A consistency issue
Thread poster: jyuan_us
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:08
Member (2005)
Chinese to English
Jun 25, 2019

How would you handle this scenario, in which consistency could be an issue?

I've been assigned an editing job, for which I will need to edit 10 contracts, which have a lot in common. The files are forwarded to me one by one. I have to deliver the current one before the agency would send me the next one.

I found that many fuzzy match segments exist on the 2nd file and beyond. There could be many different but equally correct ways of expressing an expression in my target
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How would you handle this scenario, in which consistency could be an issue?

I've been assigned an editing job, for which I will need to edit 10 contracts, which have a lot in common. The files are forwarded to me one by one. I have to deliver the current one before the agency would send me the next one.

I found that many fuzzy match segments exist on the 2nd file and beyond. There could be many different but equally correct ways of expressing an expression in my target language that is contained both in a fuzzy match segment and in the TM. However, the expression doesn't exist in the project specific glossary that the client has provided.

Do you need to translate such an expression consistently? I understand I can search the expression in most CAT tools, but I found it very time consuming to do so.

Would you think it is necessary to translate this kind of expressions consistently?
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Richard Purdom
Richard Purdom  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 08:08
Dutch to English
+ ...
set up a term base Jun 25, 2019

Yes, be consistent, unless you want a load of awkward questions!

Add the client's glossary (automatic if it's in excel) and your preferred translations for other terms to the TB. They'll appear while you're translating, and you can also run a QA at the end to see if you've overlooked anything.

[Edited at 2019-06-25 11:17 GMT]


 
Kaspars Melkis
Kaspars Melkis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 08:08
English to Latvian
+ ...
It depends Jun 25, 2019

Unless it is something very formulaic or clearly defined, I wouldn't really bother in one way or another. In fact, native writers often tend to use slightly different expressions. Once I wanted to check a certain expression in a textbook on medicine and found 3 different expressions used on a single page. Apparently it helps readers to better understand intended concepts.

The same could be said about translations which by their nature may not always be 100% precise. Expressing the
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Unless it is something very formulaic or clearly defined, I wouldn't really bother in one way or another. In fact, native writers often tend to use slightly different expressions. Once I wanted to check a certain expression in a textbook on medicine and found 3 different expressions used on a single page. Apparently it helps readers to better understand intended concepts.

The same could be said about translations which by their nature may not always be 100% precise. Expressing the original in slightly different ways in the target may only improve your translation. Brian Mossop seems to agree in his book on Editing and Revising for Translators.

[Edited at 2019-06-25 13:15 GMT]
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Li-Hsiang Hsu
Sabrina Bruna
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Eliza Hall
Eliza Hall
United States
Local time: 04:08
French to English
+ ...
Are the contracts related? Jun 26, 2019

If they're between the same parties or relate to the same deal or dispute (e.g., multiple settlement agreements used to resolve litigation between several different parties), then yes, you have to be consistent and translate the same terms the same way. A better practice on the client's end would be to send you all the contracts together, so that you could scan through them and notice recurring terms.

If the contracts are unrelated, it is still better practice to translate set term
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If they're between the same parties or relate to the same deal or dispute (e.g., multiple settlement agreements used to resolve litigation between several different parties), then yes, you have to be consistent and translate the same terms the same way. A better practice on the client's end would be to send you all the contracts together, so that you could scan through them and notice recurring terms.

If the contracts are unrelated, it is still better practice to translate set terms the same way. Not absolutely all terms; sometimes one word is used in, say, two different ways in the source language, but the target language uses two different words, and which one is right depends on the context.

For instance, with FR>EN, in a motion or petition to a court "requérant" might be translated as "petitioner," while in a summons or a contract it might be "requester" or "requesting party." But you would still want to make sure, for instance, that in multiple different summonses you always said "requesting party," while in multiple different court pleadings you said "petitioner."
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David Lin
 
Eliza Hall
Eliza Hall
United States
Local time: 04:08
French to English
+ ...
Consistency really matters in legal documents Jun 26, 2019

Kaspars Melkis wrote:

Unless it is something very formulaic or clearly defined, I wouldn't really bother in one way or another. In fact, native writers often tend to use slightly different expressions. Once I wanted to check a certain expression in a textbook on medicine and found 3 different expressions used on a single page.


For topics other than law, I would agree with you. But these are legal contracts. The precise word chosen really matters in legal documents, so consistency is much more important than in, say, marketing or business documents.


Kay Denney
David Lin
Hedwig Spitzer (X)
 
jyuan_us
jyuan_us  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 04:08
Member (2005)
Chinese to English
TOPIC STARTER
Thanks to every one Jun 26, 2019

The concern is not about specialized terms or legalese. It is rather about general English phrases that we use everyday. When you see a phrase that can be translated in many different ways, you will still have to search it in the TM if you want it translated consistently. This is significant in that a phrase of daily use that you know perfectly well how to translate may have to be checked against your TM, again and again.

Isn't this counter-productive?


 


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A consistency issue







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