Medicine Featured Language: German

The hronicle C A Publication of the American Translators Association VOLUME XXIX • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2000

Focus on: Medicine Featured Language: German

The Features Singular Concerns Chronicle By Alexandra Russell-Bitting ...... 13 A Publication of the American Translators Association You would think that something as seemingly universal as adding an “s” Volume XXVIX, Number 3 or “es” to make a plural would apply systematically to both English and March 2000 Spanish, especially since they are, after all, members of the same Indo- European family of languages. But there are also instances where a sin- gular in English is properly rendered in the plural in Spanish and vice versa, not to mention a number of irregular plurals in English that even have native speakers confused. The Translator’s Dilemma: Communicating Medical Terminology By Clancy J. Clark ...... 14 With recent trends in the development of national standards for cul- turally and linguistically appropriate services in health care, there is an increased need for trained interpreters and translators. To meet this demand, The Cross Cultural Health Care Program developed and translated a medical glossary series in Amharic, Somali, Spanish, Tigrigna, and Vietnamese. The article discusses the challenge of translating medical terminology when direct linguistic equivalents do not exist, and how these translated medical glossaries accommodate for this difficulty. Health Care Interpreting—An Emerging Discipline By Cynthia E. Roat ...... 18 Focus on: Medical interpreting, or health care interpreting as it is sometimes Medicine called, is just emerging as the most recent discipline among the inter- preting professions. In this article, the current state of medical inter- Featured Language: pretation in the U.S. is described and future trends identified. German Medical Translation: A Physician’s View

Photo: Field of sunflowers in Bavaria, Germany. By Oliver French ...... 21 Medical translation covers a vast field of knowledge that would prove Monthly Columns impossible, even for a physician, to encompass. Yet, a botched med- ical translation can hurt patients. A physician turned translator sug- From the Executive Director ...... 7 gests solutions for problems he has encountered when trying to ensure From the President ...... 8 that the final translation is a clear and safe rendition of the source text. Upcoming Conferences and As Tough as it Gets—But How Tough? Educational Programs ...... 10 By Leon McMorrow ...... 24 ATA Activities ...... 11 The ability to assess the difficulty of a particular job is one of the Letter to the Editor ...... 12 “trade secrets” that is developed unconsciously with translation expe- Dictionary Reviews ...... 49 rience. It is very useful for accepting/declining jobs, determining The Writer’s Reference Guide to Spanish readiness for an ATA accreditation examination, negotiating the best Reviewed by Tony Beckwith price with a client, and especially for building self-esteem and a Ter mium¨ and Termium Plus¨ on professional reputation. But how does one develop this ability? CD-ROM in Windows 95 and Windows 98/NT versions The Translator as Global Contractor Reviewed by Sharlee Merner Bradley By Marga Hannon ...... 29 Termium Plus¨ Reviewed by Françoise Herrmann Individual translators are increasingly becoming global contractors. This can be lucrative, but also poses a new set of challenges. The Translation Inquirer ...... 52 Compiled by John Decker Educational Documents: Translation or Evaluation? Humor and Translation ...... 54 By George Fletcher ...... 32 By Mark Herman This article is based on questions posed to the author during a session Display Advertising Index ...... 54 at the 1999 ATA Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. Some of the answers to the participants’ questions were subsequently researched, Classified Ads ...... 55 and the additional information was integrated into this article. New Active and Corresponding Members . . 57 Accreditation Exam Sites ...... 57 Style Issues in the Translation of Biopharmaceutical Texts from German into English ATA Chapters and Regional Groups . . . . 60 By Christian Schmitz ...... 37 While the translation industry often invests considerable resources into Mark Your Calendars! terminology management for large-volume projects, the importance of establishing a set of well-defined style rules is often overlooked. This ATA’s 41st Annual Conference is article offers project managers and translators a starting point for iden- September 20-23, 2000 tifying pertinent style rules in the translation of medical and biophar- maceutical texts from German into English. The AN EASY REFERENCE TO ATA MEMBER BENEFITS Your ATA membership has never been more valuable. Take advantage of the dis- Chronicle counted programs and services available to you as an ATA member. 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4 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Features Continued “Sprachliches Kleingeld”: The Translation of Proverbs and Proverbial Need a membership Expressions in German/English Context form for a colleague? By Dorothee Racette ...... 42 Proverbial or fixed structures make up a large part of metaphorical lan- Want the latest list guage. Since German and English use widely differing cultural metaphors and source materials for their proverbial lore, appropriate of exam sites? translation can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to word Call ATA’s Document on games and advertising slogans. The following presents a discussion of different approaches to translating proverbial material, and features a Request line, available bibliography of helpful resources. 24-hours a day: Musings on the Translation of German Literature By A. Leslie Willson ...... 45 Personal reflections on how one translator came to realize that he was called to translate, and how he trudged the arduous and compelling path to 1-888-990-3282 published translations. The importance of impudent initiative and salutary good fortune, links to publishers and authors, the translator as author’s agent, and resources for translators young and old are also discussed. The Call is toll-free and user-friendly... simply follow the voice prompts and have the ATA documents st you need faxed to you. ATA’s 41 Annual Mark Your Conference is Here’s the current list of documents Calendars! September 20-23, that are available and their document numbers: 2000

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ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 5 About Our Authors...

Clancy J. Clark is a research associate and coor- Dorothee Racette holds an M.A. in German from dinator of translation services at The Cross the University of Vermont and translates mainly Cultural Health Care Program. He received his academic materials from German into English. Bachelor of Arts in anthropology at Brown She is the owner/administrator of One World University in 1998. His areas of interest include Language Services¨ in upstate New York and is discrimination and racism, cultural adaptation, ATA-accredited for English<>German. She can be cross-cultural interactions and communication, personal identity reached at [email protected]. and multiculturalism, and community-based outreach strategies. He can be reached at [email protected]. Cindy Roat, MPH, is nationally recognized for her work on interpretation in health care settings. An interpreter herself and a George Fletcher, Ed.D., is president of the International trainer of medical interpreters, she works for the Cross Cultural Education Credential Evaluation Division of Globe Language Health Care Program is Seattle, Washington, and is a founding Services, Inc., in New York. He is an adjunct assistant professor of member of both the Society of Medical Interpreters in Seattle translation at New York University, and is the current chairperson and the National Council on Interpretation in Health Care, a of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and national organization supporting the development of health care Admissions Officers’ International Education Research interpreting. Her basic training for medical interpreters, Committee, charter member of the Association of International Bridging the Gap, is offered regularly in multiple sites across the Credential Evaluators, and a Little League baseball coach. He is an country. She can be reached at [email protected]. ATA-accredited Spanish/English translator and author of The Complete Handbook and Glossary of Soviet Education (1992) and Alexandra Russell-Bitting has been a senior Chile: A Comparative Education Study (2000), with Spanish/English translator/reviser at the Inter-American Development glossary. He can be reached at [email protected]. Bank for the past 12 years. She works from Spanish, French, and Portuguese into English, and has Oliver French is a freelance translator (ATA-accredited in taught translation at the Université de Paris and German>English), as well as a retired physician certified in sev- Georgetown University. She can be reached at eral specialties. He has published a number of articles and poetry [email protected]. in general audience publications, as well as scientific articles and letters in professional publications. He teaches a course in Christian Schmitz is a freelance English-to- the psychiatric field of dissociation at Syracuse University. He German translator specializing in medical and can be reached at [email protected]. computer texts. After receiving his M.A. in speech-language pathology from The University Marga Hannon is primarily a technical translator, ATA-accredited of Iowa, he worked for many years with children for English-German. Her home and office are on Saltspring Island, and adults with communication disorders. In B.C., Canada, where she shares her interest in languages with her 1996, he obtained his certificate in translation from The husband, a German-to-English translator. She is also one of the co- Translation and Interpretation Institute in Seattle, Washington. editors of Interaktiv, the newsletter for the German Language He now lives in Iowa City and can be reached at Division. She can be reached at [email protected]. [email protected].

Leon McMorrow is a career medical translator with a back- A. Leslie Willson was born in 1923 and raised in the Panhandle ground in linguistics and medicine. Currently freelancing, he has of Texas. A Yale Ph.D. (1954), he is now emeritus professor of previously practiced in language as a translation teacher in col- Germanic languages at the University of Texas at Austin. He co- lege and an agency manager. In the field of medicine, he has held founded the American Literary Translators Association in 1979 a variety of titles in hospitals and medical companies. He can be and was its first president. He served as president of the ATA reached at [email protected]. from 1991 to 1993. In addition to having published scholarly articles and books on his academic specialties, he has translated plays, poems, and stories by dozens of contemporary German- language authors. Since his retirement in 1992, he has translated and published nine novels, and has edited three volumes of con- temporary prose for Continuum’s The German Library. His latest translation, Piranesi’s Dream, a novel by Gerhard Köpf, will appear in July, 2000 (George Braziller, Inc.). Three novels are presently being considered by publishers, and he is at work translating two more. He can be reached at [email protected].

6 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 What’s New

ccreditation Survey Conducted. At Specialized Translation Services Directories the November Board meeting, the Printed. The first printed sorts of the online TSD A Board cited the need for member input have been published: 1) French<>English transla- From the on the issue of offering ATA accreditation exam- tors/interpreters for over 120 areas of specializa- ination sittings outside the United States. As tion; and 2) legal translators/interpreters in over Executive background, international exam sittings have 110 language combinations. The Specialized Director been suspended since the July 1999 Board TSD: French<>English is about 250 pages; the meeting. The suspension was to give the Board Specialized TSD: Legal Translation and Walter Bacak, CAE time to collect information and member feed- Interpretation Services is over 400 pages. While [email protected] back on the matter. the same information is available online for free, Through Board efforts, a forum on interna- there is still a demand for printed directories. tional exam sittings was held at the ATA Annual More information on ordering these Specialized Conference in St. Louis. The forum, chaired by TSDs will be published in the April Chronicle. Nicholas Hartmann, allowed members to share their opinions. In addition, the Ad Hoc Japanese Language Division’s Introduction to Committee on International Exam Sittings, the Professions of Translation and Interpre- chaired by ATA Director Izumi Suzuki, fol- tation Published. This 376-page publication lowed up with its report. features career information in both English and With no clear-cut message from the forum Japanese. More information will be featured in and AD Hoc Committee report, ATA President the April Chronicle. Ann G. Macfarlane proposed a survey of the membership. The survey, which was conducted Conference Planning Underway. The ATA in mid-February, provided the Board with hard Annual Conference, scheduled for Orlando, data based on member feedback. The results are Florida, September 20-23, is six weeks earlier than not binding since the ATA’s bylaws do not allow usual. For example, the deadline for submitting a for referendum votes. However, they will be proposal to do a conference presentation has used as a guide for the association. Thank you to passed. However, if you are still interested, please those who participated. submit a completed Conference Presentation Proposal form. (The form is available from ATA Corporate Translation Services Directory. In Headquarters, (703)683-6100; fax: (703)683- an effort to complement the very successful 6122; or e-mail: [email protected]. The form may be online Translation Services Directory, a direc- downloaded from the ATA Website: http://www. tory of companies providing language services atanet.org, click on “Conference” to view confer- is now online. The Corporate Translation ence-related information, including the form.) Services Directory will provide in-depth pro- Late proposals will be considered as space allows. files of ATA corporate members who want to Finally, thanks to all of you for renewing market their services to the business commu- your membership. With these projects and the nity, the general public, and individual transla- ones in the works, your ATA membership has tors and interpreters. The Corporate TSD will never been more valuable. As always, if you include a field for corporate members to have any questions about the benefits of your acknowledge that they are accepting resumes ATA membership or have suggestions for pro- from independent contractors. (This field will grams, publications, or services ATA should be searchable.) offer, please let me know.

VISIT ATA’S WEBSITE AT WWW.ATANET.ORG

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 7 Alert Listeners

ave Barry, the manic humor columnist, trouble to explain “what’s wrong with this pic- frequently cites news items sent to him ture.” In this instance, however, when millions From the D by “alert readers.” I owe this month’s of people were listening in, and likely to swal- column to alert listeners, who responded imme- low unthinkingly the fantastic vision conjured President diately to one sentence in President Clinton’s up, the effort seemed justified. State of the Union address on January 27: In a new departure for the ATA, we posted Ann G. Macfarlane “Soon researchers will bring us devices that can this letter and a press release on our Web page, [email protected] translate foreign languages as fast as you can in addition to distributing it to selected outlets speak.” (In the words of Dave Barry, “I am not in the media. Many thanks to those of you making this up.”) who have sent positive comments about this Within 24 hours the cyberwaves were effort. I thought that Chronicle readers might buzzing with comments from outraged ATA enjoy seeing the text in the form that it was members, who felt it important that we respond sent to the President, and so provide the letter to the patent unreality of the President’s remark. as an accompaniment to this month’s column It was a pleasure to try to articulate on paper a (see page 9). I hope that you “alert readers” response to this comment that would be will keep us informed of other opportunities respectful, and yet forthright. Those of us who where we can try to set the record straight on work in the language business encounter unreal these and similar issues. expectations about machines and language all the time. Sometimes it isn’t worth taking the

IJET-2000 Kyoto • May 20-21, 2000 Kyoto, Japan

This spring—for the first time ever—the Japan Association of Translators takes the International Japanese/English Translation Conference to the Kansai region.

Now in its second decade, IJET provides a forum for meeting colleagues, making new contacts, catching up on the latest trends in the industry, and improving professional skills.

The venue is just a quick subway ride from Kyoto Station, and the line-up of speakers and presentations, including Professor Ogawa Takayoshi, translator of the bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha, promises to be well worth the price of admission (24,500 Yen or $225; online sign-up available). An early sign-up will ensure your reservation. For details, please refer to the IJET Website at http://www.ijet.org/ijet-2000.

8 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 9 Upcoming Conferences and Educational Programs

TRADOS Workshops TRADOS Corporation offers one-day training workshops each Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, May 21-24, 2000. The month for Translator’s Workbench, MultiTerm, and WinAlign at its conference will feature more than 250 technical sessions covering site at 803 Prince Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Attendance is limited. technical writing, editing, management, Web design, multimedia, For more information, contact: Tracy Calvert at Tel: (703) 683-6900; and other subjects of interest to technical communicators. Fax: (703) 683-9457; E-mail: [email protected] or www.trados.com. Information on the conference is available on the STC office Website at http://www.stc-va.org. A copy of the conference Institute of Translation and Interpreting Conference 2000 Preliminary Program, including a registration form, can be “Do We Speak Science?” obtained by calling (703) 522-4114 ext. 200. Translation, Interpreting and the Sciences, Technology and Medicine Multimedia 2000 - Translation and Multimedia: April 8-9, 2000 From the Monitor to the Big Screen Imperial College, London, England June 6-8, 2000 Call for Papers Capomulini (Sicily, Italy) The 14th ITI International Conference will take place in London The keynote speakers will be Yves Gambier, Daniel Gouadec, at Imperial College in the Sir Alexander Fleming Building on April 8- and Ida Mori. 9, 2000. The theme will be science technology and medicine. ITI During the first morning session, Yves Gambier, who has been invites translators, interpreters, and specialists from higher education conducting research in translation for the screen at the international and industry to contribute papers on any subject pertaining to this level since 1990 and is head of the Center for Translators and theme. Here are a few subjects which will be covered at the confer- Interpreters at the University of Turku in Finland, will discuss the ence: specialization and training (there will be a special workshop for skills needed in multimedia translation. In the second session, new translators and those moving to technical translation); pharma- Daniel Gouadec (University of Rennes), who is director of CRAIE ceutical and medical translation and interpreting; research and termi- (Research Center on Linguistic, Multimedia, and Documentary nology; patents; the translation of scientific research papers for major Engineering) and has a research interest in the application of infor- scientific communities; the application of technology to the transla- mation technology to translation, will examine the implications of tion process; and the localization industry (translation as part of the multimedia translation for training. In the third session, Ida Mori, industrial process). translation manager for Berlitz Dublin, will discuss localization. There will be tours of the Science Museum and Natural History Four roundtable discussions have also been planned for the after- Museum. All suggestions for papers and themes for sessions are noon sessions. welcome. For more information, please e-mail [email protected] For more information, please contact: Jane Hibbert or Maria or visit www.mix.it/aiti. Cordero, Institute of Translation & Interpreting, 377 City Road, London EC1V 1ND, United Kingdom; Fax: +44 171 713 7650; E- Rennes 2000 International Symposium on Specialist mail: [email protected]. Correspondence should be clearly Translation Teaching/Training Methods and Practices, marked ITI Conference 2000. Professional Practice Université de Rennes 2 Research Models in Translation Studies September 22-23, 2000 April 28-30, 2000 Open to professional associations, students, translator trainers, University of Manchester Institute of employers, and organizations. The event is designed: to provide an Science and Technology overview of the best professional practices; to identify proposals, Manchester, England initiatives, and models for specialist translator training along tru- Hosted jointly by the University of Manchester Institute of Science lyprofessional lines; to discuss the aims and the implementation of and Technology and the University College of London, the conference courses designed to train specialist translators and translation man- seeks to foster critical awareness of current research methods in all agers - specialization being understood to imply domain, product areas of translation and interpreting, and to evaluate the significance of type (software localization), technical constraints (subtitling), or both traditional and new theoretical models for practical research. For type of translation tools (computer-assisted translation and auto- more information, please contact: Departmental Events Secretary, matic translation software); and to describe course content require- Department of Language Engineering, UMIST, P.O. Box 88, ments in light of identifiable and model-based professional Manchester, M60 1QD, United Kingdom. The conference organizers practices. can be reached via e-mail at: Mona Baker, [email protected]; Submissions for workshops or papers should be half a typescript Theo Hermans, t.hermans@ ucl.ac.uk; and Maeve Olohan, page in length. Please enclose a short C.V./resume of the author [email protected]. (half a page), along with the author’s e-mail address or Website. Submissions should be forwarded to the organizing committee no The Society for Technical Communication later than June 20, 2000. Please send them to: D. Gouadec, 6 47th Annual Conference avenue Gaston Berger, F35043 Rennes Cedex, (tel/fax: +33 02 99 May 21-24, 2000 33 13 37). All persons submitting papers or registering for the Orlando, Florida Symposium will automatically be added to an e-mail list and kept The Society for Technical Communication will hold its 47th updated with the latest developments. Continued on next page

10 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 ATA ACTIVITIES

Accreditation complete the Proposal for Conference Public Relations ¥ An exam was held in Portland, Oregon. Presentation form and send it to ATA ¥ ATA and/or translation/interpretation Headquarters. Copies of the form are services were featured in The Board available from ATA (703)683-6100; Washington Post, Fort Worth Star- ¥ The ATA Board of Directors met fax: (703)683-6122; or e-mail: ata@ Telegram, Hoppoken (a Japanese March 4-5 in Alexandria, Virginia. atanet.org; the Website: www.atanet. publication with an article written by ¥ A survey of the membership was con- org; and ATA Documents on Request ATA Director Izumi Suzuki), and the ducted regarding international exam line: 1-888-990-3ATA (-3282), and American Society of Association Exec- sittings and related issues. request document #80. utive’s International Section newsletter ¥ The Honors & Awards Committee (the article was written by ATA Past published the announcements seeking Membership President Muriel Jérôme-O’Keeffe). nominations and entries for the Gode ¥ Membership continues to grow (5.3 ¥ ATA President Ann G. Macfarlane Medal, the Lewis Galantière Award, percent ahead of last year at this time). wrote to President Bill Clinton and the Student Translation Award. regarding his State of the Union mes- Membership Services sage. (See “From the President” on Conference ¥ The online Corporate Translation page 9.) ¥ Advertising space in the Conference Services Directory, which features the ¥ ATA continues to work with the Preliminary and Final Programs con- profiles of ATA corporate members American Foundation for Translation tinues to be marketed. (If you would providing translation and interpreta- and Interpretation, the Fédération like more information, please contact tion services, is up and running. The Internationale des Traducteurs, the ATA Headquarters.) Corporate TSD complements the ASTM Translation User Standards ¥ Proposals for presentations are still extremely successful TSD, which fea- Project, and the Localisation Industry being accepted, space permitting, for tures the profiles of over 3,700 indi- Standards Association. the September 20-23, 2000 ATA Annual vidual translators and interpreters who Conference in Orlando, Florida. If you are ATA members. would like to submit a proposal, please

Upcoming Conferences and Educational Programs Continued from previous page 4th Annual New England Translators Association Exhibition For more information, including registration, please and Conference contact Nathalie Collin at [email protected]; Tel: +33 02 99 14 16 06; Fax: +33 02 99 14 16 06. Please also visit April 29, 2000 http://www.uhb.fr/langues/craie. Boston College • Boston, Massachusetts Critical Link 3: Interpreters in the Community May 22-26, 2001 NETA will hold its fourth annual exhibition and confer- Montreal, Canada ence on April 29, 2000 at Boston College in Boston, Critical Link 3: Interpreters in the Community will be held in Massachusetts. The fair is being organized in association Montreal, Canada from May 22-26, 2001. The specific theme for this with the Judicial Interpreters of Massachusetts (JIM) and conference is "Interpreting in the Community: The Complexity of the with the participation of members of the Massachusetts Profession." As in the previous two Critical Link conferences, partici- Medical Interpreters Association (MMIA). The event will pants will come from the five continents to discuss interpretation in the include 20-30 exhibiting companies from throughout the community (health services, social services, courts, schools). The event New England area. Speakers will include ATA President- will provide interpreters, users of interpreter services, administrators, elect Tom West and other prominent interpreters and and researchers with an opportunity to share experiences, explore the translators. There will also be a panel discussion on stan- complexity of the community interpreter profession, and learn about dards for medical interpreters. For further information, successful strategies and models in this rapidly evolving field. The call please contact Ken Kronenberg, NETA president, at for papers and further information can be found at: http://www. [email protected] or call (617) 734-8418. rrsss06.gouv.qc.ca/english/colloque/index2.html.

