Here’s a quick tip I got from a teacher in the translation program at Bellevue College in Washington state. It has allowed me to go the extra mile for clients and to produce accurate translations, a source of pride for me. When Translators Need This TipFirst some context. Translators always work across the source and target culture and have to process the text through the filter of both, even through a third or fourth culture sometimes. In other words, the translator reads the text in French, let’s say, in order to understand what the author said. Then, they take that understanding and translate it into English or whatever second language, applying new cultural norms, such as slang, metaphors, and gender pronouns. French to English, English to Spanish, Korean to German, etc. This happens every time and personal names are no exception. First and Last NamesThis brings me to the quick tip. Every culture has common first and last names. When the translator comes across them, they are often difficult for that person to pronounce and even spell. Two examples from my work are J-L. Vanoverschelde and Himdata Abdourahime. It can be an issue when the translator needs to know if the name is feminine or masculine in order to correctly use third-person pronouns or even adjectives in the target text. For example, “So-and-So gave his/her opinion.” Quick Tip: ResearchThe tip is to go the extra mile and research the person’s name. Either their full name, if they might have an internet presence - LinkedIn page, website, publications, etc. Or research each name individually with a phrase like “Is So-and-So a girl’s/boy’s name?”
This is a very quick step that could impress your translation client and improve your reputation with them, bringing you to the top of their list of vendors.
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As a translator, have you ever run across Latin phrases in the source text, then wondered “Do I translate this and, if not, do I italicize it?” Based on my research, I’ll outline the rule to follow with specific examples. I’ve been a translator for over 6 years. In that time, I’ve run into the above problem dozens of times. I needed to establish a baseline for myself, so trust me, this blog post serves myself as well as other new and long-time translators. Which Latin terms are translated and which remain in Latin? The general rule is that if it’s a long-established loan phrase (think centuries), don’t italicize; but you can if the author’s intention is to make it stand out for some reason (think literature or a context where the condition is emphasized). *Good brief explanation here. Common examples I've seen in medical documents Et seq. - not italicized, specifically because it’s an abbreviation - An abbreviation for the Latin et sequentes or et sequentia, meaning "and the following.”
De facto - not italicized - It refers to what happens in practice. A priori/a posteriori - not italicized - A way to distinguish between empirical and nonempirical knowledge. These phrases have to do with how a situation might be known. Is it something known independent of experience or based on experience? In vitro/ex vivo - not italicized - without going into too deep of an explanation, here’s how I’d summarize it. It refers to whether or not an experiment or procedure, or even an event, takes place within a living organism in its normal, intact state or outside of the living organism in a laboratory apparatus. |
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October 2023
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