Definitions of Language Industry Terms |
|
 |
Asseveration (solemn affirmation)
Court procedure whereby the professional translator declares that the translated document is faithful to the original in the presence of the Registrar. The certified translation maintains its legal value in the destination language.
CAT (Computer Aided Translation)
CAT is a form of translation wherein a human translator translates texts using computer software designed to support and facilitate the translation process. This is not the same as machine translation: CAT tools do not translate the text for you, but instead ensure that repetitions in the text are always translated in the same way.
Chuchotage
Chuchotage (whispering) is the near-simultaneous interpreting of a spoken message, delivered by an interpreter who sits/stands next to a person who does not understand the source language.
Code of ethics
A code of professional responsibility for the quality of language services. In the case of Agostini Associati, this code is drawn up by the Milan Chamber of Commerce and by the Federlingue Milano association of translation companies.
Consecutive interpreting
In consecutive interpreting the interpreter begins the interpretation of a complete message after the speaker has stopped producing the source utterance. At the moment in time when the interpretation is being rendered, the interpreter is the only person in the communication environment who is speaking. Without needing to resort to simultaneous translating equipment, our interpreters will stay by your side, translating for you with impeccable style and reliability.
CMS (Content Management System)
A Content Management System is a script or program for maintaining websites, or a software system used in the management of a large body of documents or other content. It automates the process of creating, managing, maintaining, publishing and updating various kinds of content.
File Format
A file format is a particular way of encoding information for storage in a computer file.
Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)
Also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), these are products that have a fast turnover and relatively low cost (for example, the typical goods available at a supermarket). FMCG products can be thought of in contrast with consumer durables.
FTP
File Transfer Protocol, used to connect two computers over the internet so that the user of one computer can transfer files and perform file commands on the other computer. It is a commonly-used protocol for exchanging files over any network that supports the TCP/IP protocol (such as the internet or an intranet).
Globalization
Globalization (G11N) includes all company-wide preparations that must be made in order to enter the international marketplace. Globalization covers anything that needs to be done differently in any part of the business to optimize processes and functions to achieve international success.
Glossary
A bilingual or multilingual list of terminology used to define key terms and their translations. At the beginning of a business relationship, we usually create a tailor-made glossary containing the client’s more recurrent technical terminology. This glossary ensures the highest consistency of terminology over time. It can also be useful for standardizing your company’s foreign language communications.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
HTML is a tagged-text formatting language that uses a set of predefined tags to describe the structural elements of a web page, such as tables, rule lines, style sheets, text, graphics and hyperlinks. Browser software interprets the tags and uses them to format the page for display to the user.
KPI
Key Performance Indicators are financial and non-financial metrics used to quantify objectives to reflect performaces of an organization.
IAS/IFRS
The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) are a set of accounting standards. Currently they are issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). Many of the standards forming part of IFRS are known by the older name of International Accounting Standards (IASs). IASs were issued between 1973 and 2001 by the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee (IASC). In April 2001, the IASB adopted all IASs and continued their development, denoting the new standards as IFRSs.
Internationalization
Internationalization (I18N) is the practice of adapting products such as publications, hardware or software for non-native environments, especially other nations and cultures. You can refer to a product as having been "internationalized" if it has been developed to meet most of the needs of an international community, but it has not yet been customized for a specific region. Customization to a specific region is called localization.
Interpreter
A professional native speaker with at least 5 years of proven experience in the client’s specific sector. Unlike a translator (who reads and writes), an interpreter works with the spoken word. At Agostini Associati every interpreter is carefully selected and his or her performance (based on client satisfaction and client complaints) is continually monitored.
Legalization
Legalization consists of the legal certification of the public officer who has signed the document and the authenticity of the signature itself. This document certification is carried out after the asseveration of a translation in court or at an embassy or consulate.
Localization
Localization (L10N) is the process of adapting a product or service for a particular country or region. This includes translation, but it also goes beyond this. Localization includes making sure that graphics, colours, and sound effects are culturally appropriate and that information like numbers, dates, calendars, units of measurement and currency notations are in the correct format.
Machine translation
The use of a computer to translate from one human language to another. Developments in artificial intelligence in the 1970s and 80s led to initially high hopes for machine translation, but it is now clear that a computer is no substitute for a skilled, literate human being if you need a quality (or even readable) translation.