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 11 LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Against Political Correctness and considered, or the translation is doomed Because to censor "nigger" from Mark Censorship before it is begun. The translator might Twain's book is to entirely miss its point. I am writing in response to Eileen just as well replace the word with three Huck's background has given him Osmond Savdié's appalling letter in the asterisks every time it appears, as nothing but this cruel word to refer to November/December 1999 issue, in Victorian translators did for any swear Jim. Yet, Huck is a moral hero, eventually which she calls for the bowdlerization of word or word naming a sex act or organ. willing to recognize Jim's humanity and The Grapes of Wrath, Huckleberry Finn, Nor does it suffice to say that a word like to act accordingly despite the fact that and who knows what else. I find it "nigger" is so harged that it cannot pos- Huck's immoral society regards such a shocking that someone so afraid of sibly convey the meaning of the original. recognition as evil, so evil that Huck words, or at least one word, "nigger," has That is to assume that readers cannot believes he will be punished for it by the temerity to pass for a translator or any read, which, if true, makes all translating burning eternally in Hell. kind of writer. and writing pointless. Censorship is not "a little judicious Ms. Savdié's letter was prompted by Doubtless, there are a few who, in fact, editing," as Ms. Savdié calls it. It is an her objection to Nidra Poller's decision to cannot read, such as those, not all black, abdication of responsibilities and a translate the French word "nègre," in who object to the "racism" of betrayal of everything that translators Ahmadou Kourouma's novel Monné, out- Huckleberry Finn, one of the great anti- should stand for. Traduttore, traditore rages et défis, as "nigger." Now,"nigger" racist novels of all time. What better task indeed! may or may not be a correct translation, for those who can read, a category which but the decision must depend on the presumably includes translators, than the Mark Herman extent to which it, in comparison to other education of those who can't. Fortunately, Freelance Translator words and in the specific context under according to the PBS television program Shepherd, Michigan consideration, conveys the denotation and Culture Shock, there are many, not all [email protected] connotation of the original. Political cor- white, who are trying to do just that in the rectness and censorship cannot even be case of Huckleberry Finn.

12 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Singular Concerns

By Alexandra Russell-Bitting

Note: This article was originally published in the July, 1997 Collective Bargaining issue of Chasqui, the newsletter of the Inter-American English grammar also includes a Development Bank. special category of nouns called “collective” nouns, which, although ou would think that something as seemingly uni- singular in form (that is, no “s” at versal as adding an “s” or “es” to make a plural the end), also represent a group, so would apply systematically to both English and they are sometimes or always plural Y in construction. A prime example Spanish, especially since they are, after all, members of the same Indo-European family of languages. In fact, is the term “staff,” which can most of the time it works: “one loan” = un préstamo; refer to a group of employees as a “two loans” = dos préstamos. whole (“Bank staff is recruited But there are also instances where a singular in English is properly rendered in the plural in Spanish and vice versa, not to mention a number of irregular plurals ...You would think that something as in English that even have native speakers confused. seemingly universal as adding an “s” Safety in Numbers or “es” to make a plural would apply One key difference between English and Spanish is systematically to both English and that English differentiates between nouns (i.e., persons, Spanish... places, or things) that are countable and those that are uncountable. So, for example, since you can't count “information,” only “pieces of information,” the sentence Estas informaciones son esenciales, in which the internationally”) or as a bunch of Spanish noun is plural, comes out singular in English: individuals (“Staff accrue two days “This information is essential.” of vacation a month”), with a good Likewise, on the subject of loans, while you can cal- deal of overlap. culate interest rates or the amount of interest accrued, Another frequently used collec- “interest” itself, in the financial sense, tends to be invari- tive noun is “people,” understood able in English: “the interest accrues” is usually rendered by most English speakers to mean in the plural in Spanish: los intereses se devengan. more than one person. The plural By the same token, a country name like “the United form “persons” does exist, but has States of America,” which certainly looks plural, is fallen into disuse in spoken English treated like a singular in English, presumably because it (even in writing, sometimes the is only one country: los Estados Unidos tienen una term “individuals” is preferred). población de 260 millones is translated “the United But when the term “people” is used States has a population of 260-million.” to mean an ethnic group, it also has On the other hand, Romance languages generally assume a plural form, as in the expression that individual attributes do not accumulate. Accordingly, “indigenous peoples.” the Spanish version of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization Charter cites as its pur- Information, Please pose to eliminate violence “en la mente de los hombres,” on English has the added complica- the premise that each person only has one mind. In English, tion of irregular plurals inherited however, the phrase is rendered as “in the minds of men” from sometimes obscure Latin or because if each person has one head and you have more than Greek roots. For example, the one person, then you have more than one head. English term “data” is actually the Conversely, sometimes Spanish terms encompass so vast a plural of “datum,” Latin for “a concept that they may need a plural in English: for instance, piece of information” (dato in la problemática is often rendered as “problems”; la norma- Spanish). tiva can refer to “rules” or even “rules and regulations.” Continued on p. 62

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 13 The Translator’s Dilemma: Communicating Medical Terminology

By Clancy J. Clark

xperienced translators and and promote dialogue among translators and interpreters. In interpreters acknowledge the developing these glossaries, translators confronted and addressed E difficulties faced in working many of the common problems of translating medical termi- with medical terminology, including nology, especially how to handle medical terms or phrases with the specificity of terms, the common no direct linguistic equivalent in the target language. change or shifting of meanings in med- icine, and the constant expansion of A Growing Industry the medical lexicon. Throughout the 1990s, cultural competency in health care As in other technical fields, many increased in importance. This culminated with the development translators and interpreters have elected of standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate health to specialize in medical terminology. care services by several organizations and federal and state Unfortunately, translators and inter- agencies. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights released the Guidance Memorandum: Title VI Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination— ...many people question the industry’s Persons with Limited-English Proficiency. The National Committee on Quality Assurance outlined standards for the ability to meet the needs of the health availability of interpretation services. The American Medical care industry while still providing Association also published the Cultural Competence quality translation and interpretation Compendium to promote cultural competency efforts among physicians and their affiliated organizations. services... Health care organizations and providers, now faced with cul- tural competency standards, are developing, expanding, or seeking translation and interpretation services. Meanwhile, as preters who specialize in the medical witnessed in U.S. Census projections, the population of patients field do not have some of the luxuries with limited-English proficiency continues to increase. As a enjoyed by those in other technical result of these events, the translation/interpretation industry is fields. First, their audience is not well- growing, but many people question the industry’s ability to defined and can be extremely broad, meet the needs of the health care industry while still providing ranging from those knowledgeable of quality translation and interpretation services. medical science to those that have lim- ited reading skills. Second, medical ter- Needing and Building a Strong Base of Interpreters and minology is not standardized in many Translations languages. For example, medical terms Once health care organizations and providers determine the in English might be expressed in several demographic characteristics of their patient populations, they different ways in a target language. And will have a better understanding of the linguistic services that third, little dialogue exists between their institution needs to provide. For example, the Seattle met- translators or interpreters about appro- ropolitan region represents one of the most diverse populations priate equivalencies of medical and in the country. There are large Asian communities, including the health-related terminology. Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese. There is also a While medical translators and inter- large Hispanic/Latino population as well as Amharic, Tigrigna, preters face these challenges, the trans- and Somali-speaking communities. Providing the appropriate lation/interpretation industry is wit- language services for all of these communities has been a nessing an increased demand for well- serious challenge for Seattle hospitals and health care providers. trained professionals, especially inter- Having well-educated and trained interpreters and translators on preters in the health care field. The staff in the Seattle community has helped meet this challenge. Cross Cultural Health Care Program Bilingual medical glossaries are a starting point in the edu- (CCHCP) developed and translated a cation of interpreters and translators. They can provide a foun- series of medical glossaries in Amharic, dation of terminology used in the medical field. However, as Somali, Spanish, Tigrigna, and Vietna- many experienced translators and interpreters know, glossaries mese to provide an educational resource have their limits and cannot replace actual work-related expe-

14 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 rience, particularly when the misuse of a term can cause injury lators and discussing the potential or even death. No glossary is ever perfect, and users should be problems related to linguistic equiva- knowledgeable of a glossary’s pitfalls and problems. lence, the editor, translators, and reviewers of the medical glossary Designing the Medical Glossary series decided to track the problem of In 1996, CCHCP began developing medical glossaries in equivalence throughout the translation Spanish, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Korean, Lao, Chinese, and phase. Periodically, translators for Russian. These rather small glossaries were a great beginning to each language would meet and discuss what needed to be provided—a resource for medical inter- how words lacking linguistic equiva- preters and translators working in the health care field. lence should be handled. Meanwhile, However, over the last four years, interpreters have not been individual translators consulted with completely satisfied with the earlier glossaries. Incorrect trans- other professional translators and lations have been sighted. In addition, people realize that giving health care providers who speak their only the linguistic equivalents or co-ordinate lexical units is not language about this problem. enough to provide the user with the necessary information to Translators were responsible for make correct selections. These glossaries also have a small determining the most appropriate and word count and their use as a teaching tool is limited. commonly used linguistic equivalent Thus, CCHCP made the decision to expand its collection of for each English medical term in their bilingual medical glossaries in an effort to provide new target language. In this project, lin- languages and enhance these glossaries’ teaching aspects. guistic equivalence was defined as the CCHCP expanded the word list from 1,000 to 2,100 words lexical unit or multiword lexical unit in based on a survey of medical professionals, professional the target language that conveys the interpreters and translators, nurses, and dieticians. Survey same meaning or semantic value as the respondents proposed using only those terms or phrases that source lexical unit or word. occur most frequently in a medical interpretation patient- Although several translators pre- provider encounter. This word list was edited to exclude many sented the problem of linguistic equiv- terms used by physicians outside of the patient-provider alence at the beginning of the project, encounter. However, it did not exclude terms that were still was this really a problem in their lan- used despite the fact that they might often be considered too guage? In fact, for several languages complex for the average patient. The word selection also took this was a large problem exacerbated into consideration that the potential audience for the new series by the nature of the translation. The of medical glossaries might include translators, interpreters, translator was required to select the patients, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff. linguistic equivalent based on a single Unlike the original medical glossary series, CCHCP elected word or collocation (phrase) and its to include English definitions with the selected medical terms definition instead of translating a to give semantic value or meaning to the co-ordinate lexical larger passage, where the meaning of unit or linguistic equivalent. The new glossaries had additional the passage is more important than the space for the user to write notes, a section of abbreviations, and meaning of each individual word. Few an introduction explaining the translation process and how to problems of linguistic equivalence use the glossaries. CCHCP hoped that this new design would were identified in the Vietnamese and improve the usefulness of the medical glossary series as a Spanish translations, while the resource and teaching tool. Amharic, Somali, and Tigrigna transla- tions struggled to find linguistic equiv- Translating the Medical Glossary alence. More than one-third of the At the onset of the translation phase, some translators English medical terms or phrases expressed concern with regard to the ability to translate med- failed to have linguistic equivalence in ical terminology into their own language. They sighted that it these Horn of African languages. is not really a problem of understanding medical concepts, but rather conveying the exact meaning of English medical terms as succinctly as it is done in English. After meeting with trans- Continued on p. 16

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 15 The Translator’s Dilemma: Communicating Medical Terminology Continued

Linguistic Equivalence In order to address these problems, translators considered the Translators from every language available options in working with medical terms that lack lin- group provided informative examples of guistic equivalence. Translators could borrow the English term. terms where determining the linguistic This is the nature of language—acquiring words to communi- equivalent was a problem. The exact cate. Borrowed words require a transfer of the lexical unit’s characteristics of these problems varied meaning from the source language to the target language. For from term to term. However, three dif- example, influenza in Amharic is a term that has been adopted ferent categories became evident: 1) a by the Amharic-speaking community. In some cases, borrowing linguistic equivalent exists, but is only a term is actually a transliteration—a special type of borrowed used by an educated or select group; 2) word that doesn’t have any meaning in the target language. For the interpreted equivalent is sometimes a medical phrase or collocation, translators can provide a literal different from the translated equivalent; translation, but sometimes a literal translation has no meaning. and 3) there is no linguistic equivalent. In Somali, one can translate blood and pressure, but when they In the Vietnamese glossary, linguistic are combined they have no meaning in Somali. Translators can equivalent terms are readily available, but also handle equivalency problems by coining or inventing terms over one-quarter of the terms are used in the target language, but these words are essentially meaning- only by the educated or medical profes- less unless a description and/or definition is provided. sionals. Excellent bilingual and trilingual Considering these options, CCHCP translators concluded medical resources have been developed in that the most appropriate approach would be to provide not Vietnam to aid health professionals. The literal translations, transliterations, or coined words, but development of these resources can be instead create word pictures consisting of a short explana- attributed to early colonial rule by the tion/translation conveying the meaning of the word. Although French and to the later presence of in many cases this methodology did not provide a concise Americans during the Vietnam War. For solution, it prevented confusion and the development of a example, artery is translated using a term glossary with inappropriate terminology. Overall, translators that CCHCP translators felt was an appro- felt as Eugene A. Nida stated in an article entitled, Semantic priate translation, but one which is not Structure and Translational Equivalence: Analysis of Meaning necessarily understood by all Vietnamese. and Dictionary Making: “Perfect communication is impos- The translation of insurance in the sible, and all communication is one of degree. The statement Spanish glossary provides an excellent of equivalencies, whether in dictionaries or in translations, example of a term commonly used in cannot be absolute. We are faced, therefore, not with a problem the health care field, but one that can of ‘right or wrong,’ but with ‘how right’ or ‘how wrong.’” cause problems and confusion when With an understanding that terms or phrases lacking lin- translated into Spanish. Specifically, guistic equivalence would be translated as word pictures, the proper written translation of insur- CCHCP developed a set of guidelines for the translation of the ance is seguro or seguro médico, but in medical glossaries. First, all translations would use a consis- interpretation it is sometimes more tent method of presenting terminology. Second, all translations appropriate to use aseguranza. would use a consistent method and style of translation. Third, When medical terms or phrases all aspects of the translation process would be made visible to lacked linguistic equivalence, transla- other translators and users of the medical glossaries. Fourth, all tors struggled. In Amharic, there is no activities of the translation process would be recorded and fol- linguistic equivalent for cell, so trying lowed carefully. And, lastly, translators were required to work to express the meaning of cell to an closely, trade information, discuss problems openly, debate uneducated Amharic speaker is rather issues, teach, and learn throughout this experience. difficult. However, in other Amharic bilingual medical glossaries, the trans- A More Transparent Translation lation for cell is provided (typically as During the review and editing phase, the editor and transla- the transliteration of the English term). tors worked together to provide a more transparent translation. Since this term is borrowed, it has no Each translation was coded to provide the user with some under- meaning in Amharic. standing of the level of difficulty translators faced in selecting

16 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 appropriate direct equivalents for the translation. A number was glossaries to promote discussions placed next to each entry to represent the type of translation that among their interpretation staff by peri- the original translator used for that particular English term or odically meeting and reviewing terms phrase. The designations are explained as follows: that are marked as having no linguistic equivalent. Such discussions will 1. A commonly used direct linguistic equivalent exists. The improve the knowledge base of inter- translation was done using a single word or a brief phrase that preters and translators as they learn what effectively conveys the meaning of the English term or phrase. other translators are doing in the case of highly technical medical terminology. 2. A direct linguistic equivalent exists, but only the educated The medical glossary can also educate and professional elite would use the selected word or providers and health care organizations phrase. The translation was done using a single word or a about the challenges faced in developing brief phrase that effectively conveys the meaning of the effective and widely accepted patient English term or phrase, but not all speakers of the target lan- education materials in languages other guage will know or understand the target-language word or than English. phrase selected for the translation. Since bilingual medical resources are needed, addressing the problems 3. A direct linguistic equivalent does not exist. The translation associated with providing quality is difficult and requires additional explanation to convey the interpretation and translation is meaning of the English term or phrase. extremely important. Linguistic equivalence is a key problem faced After applying these numerical designations to each transla- by medical interpreters and transla- tion, this coding was analyzed to determine what percentage of tors, and word pictures are a poten- the total number of entries involved words or phrases where a tial solution. However, experience direct linguistic equivalent did not exist. As mentioned above, the of, and dialogue among, translators frequency with which the number “3” was placed next to entries and interpreters will be the only way in Amharic, Tigrigna, and Somali was high, but “3” applied to we will determine what is the best less than two percent of the entries in Spanish and Vietnamese. way to handle linguistic equivalence. And, although these findings might have implications for cross- cultural communication, these categorical designations are not static, and are heavily influenced by personal opinion, knowledge of the target language, and experience in translation/interpreta- tion. In addition, language is naturally fluid, and these designa- tions will change as the target language influences English and as the English influences the target language. CCHCP created these designations to facilitate translation or interpretation by clearly showing how each translation was chosen and how well the entry will be understood. The coding also enables translators and interpreters to look at the translation in a different way. It may put up a caution sign to the interpreter when he/she uses a translation coded as 2 or 3. It can also be used as an educational instrument in interpretation instruction. The coding provides a window into the barriers and problems interpreters will face in the field of medical interpreting.

