dtSearch + IntelliWebSearch

dtSearch

dtSearch can instantly search terabytes of text across a desktop computer, a network, an intranet or the internet, making it ideal for translators, terminologists, language service providers (LSPs) and wordworkers in general.

dtSearch case studies include various International Language Developer Tools.

For translators and terminologists working on personal computers, I recommend dtSearch Desktop with Spider or dtSearch Network with Spider. For LSPs and others wishing to give collaborators access to intranet resources, I recommend dtSearch Web with Spider.

IntelliWebSearch

IntelliWebSearch helps translators and terminologists to solve terminology problems more quickly by allowing them to search up to 50 online and local search engines and other resources all at once. The basic version (v3) is free while the latest one (v5) costs just €25. IWS has thousands of users with many translators reporting that it is their most precious and most used tool. IWS has been favourably reviewed in a number of translation industry publications.

dtSearch Web + IntelliWebSearch

As a long-established user of both IntelliWebSearch and dtSearch Desktop, I was keen, when asked to work with dtSearch Web, to add dtSearch Web to my preferred combination of resources and search engines directly accessible using IntelliWebSearch. For the moment, this is a work in progress. I will report here as soon as I can get the two tools to work together.

I initially assumed that there might be some generic way to link access any dtSearch Web database using IntelliWebSearch. Preliminary research suggests, however, that different dtSearch Web setup work in different ways and that access using IntelliWebSearch has to be tailored to each instance.

Update (29 July 2016): dtSearch + IntelliWebSearch

Michael Farrell, author of IntelliWebSearch (IWS), has written to say that the settings to get IWSv3 to invoke a local dtSearch Desktop (not to be confused with dtSearch Web) are:

Label=dtSearch (local)
Start=C:\apps\search\dtSearch\bin
Finish=^s@{enter}
Description=dtSearch
Notes= 
Quotes Off=Yes
Pluses Off=Yes

Update (29 July 2016): dtSearch + IntelliWebSearch

If you have both IWSv3 and IWSv5, you can set up the above settings for IWSv3 then import them into v5.

If you only have v5, try to follow the information and links above.

If all else fails, you can contact me or Michael Farrell and ask for the IWSv5_dtSearch.ini which you can then import into IWSv5.

History and languages in the 16th‑century Mediterranean

In Agents of Empire by Noel Malcolm review – a dazzling history of the 16th‑century Mediterranean, Guardian reviewer John Gallagher gives author Noel Malcolm what is presumably much deserved credit for drawing on "material in upwards of 10 languages in archives from Rome and Warsaw to Dubrovnik and Malta". The result, writes Gallagher, "is a work of astonishing (if, at times, almost overwhelming) richness and detail: a deftly woven tapestry of Mediterranean history that incorporates “the all-too-neglected Albanian thread that is woven into the history of 16th-century Europe”."

The following quotes give an indication of Malcolm's language sensitivities:

In the 16th century, the Mediterranean was what historians have called a “contact zone” – a region characterised not by rigid boundaries and borders, but by a bewildering mixture of faiths, peoples, languages and traditions.

The Mediterranean through which Malcolm’s subjects moved was abuzz with languages. A Flemish captive taken aboard a North African corsair found himself in a real-life Babel, writing that “I was all this while as it were in a dream, wherein a man sees strange apparitions, which cause fear, admiration, and curiosity, reflecting on the several Languages (for they spoke the Turkish, the Arabian, Lingua Franca, Spanish, French, Dutch and English), the strange habits, the different Armes, with the ridiculous Ceremonies at their Devotions.” “Lingua franca” referred to the pidgin language spoken on ships, at market stalls and in slave quarters from Marseille to Tunis and Izmir, alongside the region’s almost countless vernaculars.

In 1579, Cristoforo Bruti became a giovane di lingua, training for a life as an interpreter, or “dragoman”.

Judging from the review, the book sounds like a fascinating read for anyone interested in both history and languages, and more particularly those of the eastern Mediterranean.

On 'thank you' in Hindi

Noticed in passing: an example of information explaining another instance of when not to translate even the simplest of words, in this case if you happen to be translating from English into Hindi.

In 'I've Never Thanked My Parents for Anything' Danish Siddiqui of Reuters explains why Dhanyavaad is used so much less frequently in Hindi than thank you in English. Fascinating.

Know your veils

Today's "Les Décodeurs" rubric in Le Monde clarifies the current terminology in French for the different types of Muslim veils with definitions and photos of the niqab, hijab and burqa.

Wikipedia has a more comprehensive article under the heading List of types of sartorial hijab, but only in English. More useful information can be found in Wikipedia by comparing the entries in different languages for words like niqab, hijab, and burka or burqa.