Minimum Charge for Translations
Managing a single order of 10 pages from Italian to English is quite different to managing 10 orders of a single page to be translated from Italian into 10 different languages. The fixed costs of translating a short text are often similar or the same as those for a document of hundreds of pages. Without forgetting that a different professional mother tongue translator must be assigned for each language pair! For this reason our translation agency applies a “Minimum charge” to occasional customers (those with whom there is no contract or agreement in place): a fixed price for small projects of less than 600 words (for each language combination). For this reason the quote will not be calculated in the traditional way (by word or page). Where possible, we would advise our customers to group together their requests and revisions so they can enjoy an immediate saving on the cost of their translations!
PDF
Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) allows users to convert any PostScript Language output into an online hypertext document. Documents in PDF format can be shared across all platforms while maintaining the documents` printed look and feel. PDF files are independent of character coding standards—they are viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded for free.
Project manager
A key professional figure who supervises and coordinates all work for a translation or localization project and who is responsible for the quality and on-time delivery of the service. No matter how big and complex your project is, our project managers will organize and manage resources in such a way that we will deliver all the translation work required to complete a project within its defined scope, time, and cost constraints. Our Project Managers will help you with suggestions for the most suitable service for your business needs and will provide all necessary post-sales assistance.
Simultaneous interpreting
In simultaneous interpreting, the interpretation is given while the source speaker is speaking, as quickly as the interpreter can reformulate the message in the target language. Normally in simultaneous interpreting between spoken languages the interpreter sits in a soundproof booth. Our interpreters ensure that your convention, press conference or live television/radio broadcast will always have excellent results.
Source language
The language in which the product or document that is to be translated or localized was originally written.
Standard page
The unit of measurement used for translation services is called the standard page. This is defined by European Union of Associations of Translation Companies as a quantity of characters that may vary from 1200 to 1500. Based on UNI standard 10574, we have chosen a page size of 1375 characters.
Style guide
A guide developed for a target language to define the translation style. The style guide can include writing style, usage, grammar, punctuation, font and typeface, and capitalization. We strongly recommend using a corporate style guide to ensure consistent use of language in both internal and external communications.
Target language
The language in which the product or document that is to be translated or localized is to be written.
Term extraction
Extraction of key terminology from product documentation and marketing materials for the purpose of creating the source language terms in a bilingual or multilingual glossary.
Transcription
The conversion into written, typewritten or printed form of a spoken language source, such as the proceedings of a court hearing recorded on audiocassette.
Translation
Translation is the process of adapting meaning from one language into another. This is not a literal, word-for-word process. Rather, the translator must first understand the meaning communicated by the source language and then compose words in the target language that convey the same meaning. Whatever your company‘s translation needs, Agostini Associati has a wide range of translation services in over 60 languages carried out by native speaker professionals with at least 5 years of proven experience in your specific industry, available for urgent jobs and even during holidays.
Translation Manager
The translation manager (TM) is an expert linguist who coordinates and supervises the work of the translators and reviewers. The TM is responsible for the linguistic quality of our services and of our in-house and external translators, as well as for the development of tailor-made client glossaries and translation memories for CAT tools.
Translation memory
A database of sentences and phrases and their translated counterparts, which has been built from previous translations of a document or series of documents. Unlike a glossary, which can be multilingual, a translation memory is only bilingual; there is only one source language (e.g. Italian) and only one target language (e.g. English).
Translator
A professional native speaker with at least 5 years of proven experience in the client’s specific sector. Unlike an interpreter (who listens and speaks), a translator works with the written word. At Agostini Associati every translator is carefully selected and his or her performance (based on client satisfaction and client complaints) is continually monitored.
Unicode
Unicode is an industry standard designed to allow text and symbols from all writing systems in the world to be consistently represented and manipulated by computers. The standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including XML, the Java programming language and most modern operating systems.
UNI 10574
An Italian certification standard for translation companies. UNI 10574 sets out quality guidelines for providing linguistic services. In line with this standard, our workflow procedures require the exclusive use of specialist native speaker professionals and every translation is subjected to 12 rigorous quality controls.
UNI EN 15038:2006
It is the first European norm for this sector that specifies the qualitative requests that translation services must possess. Agostini Quality Translations is one of the first translation service providers in Europe to have achieved.
UNI EN ISO 9001:2008
ISO 9000 is a family of ISO (International Standards Organization) standards for quality management systems. Agostini Associati was the first language services company in Italy to achieve this certification.
XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a W3C-recommended general-purpose markup language that supports a wide variety of applications. XML is becoming the preferred format for creating and tagging data and documents for manipulation and display on the internet.
|
+ 39.02.336633.1