Conclusion By admitting that linguistic equivalence is a problem, CCHCP hopes to promote dialogue among translators and interpreters. The medical glossary series is an excellent starting point in this dialogue. Interpretation service programs are using the medical

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 17 Health Care Interpreting—An Emerging Discipline

By Cynthia E. Roat

ommunication is at the very who facilitate understanding in communication between heart of health care. A patient people speaking different languages in health care settings. C describes her symptoms, a doc- You’ll find them in hospitals and clinics, at emergency rooms tor asks careful questions, a diagnosis is and diagnostic imaging services, in workman’s compensations suggested, a treatment plan is negoti- exams, blood banks, dialysis centers, and a variety of mental ated. Listening and understanding what health venues—just about anywhere health services are pro- was said is the basis of the entire vided. They interpret for everything from clinic registration to process. What happens, then, when psychiatric evaluations, from routine annual exams to bone provider and patient come from different marrow transplants, from chest X-rays to angioplasty. Theirs is cultures, speak different languages, and the voice of the patient describing symptoms or asking anx- can’t understand each other at all? iously for the results of the lab tests; theirs is the voice of the doctor explaining how to take the medication or sharing the news that there is no hope for a sick child. ...Separated by a language and cultural Health care interpreters provide services through multiple arrangements. A small percentage are full-time staff members gap that makes healing very difficult, with a 40-hour work week and benefits, while many more are both patients and providers are starting independent contractors with hospitals or interpreter agencies to turn to a new professional who who are paid only for the time they interpret. Some are sched- uled for appointments days or weeks ahead, while others are holds the keys to communication: the on-call or respond to pages. They provide services face-to- health care interpreter... face, over the telephone, or in both modalities. This is, however, an emerging discipline. Most interpreta- tion in health care settings is still provided, unfortunately, by a This is the scenario encountered by variety of other people who have been neither screened nor thousands of people each year in hospi- trained, and who do not self-identify as being interpreters. In tals and clinics across the United States. many places around the country, patients are still being For many immigrants and refugees, and expected to bring a family member or a friend to interpret, for some Native Americans, language although this practice is not in compliance with the 1964 Civil and cultural differences become a Rights Act. Even more common is the use of unscreened, terrible barrier to accessing quality untrained bilingual clinic staff to interpret; these people are health care from mainstream medical commonly medical assistants, medical technicians, reception- providers. Providers, for their part, are ists, or even janitorial or food services staff. They interpret, finding their practices becoming more often at a high personal cost, out of a desire to be of service. multilingual and multicultural every The lack of screening and training, however, translates into year. The traditional use of family and inaccurate interpreting and misunderstandings—sometimes friends to interpret is being discredited, with serious consequences. as disasters of miscommunication are Slowly, health care institutions are becoming more aware of being translated into liability suits and the difficulty of interpreting and the problems associated with complaints to the Office for Civil Rights poor quality interpretation. An increasing number of institu- (see inset, page 19). Separated by a lan- tions are seeking to professionalize their language services, guage and cultural gap that makes first by recognizing interpretation as a specialized skill and healing very difficult, both patients and role, and then by beginning to screen and train their inter- providers are starting to turn to a new preters. What does that process look like? professional who holds the keys to com- munication: the health care interpreter. Screening, Training, and Certification Screening of a potential interpreter’s language skills varies What is a Health Care Interpreter? in formality and rigor. On one end of the spectrum, some insti- Health care interpreters are bilin- tutions simply accept at face value a person’s claim that (s)he gual individuals, trained in interpreta- speaks a certain language pair. Some institutions have written tion skills and medical terminology, screening tests, usually focusing on knowledge of medical

18 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 vocabulary and basic medical concepts. Some parts of the test However, medical settings create may be bilingual. Other institutions may combine this with a some interesting dynamics that require short, informal oral interview, conducted by a speaker of the special skills from a health care inter- candidate’s language pair, to give a general assessment of the preter. For example, most health care candidate’s fluency. More formal (and more expensive) is a interpreting is done in a triadic setting, structured oral screening test, using a scale developed by the with the patient, the provider, and the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Languages. There are interpreter in close proximity. The several companies in the U.S. that will apply such a structured oral process is collaborative, not adver- screening over the telephone and provide a written assessment of the candidate’s level of language skill. Finally, some programs Continued on p. 20 screen by requiring some level of formal education in the non- English language combined with adequate scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). The Right to an Interpreter Training is equally as varied. As mentioned earlier, most interpretation in the health care field is still being done by Around the U.S., hospitals and clinics are people with no training. Where training is available, it varies becoming more aware of their legal responsibility to from a short “orientation,” in which the interpreter’s role and provide linguistic access to their services for patients ethics are introduced and superficially discussed, to full-year who speak limited English. For example, the certificate programs based at a college or university, which Americans with Disabilities Act clearly supports the may total over 300 hours of instruction and practicum time. In provision of interpreters as well as other methods to a survey of 23 medical interpreter training programs done in guarantee clear communication with patients who 1997 by the Cross Cultural Health Care Program in Seattle and are deaf or hard of hearing. Also, Title VI of the 1964 Asian Health Services in Oakland, California, the most Civil Rights Act states that no organization receiving common length of training was around 40 hours. federal funds may run its programs in such a way as Formal certification is relatively rare. At the time of this to create discrimination on the basis of race, color, or writing, only the Department of Social and Health Services of country of national origin. The Office for Civil Rights, the State of Washington has a validated process in place to cer- the national office set up to enforce civil rights law, tify medical interpreters, which is done in seven languages. has interpreted language to be an aspect of country The Massachusetts Medical Interpreter Association (MMIA) is of national origin. This means that any institution developing a certification process for the State of Massachusetts receiving Medicaid or Medicare, for example— in Spanish and Russian. California has a “medical interpreter” essentially every major medical center in the certification related to it’s court interpreter certification program, country—must provide language access to those but it is not focused on clinical interpreting per se. who need it. The institution cannot charge the How an interpreter is screened, trained, and certified, then, patient for this service, and the use of family and depends largely on where (s)he lives, the specific organization friends is generally not acceptable. Some clinics pro- (s)he works for, and the language pair (s)he interprets. vide language access by hiring bilingual providers, but in most cases, the answer is an interpreter. Just Another Venue? An excellent summary of legal requirements to Is the health care field simply one more venue in which pro- provide language services has been produced by fessional interpreters may work, or is there something funda- the National Health Law Project. The 197-page mentally different about medicine that requires special skills booklet, Ensuring Linguistic Access: Rights and and approaches to interpreting? Responsibilities, can be ordered by calling the Certainly, interpreting in any field involves listening and Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation at 800-656-4533 understanding meaning in one language and an attempt to or through their Website at http://www.kff.org. reproduce the most equivalent meaning possible in another Copies of a 1998 Guidance Memorandum from language. All interpreters must be committed to accuracy and the National Office for Civil Rights, describing the have flexibility and stamina. Like other venues, health care responsibilities of recipients of federal funding to has its own specialized vocabulary that the interpreter must provide language access, can be ordered by con- learn in order to understand and reproduce its meaning. tacting your regional Office for Civil Rights.

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 19 Health Care Interpreting—An Emerging Discipline Continued

sarial, and the level of trust present interpreter screening and training today, it is clear that the field among all the players will have a major has a long way to go. However, there are reasons to be hopeful impact on the outcome for the patient. that health care interpreting will continue to grow as a more pro- Patients often identify with the inter- fessional discipline. The first of them is simply demographics. preter and expect him or her to “take Consider these statistics from the U.S. government: as of care of things.” The topics being dis- 1996, 900,000 legal immigrants were being admitted to the cussed are often highly personal, and U.S. every year, and in 1997, one out of every ten U.S. resi- sometimes acutely painful. Other situa- dents was foreign born. Fourteen percent of U.S. residents tions can be emergent, with blood speak a language other than English at home. And by the year everywhere and time of the essence. 2000, English will be the de facto second language of Interpreters can be exposed to physical California. We are an exceedingly diverse population here in and emotional trauma and difficult eth- the U.S., and a multiplicity of languages is both one of our ical issues. Sometimes the interpreter’s great strengths and great challenges. Even though immigrants own health can be compromised. and refugees are learning English at an unprecedented rate, These situations require successful continued immigration and high rates of relocation within the health care interpreters to have a curious U.S. mean that almost all health care facilities in the country ability to be both warm and caring and, are reporting an increase in the number of limited-English to a certain extent, detached. They must speakers whom they serve. inspire a patient’s trust, and then allow There are also legal pressures on health care institutions that trust to shift to the provider. They which may boost the demand for qualified health care inter- must be able to guide the flow of an preters. In addition to the civil rights issues discussed earlier, interpreted session while staying in the medical centers are feeling some pressure from powerful insti- background, helping patients and tutions such as the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of providers to focus on each other even Hospitals and the National Council for Quality Assurance. when they seem more comfortable Both institutions have included standards for culturally and lin- talking to the interpreter instead. They guistically competent care as part of their accreditation must be committed to supporting the process. patient-provider relationship while still Finally, there is some preliminary evidence to suggest that being willing to intervene if they believe paying for an interpreter up front may actually be cheaper in that a misunderstanding is taking place. the long run for the health care system than paying for the They must stay calm under pressure, potential outcomes of miscommunication, such as increased focused in the face of tragedy, unfazed number of visits, inaccurate diagnosis, inappropriate proce- by the often unusual things they hear or dures, ER visits, and hospitalization. Our health care system is see. They must have exceptional people increasingly a managed care system, in which a service skills and good personal boundaries. provider receives a set payment for each patient whose care he And they must do all of this in an envi- manages. Under this kind of a system, hospitals and clinics ronment where people are sick and in a become concerned about the overall cost of caring for a patient hurry, and often have no idea what the over time, since they only receive a certain set fee per patient. interpreter’s job involves. Health care Research is underway to examine the impact of various forms interpreters have neither the anonymity of interpretation on health care outcomes. Depending on the of the booth nor the formality of the results, this type of research may encourage institutions to courtroom to shield them. They are daily make more consistent use of interpreters in a clinical setting. on the front lines of the human experi- The final ray of hope comes from the many efforts being ence, knowing that an error on their part made on many levels to raise awareness and skill in inter- could potentially have a profound preting. Local organizations, such as the MMIA, have been impact on a patient’s life. leaders in developing standards of practice for health care interpreters. A process initiated through the American Society Future of the Field of Testing and Materials is helping users of interpreters to Comparing the demands made of a health care interpreter and the state of Continued on p. 31

20 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Medical Translation: A Physician’s View

By Oliver French

would like to think that as a physician I have an advantage Another example: the German litera- in translating medical texts from my native tongue, ture refers to a certain venous configu- I German, into my dominant tongue, English. However, I ration as the Venenstern, a term that still find that my path to a clean translation is strewn with land- has no equivalent in English. My trans- mines. In what follows, I want to share with others how I use lation reads confluence of veins, my resources to solve the problems peculiar to my dual role. because this term is a valid concept in The problems I have encountered fall into three cate- English. It does not, however, appear gories: linguistic, specialty-related, and ethical. Each raises in any textbook. several questions.

Linguistic Problems ...[Medical] text is often obscure, since Any medical translator must know the terms used in standard doctors like to envelop their verbal medical texts in the target language. Such text is often obscure, since doctors like to envelop their verbal pearls in jargon in order pearls in jargon in order to appear to appear authoritative. However, medical jargon is a hazard for authoritative... the translator. For instance, German jargon does not correspond to English jargon, and I must constantly ask myself if a jargon- free translation renders the flavor of the original. The third type of linguistic problem I This problem is akin to that faced by a literary translator in have encountered is when a difference in translating racy dialogue, when that dialogue indicates locality as medical culture makes direct translation well as character. Phrases such as “Es handelt sich hier um…” do impractical. Such a problem arises rou- not carry a medical message, but add color to a paragraph. I tinely when I try to find an equivalent for prefer not to translate them, but that seems to me to be a matter a medication brand name, or even the of taste. At other times, jargon becomes a maze, and the writers medication itself. For instance, I had to never realize that they have not found their way out. The problem look through four drug compendia in occurs both in English and German. I found an example of this order to find the drug Bifiteral, a laxative within minutes of searching a single issue of an English-language made by a European drug company. The journal: “These correlations rose significantly after the FDAF brand-named drug is not approved in the procedure and characterized both patients with schizophrenia U.S., although there is an equivalent and controls.” What the author meant, but did not say, was that brand. To indicate this, I used the orig- the rise in correlations characterized the records of the patients. inal name, Bifiteral, and added its I believe a translator must understand the sense of the orig- generic equivalent in parentheses: inal well enough to be able to insert the missing word without (brand of lactulose). An American skewing the meaning. For example, the following sentence has reader can look up this generic term in a clear meaning in German, but its expression leaves something an American pharmacopoeia if he or she to be desired: Vor der Dopplerdruckmessung nach Belastung doesn’t already know it is a laxative. sollte die Sondenposition mittels Farbstift markiert werden, Sometimes the English equivalent damit die Arterie nach Belastung schnell wieder aufgefunden of a German term depends on the spe- werden kann. Clearly the authors meant the artery to be marked cialty audience for whom the transla- before exercise, and not before Doppler pressure measurement tion is intended. For instance, surgical after exercise. They saw the term Dopplerdruckmessung nach anatomy is different from the anatomy Belastung as a single concept, encompassing measurement both of basic science. I found that out when before and after exercise. As a physician, I tend to visualize how I ran across the term “Arteria I would carry out such instructions, and so, perhaps, I pick up femoralis superficialis” in a German the ambiguities more easily than a non-physician translator text. I knew there was no superficial might. I could correct the sentence in my translation, but before femoral artery in Gray’s Anatomy, but I do that I prefer to alert the editor to the problem. lo and behold, it appeared in American A second linguistic problem arises when the concepts surgical textbooks! described differ in the source and target languages. For example, the Pfortader in German is the portal vein in English. Continued on p. 22

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 21 Medical Translation: A Physician’s View Continued

Specialty-Related Problems countries, unless you have a comprehensive biographical dictio- If I am unfamiliar with the specialty nary available, I would not recommend using that person’s name for which I am translating, I start on the to describe a concept, as it might not be instantly recognizable to same footing as a non-medical trans- everyone. For example, when translating a piece about Fontaine’s lator. The advantage that I have is that I grading of arterial insufficiency, I could find no reference to the can quickly familiarize myself with a man in my American textbooks. In such instances, I look up medical specialty which I know little questionable names in the index of one or two target-language about, since I know the language and textbooks. If the name isn’t there, I prefer to omit it. often the substance of the specialty. Classifications are another problem. An example is the sur- Nevertheless, I must study the specific gical classification of the different courses of the popliteal terms expected by specialty readers. In artery. My source listed four, the American textbook five. If I such cases, rather than going to the am not to confuse the American reader, who might be familiar library to check a few questionable with the five-part classification, I must stick with what he or terms, I need to have at least one spe- she knows. In most cases, the classifications of one medical cialized textbook next to my computer. culture will not correspond with those of another culture. If the The Merck Manual is always there (it’s text I am translating includes a classification, I always check a a wonderful resource), but it’s not target-language textbook to compare classifications with that enough for specialty terms. of the source text. I then use the target language’s classification If the readers I am translating for are if it differs from the source. I have learnt to be suspicious of using an instrument with which I am not any eponym or classification. Good places to check (apart from familiar (such as ultrasound), I must go textbooks) are the Dorland or Stedman medical dictionaries. to see that instrument. Only by seeing However, I have found that these two books do not necessarily the instrument perform can I understand give eponyms or classifications as they appear in specialty what my source text is trying to explain. textbooks. Since I cannot possibly own every textbook, I find As a former anesthesiologist, I know my material in many different places. These include our hos- that seeing what happens when I turn a pital medical library, the public library (especially good for knob is very different from seeing it books on drugs), the Internet, and the vast resources of our uni- illustrated in a textbook. Moreover, I versity, including its veterinary school. must know what controls the instrument has and how they are marked on the Ethical Problems instrument, and what terms are used in Ethical problems arise when the physician in me objects to determining how they are adjusted. Here what I am translating. That happens when I find myself up I have an advantage over non-physi- against the problem of knowing that the text I am translating cians. I can call up the local hospital and, does not conform to what I believe to be medically correct. The as a physician, I have access to all their obvious first step when confronted with this situation is to facilities. Any non-physician translator check my knowledge, but even then I find that I must at times of medical texts would benefit from translate statements with which I disagree. having a source in the local hospital to The problem does not need correction if the text contains a turn to for hands-on experience. medical error that does not mislead the reader. This is mostly Two big traps in translating medical the case in medical reports or in historical texts. Medical reports texts are the eponyms and classifications from abroad can often be criticized, but they are history in every so beloved to medical writers. While sense of the word. Nothing can change what has already hap- every physician knows about pasteuriza- pened. Sometimes disasters created abroad must be corrected tion and Koch’s postulates, most coun- after the patient returns to the U.S., but for that to happen I must tries have their own little firmament of report faulty medical procedures accurately. Books or journal medical stars that they love to quote, but articles that describe research also need no correction, even these names tend to be minor planets when I am sure that they describe concepts that have been elsewhere. Even though the actual med- revised or discarded. Readers of such material must judge it for ical concept attributed to a particular themselves. Faithful translation is the way to go, however much person is frequently the same in both the physician in me cries: “wait, that’s all wrong.”

22 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 There are times, however, when the source text is not only illustrations. The company agreed. in error, but can lead to future disaster. It is not history; it is his- They simply continued to attribute tory in the making. Sometimes the error is prescriptive; that is, authorship and translation to the it is part of a recommendation. Fortunately, I have not had to people who had written and translated deal with such a problem, but if I did, I think I would contact the original version, with acknowledg- the person who requested the translation. To show what might ment to us as translators. We felt this happen, here’s an account of a real-life problem that does not was a good solution. quite fall into the prescriptive category, but, rather, into one I In retrospect, I realize that we would call descriptive. stepped out of our role as translators and When we were medical interns in England, my wife and I became consultants. In our view, our earned some extra income by doing medical translations from duty to the client was not only to provide German-to-English for a Swiss pharmaceutical company. We a translation that English doctors would enjoyed the work, and the company appeared to like what we enjoy reading, but also to maintain the were doing. Out of the blue, however, the work reached company’s image as a valid source of another dimension. knowledge. Clearly that is not what we The company had acquired a set of beautiful illustrations of had been asked to do, and we were not cardiac pathology—hearts dissected to show various cardiac paid to be consultants. I believe we did diseases and the pathological process that created the anatomic the right thing. Apparently the company distortions. A Swiss writer had written a text in an attempt to felt the same, for they accepted and paid describe what the illustrations depicted and to comment on the for our corrections. treatment. The company had engaged a translator to produce an I believe that the key to solving English version of the booklet. Because the translator was not such a problem is through communica- familiar with English medical terms, we were asked to review tion between a translator and the his version. editor. Questions of ethics must be We agreed to the request, but when we received the manu- asked, and they must be respected. As script we found the English text to be unacceptable. We asked for translators, our relationship with those the German source text. Now a medical intern, just out of med- who ask for the translation must ical school and with months of intensive reading to pass medical include questions beyond the “what do finals, knows a lot of current medicine. What we found was a you want?” variety. So far, those with German text that was based on outdated medical knowledge. whom I have contracted have always We were faced with a delicate triple task. Ostensibly, we been willing to reach across the cul- were to create a stylistically acceptable version of the original tural divide. However, what if I dis- translator’s English version. Second, we had to assure the com- agree with the substance of a text and pany that this translator’s English version corresponded to the am told that it must be translated as it original German. Finally, we had to review the German version stands? In no way should my personal for discrepancies between the original commentator’s knowl- opinion stand in the way of a faithful edge of cardiac pathology and what was acceptable in an rendering of a piece. If the piece English text. Moreover, we were faced with an assertion by the simply states an opinion with which I company that a well-known Swiss cardiologist wrote the orig- don’t agree, I can still translate it. On inal German text, and that his name was essential to establish the other hand, if I believe the work as the authenticity of the work. it stands could prove to be dangerous For a while we struggled with the given material, but the to the end user, I must take it out of the cause was hopeless. Perhaps the German text was adequate for personal realm by documenting that an audience of general practitioners, but we believed that we opinion, and then communicating it to had a duty to the pharmaceutical company and also to their the editor. If the editor still insists on a customers to provide more accurate and up-to-date informa- faithful translation, and this transla- tion. Our solution was to talk to the man who had become our tion is to be published or applied to a contact with the company and explain our reservations. We patient, I must decline the work. At asked to be given some latitude in our revision, promising that some level, I am still a doctor. the result would be a totally up-to-date commentary on the

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 23 As Tough as it Gets—But How Tough?

