This time, it is related to the content introduced in the previous blog Common Mistakes in IT/FA Translation Part 3: Who is the Subject, the User or the System? Correct Translation Method for Explanation Text in Tables.
Let's review the main points from the previous blog.
In descriptions of functions, processes, operations, flows, etc...
・User-side operation → Use imperative form
Example:
Set a setting value for the mode to be switched.
Set a setting value for the mode to be switched.
("Set" is used in imperative form because "setting" is a user-side operation, not a system-side process.)
・Processed by the system → Use the third person singular
Example:
Performs low speed cyclic transmission at the set period.
Performs low speed cyclic transmission at the set period.
("Performs" is used because "transmission" is processed by the system, not by the user.)
However, machine translation often cannot distinguish between verbs such as "set", "configure", and "apply", whether they are actions performed by the user or processes carried out by the system, and thus tends to use imperative form for all cases.
Therefore, it is important to pay attention during post-editing.
Let's take a look at an example sentence.
>>Related Download Materials: 9 Examples of Machine Translation Errors and Post-Editing Checklist
- Table of Contents
-
1. System Processing
- ■Original Text
- The following processes will be performed in the installer.
- • Confirming the installation environment (OS) settings
- • Copy necessary files
- • Creating Symbolic Links for Service Implementation
- ■Machine Translation
- The installer does the following:
- • Check the installation environment (OS) settings
- • Copy required files
- • Create symbolic links for service
- ■After Correction
- The installer performs the following processes.
- • Confirms the installation environment (OS) settings.
- • Copies the required files.
- • Creates a symbolic link before installing it as a service.
Explanation of the installer process (function), so imperative form is not appropriate.
Therefore, use the third person singular and make it clear that the installer on the system side is performing the process.
(👉Post-editing Point: Regardless of the presence of periods in the original text, expressions that begin with imperative or third person singular should be treated as complete sentences in the translation, and it is recommended to add a period at the end.)
Let's take a look at another example.
2. System Functions
- ■Original Text
- The integrated screen function provides the following features:
- • Display various operation management screens in an integrated manner
- • Customize screen layout
- • Save and restore customized screen layouts
- ■Machine Translation
- The integrated screen function provides the following functions.
- • Display various operation management screens in an integrated manner
- • Customize the screen layout
- • Save and restore customized screen layouts
- ■After Correction
- The integrated screen function performs the following.
- • Displays various operation management screens in an integrated manner.
- • Customizes the screen layout.
- • Saves/restores a customized screen layout.
As with the previous example, the ability to display, customize, save, and restore is not on the user's side, but on the system's side, so all imperative forms need to be changed to third person singular.
(👉Post-edit point: "The integrated screen function provides the following functions." → "The integrated screen function executes the following." This is not a problem, but the original text is verbose, so I changed the translation to make it easier to read and mean "The integrated screen function executes the following.".)
For things that are processed on the system side, depending on the situation, different grammar and structure may be used instead of the third person singular. Let's take a look at some examples.
3. Function Processing Flow
- ■Original Text
- The processing flow for packet capture monitoring is as follows:
- 1. Register Monitoring Settings
- 2. Retrieve packets from all network cards present in the target node
- 3. Output dump file when specified number of packets is accumulated
- 4. Execute monitoring and collection processing on the output dump file.
- ■Machine Translation
- The processing flow of packet capture monitoring is as follows.
- 1. Register monitoring settings
- 2. Get packets from all network cards on the target node
- 3. Output a dump file when the specified number of packets is accumulated
- 4. Execute monitoring / collection processing for the output dump file
- ■After Correction
- The process flow of Packet Capture Monitor is as follows.
- 1. The monitor setting is registered.
- 2. Packets are collected from all network cards existing on the target node.
- 3. A dump file is output when number of packets reach the specified amount.
- 4. Monitoring and data collection are executed for the output dump file.
This is an explanation of the process flow, not the function. Therefore, it is natural to bring the object of the verb to the front and use one of the structures of the fifth sentence type.
The error introduced this time is commonly seen in both manual and machine translations.
Such errors need to be understood in the context and corrected appropriately, as they may cause confusion for the reader.
In my personal opinion, no matter how much the quality of (neural) machine translation improves, it will be difficult to accurately distinguish whether a certain verb is processed by the system or operated by the user, and generate the correct translation.
Therefore, I believe that handling such errors is essential in post-editing tasks such as technical documents and operation manuals.
Author Information
-
Andy ParkMultilingual Translation Group
Japanese-English Translation Reviewer
- ・In my previous job, I worked as an IT engineer for about 4 years, and then I worked as an English conversation instructor for 8 years, where I was involved in developing educational programs and training instructors.
- ・Translation experience of 11 years, specializing in IT and business fields.
- ・Currently engaged in translation work and translation quality management, primarily focusing on FA-related products such as product manuals, help documents, and operation manuals.
- - Responsible for evaluating and verifying the translation quality of machine translation engines.
>>Related Download Materials: 9 Examples of Machine Translation Errors and Post-Editing Checklist
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