service providers who pass it on to the next client ina chain of suppliers (
30、synonymconsumer; see also requester).3.1.9 expansion, nnatural increase in the amount of textused in the target language to express the same semanticcontent (meaning) as compared to the corresponding segmentin the source text. See contraction.3.1.10 gisting, ntranslation of a text for the purpose of
31、providing the user with a general idea of the sense of theoriginal, but without emphasis on details or stylistic elegance.3.1.10.1 DiscussionGisting may sometimes be synony-mous with abstracting or summarizing, although gisting oftenreads less smoothly. Human translators can be requested toindicate
32、the gist of a text, or an unedited machine translationcan sometimes be produced for this purpose. This type oftranslation is sometimes called an indicative translation.3.1.11 globalization (G11N), nthe business processes andallocation of resources necessary for taking a product tovarious markets aro
33、und the globe.3.1.11.1 DiscussionGlobalization includes making deci-sions regarding internationalization, localization, sales pro-cesses, and so forth. The abbreviation consists of the first andlast letters of the term, with the number 11 inserted betweenthem, signifying the eleven letters between t
34、he G and the N.3.1.12 glossary, nterminological list of designations froma subject field, frequently with equivalents in one or morelanguages (from ISO 1087).3.1.13 internationalization (I18N), nprocess of generaliz-ing a product so that it can handle multiple languages andcultural conventions (such
35、 as non-Roman scripts, varyingdate/time/currency formats, and so forth) without the need forsubstantial modification.3.1.13.1 DiscussionInternationalization facilitates local-ization by building in flexibility. Internationalization can alsobe performed on a document, as opposed to a product, tofacil
36、itate translation. The abbreviation consists of the first andlast letters of the term, with the number 18 inserted betweenthem, signifying the 18 letters between the I and the N.3.1.14 leveraging, nreuse of resources (for example, ter-minology, segment of translated text, or formatting templates)fro
37、m previously translated text.F25750623.1.15 linguist, n(1) a student or practitioner of linguis-tics, that is, of the science of language; (2) person proficient inmore than one language.3.1.16 locale, nin common practice, the language and thegeographic region (for example, Spanish in Colombia versus
38、Spanish in Spain) of a given target audience for a translation.3.1.16.1 DiscussionLocale can also relate to other itemsof information such as time and date formats, legally bindingformat restrictions, international telephone codes, and so forth.3.1.17 localization, (L10N), ncross-cultural communica-
39、tion process of preparing locale-specific versions of a productor service, consisting of translation of textual material into thelanguage and textual conventions of the target locale, andadaptation of nontextual materials as well as input, output, anddelivery mechanisms to meet the cultural, technic
40、al, andregulatory requirements of that locale.3.1.17.1 DiscussionLocalization encompasses not onlythe translation and adaptation of computer software, but alsothe preparation of many types of products and services forparticular locales. The abbreviation consists of the first and lastletters of the t
41、erm, with the number 10 inserted between them,signifying the ten letters between the L and N.3.1.18 machine translation (MT), nmode of translation inwhich a computer program analyzes a source text and producesa target text, typically without human intervention at the actualtime of translation.3.1.18
42、.1 DiscussionExcept in the case of gisting, machinetranslation (also called automated translation) generally re-quires human participation before the computer processes thesource text (called pre-editing) or after the translation isproduced by the machine (called post-editing), or both. Inmachine tr
43、anslation, the translator supports the automatictranslation process by adapting the source text to accommodatethe machine or by post-editing the target text to accommodatethe human reader. In computer-assisted translation (CAT), themachine supports the translator.3.1.19 markup, nany text, tag, or co
44、de that is added to thedata of a document to convey information about it (from ISO1087).MetrorailThe regions rapid transit system stops adjacent to Terminals B and C.Metrorail fare cards may be purchased from machines at either of two Fare-card plazas located on Level 2 near pedestrian bridges that
45、lead into and outof Terminals B and C. A third Farecard plaza for disabled and other passen-gers using elevators, is under the Metro platform, midway between the northand south mezzanines.Click here for a map of the Washington DC area Metro.Normally Hidden Text Markup (Example of HTML Code from a Pu
46、blicWebsite in which the Markup Text Provides Formatting Instructions ThatAre Not Seen by the Viewer of the Corresponding Website)3.1.20 metric, nprocedure providing a means of measur-ing the quality of a product or service that results in acomposite numeric value.3.1.21 parallel text, ntarget langu
47、age text that is compa-rable to the source text in terms of subject matter or text type(from DIN 2345, 3.2.3).3.1.21.1 DiscussionThis is also known as comparabletext.3.1.22 post-editor, ntranslator who reviews a completedmachine translation to validate the accuracy of the final targettext with refer
48、ence to the source text in order to ensure adefined degree of stylistic acceptability, and makes changeswhere necessary.3.1.22.1 DiscussionDifferent criteria for acceptability canbe defined for machine-translated text depending on the needsof the end user.3.1.23 post-project review, nreview and perf
49、ormanceevaluation procedure conducted at the end of a project todetermine how well the project conformed to original specifi-cations (synonympostmortem).3.1.23.1 DiscussionPost-project review is also designedto facilitate orderly project closeout. It can involve debriefingof project participants and integrating project resources (forexample, terminology and translation memory data) into cen-tral data repositories so that they can be leveraged for laterprojects. This can help increase efficiency and ensure continu-ous improvement.3.1.24 p