By Leon McMorrow

(Note: This article is a modified ver- Translation and interpretation are tasks that are inherently sion of a paper published in the difficult. The uncertain record of machine translation stands as Proceedings of the ATA Annual evidence. This inherent difficulty has implications that go Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on beyond the communication itself: November 3-6, 1999.) Time: The greater the difficulty, the longer the task. If “time he ability to assess the diffi- is money,” then more expense is incurred. culty of a particular job is one T of the “trade secrets” that is Skills: The greater the difficulty, the higher the skill level developed unconsciously with transla- required to perform the task. The higher the required skill, tion experience. It is very useful for the more education and experience (i.e., specialization), accepting/declining jobs, determining are required. readiness for an ATA accreditation examination, negotiating for the best The higher the required specialization and the longer the price with a client, and especially for task, the more resources will have to be consumed. This should developing self-esteem and gaining a be reflected in the calculation and pricing of the translation job. professional reputation. Like a spreading wave, the difficulty of the subject matter in translation and interpretation impacts upon the translator’s career and the profession. ...The ability to assess the difficulty of a particular job is one of the “trade Is Specialization Worth the Effort, the Time, the Expense? Some say that “generalists” and “flat rates” are, and secrets” that is developed unconsciously should be, the standard within the profession. This may with translation experience... indeed be valid within fields that present no great range of difficulty for translation, such as history, travel, hospitality, and social sciences. But there are many fields that do not But how does one develop this have narrow linguistic limits, such as engineering, chemistry, ability? Is it possible to attach law, and medicine. Certainly in medicine, with its dozens of “markers” to translation or interpreta- sub-fields and “health-related professions,” there is a world tion topics that may objectively clas- of difference between the skills required of the lowest ranks sify jobs by grade of difficulty? and the highest ranks of professional. Appropriately, there are The field of medical documentation documents written for the least skilled health professionals includes some objective markers that and also documents destined only for the highly educated. give adequate, if not perfect, clues to Educational investment, skills, liability risks, and financial the difficulty that may be expected rewards vary along a consistent upward line that reflects the when contemplating whether to under- difficulty of the tasks encountered and the literature that take a particular assignment. accompanies them. Medical professionals are expected to know their limits Professional Implications and not to accept what is beyond them. Otherwise they incur “Difficulty” is a concept indicating liability. On the other side, clients should pay for the level the absence of ease and comfort in per- of service they get, no more and no less. But why should an forming a task. It is at least a human easy translation be priced like a difficult one, as in flat-rate perception; we don’t know if animals pricing? I know I hate being charged for the “average” have it. For the person involved in the number of hours assigned to my car repair job by some task, ease and comfort in performance association of car repairers, regardless of how long it took. also induce efficiency and personal The problem may be that translators, interpreters, and satisfaction: we do it fast, do it well, others do not or cannot decide what is more difficult and and do it with pleasure (at least, in get- less difficult in any particular case. If so, then we should be ting it over with—not all tasks are working to solve the problem of determining difficulty, not appealing, even though easy). avoiding it.

24 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Sources of Difficulty in Translation ¥ Are the levels of difficulty static? The origin of difficulty in monolingual linguistic commu- No. With increases in knowledge we nication is multifaceted. Several factors play a role, often expect changes in levels of difficulty simultaneously: of terminology within a field. What is meant by basic knowledge and 1. Lack of ability of writers or speakers to express themselves basic level of difficulty now differs well, producing a kind of mumbo-jumbo that has words, from what it meant 20 years ago. often lots of them, but little meaning. Some modern music lyrics fit the bill, while politicians avoiding discussion of a Society has already partially answered thorny issue frequently rely on meaningless discourse these questions in a practical way. (“First, let me say...” is a sure indicator!). I once got fired Science and technology are knowl- from a simultaneous interpretation job because I insisted on edge-related fields and society stratifies waiting until the speaker made a meaningful statement; I these professions on the basis of would not regurgitate the flow of broken words and phrases acquired knowledge and skills. Pro- used as filler. This is “incidental” difficulty. fessional language matches the dif- ferent levels of stratification. Let us 2. Inability of the reader or listener (through lack of mental apply this technique to medicine, a very capacity, education, or experience) to comprehend the par- large profession in most of the world. ticular type of discourse—one is simply out of one’s depth. This, too, is “incidental” difficulty. Medical Documentation The medical translator and inter- 3. Factors in the document (for translation) or the discourse preter face a field that has already strat- (for interpretation) that make it esoteric or rare: it was pro- ified the skills required to perform cer- duced for a special group of readers or listeners who already tain jobs and also the documentation have training or experience in the modes of expression used. categories that match those skills. The Examples are archaic writings (e.g., Early English) and sci- difficulty of the content and language entific-technical documentation, i.e., documentation proper of a particular category of document is to a particular interest, trade, or profession. linked, in most cases, to the profes- sional skill level of the reader. As a When the additional factor of bilingual or multilingual com- result, two closely related and overlap- munication is added, we have a profound mixture of sources of ping guides to documentary difficulty difficulty. No wonder examiners, advertisers, and other people exist: the professional level of the grading the difficulty of linguistic products have a problem! reader (For whom was this document Our intent here is to illustrate a practical solution. First, intended?) and the type of document in decide whether the difficulty lies in the people or in the special question (What type of document is type of language involved. Compare with peers. The first and it?). Both are objective measures of dif- second factors listed above may be addressed simply and ficulty in the sense of being field-deter- directly through remedial measures to reach the norm. Then, mined. They have nothing to do with address the issues involved in the third factor above: the education, language skills, or expe- rience of the translator or interpreter. ¥ Are there levels of difficulty within scientific-technical doc- umentation? Of course—the Introduction to Chemistry text- For Whom Was This Document book is different from a Laboratory Procedures manual. Intended? There are three broad categories of ¥ Who decides what is difficult in a document—difficult for medical occupation: technician, nurse, whom? For a student in the field? A general practitioner? A and physician. Within these categories specialist? We cannot ignore the relativity of the concept of many auxiliary occupations and sub- difficulty within professional language. Otherwise, tiered specialists exist. All these occupations examinations would be meaningless—a student and spe- cialist would take the same examination. Continued on p. 26

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 25 As Tough As It Gets—But How Tough? Continued

have determined a knowledge and skill It is worth listing the names of these documents since they level appropriate to the tasks at hand are almost uniform in presentation and very specific in content. and have indicated who is certified to If you can get the name of the medical report or special-pur- perform the tasks. If you know the pose document, you will often have a very good idea of what occupation(s) of the intended reader- level of difficulty you are facing. ship of a piece of medical documenta- tion, you can, in most cases, accurately Patient Medical Record determine the level of difficulty of the There is a somewhat standard method of creating and main- documentation itself. This is perhaps taining a patient’s medical record. This is more closely adhered so obvious to those within medicine to in an in-patient setting (hospital or clinic) than a doctor’s that it does not need statement. office, where less people may be using it. The order of the Experienced medical translators and reports that follow also adheres to this method, and is typical interpreters are indeed aware of it when of a single episode of illness and care. accepting or rejecting a job or when determining the style or register of trans- 1. History and physical examination (H&P) lation—they tease out the implications 2. Physician’s progress notes of the occupation of the readership or 3. Consultants’ reports audience, if known. A subliminal reprise 4. Operative reports in the job acceptance ballet is the ques- 5. Laboratory reports (chemistry; radiology: ECG, EEG, tion: Am I able to translate/interpret for CT, MRI, sonography) this reader or listener? If I am, how long 6. Nurses’ progress notes will the job take and what will be my 7. Client assessment, review, and evaluation (CARE) charge? For those who are not already 8. Medication list conscious of it, this should become an 9. Discharge summary—Orders* internalized routine when discussing a ______job offer over the phone or by e-mail. (*In the case of a hospital stay, the discharge summary and orders will be #1 and the physician’s history and physical What Type of Document Is It? examination will often be called the “admission history and In many cases, the translator will not physical examination,” and placed at the end of the physi- be able to find out the occupation or field cian’s section of the hospital chart.) of the intended reader, or the intended audience in the case of interpreters. Many Who are the intended readers of the patient medical record of us get work from agencies and some or any of its component reports? Primarily physicians, since agency personnel do not have this infor- they have responsibility for the overall therapy. Nurses have mation, either because they never asked their own section (# 6 above), and so do dietitians, respiratory for it or for some reason it was not made technicians, physical therapists, pathologists and laboratory available. In such cases, the next step is to technicians (#5), social workers (#7), and pharmacy represen- ask about the title or type of document. tatives (#8). Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, medical Medical documentation falls into two record administrators, and medical record technicians are also general types (general health care writing trained to read full patient medical records for clinical or non- for lay people is not under review here): clinical reasons. The knowledge or skill attached to individual “reports” and “special-purpose” docu- parts of the patient medical record is closely tied to the title or ments. The first is intended for insertion occupation of the medical person. If you have to translate an into a patient’s medical record. The entire patient medical record (or interpret it), you will face the second is intended for sharing informa- whole range of both general and specialist medical termi- tion, for education within the multiple nology. Much of it is repetitive, both within and between branches of the medical profession itself, episodes of care. That said, there is always room for surprises. and for communication with institutions Only a skilled translator/interpreter should undertake this task in the outside world (insurance, legal, since the consequences of error may be very serious, in addi- government, etc.). tion to bringing disgrace upon the translation profession.

26 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Special-Purpose Documentation expected if the admitting (provisional) 1. Clinical trial reports (IRBs, CRFs, consent forms, status or final diagnosis is known. reports, completion reports) With regard to “special-purpose” 2. Research articles documentation, the picture is not yet 3. Case studies clear. The range of difficulty within and 4. Drug prescribing information (a package insert required by between the classes of documents men- the FDA for every marketed drug). For medical devices, tioned above depends not only upon the instruction manuals or package inserts serve the same pur- level of medical knowledge used, but pose; (see #11) also on the level of knowledge of allied 5. New drug applications (NDAs) or related applications to medical or completely nonmedical the FDA fields. Medical practice interacts 6. Consent forms closely with the industrial, legal, insur- 7. Communicable disease reports to a state or federal agency ance, commercial, and governmental 8. Medical reports to a third party for grants or reimburse- systems in a modern society. Many of ment purposes the documents in the “special-purpose” 9. Depositions for legal use category are hyphenated medical in 10. Medical device or drug patents character: medico-legal, medico-engi- 11. Manuals and package inserts for equipment, devices, neering, medico-economic, medico- quality control, etc. bureaucratic, and so on. They straddle 12. Legislation, regulations, guidelines, standards, and proce- two or more professions. One may be dures relating to medical products and practice. very skilled in handling the medical arm of the document or discourse, but fall The readership of “special-purpose” medical documenta- down on the nonmedical. These are tion is very large and variable. Once the title of the document areas for continuing education of the is known, however, a clue is generated that may be followed medical translator/interpreter. It would up. It is the best indicator we have at present. There is no occu- be an enormous benefit to the profes- pation-related formula that will cover “special-purpose” docu- sion if systematic courses in “hyphen- mentation such as we had for patient medical records. Not even ated medical” terminology and meaning the physician can be automatically included in the intended were offered at a national or regional readership. It is an area that needs much more research, but level. The ATA conferences do produce some issues and practical solutions will be discussed below. an occasional paper on microbiology, biochemistry, medical engineering, Discussion etc.—excellent in themselves, but far In the case of the patient’s medical record, recognition of from adequate for the continuing educa- different levels of difficulty within categories of medical doc- tion needs of the profession. umentation may be a problem. One cautionary area needs to The best practical response of the be mentioned: the history and physical examination (H&P). translator/interpreter in this area of All H&Ps are not alike. The range of medical conditions of “special-purpose” documentation is to the patient may cover very common problems like injuries, develop mental pictures of the difficul- nasal congestion, or indigestion, as well as rarer metabolic ties that may encroach from these disorders, cancers, neuropathies, or syndromes. These last “marginal” fields and to respond conditions will fatten the H&P with consultant reports and accordingly. When discussing a more specialized laboratory tests. The terminology used will “special-purpose” document with a match the range of disorders. Therefore, the H&P is a docu- client, spend a few minutes teasing out ment type that requires some caution, and it may turn out to the indicators that will provide a clue be a dream or a nightmare for the translator. Most of the other to the content. If the subject or topic reports, however, are relatively straightforward: nurses notes seems to be more nonmedical than will always describe symptoms and responses or reactions. medical, and you are uncomfortable Laboratory reports will normally be “routine” with occasional specialized tests, but even the presence of these may be Continued on p. 28

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 27 As Tough As It Gets—But How Tough? Continued

about it, you still need as many clues as “You say it is a legal document—what is the topic? A law- possible before deciding to reject—per- suit? A contract? A breach of contract? New legislation?” haps the influence from other fields is relatively minor. Here are some typical “So, it is a package insert (or user instructions/manual/ parts of a deal-making conversation: brochure). For what product? Are there pictures, drawings? Do you know what branch of engineering it represents “You say it is a patent—do you (electrical/mechanical/chemical/software)?” know what the patent is for? A drug? A medical device? What do “So it looks like an article from a medical journal—did you the drawings look like? Are there a check for an English abstract to find out what is about? (The lot of unusual characters—with abstract may be at the end of the article). Did you get a general subscripts, superscripts, etc.? Can idea from talking to your client of what it about, or who the you describe them?” readers will be? Is it for publication or internal research only?”

(Here, the document is a “mystery” to the agency project manager.) “Do you know Spanish (French, Russian, etc.)? Good. Will you look at the first sentence of the first para- VISIT ATA’S WEBSITE AT graph on page 3 and the first sentence of the first paragraph WWW ATANET ORG on page 5 and read them out to me? Better still, send me a . . sample. I have a 24-hour fax machine and will send you back an answer within 15 minutes.”

With experience (the wider the better), one becomes very good at this pas a deux—with an occasional surprise: a docu- ment that turns out to be highly deceptive, both in its title and in the first few pages. When requesting a sample, make sure that at least one of the pages comes from a place about 70 per- cent of the way to the end. Just as in a tumor, the core of a doc- ument is the best location for sampling.

Conclusion Classification of jobs by difficulty is a constant task for the interpreter and translator. It is inherent in the practice of the profession and we should not shirk it, both for our own self-esteem and out of respect for the client. In medicine, the best approach to the task for translators is through the intended readership, or for interpreters through the intended audience. Begin to develop a list (a mental one is sufficient) of the types of material you encounter and link them to what you know about the reader, and secondarily to the technical title of the document if it has one. Gradually you will build up a mental library of named documents you can handle and those you still cannot face (we all have them) due to their inherent difficulty as described above. You will become con- scious of the time factor involved in your work, and with these two important variables for pricing under your control (skill level and time), you will be able to put a fair price upon your job. You will also impress clients if you can discuss the job in terms they use every day.

28 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 The Translator as Global Contractor

By Marga Hannon

ecently, I received a change of address notification 50 to 55 characters (including spaces). from a fellow translator. In his message he empha- Some clients may be prepared to pay per R sized that, despite moving to a different time zone, he word if asked for it, but it is not standard. would still be available to his clients from Europe and from Before agreeing to a line rate, you will the West at the same hours as before. (In our office, we will have to do your math and compare answer the telephone from 7a.m. Pacific Standard or Daylight words and lines in a document. For an Time [fortunately, we are early risers] to accommodate our approximation, see the next section. German clients.) The widespread use of e-mail and/or FTP sites for transmit- ting source documents and returning the translated work has ...Working for clients in other countries reduced distance to a non-issue. Communication via e-mail has can be lucrative, but it also poses a set made inroads on telephone talk, even though a quick call sometimes seems unavoidable…and is not always welcome of new challenges... (see Dealing with the Time Difference, page 30). Particularly for translators working from German-to- English, translation requests from German agencies or com- Estimating Length and Time of a panies seeking native speakers living in their language envi- Project ronment have become commonplace. Many German trans- There is this new client from lators listed in translators’ directories on the Web can attest Germany who requires 340 lines from to translation inquiries not only from German-speaking German-to-English for the day after countries or the U.K., but also from places associated with tomorrow. Is this manageable? We all neither English or German. The ever-growing number of know how many words we can approx- Canadian translators joining the ATA is certainly an indica- imately translate in a text of a certain tion of intense cross-border competition between two difficulty per day, but not so many of friendly neighbors. us will know their average translation Individual translators are increasingly becoming global speed in lines. contractors. Working for clients in other countries can be lucra- If you need to convert lines to tive, but it also poses a set of new challenges. This article words without access to the electronic attempts to discuss some of the issues related to the interna- file, this formula is based on empir- tional translation trade from the perspective of a translator ical experience: working between German and English. It is neither complete, nor will it offer ready-made solutions for all problems. I very The number of lines multiplied by much hope that other translators will want to contribute their 9-10 for an English source text experience and insight on the topic. and by 8 for a German text approximates the word count for The Basis for Reimbursement—Word Count, Line Count, a document, if your basis is 55 or What? characters per line. In the U.S., translators are paid per word. The word count is mostly based on the target document, even though there are You can check this by opening a also agencies that will use a source-language count. In Canada, document at random, dividing the it is more common to reimburse translators for the word count character count (include spaces) by 55 in the source document. to obtain the line count (don’t use the German, as we all know, makes do with fewer words than line count in the Word window), then English for the same text. This has obvious implications on the multiply it by 8 or 9 and compare the grand financial total of a project. While some agencies take result to the word count of the docu- this into account by either offering a higher word rate for work ment. In our example here, the client is from English-to-German (target count) or adding a percentage asking you to translate approximately (source count), others do not. 2,720 words. In Germany, the common practice for billing and paying for translation service is per line, one line consisting of an average of Continued on p. 30

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 29 The Translator as Global Contractor Continued

For a larger project, your German Do not expect your clients to be aware of the exact time dif- client may want the translation to be ference between their location and yours. North America, after completed in the 39th week. Are you all, has several time zones. However, they are at least as baffled? German calendars usually have uncomfortable as you are after waking you up at 5:30 in the a week count, and the week number is morning, or if your file arrived at a different time from when quite frequently used as a reference. they expected. So do educate them and let them know at what But don’t pull out your North time you will answer the telephone. American calendar and start counting. There is an international standard, DIN Checking Client Solvency and Payment Practices EN 28601, which regulates the week When contacted by an agency or company you have never count in Germany. If you don’t have heard of, you will want some information about their solvency access to a German calendar, an and payment practices. It is certainly reasonable to ask about Australian one will also do (they use payment periods and practices during the initial contact and the same convention), or simply follow negotiations. If the client does not send you a contractual the guidelines established by the agreement, you may want to consider submitting a standard German National Metrology Institute): translator-client contract to them. “...the first week of the year is the one I am aware of two mailing lists where subscribers provide that includes the first Thursday.” information about companies and their payment practices to Remember that the German week each other. Payment Practices, a strictly monitored list, is based starts on Monday. Accordingly, the in Montreal, Canada, and maintained by Karin Adamczyk. You first week of the year 2000 began can find more information about this list and its subgroups at Monday, January 3. Your Excel pro- http://www.pages.infinit.net/karining. Another, albeit unmoder- gram may present you with a U.S. ated, list is Zahlungsmoral, maintained by Dr. Stanislaw week count, which does not follow the Gierlicki, a German-Polish translator. You can find more infor- above DIN standard. mation about this list at http://www.st-gierlicki.de/zm.html.