Note in passing. Similar headgear was worn by women in southern Portugal, and more particularly in and around the town of Olhão until the early 20th century. See Côca, Biuco e Capelo.
The main type is called bioco or biuco in Portuguese which may be a cognate of burqa.
The Dicionário Priberam lists the definitions of bioco as:
1. Mantilha ou envoltório com que as beatas tapam o rosto.
2. [Figurado] [Figurado] Ademanes de modéstia afectada.afetada.afetada.
3. Gesto de ameaça.

Transcreation

On 14 May 2015 Nick Gaj of Language Scientific posted a definition of 'transcreation' on the blog associated with the company's website.

Nick's definition, which he restricts to marketing campaigns, reads as follows:

What is transcreation?Transcreation often referred to as creative or adaptive translation is a hybrid of new content, culturally adapted content and imagery, and straightforward translation. It is the process of adapting a company’s message in its source language, so that it carries the same emotion, tone and context in the target language. Transcreation enables you to convey your creative messages in a way that is both relevant and engaging, while maintaining your original brand concept. It is a vital part of any international marketing campaign.

In a private exchange, Bill Maslen over at the Word Gym defined the concept as follows:

Transcreation is about translating a piece of copy (i.e. marketing or advertising text) in such a way that it exerts exactly the same impact on the target audience, and conveys the same messages in the target language, as it did in the source language.

Bill also wrote:

In my view, one of the best definitions of the act of creative translation is in Ken Liu’s rather good translation of The Three-Body Problem, a science-fiction novel by Chinese writer Cixin Liu:
Overly literal translations, far from being faithful, actually distort meaning by obscuring sense. But translations can also pay so little attention to the integrity of the source that almost nothing of the original’s flavour or voice survives. Neither of these approaches is a responsible fulfilment of the translator’s duty. In a sense, translating may be harder than writing original fiction because the translator must strive to satisfy the same aesthetic demands while being subjected to much more restrictive creative constraints… In moving from one language, culture and reading community to another language, culture and reading community, some aspects of the original are inevitably lost. But if the translation is done well, some things are also gained—not the least of which is a bridge between the two readerships. (Translator’s Postscript, p. 397)

Like Nick's, Bill's definition is restricted to marketing and advertising copy.

Nicole Y Adams of NYA communications defines transcreation as:

a free interpretation of the core message of the source text that takes extensive linguistic liberties in regard to style, word order, syntax, etc. without necessarily mirror-imaging the source content. The extent of such linguistic liberties can range from simple changes in word or sentence order up to a complete rewrite of the source text in the language of your target market.

My thoughts

Provided, of course, that the transcreator has the client's confidence and a broad mandate, I think the concept can be taken further and applied more widely. I would therefore like to suggest:

What is transcreation?
It's about adapting a client's document in the source language to a specific communication challenge in a target language. Given that the audiences are different, the aims will differ. The process typically combines high-quality translation with new content as appropriate. Passages of little or no interest to the target audience may be deleted. Transcreation enables clients to convey their messages in a way that is relevant and engaging.

Challenge: Provide into-English language services for a continental European engineering company aiming to promote its corporate image and more particularly a new product or service to potential (B2B or B2C) customers.
Assumptions regarding the original: Writer is an in-house engineer with no particular experience in technical journalism who was simply assigned the task of drafting an article promoting the company and latest product or service. This type of author is prone to dwell on the company's history, the design team's track record, the project's specific challenges and so forth. He or she is also likely to describe the product's potential impact in terms of the company's home market. Worse, the writer may neglect entirely to discuss why the purchaser might need it, what problems it solves and so forth.
Assumptions regarding target language version: Aim for compromise. Include enough of the original content to satisfy the company paying for your services, but introduce (provided you have the mandate or believe you can convince the customer before final sign-off) basic elements of best English-language technical communication practice beginning with a shift to the product end-user's perspective. What challenges might they be facing? How and why does this new service represent a solution to such challenges? Why should the end user trust a foreign supplier that they have never heard of? And so forth. This type of transcreation involves a 180° switch from the supplier's perspective to the end user's perspective.

Comments and discussion welcome.

Corporate BS generator

Tommy Butler of Atrinex has posted a corporate bullshit generator.

He uses a Dilbert strip as an attention grabber:

Tommy writes:

For the ambitious business professional looking to get ahead in the industry.
Dazzle all the execs at your next business meeting...
Create your own corporate BS catch phrase!

I can certainly understand the motivation given the number of times, when translating corporate gobbledegook, that I have been unable to fathom how so many authors manage to put so much jargon into a single sentence. Still, I think that the  corporate bullshit generator is guilty of a degree of overkill given that many of the words listed are often used perfectly well.

Nikki Graham rates 101 Things a 'goodread'

Nikki Graham of Tranix writes a blog called My Words for a Change. She is also, presumably, the author of her company's excellent slogan:
Words are my business and I want to make them work for you.

On 29 May 2014, Nikki reposted a glowing review of 101 Things a Translator Needs to Know. Many thanks Nikki.