141 lines
7.7 KiB
HTML
141 lines
7.7 KiB
HTML
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE html
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PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
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<html lang="en-us" xml:lang="en-us">
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<head>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
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<meta name="security" content="public" />
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<meta name="Robots" content="index,follow" />
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<meta http-equiv="PICS-Label" content='(PICS-1.1 "http://www.icra.org/ratingsv02.html" l gen true r (cz 1 lz 1 nz 1 oz 1 vz 1) "http://www.rsac.org/ratingsv01.html" l gen true r (n 0 s 0 v 0 l 0) "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" l gen true r (SS~~000 1))' />
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<meta name="DC.Type" content="concept" />
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<meta name="DC.Title" content="Text translation design" />
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<meta name="abstract" content="There are some general tips in this topic to help simplify the translation of your textual material." />
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<meta name="description" content="There are some general tips in this topic to help simplify the translation of your textual material." />
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<meta name="DC.Relation" scheme="URI" content="rbagsuseint.htm" />
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<meta name="copyright" content="(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1998, 2006" />
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<meta name="DC.Rights.Owner" content="(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 1998, 2006" />
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<meta name="DC.Format" content="XHTML" />
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<meta name="DC.Identifier" content="rbagstextdatatransdesign" />
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<meta name="DC.Language" content="en-us" />
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<!-- All rights reserved. Licensed Materials Property of IBM -->
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<!-- US Government Users Restricted Rights -->
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<!-- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by -->
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<!-- GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp. -->
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./ibmdita.css" />
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<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="./ic.css" />
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<title>Text translation design</title>
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</head>
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<body id="rbagstextdatatransdesign"><a name="rbagstextdatatransdesign"><!-- --></a>
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<!-- Java sync-link --><script language="Javascript" src="../rzahg/synch.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
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<h1 class="topictitle1">Text translation design</h1>
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<div><p>There are some general tips in this topic to help simplify the
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translation of your textual material.</p>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Isolate textual data from running code</h4><p>To allow
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easier translation and to avoid translating the running code, you should separate
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all textual data from the running code. Only one set of running code is needed,
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but many translations of the textual data can be done.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Provide expansion space</h4><p>The space needed to translate
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text from one language to another varies by language. To ensure that the translated
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version preserves the concept and keeps usability, allow sufficient presentation
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space for the textual data expansion. The following table shows recommended
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expansion space for user interfaces designed using U.S. English.</p>
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<div class="tablenoborder"><table cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="" frame="border" border="1" rules="all"><thead align="left"><tr><th valign="top" id="d0e28">Number of characters in text</th>
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<th valign="top" id="d0e30">Additional space required</th>
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</tr>
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</thead>
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<tbody><tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">Up to 10</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">100 to 200%</td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">11 to 20</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">80 to 100%</td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">21 to 30</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">60 to 80%</td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">31 to 50</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">40 to 60%</td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">51 to 70</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">31 to 40%</td>
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</tr>
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<tr><td valign="top" headers="d0e28 ">Over 70</td>
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<td valign="top" headers="d0e30 ">30%</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Variable placement of an object on the display</h4><p>Because
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the position of one display element often is influenced by the position and
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size of others, some of the elements on the translated version of a display
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might need to be relocated. The program must continue to respond properly,
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despite this relocation.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Flexible order of variables</h4><p>In order
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to contain dynamic information, messages typically employ substitution variables.
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However, each spoken language has its own syntax (order of arrangement of
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parts of speech). When a message is translated into another language, the
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position and order of substitution variables might need to change to meet
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the syntax requirements in the translated language.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Complete textual data entities</h4><p>If the final form
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of the constant text relies on the composition of various parts, it might
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be untranslatable. This is because the translator might not know which form
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of the word to use or because there is no combination of parts that work for
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a different language.</p>
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<p>For example, you should define column headings
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for display screens as complete entities. You should not combine words or
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parts of words to define column headings. Assume that you are
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writing an application for scheduling jobs between Monday and Friday. You
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are creating your application in French. You decide to create column headings
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for reports and screen displays by combining the first part of the name of
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the day with the constant DI. Throughout the application, the column and report
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headings are assembled like this:</p>
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<pre>First Part of the
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Name of the Day: Combine With: Result:
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LUN DI LUNDI
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MAR DI MARDI
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MERCRE DI MERCREDI
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JEU DI JEUDI
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VENDRE DI VENDREDI</pre>
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<p>When you translate
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your application from French to German, you cannot combine two parts to create
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the names of the days: MONTAG, DIENSTAG, MITTWOCH, DONNERSTAG, and FREITAG.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Treat commands, responses, and keywords like textual data</h4><p>Commands, responses, and keywords should be translated into
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the language normally spoken by the user. For example, an English application
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has been translated into German. If the response is still in English as Yes
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and No, the German users might feel unfamiliar and uncomfortable in using
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the program because the responses they are familiar with are Ja and Nein.</p>
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</div>
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<div class="section"><h4 class="sectiontitle">Express all text as simply and clearly as possible</h4><ul><li>Use simple phrases and sentences and avoid compound phrases. Simple words
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allow easy translation.</li>
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<li>Make terminology consistent throughout the product. <p>If consistent terminology
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is not being adopted throughout the product, translators will waste time trying
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to determine the appropriate word to be used in translation.</p>
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</li>
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<li>Include notes to translators in your information for correct word use
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to prevent any misunderstandings.</li>
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<li>Avoid abbreviations. <p>Rules for abbreviations vary from
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language to language. Abbreviations of words can lead to misunderstandings
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by the translator and by the user.</p>
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</li>
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<li>Avoid slang, jargon, and humor. <p>Slang, jargon, and humor are specific
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for a particular language and cannot be easily translated into another language.</p>
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</li>
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<li>Avoid negative questions. <p>Negative questions are often misunderstood
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by the user. When asking questions, ask them in a positive way.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div>
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<div class="familylinks">
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<div class="parentlink"><strong>Parent topic:</strong> <a href="rbagsuseint.htm" title="A user interface is the part of a software product that your customer actually sees.">User interfaces</a></div>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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</html>
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