Dealing with the Time Difference Payment in which Currency? The time difference between your If you work for a client in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, office and your client’s is crucial for you may be able to negotiate payment in those familiar U.S. communication and deadlines. A due dollars, particularly if the client has subsidiaries in America. date for your German client of Tuesday More likely, though, you will be offered reimbursement in at 4p.m. means, in effect, that you will either the currency of the country or in euro (€), the new need to deliver your document by European currency which has been negotiable since January 1, Tuesday at 7a.m. (realistically, Monday 1999. However, the euro will not be in circulation in the form night), if you are on Pacific Standard of bills and coins before 2001. Time, or Tuesday at 10a.m. if on Eastern If you want to have a quick glance at today’s exchange rate, Standard Time. Then there are these to calculate your earnings or the taxes you may owe, try http:// pesky periods shortly before the end and www.oanda.com/converter/classic. beginning of our daylight savings time, when the German and North American The Nitty-Gritty of Electronic Money Transfers concepts of when daylight savings starts Your German client will not want to send you checks. Nor and ends do not necessarily coincide… is it advisable, because your bank at home may not be prepared Fortunately, there is the Website of to negotiate them. In Germany and many other European coun- the Physikalisch-Technische Bunde- tries, bills are almost exclusively paid for through the transfer sanstalt, available in either German or of money from one account to the other. This is theoretically English, which has several pages not a problem internationally either. In practice, it can be cum- devoted to time, daylight saving, week bersome and costly for you. When your client’s bank does not count, and so on. The address is use the same intermediary as your bank, the charges for you http://www.ptb.de/deutsch/org/4/43/ will likely increase and the transfer will take longer. It is 432/dars.htm. worthwhile comparing bank charges for international transfers.

30 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 As the European currency is converted into U.S. dollars when it enters the country, you have no control over the exchange rate. Another option, of course, is maintaining an account in the country where your client(s) reside and initi- ating a transfer into your account in the U.S. whenever it is convenient for you.

Liability Issues with International Clientele Do you have liability insurance? Rest assured that, for the most part, all the work you perform within the country where your insurance is based is covered. As far as work outside this area is concerned, read the fine print of your insurance policy. Your projects for clients in Germany, Switzerland, or elsewhere may or may not be covered. But, after all, it is America that boasts a reputation as the most litigious country in the world…

Taxes Finally, taxes. Earnings from foreign countries are tax- able. For more information, talk to your accountant.

Health Care Interpreting—An Emerging Discipline Continued from p. 20

identify quality service. National organizations such as the National Council on Interpretation in Health Care, with its free listserve, connect people all over the country and help to disseminate new ideas and materials and stimulate discussion of key issues. A growing number of medical schools such as that of the University of Washington include classroom instruction on how to communicate through an interpreter. In meeting rooms, board rooms, and examination rooms, many small steps are being taken to move health care interpreting from the status of an ad-hoc, chance process to being a disci- pline of skill and art. The end result will be a new specialty in the old profession of interpreting and, more importantly, improved health care for the many patients whose very lives may depend on the quality of the communication facilitated by the health care interpreter.

Author’s Note: I welcome comments or questions regarding health care interpreting. You can reach me by e-mail at [email protected].

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 31 Educational Documents: Translation or Evaluation?

By George Fletcher

am the co-owner of Globe would benefit from this text. Anyway, Child presents a scale Language Services, Inc., in New that goes from the lowest level of translation (word-for-word, I York City, a dual agency that spe- where you don’t worry about the overall meaning) to the cializes in the translation and evalua- highest level (where the translator reads the document, assim- tion of foreign educational creden- ilates it in his or her own thinking, analyzes it, and then repro- tials. I used to teach foreign languages duces it creatively in his or her native language). And then in grade school and high school, and there are levels in between. The question is, on an educational later in college, and then worked in document, what should we do? Should we sit down and ana- the international office of Oklahoma lyze it? What is it? Is it a baccalauréat from France? Should I State University for many years, tell people exactly what that is in the United States? As a trans- lator, is that my job? My feeling is we don’t have to analyze the document, or assimilate a diploma and then recreate it. We ...If we analyze the document and try only need to describe what’s on that document. If we analyze the document and try to recreate it in English at the educational to recreate it in English at the level that it represents in the U.S., what we are doing is called educational level that it represents in evaluation. There is an entire profession out there consisting of evaluators who are going to do the evaluation. That’s their job. the U.S., what we are doing is called What we need to do is simply translate the document, describe evaluation... it, and then let the evaluators analyze it. So, in a way, this makes it easier for us as translators. What is an evaluator and what do they do? An evaluator which is where I learned there was a researches foreign educational documents and recommends difference between translation and the closest U.S. equivalents of those documents. Evaluations evaluation. This article describes a are required by U.S. schools, the U.S. Immigration and specialized area within the field of Naturalization Service, licensing boards, and federal, state, translation—educational documents. city, and private employers. The U.S. is very generous in The first thing we have to realize is accepting education from other countries; basically, if any the importance of translations of this education is accredited in another country, it is accepted at type, because how you translate the face value. However, someone must scrutinize the foreign document may determine whether or documents to determine their eligibility for acceptance, and not that person gets a degree or a job. thereafter establish their U.S. equivalents. Of course, docu- Just imagine going to another country ments not in English must be translated. Let’s discuss trans- with your bachelor’s degree only to lating for evaluators. What, specifically, does the evaluator have it translated as an associate’s need from the translator? degree. Obviously, that could affect The first thing a translator asks is, “Who’s going to you drastically in the job market. This receive my translation?” The translation may be good or bad, demonstrates why an accurate ren- but it’s only as good as the level of understanding of the dering of an education document is so person receiving or utilizing it. Practically speaking, the crucial to your client. It’s probably as translator has to please the client. If the client has certain important as any translation you do in requirements, the translator must consider those require- terms of helping people. ments. I would say that when translators translate transcripts One of the questions we have to ask and diplomas, the people who will ultimately receive and ourselves when translating an educa- work with them are evaluators. tional document such as a diploma is: “Should I analyze it or should I just What do we do when the client is an individual who requests describe what’s in the document?” Are an analytical or evaluative translation? any of you familiar with Jack Child’s That’s exactly what you don’t want to do. Somewhere along Introduction to Spanish Translation? I the line someone who knows evaluation will look at that doc- personally feel a broader title would be ument. Ultimately, your translation of any educational docu- acceptable, because any translator ment will go to an evaluator. You can rest assured that eventu-

32 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 ally someone who knows the system of education you’re trans- why the Handbook is so important to lating will receive your translation. They will know the grade you. You can also get lists of schools scales and the names of the diplomas. You don’t have to worry with translations from consulates and about that. embassies. At any rate, official transla- So, when you ask who’s going to receive an educational tions already exist. translation, it’s going to be an evaluator. Admission officers at However, the most difficult part of a institutions of higher education are trained to be evaluators. translation is the name of the degree That’s where we all came from originally, from the universi- itself, the diploma or title. That is the ties. Even if the translation is sent for state licensing, such as part that will be evaluated for U.S. to engineering boards, boards of education, etc., there are eval- equivalency. For example, you see a uators there, and that’s what they do—they evaluate. French baccalauréat. Is the translation Now, if you want your translation to be rejected by an eval- “bachelor’s degree?” Definitely not, uator, the best thing you can do is try to analyze and evaluate and this is the problem. The minute an that diploma and tell the evaluator what it is. Therefore, what evaluator sees that type of translation, a translator needs to determine is what the evaluators will the translator is thrown out. That’s why need. First, they will need the name of the university on the most schools, at least in the New York foreign diploma. If you translate the name of the university, metropolitan area, have a list of trans- which translators tend to do, that’s okay; however, there is a lators or translation agencies they will book that has the official translations of the names of foreign use. The schools communicate with schools: The International Handbook of Universities and these individuals, and the translators Other Institutions of Higher Education. If you’re inventing know what the schools want. If you your own translations, yours may be better, but they’re not want to build your client base, work “official.” So what can a translator do? If you’re using a trans- with the admission officers of your lation that’s not in the Handbook,you’re prejudicing your local colleges and universities. In turn, client, the student, who is going to have a harder time. The they will recommend you to their inter- evaluator/admission officer is going to say that the school is national applicants, since it helps not accredited. So now it’s another hassle for the student. He school officials to have translators who or she will come back to you and say, “Look, they’re not understand what they need. It is a lot of accepting my application because of your translation. They trouble for them to receive translations claim my school’s not accredited.” If you’re going to translate that say, for example, bachelor’s the name of the school, consult the Handbook and use that degree for high school diploma. And translation. You will be doing a great favor to the student, many mistakes have been made along believe me. these lines, e.g., admitting high school The next point is to always put the name of the school in graduates as graduate students. Then parentheses in the native language. Even if you are going to it’s a disaster for them; the evaluators take it upon yourself to translate the name, albeit correctly for can lose their jobs, not to mention the you, your translation might be considered incorrect by the harm done to the student. evaluator. Then the evaluator can at least look it up in the native language in the Handbook. As long as the evaluator can Whom do we address at the schools? find the school listed there, the student is okay. Translating the The admission office. Call the name of the school is, in my opinion, not necessarily good school and ask who’s in charge of for- unless you use the Handbook. This publication also has a eign applications. There’s usually a breakdown of the schools (faculties) within the institutions, separate person or office that deals including majors offered, and so on. with these. We’ve done this with all the local schools in our area, and they’re What about non-Latin-script languages? quite happy to find someone who’s My suggestion in these cases is to transliterate the words in aware of what they need. parentheses into Latin script. I would transliterate whatever words are in the name of the university. In these languages, you will need to translate the names of the universities. That’s Continued on p. 34

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 33 Educational Documents: Translation or Evaluation Continued

What about the abitur diploma from if it appears on the document. The diploma may indicate a Germany? master’s degree and the person’s age as 14 years when com- From the evaluator’s point of view, pleted. A lot of information appears on a diploma that an eval- the abitur generally represents com- uator needs to verify for cross-reference purposes in terms of pletion of high school and up to one evaluation. This is especially true in languages with different year of college credit. You, as the trans- scripts, such as Russian, Chinese, and Thai, for example. I think lator, don’t want to shortchange the we can safely assume that not very many admission officers student by evaluating the certificate as read all of these languages, which is why school personnel are a “U.S. high school diploma.” That’s very dependent on the translator. This is another reason why it’s not fair to the student because it repre- extremely important for you to earn the trust of school officials. sents a higher level of education. So, Yes, in French, Spanish, or other Western European languages, what’s a translator to do? it is easier for them to verify words, dates, and general infor- There are benchmarks common to mation in the originals, but I don’t think you can expect them to most education systems throughout the be totally fluent in all the languages with Latin script either. world. First comes primary school, fol- lowed by secondary, followed by What about the authenticity of each document? undergraduate education, graduate That’s not specifically the translator’s job. Legally education, and upper graduate educa- speaking, people can bring us a handwritten message on a tion, such as the doctorate. When we napkin, and we can translate it. But, when you realize the eval- translate a secondary school diploma, a uators are responsible for ascertaining authenticity, what do bachillerato from Colombia, for you do upon receiving the same diploma every day with the example, we will put “secondary name whited out and a new name written in? Legally, yes, you school diploma.” This is the bench- can translate that diploma and certify the translation. However, mark for Colombia. We are not saying the evaluator is going to catch on sooner rather than later. So, it is a high school diploma in the U.S., if you can be aware of forgeries and reject them, it’s better to but that it’s a secondary school lose one client than to lose the university that’s sending you diploma from that country. Of course, clients every day, notwithstanding morality and our society. In always put the word as it appears in the New York, for example, there are companies that duplicate for- native language in italics, since that’s eign university seals not to mention diplomas, transcripts, you what the evaluator is going to look at; name it. And guess who’s selling these forgeries on the open he or she will want to know what the market? Translation agencies. original says. Therefore, for an evalu- ator the abitur represents a high school How does one translate grades? diploma plus up to one year of under- This is the other red-flag area for translators. My suggestion graduate credit. This is the secondary is don’t interpret the grades, since that’s an evaluator’s job. school benchmark in Germany, but There are publications that list foreign grades and give equiva- represents more than that in the United lents in terms of the U.S. grading scale of A, B, C, D, and F. States. The evaluator does not want you to do this because you are going to do it incorrectly. It will be more difficult for them to What about the other information deal with your translation and they will want to get rid of you. on the document? What I would recommend is that you contact the Association The rest of the information does not of International Educators (NAFSA) at www.NAFSA.org, and have to be in the original language in obtain a list of country-specific books that contain information your translation (see more on this about each country’s educational system, including the transla- below). All the other information is tions of grades accepted in the field and bilingual glossaries. very important and needs to be in English, because the evaluator must Do evaluators appreciate it if you put, along with the know data such as date of birth, dates English translation, the words for foreign-language grades of enrollment, graduation, and so on. in the original language in italics? The date of birth can be very important They will love you if you do this. That would be fantastic,

34 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 because the evaluators are trained to know the grades, the give them the name of an evaluation diplomas, and the schools for the countries they deal with. association and tell them that if they Those are the three things we can assume they know in the for- need an evaluation of their documents, eign language, at least in most languages. In the books and they can go to a professional organiza- charts evaluators use, the foreign-language terms and the tion that does that. This would be the English equivalents are given. So, if you write them both, even best thing you could do for that person if the translation is off, they can go back to the original lan- and for the employer. You may want to guage. When in doubt about any point of information, it does refer your client to the Association of not hurt to put the foreign words in parentheses and italics International Credential Evaluators along with the translated words. (AICE), at www.AICE-eval.org, for a list of reputable evaluation services. What about the translations of the French grades Très bien, Bien, Assez bien, Passable, and Ajourné. Should we add a footnote stating the The reference book on France, which all evaluators use, document needs to be professionally translates French grades as follows: evaluated? Très bien — Very good No, I wouldn’t put any footnotes. Bien — Good Assez bien — Good enough Continued on p. 36 Passable — Satisfactory Ajourné—Failed I am suggesting that evaluators appreciate such direct trans- lations. It is when the translator evaluates the grades and trans- lates them as A, B, C, D, or F, for example, that the line is crossed between translation and evaluation.

Do we have to explain what a baccalauréat is in our trans- lation? No. Footnotes, a translator’s opinion, or interpretation are precisely what is not wanted. Just describe what you have in your hands, and that’s it. This actually makes it easier for you. Most NAFSA books also contain the translations that all eval- uators use for the different degrees and diplomas. If you use these, then it’s fine to translate these terms, always remem- bering to put the original in italics. The evaluator will not have any problem with this. Considering the French baccalauréat, there is no translation. You can use baccalauréat as long as you put it in italics; it’s not a bachelor’s degree. In the reference book on French education, the word baccalauréat is used throughout, however, it is translated in one place as “Secondary school leaving examination.”

What if I’m translating a resume—shouldn’t I put foot- notes about the education? There are two mistakes here. First, you’re making a mis- take worrying about this, because it’s not your job. You don’t have to do that. Second, somebody, someplace, even if it’s the employer, is going to have to evaluate the educational docu- ment itself. And if they don’t have the good sense to call a pro- fessional evaluation service, then the employer is making a big mistake. What you could do, as a favor to your client, is

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 35 Educational Documents: Translation or Evaluation Continued

request some college catalogs with the names of courses in If an individual comes and doesn’t U.S. schools. For example, in mechanical engineering, the say he or she is going to try to get courses may be very similar in the foreign country. This could into a university or doesn’t say what help you as translator. If not, a literal translation of the names the translation will be used for, what of the courses is preferred. Evaluators are going to know what do we do? the courses are; seeing a transcript in mechanical engineering What I’m saying is that eventually will not be new to them. On the other hand, you may be asked an evaluator is going to look at it, even to translate a course in mechanical engineering from the home if it’s the employer. country as civil, mechanical, and electronic engineering all rolled into one, because this is going to meet some specific What if the client insists that we put in requirement in one of those areas at the U.S. school. The the explanation of what the degree is? translator needs to be careful. Evaluators will also certainly I wouldn’t do it. Almost every question translations that exactly match their own curricula. I person educated in another country, think it bears repeating: you don’t need to evaluate. including a lot of us, will insist that they have the equivalent of a Ph.D., Would a document in a language such as German need to because “the education is different in be translated? our country.” That’s the first thing Yes, it would. There’s a good chance the evaluator is not you’re going to hear. “In my country totally fluent in German, for instance. It is possible to know the we study six days per week, all day, German system of education and not be fluent in German. This and we know a lot more than is a good subject for debate within the evaluation field. Americans, because I’ve talked to Therefore, the evaluator may not be able to read the other data American students and they know in a foreign-language document, but he or she must make sure nothing. American education is hor- all the information in that document fits for validation and rible, and you should really award me a authentication purposes. doctorate here, although it says In conclusion, I would suggest providing descriptions to bachillerato.” That’s a normal response, make things easier on yourself. It’s not our job to evaluate and, should I go to another country, these documents in order to translate them. If a student insists I’m sure I would do the same (“Hey, on evaluation, don’t translate this type of document for that don’t underestimate my education, this client. Lose one customer, but don’t lose the goose. Please is my life!”). the school, because the school is going to be sending you clients all the time. If one person wants a doctorate for a high Isn’t there a possible liability school diploma, lose that person. The evaluator is going to involved if the translator adds infor- give credit where it’s due. The translator is the one who mation to a translation? stands to lose. Exactly. On the one hand, an evalu- ation always contains a disclaimer. References “These are recommendations only, we 1. Child, Jack. Introduction to Spanish Translation. Maryland: are not responsible…” An evaluator University Press of America, 1992. can only recommend, since there’s no law. A translator, on the other hand, 2. Taylor, Ann [ed]. International Handbook of Universities does not have this freedom—we’re and Other Institutions of Higher Education. 12th ed. New supposed to be translating. A certified York: Stockton Press, 1991. and notarized translation becomes a legal document; it must be faithful to Websites: the original. So, assume that a trans- 1. www.AICE-eval.org lator is more liable than an evaluator. 2. www.globelanguage.com 2. www.NAFSA.org What about transcripts? It would probably help you to

36 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Style Issues in the Translation of Biopharmaceutical Texts from German into English

By Christian Schmitz

n the spring of 1997, German Language Services in Seattle It is beyond the scope of this article received a short document from a biopharmaceutical com- to address all of the style issues one I pany for translation from German into English. What at might encounter in a large biopharma- the time appeared to be a one-time job soon ballooned into a ceutical project. Instead, I will focus major project, which, by the end of 1999, encompassed more on two style categories: capitalization than 700 documents totaling some 5,000+ pages. None of the and numbers. These two categories documents were available in electronic form, and virtually all encompass many of the problems com- of them were poor-quality faxes unsuitable for scanning, monly found in the translation of bio- thereby precluding the efficient use of translation memory pharmaceutical texts from German into technologies. As often happens with projects of this magni- English. tude, the documents did not arrive at regular intervals, but rather in batches of five to 10 at a time, often with very short turnaround times. As a result, several translators had to work ...As project managers know, large- on the documents simultaneously. As project managers know, volume projects pose unique logistic large-volume projects pose unique logistic challenges, espe- cially if they continue for several years. First and foremost, the challenges, especially if they continue translation company must spend a great deal of time identi- for several years... fying and supporting the client’s terminology needs, constantly revising and updating the project glossary. This particular project involved another unusual challenge in Capitalization that the German partner company continued to revise—to Capitalization rules concern deci- varying degrees—many of the original documents, and all of sions about writing the initial letter of these revisions had to be incorporated into the original transla- a word in uppercase. Only rules that tions. In many cases, the person who had translated the original find special application in the transla- document was not available to revise his or her own document, tion of medical and biopharmaceutical and a different translator had to complete the task. Although the texts are cited here. General capitaliza- translators were able to consult a client-specific glossary to tion rules can be found in any compre- ensure consistent use of terminology, many found it difficult to hensive style guide.1,11,12 adjust to their colleague’s stylistic idiosyncrasies. It became apparent that this problem could only be alleviated by estab- Acronyms and Initialisms lishing style guidelines that every translator would follow. Do not capitalize words that form the Even more so than in matters of terminology, it is very dif- basis for acronyms and initialisms ficult to find consensus among translators as far as style issues unless these words refer to a proper are concerned. This is not surprising. One would be hard- name2, for example, Food and Drug pressed to find a stylistic problem for which there was wide- Administration. In some cases, the spread agreement among different style guides. Nevertheless, German source text can be misleading, style guides are valuable resources that help establish common in that it may contain both an English ground among translators. initialism and its capitalized expansion. More so than other aspects of language, style questions not For example, although both HPLC and only elicit widely different opinions, but over time these opin- High-Performance Liquid Chromato- ions may undergo significant change. For example, in a 1969 graphy may appear in a German source survey conducted by The American Heritage Dictionary, 44 per- text, HPLC and high-performance cent of the members of a style panel found the use of hopefully liquid chromatography should be used as a sentence adverb acceptable (as in “Hopefully the deadline in the English target text. will be met.”), while in the most recent survey only 27 percent enzyme-linked immunosorbent deemed this usage acceptable.10 In general, however, opposition assay (ELISA) to new stylistic forms tends to become more lenient over time. fetal calf serum (FCS) While a generation ago many people frowned on the use of data as a singular noun, this usage, with notable dissension from the American Medical Association2, is now widely accepted. Continued on p. 38

