Maia Nikitina
Translators and translation providers often mention translation glossaries but what are they exactly and do you need one?
What is a translation glossary?
A Translation Glossary is an index of all the terminology that your business uses and the equivalent preferred translations. This is particularly applicable to translations of marketing materials, technical manuals, legal or medical documents, or any other documentation within specific industries. It also applies to less specialised fields where a company wants to ensure a uniform and harmonised brand presence.
Why use a translation glossary?
The same word can mean different things depending on the industry and context. Take the word “pitch”: in marketing or sales-related industries, a pitch means a sales proposal, whereas a camping company would use this word to indicate the area for a tent to be set up. In music, a pitch is related to the quality of a sound in terms of “high” or “low”. In mountaineering, a pitch is a steep section of a route or the angle of ascent. In construction, “pitch” is referred to as height over run.
These differences become even more pronounced when a term is translated into other languages. This is when a translation glossary becomes essential as it ensures that all your company content has consistent terminology in all languages.
A lack of consistency may confuse clients, especially where product names and terminology are concerned. If you have multipile translators working on the same large project, inconsistency is likely to happen unless all translators use the same translation glossary.
Translation glossary formats
Translation glossaries don’t have to be complicated. For smaller businesses, they can consist of a spreadsheet or a list of all the terminology used by the company. For larger businesses, they may involve the use of more sophisticated tools and programmes. The scale of a project also has an impact on the way a glossary would look, with more complex projects requiring more comprehensive glossaries.
Your glossary will contain your terminology in your source language (the original language of your content) and the translations for all the terms, approved by you. It might also have other details such as the definitions, context, and instructions on when to use a particular term.
How your translation company creates and uses a translation glossary
To create a glossary, your translation provider analyses your existing materials to identify potential lists of terms. The lists are then translated into the target language(s) and the translations are reviewed by your in-house specialists to ensure consistency. It is preferable that your experts are based in the country of your target language, and that local terminology preferences are taken into account.
Once reviewed, the glossary is finalised and distributed to the translators working on any projects for your business. This will ensure consistency no matter how many translators are on the team. If working with translation memory tools (TM), the preferred terms from the glossary will be automatically suggested to translators as they work. If a translation is performed without TM, then translators will refer to the glossary themselves.
How do you know if your glossary is good?
An effective glossary will be:
Brief: a glossary should be as brief as possible but still include all the relevant terms.
Well-organised: it should be easy to use and understand.
Specific: a translation glossary should only include the terms that are relevant and specific to your business. This means that any terms that have a specific definition in your business should be included, whereas any terms that have an industry-wide or general meaning can be left out.
Comprehensive: a good glossary has an exhaustive list of all terms that require specific definition. It also excludes any repeating terms. It should provide context in addition to definitions. It may also include a list of terms that are not to be translated, such as product names.
Current: your glossary should be regularly updated to include any new terms. You and your translation provider might establish a 6 or 12 months review schedule, and agree on a process for entering and reviewing new terms and definitions.