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 37 Style Issues in the Translation of Biopharmaceutical Texts Continued

Adjectives Derived from Proper are based on proper nouns. Capitalize the eponym, but not the Names accompanying noun.4 For derivative or adjectival forms of a In general, capitalize adjectives given eponym, consult a current medical dictionary to deter- derived from proper names.2 However, mine whether capitalization is indicated. note that many common adjectives, such Erlenmeyer flask as eustachian tube, are no longer consis- Gram stain (but: gram-negative bacteria) tently capitalized.8 For current capitaliza- tion practices, consult the current edition Hyphenated Compounds of Dorland’s5 or Stedman’s9 medical dic- In titles, subtitles, or headings, do not capitalize the second tionary. Note that under the new German element of a hyphenated compound if: a) either part is a prefix spelling rules6, adjectives derived from or suffix, or b) both parts together form a single word.2 proper names are no longer capitalized, Anti-inflammatory Drugs for example, das ohmsche Gesetz. X-ray Procedures However, capitalization is maintained if the basic form of the proper name is Numerals and Letters accentuated by use of an apostrophe Capitalize nouns or abbreviations used with a numeral or (e.g., Einstein’sche Relativitätstheorie). letter to denote a place in a numbered or lettered sequence.8 Boolean query This includes nouns that refer to a specific titled and numbered Gaussian distribution part of a document. However, line and page always appear in lowercase.12 Chemical Descriptors Figure A Section 4.2 At the beginning of a sentence or in Days 6-8 Run 25084 a title, subtitle, or heading, do not capi- talize prefixes denoting locant or stereo- Official Titles and Degrees chemical information when these pre- Capitalize the names of specific titles and degrees when fixes are followed by a hyphen and a associated with a person’s name, but do not capitalize them chemical name.4 However, capitalize when used generically.4 Latin chemical descriptors that are not Professor John Miller (but: the professor) part of a chemical name4, and Greek and Vice President Jane Mayer (but: the vice president) Latin prefixes indicating multiplication7 (e.g., bis and tris). If the prefix in these Organisms and Viruses contexts consists of a single Greek Capitalize the scientific name of an organism or virus when letter, capitalize the first non-Greek it represents a genus or higher taxon (family, order, class, letter but not the Greek letter itself2 phylum, or kingdom), with or without a specific epithet.7 Do (e.g., Effectiveness of β-Blockers). not capitalize the epithet, which denotes a species or variety3 cis-Diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (e.g., coli in E. coli). Do not capitalize common nouns or is a widely used antitumor drug. adjectives derived from scientific names.7 Cis and trans isomers were used in Bacillus anthracis (but: anthrax bacillus) the process. Staphylococcus aureus (but: staphylococci, staphylococcal)

Department and Division Names Organizations and Entities Capitalize the names of depart- Capitalize the names of specific organizations and entities, ments and divisions if they refer to a but not the generic terms for them.2 For many institutions, the specific unit within the company.2 initial “The” is part of the name and should be capitalized. Quality Control Department Environmental Protection Agency (but: the agency) Product Safety Division The University of Iowa (but: the university)

Eponyms Tables Eponyms are phrases or names, For column headings, follow the capitalization rules used in often accompanied by a noun, which titles, subtitles, and headings.2 For row headings (the leftmost

38 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 column of a table, also called a table stub), use the capitaliza- Consecutive Numbers tion style for sentences.2 Two numbers immediately fol- lowing one another may be difficult to Flow Rate Pressure in Tank read and should be avoided. Reword Target value the sentence if possible. In general, a numeral should be used to express a Actual value number associated with a unit of mea- sure, and the other number should be Tests spelled out.3 Capitalize exact and complete2, but not shortened or twenty 5-g aliquots generic8, titles of tests. See the AMA Style Guide for an exten- (not: 20 5-g aliquots) sive list of capitalization practices for various tests and scales. hemagglutination inhibition test Dates Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale Maintain the German day/month/ year format, using a three-letter abbre- Titles, Subtitles, and Headings viation for the month. This format has Capitalize all major words in titles, subtitles, and headings, the advantage of mirroring the German regardless of the number of letters.2 Major words include nouns, style, thereby creating less ambiguity. pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.12 Do not capitalize a 10. April 1994 → 10 Apr 1994 conjunction, article, or preposition of three letters or less, (not: 4/10/94) except when it is the first or last word in a title, subtitle, or heading.2 In infinitives, capitalize to.4 Note that in English as Decimals well as German some conventional terms retain their initial Note that in German the decimal lowercase letter (e.g., pH, mRNA) at all times.3 In many biblio- marker is typically represented by a graphic references, only the initial word of a title is capitalized. comma. However, in some cases one Measurement of pH Values might encounter a period in the Specifications for the End Product (25 mg/mL) German source text, for example, when a given value is generated by a piece of Trademarks and Proprietary Names equipment geared to the U.S. market. Capitalize trademarks and proprietary names2, and maintain When using decimal fractions smaller any idiosyncratic capitalization or punctuation used by the man- than 1.0, place a zero before the dec- ufacturer.7 Note that some former trademarks are no longer pro- imal point, except when expressing the tected in the U.S. and thus need not be capitalized3 (e.g., aspirin). statistical values for P, α, and β.2 The MilliWrap membrane seals use of a single zero after the decimal Teflon injection marker should be maintained (e.g., 27.0¼C ) since it typically conveys the Numbers precision of a given measurement. For non-scientific texts, many of the style guides cited here x > 0,05 → x > 0.05 (not: x > .05) as references support a rule in which numbers ninety-nine and below are spelled out, and numbers 100 and higher are First Element of a Sentence, Title, expressed as numerals. However, medical and biopharmaceu- Subtitle, or Heading tical texts are often governed by a different set of rules. For Avoid placing a number at the begin- many of these texts, it has become commonplace to represent ning of a sentence, title, subtitle, or all cardinal numbers as numerals. This approach has several heading. If it is not possible to rewrite advantages, one being that numerals increase readability the sentence to accommodate this rule, because they stand out more clearly from the rest of the text. the number should be spelled out.8 In This is an important consideration, since many biopharmaceu- this case, use a hyphen when spelling tical documents consist of, or refer to, standard operating pro- cedures used in manufacturing and laboratory work, and thus Continued on p. 40 contain many exact counts and measurements.

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 39 Style Issues in the Translation of Biopharmaceutical Texts Continued

out numbers from twenty-one through percent sign. The symbol % must be repeated for each number ninety-nine.7 Do not use commas or and when specifying a range of percentages.7 when spelling out numbers greater than between 4.0% and 16.7%. (not: between 4.0 and 16.7%) 100 (e.g., two hundred sixty-four).2 Three lab technicians prepared 6 Plurals of Numerals cultures each. To form the plural of a numeral, add an s, but not an apos- trophe.8 Fractions 1990s Follow the model of the source text when deciding whether to use fractions Ranges or decimals. In scientific writing, deci- In numeric ranges, connect two numbers with the word to mals are preferred7, but the author of instead of an en-dash.7 Numeric ranges often include negative the original document may use frac- values, and using to avoids confusion between the en-dash and tions for less precise measurements. the minus sign.7 22 days Store at -20¼C to -10¼C.

Long Numbers Roman Numerals Use a comma to separate the digits If part of an established terminology, do not change roman in large numbers (10,000 or higher) numerals to arabic numerals.8 into groups of three, counting from the type II error left of the decimal point. Note that the client may ask you to write long strings Temperatures of numerals according to the Système Do not convert Celsius into Fahrenheit. The numeral and International (SI) convention, which the temperature symbol (¼C) should be adjacent with no inter- states that, for numbers with five digits vening space, although a different style is found in most or more to the right or left of the dec- German and some U.S. publications. imal point, every group of three digits 30¼C (not: 30 ¼C) on each side starting from the decimal point should be separated by a half- Time space2 (e.g., 23 500 or 0.764 32). Convert the European 24-hour clock to the conventional 20,000-L fermenter American a.m./p.m. time format. For 12 o’clock (12.00 Uhr or 24.00 Uhr), simply use 12:00 noon or 12:00 midnight.2 Ordinal Numbers 14.30 Uhr → 2:30 p.m. Ordinal numbers generally follow the same rules as cardinal numbers. Conclusion To express an ordinal number, use The style rules listed above are meant to illustrate the the numeral and a two-letter suffix breadth of style decisions a translator faces before embarking (-st, -nd, -rd, -th).7 This rule does not on a medical or biopharmaceutical project. These rules are nei- apply if the ordinal number is the first ther all-inclusive nor absolute, and in some cases the selected word of a sentence or title, or if the convention is somewhat arbitrary. Legitimate alternatives can ordinal number represents a proper be found in many current style guides. For example, an argu- name (e.g., Fourth of July). ment could be made for writing Roman numeral instead of Specify the parameters for the 3rd roman numeral. Because examples of such alternatives assay. (not: 3. assay or third assay) abound, consistent use within and across documents should be a translator’s primary concern. When embarking on long-term Percentages projects involving more than one translator, it is important to Use numerals and the percent sign decide upon project-specific style conventions at the outset. (%) to express specific percentages.2 The rules cited in this article were developed with the client’s Unlike the German convention, there is input, which is generally a good practice, especially when no space between the numeral and the dealing with a client who is well versed in industry-specific

40 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 writing styles. In my experience, clients are very appreciative 6 Duden: Richtiges und Gutes of one’s effort to standardize the stylistic elements of a trans- Deutsch. 4th ed. Mannheim, lation, so the time invested is well spent. Germany: Dudenverlag, 1997. 7 Huth, Edward J. Medical Style and References Format. Philadelphia, Pa: ISI Press, 1 A Manual of Style: A Guide to the Basics of Good Writing. 1987. Avenel, NJ: Wings Books, 1986. 8 Publication Manual of the 2 American Medical Association Manual of Style: A Guide American Psychological for Authors and Editors. 9th ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Association. 4th ed. Washington, Wilkins, 1998. DC: American Psychological 3 Council of Biology Editors Style Manual Committee. Association, 1994. Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, 9 Stedman’s Medical Dictionary. 27th Editors, and Publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge, U.K.: ed. Baltimore, Md: Williams & Cambridge University Press, 1994. Wilkins, 2000. 4 Dodd, Janet S. (ed.), The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for 10 The American Heritage Dictionary Authors and Editors. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: American of the English Language. 3rd ed. Chemical Society, 1997. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin 5 Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 28th ed. Co., 1992. Philadelphia, Pa: WB Saunders Co, 1994. 11 The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers. 14th ed. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago VISIT ATA’S WEBSITE AT Press, 1993. WWW ATANET ORG 12 Words into Type. 3rd ed. Englewood . . Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1974.

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ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 41 “Sprachliches Kleingeld”1 The Translation of Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions in German/English Context

By Dorothee Racette

roverbial structures or “pre- even newer literature. The process of proverbial formation never fabricated” structures make up a stops, and new proverbs constantly evolve while others disap- P large part of any language. pear from linguistic use. Modern advertising as well as films and Proverbs are used to classify, judge, television shows have begun to serve us as our latest sources of describe, exaggerate, support, denounce, proverb evolution. To give an example, the popular saying, “A play, joke, etc., and appear in texts of picture says more than a thousand words,” was actually invented many different styles and purposes. As as an advertising slogan. The slogan became so popular that it pre-set parts of speech, encoded with was translated into German and now leads an independent cultural traditional meaning and proverbial life as “Ein Bild sagt mehr als tausend Worte.” strongly varied from culture to culture, proverbs appear universally in every Proverbial Expression (Sprichwörtliche Redensart): A verb language on earth. expression that is built flexibly into the context of a sentence.

“Die Felle davon schwimmen sehen” or “ To split hair” can ...As pre-set parts of speech, encoded serve as examples. with cultural traditional meaning and The number of proverbial expressions by far exceeds the strongly varied from culture to culture, number of “real” proverbs. Our language abounds with exam- proverbs appear universally in every ples of these expressions that have their roots in all areas of modern and historical life. The Bible has given us expressions language on earth... such as “To cast the first stone,” but our historical existence as hunters and gatherers has left “jemand durch die Lappen Advertising and marketing texts often gehen” (animals were corralled into a ring of trees and rags abound with proverbial structures, but hung up to suggest a cage). We “build a house of cards,”“rob with the exception of highly technical Peter to pay Paul,” and “know the ins and outs” of our fields. text, proverbial structures are part of any The list is endless and everyday speech is laced with these type of text material. As linguistic “pen- proverbial references that are themselves rich in cultural nies” or “sprachliches Kleingeld,” they metaphor and historical meaning. serve us in many ways. Despite their omnipresence, it is not easy to define C. Quotation (Sentenz): These phrases are used with knowl- where the borderlines between a proverb edge of source and author, and are quoted to imply a similar and a casual expression or a fashionable context: “Die Axt im Haus erspart den Zimmermann.” If you word creation lie. The following distinc- live with children or teenagers, you will also know popular tions may serve as a guideline for the movie quotations such as “To infinity and beyond” or most basic linguistic appearance forms “Houston, we have a problem.” of proverbial structures: D. “Winged Words” (Geflügeltes Wort): These are phrases Proverb (Sprichwort): Real proverbs that are used without knowledge of the source and author. They always show the same inflexible can be considered quotations on their way to becoming syntax and form. The proverb is used proverbs. An example could be: as a whole sentence for a variety of purposes. Examples are: “Da wendet sich der Gast mit Grausen”

Hunger ist ein guter Koch. The German popular compendium “Geflügelte Worte,” Wenn zwei sich streiten, freut sich initially published in the late 19th century, is, until today, a der Dritte. household staple. Where there is a will, there is a way. Given this overview of the different existing proverbial structures, we are faced with the difficult problem of trans- Proverb sources include oral tradi- lating them into similarly acceptable structures that not only tion, the Bible, popular almanacs, and make sense, but also carry comparable cultural implications.

42 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Proverbs can be considered as encoded cultural message car- seem to have several proverb experts on riers. Taking the example of the most popular German proverb their teams. “Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund,”2 you can already see that Morning Hour has Gold in Its Mouth is a meaningless transla- Context: Be sure to carefully question tion. The closest English equivalent is “The early bird catches the context. Proverbs are now far more the worm,” which uses an entirely different set of metaphors. frequently used “tongue in cheek” with While some proverbial material is almost identical in both a humorous twist. The so-called anti- languages due to the process called Entlehnung, or easily proverbs are becoming very common in looked up even in general dictionaries, some proverbial struc- advertising and graffiti. These word tures can be quite challenging to work with. Here are some plays are so appealing because they are suggestions on how to proceed when you come across a struc- based on something we all know and ture that might be “pre-fabricated speech.” will therefore find funny collectively. German authors such as Bertolt Brecht Identify Proverb: Is there metaphoric content, figures of or Günter Grass, just to name two, have speech such as alliterations (“Kind und Kegel”), or unusual also played with proverbs to challenge syntactic structure? Remember that cultural metaphors vary tradition and our perception of “business greatly from language to language, such as in “Leseratte” and as usual.” Play with proverbial structures “Bookworm.” can be very challenging to translate, as the cultural implications must not only Explore Meaning and Implication: You need to know what be recognized, but also adapted to the the proverb is supposed to replace in the speech. Instead of “twist” or joke. For a while, the ten- forming an original phrase, the writer has chosen to resort to a dency in translation was to eliminate pre-fabricated phrase. In most cases this is done very deliber- such proverbial references and to ately to invoke certain associations with the reader. There are replace them with common language. many examples in literature and in general writing where the Consider the following poem from use of proverbs implies certain characteristics of a speaker. Brecht’s “Mutter Courage”: Writers such as Gotthold E. Lessing3 or William Shakespeare used proverbial frequency as a means of identifying a Von Ulm nach Metz, von Metz nach speaker’s education and social background. Interestingly, the Mähren! same technique is still employed in modern movies, such as Mutter Courage ist dabei! those made by Disney. Some examples of proverbial speech Der Krieg wird seinen Mann implications are: ernähren Er braucht nur Pulver zu und Blei. Giving metaphoric power to speech: “Funkelnagelneu,” Von Blei allein kann er nicht leben “stocksteif,” and “pale as a sheet.” This use is waning some, Von Pulver nicht, er braucht auch but was very popular in the 50s and 60s. In modern texts, such Leut! (4,1421) proverbial exaggerations are most likely ironic. “Von Blei allein kann er nicht Making speech more folksy: Advertising uses proverbial struc- leben” refers to the biblical proverb tures because of their subconscious popular appeal. If you “Man cannot live by bread alone.”5 translate marketing materials, your attention to proverbial Translation should at least attempt to structures is particularly important. incorporate this reference. The sug- gested translation “He cannot live by Relating to common experience: This use of proverbs is partic- lead alone” would even include the ularly important in the political context of propaganda and cam- rhyme “lead/bread.” However, pub- paigning. The German Nazis were masters at employing lished translations of the play have not proverbs to invoke popular sentiments4, but scientific analysis of taken up such proverbial references. speeches written for and by master politicians around the world has found striking similarities in the use of fixed linguistic struc- tures. Presidential hopefuls for the 2000 presidential election Continued on p. 44

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 43 The Translation of Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions in German/English Context Continued

Form and Style in Translation: In addi- of proverbial usage and decide whether it needs to be, or can be, tion to preserving the original meaning matched at all. Then translate what fits best in the text, possibly of the structure with all its implications, omitting the proverb. It is important to NEVER translate a the rhyme, alliteration, parallel construc- proverb literally just to have something there. tion, etc., should be matched wherever possible. Research has found three case The most fascinating aspect of the translation of proverbial scenarios of proverb translation: structures is the fact that more than any other language struc- ture, these “pre-fabricated” expressions have the power to Total Equivalency: The proverb or appeal to a target reader’s subconscious knowledge of lan- expression exists in both languages at guage—if they are translated right. the same level and uses a similar metaphor. Often, the source is the same. Translation of Proverbs in English<>German Contexts Example: “It is easier for a camel to go Helpful Materials: through the eye of a needle”…. (“Eher (Prices verified at several online bookstores) geht ein Kamel durchs Nadelöhr…”) The best translation strategy in this case Beran, Margret. Hitting the Nail on the Head. 3,000 would be to look up the exact wording Redensarten Deutsch-Englisch. Ismaning: Hueber, 1995. in a proverb or quotation compendium. ($15) A brief bibliography at the end of this article gives some suggestions on Good compendium of proverbial expressions. Many useful resources you might wish to consider suggestions on translating a German expression with a fit- for your library of translation materials. ting equivalent.

Partial Equivalency: The proverbial Drosdowski, Günther and Werner Scholze-Stubenrecht. structure is easily recognized, but needs Redewendungen und sprichwörtliche Redensarten. Der to be adapted for translation. Example: Duden, Bd. 11. Mannheim: Bibliographisches Institut, “Einem platzt der Kragen” is best trans- 1992. ($20) lated with: “Someone hits the roof.” The best strategy to follow is to replace the Thorough and complete, the Duden edition has been criti- structure with something that sounds cized for not including more recent language formations right to you in the context and will be and its somewhat trite selection. easily recognizable to the reader in the target language. There will be consider- Leonhardt, Wolfram and Susan Rambow. Amerikanisch im able variation in the choice of metaphor. Alltag. Alphabetisch geordnetes Nachschlagewerk von amerikanischen Sentenzen, Sprichwörtern, Phrasen, Null Equivalency: The proverb is well Floskeln, Redewendungen, Zitaten and Formeln. Wiesbaden recognized in one language, but the 1989. (vergriffen) other language does not support it. To give another example from literature, This excellent collection is no longer available in print, but Brecht’s Kaukasischer Kreidekreis if you can find a copy, by all means you should add it to used an Arabic compendium of your library. proverbs that the author had found in a library in his California exile. “Als sie Mertvago, Peter (Ed.). Dictionary of 1,000 German Proverbs das Ross beschlagen kamen, streckte With English Equivalents. New York: Hippocrene Books, der Rosskäfer die Beine hin, hei§t es.”6 1996. ($10) Other colloquial examples with null equivalency in English include expres- This collection is well organized for easy access and also sions such as: “Kein Aas kümmert sich takes into account newer proverbs such as “Garbage in, darum.” The best strategy for those cases is probably to analyze the context Continued on p. 48

44 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Musings on the Translation of German Literature

A. Leslie Willson

Realization tacted by his dramatic agent in New hen did I realize I had an interest in translating York, Ninon Tallon Karlweis, the German writing? When I was a first-year graduate French-born widow of a German actor. Wstudent in Yale's German program in the early I visited her, and in our first discussion, 1950s. While browsing in Sterling Library, I came across a when I mentioned that, to me, reading novel by Siegfried Wolf that bewitched me, so I decided to Grass was like turning the pages of a translate it into English. Flamme und Feuer, which I translated photograph album, she conceived of as Flame and Candle, was published in 1943 by the Rowohlt Publishing House near Hamburg, Germany. This short novel was written with a lyrical flare that charmed me. The plot was ...early on I realized I had an interest simple: a young German soldier recovering from war wounds in bringing German literary works in a hospital recalls the deaths of a fellow soldier friend and two loversÐan elegiac setting that glistened with the sensuous into English... and nostalgic magic of a deft prose. What struck me about the novel was its total lack of Nazi ideological content, though it was published in wartime staging a miscellany of work by Grass. Germany. I wrote a letter of inquiry to Rowohlt asking about From that came An Album of Günter the author, and was told that he had not been heard from since Grass, which premiered in the winter the publication of the novel (verschollen oder gefallen?). I also of 1965 at Penn State University, learned that the novel had been translated into French and pub- where I was then teaching. Then in the lished in Paris in 1944. Fired up, I submitted it to Pantheon, a spring of 1966, Ninon Karlweis pro- new American press (with German-language connections) duced it, with Dennis Rose as director, founded by Helen and Kurt Wolff, the first publishers of Franz in a small venue off-Broadway, the Kafka. It was returned with a note advising me that it did not Pocket Theater. Opening night saw “fit into our program.” In the fall of 1999, I resurrected the Grass and other German literary lumi- novel and submitted it to New Directions, where it was naries in attendance. It was a great suc- rejected for its sentimentality and cloying rhetoric. Oh well. I cess and later toured college campuses still would like to see it in print, if for no other reason than as across the U.S. under the title of The a memorial to its unknown author. World of Günter Grass. I mention this right at the start, because early on I realized Ninon Karlweis asked me to trans- I had an interest in bringing German literary works into late the longest play by Grass, the English. But that realization was suppressed while I finished three-act The Wicked Cooks, which I my Yale degree and embarked on a career in higher education. did, not realizing that it had been pub- It was not until 1961Ð1962, while on a research fellowship in lished previously in a very flawed Germany, that I discovered Günter Grass and The Tin Drum translation. My translation premiered and became enthused again. in New York in the spring of 1967, but it ran only two evenings. The director Reaching of the play, even though he had an How did I succeed in reaching a modicum of success in trans- excellent cast, had totally ruined the lating contemporary German authors? When I compared the production by emphasizing violence in original of The Tin Drum with Ralph Manheim's amazing trans- direct contrast to the menacing quiet lation, I realized that a small omission here and there changed threat that permeated the plot. He the tone of one passage or another. Only years later, in a conver- thought his audience would not “get it” sation with Manheim, did I discover that he omitted nothing and otherwise. A New Yorker review stated: had no explanation for the lacunae. To this day I do not know “Sometimes in the din, the authentic whether it was an editorial preference and/or intervention or a voice of the author can be heard.” In simple (but disturbing) production error. Be that as it may, I read 1967 it was published by Harcourt all of Grass’s work I could find, including his poems and plays. In 1965 a short play intrigued me so much that I translated Continued on p. 46 it and sent it to Grass himself. The next thing I knew I was con-

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 45 Musings on the Translation of German Literature Continued

Brace Jovanovich in a Helen and Kurt success and ran with sold-out performances for six weeks. Wolff book, Four Plays. However, because neither Helen Wolff nor Günter Grass could When Ralph Manheim was trans- make sense of the title word “uptight,” and the printed version lating the Grass novel Local Anesthetic was about to appear with a different title, Max (after an unseen in 1970, I was translating his play dog that the students threaten to burn in public), Schneider had Davor, which dramatizes some scenes to get special permission to use the title Uptight. I had wanted from the novel. The confrontational to publish the play in the Grass Symposium special issue of aspect of the play, in which young Dimension in 1970, but the publisher allowed me to print only Berlin rebels challenge the establish- four scenes that I selected myself. So, my first forays into the ment of the time, helped me solve the publication and production of a literary work by a contempo- dilemma of translating the title. Davor, rary German writer circled around Günter Grass. I had trans- an adverb, means to be in the physical lated short prose and some poetry by him for the production of presence of something (a wall, a the miscellany, and had experienced a failure and a success window, a house). To me, this term with two of his plays. also carries with it the sense of a psy- chological barrier, a mental dilemma. I Realities thought of “uptight,” a word heard fre- How did I manage to go beyond Günter Grass in my trans- quently at the time, and that's how I lation endeavors? In the succeeding years, while editing, pub- titled my translation. The German pro- lishing, and translating for Dimension (1968-1994, 20 volumes, duction of the play, on a proscenium plus special issues), I became acquainted with literally hun- stage in Cologne, had been a complete dreds of German authors and their translators, some dozen or so flop (in one scene, the boy and girl of whom became my good friends. During that span of time, I protagonists of the play converse also kept an eye on the work of German writers printed by var- while riding bicycles in figure-eights ious American publishers. To my dismay, I discovered that the on the stage). publication of translations of literary works by German authors For a symposium on the work of was very small compared with works by French, Russian, Grass, which I organized at the Italian, and Spanish-language authorsÐGerman ranked sixth or University of Texas in the spring of seventh in the annual survey published by Publishers Review. 1970, Uptight was produced and And, moreover, I also discovered that few American publishers directed by a brilliant young drama made any attempt to check the accuracy of translations they did student, Laird Williamson, who cast it publish. At the time, I reproached them for this carelessness with student actors to perfection. There (there were many errors, such as, and this was many years ago, were no intermissions in the 13-scene Stausee [an artificial reservoir of water] being rendered as Lake play, which took place before a small Stau, and, more recently, in the millennium book by Günter audience that was seated around a Grass, My Century, the Spanish Civil War song “Wir sind die lowered stage. Ramps permitted the Moorsoldaten” [“We Are the Soldiers of the Swamp”] was two bicyclists to ride down onto the called “The Song of the Moorish Soldiers”). play area and up again and around I now realize that it is incumbent on the translator to behind the spectatorsÐa lively and submit as correct a translation as humanly possible, and that boisterous scene, quite unlike the tame it is a rare translator who can do that without the aid of a figure-eights on the Cologne stage. second reader. I have the good fortune to be married to a Ninon Karlweis flew in from New trained Germanist and fervent reader of literature who is, York to be present. The play ran for additionally, an exacting proofreader who reads and minutely five sold-out performances. compares the first draft of my translations (a lengthy and pro- One year later, in the famed Arena ductive process that inevitably reveals omissions, misunder- Theater in Washington, D.C., Alan standings, stupid mistakes, and infelicities). After polishing Schneider, the director who discovered and revising the first draft, I query the author if there are any Edward Albee (Who's Afraid of neologisms or questions I have (those authors I have trans- Virginia Woolf), brought his own ver- lated have always been forthcoming with answers to queries). sion of the play to life. It was a stunning Another reading by a copy editor in a publisher's office con-

46 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 tributes, through queries, to a final version that I always hope lish authors whose works may be (though usually in vain) is perfect. translated into a dozen or more lan- So, what is a translator to do in order to find a home for a guages around the world. work? Study the literary marketplace. Placing a translation is a A translator who becomes interested marketing enterprise, and a translator must, in many instances, in the work of an author should first be a substitute for an author's agent and be eager to sell a query the author, or the German pub- product. Be sure to check which publishers are publishing lisher, about whether a specific work is which authors. A dedicated translator will read as many books being considered for publication in as possible by American authors, and will keep up with books America or is being translated. Once a by German authors. Also, be poised to take advantage of luck. translator has decided that a work really After my retirement from the faculty of the Department of should be translated, and a green light German Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in the from an author or publisher is obtained, spring of 1992, I had the good fortune to be present at a then in all likelihood it will be up to the meeting of German and American translators in New York. translator to find a publisher. I have done Here I met George Braziller, the admired founder of a distin- this with the two authors mentioned guished press that specializes in art books, but also publishes above, Köpf and Berkéwicz. I am cur- translations on a regular basis. For decades he was the rently seeking a publisher for novels by American publisher of Nathalie Sarraute, originator of the three other authors: Haiti Chérie,by roman nouveau. He asked me if I would translate a novel by Hans Christoph Buch, the second novel Michael Krüger, who, in addition to being a novelist and poet, of a trilogy (the first appeared several is the director of the Hanser publishing house in Munich. I said years ago); Death and I, We Two,by I would, and in 1993, The Man in the Tower appeared. Krüger's Arnold Stadler, which is now being read novel, Himmelfarb, followed in 1994. by a publisher in New York; and The Meanwhile, in 1992, I had met Munich novelist (and Turtle Feast, by Tirolean author Joseph Duisburg University professor) Gerhard Köpf, and become Zoderer. And I am hard at work trans- enthused about his work. I asked him which novel I should lating yet another novel by Köpf and the translate first into English, and he mentioned There Is No most recent one by Stadler. Borges. After George Braziller published The Man in the Establishing a reputation as a lit- Tower, I queried him as to whether he would be interested in erary translator is difficult, and finding reading the Köpf novel. He was, so I sent it to him. He called a publisher for a translation is as diffi- me immediately asking, “Who is this man? Why haven't I cult as finding a publisher for any heard about him?” And he published the novel in 1993. That author. Professional literary translators work was followed, in 1995, by another novel, Papa's Suitcase, who can support themselves by trans- a tale of an adventuresome young German bookseller and lating are a rare breedÐRalph Manheim Hemingway fan. succeeded, but only because he trans- When Braziller was unable to publish other novels by Köpf lated from French as well as German, immediately, he agreed to let me query other publishers. As a and only because he was indefatigable. result, two of Köpf’s short novels appeared in 1997 under the Most literary translators have another Camden House imprint, Innerfar and Bluff, or the Southern mode of enterprise for their livelihood, Cross, in one binding. In 1996, Camden House asked me to because literary translators are usually recommend a novel, and I sent them my translation of Ulla paid poorly. Generally, translators are Berkéwicz's Angels Are Black and White, which was immedi- advised not to undertake a translation ately published. Köpf's The Way to Eden and another novel, without having found a publisher, but Nurmi, saw print with Camden House in 1998. Camden House that is a kind of Catch-22 situation, an has since been bought by a British publisher who will no unbearable Hobson’s choice that longer publish contemporary novels in translation. Luckily, threatens their initiative. Köpf and Braziller resumed contact early this year, and now The decision must be an individual Braziller will publish Köpf's Piranesi's Dream in July of 2000. one. A translator must have a deep Few German publishers have agents to try to place their authors in English translation in the U.S., although they pub- Continued on p. 48

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 47 Musings on the Translation of German Literature Continued

interest for the work of an author, and If a translator resides near a Goethe Institute, contacts there generally have a temperament and lit- can be helpful as well. Universities and Goethe Institutes often erary acuity (and, of course, skill as a have programs that bring German authors to the United States. translator) that fits an author's mind and Among the universities are: New York University; Washington style. And the translator must often be University (St. Louis); some California universities (Los willing to take a risk in seeking a pub- Angeles, Berkeley, San Diego at La Joya); Oberlin College; lisher for his work. and, rarely now, the University of Texas at Austin. For example, Hans Christoph Buch will be a visiting writer at Resources Washington University in the spring of 2000 (March to May). Luckily, those interested in contem- And don't forget the Web: sources include publisher sites, porary German literary works (including university library sites, and bookselling sites (Amazon.com the various genres of writing) have a and barnsandnoble.com). There one can find out what pub- new resource in The German Book lished translations of German authors are in print (few are) and Office, located at 1014 Fifth Avenue (the who has been published in the U.S., which titles, and the name address of the Goethe Institute in New of the translator. German sites are not nearly as informative, York), Fourth Floor, New York, NY since few publishers in Germany have Websites. 10026. The project director is Dr. It is important for a literary translator to have contacts with Andrea Heyde, who can be reached at other translators. This is easy to do as a member of the ATA and (212) 794-2851. The purpose of The by participation in its various divisions, and also by membership German Book Office is to serve as a in the American Literary Translators Association and The source of information about German University of Texas at Dallas (Box 830688, Richardson, TX books today. I have found the office to 75083-0688; Tel: (972) 883-2093). The annual fall conferences be cordial and eager to help in fur- of the two associations offer a wealth of information and an nishing me with information about unequaled opportunity to meet and exchange views and experi- authors, publishers, and books. ences with fellow translators.

The Translation of Proverbs and Proverbial Expressions Continued from p. 44

garbage out.” Wörterbuch Idiomatik Deutsch-Englisch, Englisch-Deutsch. 2 Mieder, Wolfgang. English Expressions. Bde. Stuttgart: Klett Schulbuch, 1995/ 1997. ($180). Stuttgart: Reclam, 1992. ($3) At a pricey $180, this two-volume set is both the most compre- Well annotated, with many addi- hensive and most expensive idiomatic dictionary on the market. tional helpful hints. Unless you work with literature and idiomatic material a lot, it is probably not necessary to spend that much. The books are Mieder, Wolfgang. English Proverbs. very well organized and even give variations of expressions. Stuttgart: Reclam, 1988. ($3) Notes Together with the previous one, very 1 This ingenious expression for proverbs was “coined” by the Berlin useful additions to your translator’s theater critic Herbert Ihering. library. 2 See Wolfgang Mieder: “Rund um das Sprichwort ‘Morgenstunde hat Gold im Munde’.” In: Muttersprache 88 (1978): 378-385. Mieder, Wolfgang. Not by Bread Alone. 3 See Dorothee Racette: “‘Wie das Färberpferd um die Rolle’: Proverbs of the Bible. Shelburne, VT Sprichwörtliches in G.E. Lessings Komödien.” In: Proverbium 14 New England Press, 1990. ($7) (1997): 303-346, here p. 318. 4 See Wolfgang Mieder: “Sprichwörter unterm Hakenkreuz.” In: I often refer to this booklet when I Muttersprache 93 (1983): 1-30. deal with biblical references. Organ- 5 Deut. 8:3; Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4. ized by subject area, very useful. 6 Bertolt Brecht: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis. Frankfurt A.M.: Suhrkamp, 1963: 113. Schemann, Hans und Paul Knight. PONS

48 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 DICTIONARY REVIEWS Compiled by Albert Bork

The Guide is structured along familiar both “borinqueño” and “puertorriqueño,” lines and covers the following areas: and the next time I listen to Rodrigo’s Bork is chair language basics, language conventions, Concierto de Aranjuez, I’ll know that of the ATA Dictio- Spanish-language forms of classical people from that part of Spain are called nary authors’ names, literary and grammatical “ribereños.” There are also about 20 Review terminology, linguistic terminology, bib- pages of abbreviations, which are always Committee. lical names and allusions, and a nimble handy to have around. We always want dictionary of grammatical and lexical more, of course, so perhaps in a future doubts. The material is clearly presented edition this chapter might be expanded and uses good examples that reveal a to include English equivalents. The Writer’s Reference Guide to comfortable familiarity with the Spanish- The arrival of this book says a great Spanish speaking world. deal about the state of the Anglo- Authors: The section on gender and number is Hispanic world I inhabit. The most David William Foster, Daniel careful to explain the differences remarkable feature of this publication is, Altamiranda, and Carmen de Urioste between Peninsular and Latin American I think, that it is written in English. This Publisher: forms, and instructs us on how to use for- represents a perceptible adjustment in University of Texas Press, Austin, eign words that have entered Spanish. English-speaking circles vis-à-vis the 304 pages “Babysitters,”“hooligans,” and “man- growing Hispanic presence in the United ISBNs: agers” can be either masculine or femi- States. Kudos to all those involved for 0-292-72511-6 (hardcover) nine, but we refer to “la beautiful recognizing this, and for a job well done. 0-292-72512-4 (paperback) people,”“el homo sapiens,” and “la jet- Price: set.” This chapter will be very helpful to Termium¨ and Termium Plus¨ on $35 (hardcover) those who would like to order more than CD-ROM in Windows 95 and Windows $16.95 (paperback) one beefsteak, cocktail, or yogurt in 98/NT versions Reviewed by: Spanish. As a translator, I particularly Produced by: Tony Beckwith enjoyed the list of “plurals that are found Translation Bureau of the Public Works in prepositional and verbal expressions,” and Government Services of Canada It doesn’t seem that long ago that we because each phrase is accompanied by (Ottawa Ontario K1A 0S5, Canada). On were asking each other how to say an English equivalent. I’m always inter- the Internet at http://www.translationbu- “scanner” in Spanish. Today, “escáner” ested in colloquial ways to say things like reau.gc.ca rolls off my tongue as though I’d been “to compliment,” or “in spite of all the Price: saying it forever. As we all know, our lan- obstacles.” And I appreciate gaining a $395 ($325 for update) in the U.S. guage flows fast, evolving as we speak. deeper understanding of the subtle Contact 800-TERMIUM According to the Manual de Español shades of meaning submerged between Reviewed by: Urgente, we live in a time of great lin- “de todas maneras” and “de todos Sharlee Merner Bradley guistic instability, so I am pleased to note modos.” Speaking of meaning, there are the arrival of The Writer’s Reference nearly 30 pages of detailed explanation Many translators from and into French Guide to Spanish. The authors clarify on the use of prefixes and suffixes. have found Termium¨ to be their first ref- their approach immediately, saying in the Copy editors will appreciate the sec- erence source when seeking an equivalent opening sentence: “This volume was pre- tion on bibliography preparation as well to a new term. This product is one of a pared in order to meet the demand for a as the many lists of, for example, titles new breed that is a development of the guide, in English, for writers and editors for nobility, religion, academia, and so traditional dictionary. It is not just a glos- working in the Spanish language.” I on. A fairly extensive professions and sary, a term implying very limited subject would add that this book could also pro- occupations chapter lists a variety of matter, nor is it the content of a printed vide substantial assistance to those who career paths, such as “defensor del dictionary in electronic format. A good are seriously attempting to learn, or re- pueblo” for “ombudsman” and the indication of what it is would perhaps be learn, Spanish as a second language. charming “ferroviario” for “railroad the term “database,” and actually, the There already are, of course, several worker.” But it doesn’t list “canillita,” sources in each language from which the Spanish style manuals, and some are the word for a young newspaper vendor terms are taken can be accessed if desired. referred to—and deferred to—in this new in the Río de la Plata region. The geo- The producers of Termium¨, the work. But this one is in English, and takes graphical terms chapter is also rewarding, Translation Bureau of Government the position that “...the nonnative speaker especially the section that deals with Services in Canada, first introduced the coming from English will have many nationality and “other place” identifiers. doubts that do not occur to native speakers.” While not exhaustive, the list includes Continued on p. 50

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 49 translating public to their in-house tool ¥ All other geographical names have that, in addition to being updated monthly, by leasing it. We either had to pay an only one official form, which is the the Internet version contains 50,000 annual fee to use the disk or pay a heavy one to be used on federal maps in Spanish equivalents. Perhaps in the not too price to own it. After several years, to our either official language. distant future the Canadian Translation mutual benefit, the disk was made avail- Bureau will make the Internet version able for purchase at a lower and more ¥ In documents, it is permissible to available at no cost to us. In the meantime, reasonable price. I bought the 1996 CD- translate the generic portion of names the CD-ROM version is an essential ROM when it was issued and found it to of geographical features, that is, the resource for a freelance translator. be an essential resource. portion that indicates the nature of the The 1999 version has a new, easier-to- entity (Lake in “Arrow Lake”), but not Termium Plus¨ use interface that is now true Windows. the specific portion that names the Produced by: As a matter of fact, it is somewhat similar entity (Arrow in “Arrow Lake”). Translation Bureau of the Public to the interface on the other popular Works and Government Services of French database Le Grand dictionnaire ¥ Names of inhabited places retain their Canada (Ottawa Ontario K1A 0S5, terminologique, formerly called Le Doc, official form in both English and French Canada). On the Internet at http://www. and to Stedman’s medical dictionaries. texts, e.g., Montréal (Que.), Saint John translationbureau.gc.ca With an industry standard, it is becoming (N.B.), and St. John’s (Nfld.). Reviewed by: quicker to access a desired term as the Françoise Herrmann learning curve flattens out. The style guide, Le guide du rédac- Other improvements to Termium¨ teur, is a useful tool for translators into If you pledge allegiance to the brightly include a 40 percent renewal of terms out of French. It contains helpful information colored and sweet world of Macintosh, a total of three millionÐmore than 200,000 on abbreviations, capitalization, punctua- you are in for a special treat from the new terms, 100,000 new records (the con- tion usage, and an index. Translation Bureau of the Public Works textual source of each term), and more than The Lexique analogique provides many and Government Services of Canada: 80,000 changes to existing records. choices, especially for words that are com- Termium Plus¨. This is Internet-based The most notable of all the innova- monly used and challenging to translate. Termium¨. Though you may initially be tions is a different version called For example, under English framework, a little disappointed to hear that the long- Termium Plus¨. In addition to the fea- there are 10 French words, such as cadre, awaited August 1999 Termium¨ CD- tures mentioned above, it includes a style squelette, armature, and a cross-reference ROM update is only available for guide, thesaurus, and a reference on to five other English headwords, such as DOS/Windows users, there are, in fact, Canadian style. environment and background. some clearly significant advantages to On the “title page” of The Canadian As a new service to translators, Internet-based Termium¨ (termed appro- Style, we find a curious copyright that is Termium Plus¨ has been made available priately Termium Plus¨) for all users. new to me: Copyright © Her Majesty the on the Internet for a price. There was a This is first reflected in the price struc- Queen in Right of Canada (1997). An free trial period last year, but my infor- ture. Internet-based Termium Plus¨ is example of its content is the section on mation shows a subscription price for offered on a subscription basis. For indi- geographical names. In a bilingual unlimited access ranging from $25 (in the viduals, the yearly subscription rate is country such as Canada, the choice of a U.S.) monthly to $225 yearly. There are, $225 (plus tax), or slightly more on a geographic name can be problematic. however, four publications available at no monthly basis ($25, plus tax). And on a The government established a committee charge on their Internet site: subscription basis, Termium Plus¨ offers on geographical names that issued the more than the CD-ROM version. Where following guidelines: * Year 2000 Bug Glossary Termium¨ CD-ROM users deplored lapses in updating promises every year, ¥ The official form of a geographical * Trilingual Internet Glossary (400 Internet Termium¨ users now have access name is the one adopted by the entries) in English, French, and to a newly updated Termium Plus¨ every provincial or federal authorities in Spanish month. The Canadian Translation Bureau whose jurisdiction an entity lies. This database is “swept” every month to name can be found in the Gazetteer of * Women in Development Glossary include new and modified records, Canada. which provides a perfect design * Bilingual List of Titles of Federal, solution for keeping up with the ¥ Certain geographical names of pan- Provincial, and Territorial Ministers terminological frontier. And in addition Canadian significance have well- to this unprecedented technological- known official forms in both English The main difference between Termium terminological match, Termium Plus¨ and French. Plus¨ on the Internet and on CD-ROM is users also have access to 50,000 terms

50 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 in Spanish (unavailable on the CD-ROM If you are a freelancer specializing in inclusion in the database. version) and three style manuals. Are you medical translation and the project flow In supplying monthly updates, still disappointed? suddenly hiccups, you may occasionally Termium Plus¨ seeks to keep abreast of Access to the Internet-based Termium find yourself accepting projects in other terminology. How is this achieved? There Plus¨ occurs via your Internet service domains. If this is the case, and you are are 40 full-time terminologists working provider, an Internet browser, an account having trouble with “purified polypep- on researching and updating terminology name, and password. So the first step for tides” and “reverse transcriptase” methods for Termium¨ at the Canadian access (once the aforementioned has of cloning, Termium¨ is tried and tested Translation Bureau, and there are 800 been secured) is to bookmark the address (positive) for the related fields of biochem- active translators also creating records. www.termium.com, which takes you to istry and microbiology. You may also This alone provides a glimpse of the the Termium¨ home page, where you experience real trouble with “toenailing” scope and structure of the project. In click on the consultation link for access when it comes to “bricolage” or more terms of movement and change, this to Termium Plus¨. Following successful serious construction projects. Mercifully, translated into 224,000 newly archived login with your userID and password, a Termium Plus¨ can also help with the terms between the 1996 and 1999 split screen will appear where the left coarser anatomy of house-building. The Termium¨ versions, and 83,000 modified frame is designed for searching and the record for “toenailing” displays the infor- records (canceled records for dated right frame displays the search results mation shown in Table 1. terms, modifications for updated terms, (i.e., the contents of the records This information, which is presented and added information). For the monthly searched). This split screen design, com- in a fairly typical format, supplies, in Termium Plus¨ sweeps, the breakdown bining both search and result functions addition to glossing by domain, a defini- is as follows: on average, 3,280 records on a single display, offers much naviga- tion of the term and, in this case, are uploaded each month, 5,380 are mod- tional improvement compared to the sep- glossing and indexing in all three lan- ified, and 1,320 are deleted. Compared to arate, toggle display design of the pre- guages: French, Spanish, and English. the 95-year turnaround time between the vious CD-ROM version. In addition, a This is to say that Termium¨ continues to monolingual Petit Larousse editions, and choice of one of three languages for the supply a wealth of fingertip assistance the 10-year turnaround between the bilin- interface is available with a single click. when translating, where many special- gual Robert and Collins editions, this is Besides these much-improved naviga- ized (and heavy) monolingual and bilin- quite spectacular. tional aspects, and any potential Internet- gual dictionaries would be needed. There is an interesting twist in one of related risks such as downtime, how does Occasionally, and these instances are the purposes of Termium¨ development. Termium Plus¨ fulfill its primary purpose rare, there are “no-hits,” but you may also Termium®’s conservative streak seeks to as a tool for assisting translators in keeping qualify (in exchange for a break in sub- standardize translations, and at best to pace with the speed and movement of scription fees) to participate in building terminological developments? Termium¨ by submitting records for Continued on p. 62

Table 1

English Joint and Connections French Joints et assemblages Spanish Juntas y Conexiones (Construction) (Construction) (Construcción) Metal Fasteners Clouterie et visserie Clavos y Tornillos Rough Carpentry Charpenterie Carpintería

Toenailing s CORRECT clouage en biais s Clavazón inclinada s CORRECT, MASC CORRECTO, MASCULINO Toe nailing s CORRECT clouage oblique s MASC clavazón oblicua s skew nailing s CORRECT CORRECTO, MASCULINO tusk nailing s CORRECT Angle nailing s

DEF—The technique of driving a nail DEF—Clouage par enfoncement de DEF—Clavazón inclinada. Término at an angle to join two pieces of clous en biais pour fixer l’extrémité utilizado en carpintería para referirse lumber. S d’un membre et dissimuler ainsi les a la clavazón oblicua. S clous, notamment dans les planchers et les lambris. S

1999-10-19 © Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 51 THE TRANSLATION INQUIRER Compiled by John Decker

“Cahier des Clauses Particulières” (spe- (G-E 3-2000/8) “Rübenerde” was the cific contract conditions or supplemen- subject of a ProZ.com query, namely, in Decker, an active tary general conditions). But in an item regard to British beet sugar production. member, involving maintenance of a pipeline, he Here’s the context: “Die Energiekosten is a freelance tech- encountered “C.C.P.U.,” which might be sind aufgrund des hohen Energieverkaufs nical translator “Cahier des Clauses Particulières von zwei Fabriken an das öffentliche in Danville, Penn- Unitaires,” or “-Unifiées,” or “-à l’Unité.” Netz dank der in die Kraft-Wärme- sylvania. The job made mention of “-le report des Kopplung vorgenommen Investitionen différents marquages tels que: No. de stark zurückgegangen. Die Abgabe für coulée, No. de CCPU, etc. sur chaque die Entsorgung der Rübenerde konnte Address your queries and responses to troncon, y compris les chutes de tubes.” nach Verhandlungen mit der Regierung the Translation Inquirer, 112 Ardmoor Any ideas? vermieden werden.” Avenue, Danville, Pennsylvania 17821, or (F-E 3-2000/3) Trudy Peters, baffled (G-E 3-2000/9) What follows may be fax them to (570) 275-1477. Internet by the ways of the French fashion a new buzz-word among advertising pro- address: [email protected]. Assisting: industry, wants to know the differences fessionals: “Alleinstellung.” The writer of Roy Wells, [email protected]. Please between “modéliste,”“styliste,”“maquet- the following paragraph was obviously make your submissions by the 25th of each tiste,” and “créateur.” Can these four be obsessed with it: “Differenzierung schafft month to be included in the next issue. rendered in English in a way that differ- Alleinstellung—auf allen Gebieten. Jetzt entiates between them? She knows that a werden Alleinstellungmerkmale sichtbar. n his own practice, the Translation certain school in Paris has the first three Wenn man den Charakter, die Bega- Inquirer encountered a wonderful of these words in its title, and after a bungen and Schwächen dieser Marken- I sentence that says about as much careful check she was still forced to Persönlichkeiten ausgemacht hat, kann about modern Europe and the way it is render it as a school for fashion design. man sie zur Individualität und Allein- heading, linguistically, as one could ask. (F-E 3-2000/4) Isabel Leonard was stellung führen.” Courtesy of ProZ.com. It was from a German assignment, mind working on a manual for people selling (I-E 3-2000/10) In a text having to do you, and it read thus: “Let’s talk together, pharmaceutical products to doctors, and with a hospital bed, Debby Nieberg found notfalls auch avec les mains et les pieds, found several paragraphs explaining why the first two words in the following quote doamit wi us verstoat.” Give yourself a this drug is better than the competition. to be a problem: “Movimentazione vas- pat on the back if you can recognize the The last is headed, “Bien souligner, en colare regolabile su quattro posizioni language of very limited diffusion that verrouillage.” Could this be something mediante pistone a cremagliera con rego- provides the last four words. like to clinch the matter? lazione sui due lati del letto.” (G-E 3-2000/5) A ProZ.com corre- (I-E 3-2000/11) Bob Taylor was trans- [Abbreviations used with entries in spondent wanted to know what the abbre- lating a doctoral diploma in electronic this column: EÐEnglish; FÐFrench; GÐ viation “gL-Sicherung” means. Contextual engineering, and found two courses con- German; IÐItalian; LÐLatin; PtÐPortu- sentences were provided: “Bei einer taining a troubling word for him, “com- guese; RÐRussian; SpÐSpanish.] Störung in einer Anlage (Kurzschluss) soll plementi.” The names of the courses were nur der gestörte Stromkreis und nicht die “complementi di geometria ed algebra” New Queries gesamte Verteilung abgeschaltet werden. and “complementi di matematica.” He (F-E 3-2000/1) Zaire becomes the Bei gL-Sicherungen werden deshalb die surmises that the problem word means subject of an item in this column at last. Vorsicherungen mindestens zwei Nenn- something like additional course or Jeanne Zang had a business letter from stromstufen höher gewählt.” advanced course. that sprawling land in which “auprès” (G-E 3-2000/6) Here’s a winner in the (L-E 3-2000/12) Lindsey Vaughan had confused her, to the extent that she knows ecological field from ProZ.com: “die problems with a corporate law phrase, who owns what shares and with whom Leistungsfähigkeit des Naturhaushalts,” “cum collegium in causa universitatis fin- they are secured: “On avait convenu dans which the correspondent presented two gatur una persona.” She needs either an l’accord de Joint-Venture que X suggestions for, the capacity of the natural English equivalent or an alternate source procédera au prépayement des parts Y environment to perform its essential func- to find a translation for it. auprès de Z. Y s’engage à acquérir pro- tions and the functional capacity of the (Pt-E 3-2000/13) These queries from gressivement auprès de X, au fur et à natural environment. Is there a better one? President-elect Tom West relate to the mesure de la vente de scories à Z, les 20% (G-E 3-2000/7) Phil Fisher wants to building industry. The first is (13.a) d’actions gagées auprès de X.” know if anyone can help with “Resist- “padrão de construção,” which he sur- (F-E 3-2000/2) Building specs in muster,” a term that appeared in the title of mises might be building standard. Is that French can be pesky. Peter McCavana a German patent: “Resistmuster und correct? Then, (13.b) in the phrase notes that in this area, C.C.P. means Verfahren zu deren Herstellung.” “paredes: azulejos 1/2 barra coloridos,”

52 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 what does “1/2 barra” mean? And lastly, larly colorful: Rumors were flying so furi- (R-E 9-99/10.b) (UEGC): David does (13.c) “massa fina” mean fine ously that you couldn’t avoid being hit. Goldman agrees with the first three words mortar, as in “paredes: massa fina/latex?” Langenscheidt: distinct, loud and clear. of Jim Shipp’s solution, Ukfdyjt eghfdk- (R-E 3-2000/14) For Bill Halstrick, (G-E 11-99/5) (“Bereichsleiter”): tybt gjxnjdjq .... but then he wishes to two of the individual components of an Hans Fischer found definitions of divi- differ, believing that the last word is not ice apron (ktljhtp) were troublesome. sion manager, (U.S.) vice-president for..., cke;,s but cdzpb, as claimed by a Russian His text speaks of an engineer who: (U.K.) divisional director in Wilhelm abbreviations dictionary from 1993. hfphf,fnsdftn uhfabxtcrbt cgjcj,s Schäfer’s Wirtschaftswörterbuch. Walter (R-E 11-99/11) (rbnjdhfc, gnbwf- gjcnhjtybz gjdth[yjcntq ktljhtpf, b[ Bauer states that a “Bereichsleiter” is the cbkby): Mike Levin states that the former hfpdthnjr b if,kjyjd. It’s the last two manager of a second (also called is a monster in the apocryphal stories terms, hfpdthnrb and if,kjys, that “rayon”) of an activity within a larger about King Solomon. It is derived from pose the problem. Any civil engineers group. He or she would be in charge of a the Greek “kentauros.” As for the latter, around who have dealt with this? certain type or kind of production or also called cbpby, one definition terms it (Sp-E 3-2000/15) Jana Bundy activity. Walter agrees with Trudy Peters’ to be the Bird of Joy with a woman’s searched and searched, but the following interpretation of the “Bereichsleiter” face, usually represented with a halo and terms regarding police organizations in position in the hierarchy. no arms. Author Vladimir Nabokov, who El Salvador eluded her. They are: (15.a) Karin Lovin, in contrast, states that a wrote his Russian books under the nom “delegación”; (15.b) “subdelegación”; “Bereichsleiter” is higher than an de plume of Cbpby, stated that modern (15.c) “puesto policial”; and (15.d) “res- “Abteilungsleiter,” earning 20-50 percent Russian uses the word to denote two guardo,” possibly a checkpoint for border more than the latter. She does not like Area species of owls. But its mythological control or customs. Extra context for this: Manager as a translation, but it might be form as a multicolored bird no doubt “Resguardo Fronterizos, Resguardos de better than general manager. In any case derives from siren, the Greek creature Finanzas.” One dictionary has “resguardo “Bereichsleiter” is definitely higher than who lured sailors. aduanal” as customs control, but she is department manager, since a “Bereich” Shifra Kilov found a century-old dic- anything but sure that this term always includes several “Abteilungen.” tionary in which such things are still applies to customs. (G-E 11-99/6) (“Unterdächer”): Hans listed: the Gjkysq Wthrjdyj-ckfdzycrbq Fisher quotes Eurodicautom as defining ckjdfhm, compiled by Grigory Dyachenko, Replies to Old Queries this as a roof underlay. According to published in Moscow in 1899. (E-Sp 11-99/2) (truancy petition): Walter Bauer, after consultation with a (R-E 11-99/12) (Rjl ex.): It is Carl Schwanbeck suggests “petición de Swiss friend, the plural form refers to the assumed by Mike Levin that this stands delincuencia escolar.” second layer of the roof, below the tiles for participant’s code, a two-character (E-Sp 1-2000/5) (inner city): Carlos or shingles. The visible part of this by the numeric or alphanumeric value which, Recalde claims that “barrios bajos” is eaves is called by the Swiss “Dach- together with a preceding six-, eight-, or the most appropriate equivalent, sin- Untersicht,” and the Translation Inquirer nine-digit number which is either an gular or plural. is so bold as to add that the English word VAJ code (interbranch flow) or

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 53 HUMOR AND TRANSLATION By Mark Herman

lets the writer know, assuming that he/she cares, that “debt” is etymologically related to “debit.” So, are there totally useless letters? Yes. Consider the word Herman is a “jazz.” The second “z” is totally useless. It tells the user of the librettist and word nothing and does not change the pronunciation of the translator. word at all. Only one “z” is required for the rhyming first syl- lable of “hazard” and the rhyming proper nickname “Chaz” (short for Charles, and sometimes also spelled “Chas,” but never “Chazz”). Useless Letters Readers who have time on their hands are invited to submit useless letter just sits there in a word, doing nothing, an examples of words in any language in which at least one letter artifact of lunatic orthography. Are there any truly use- is totally useless, for inclusion in a future column. A less letters? It can be argued that the letter “x” in English is useless A REMINDER: Despite my re-emphasis a few months ago because it has no sound not duplicated by some other letter or of the need for at least copyright information (and preferably combination of letters. But, in theory at least, “x” is still actual copyright permission) when a whole written piece is sub- “useful” in that it sometimes makes a word shorter. For mitted, readers are still submitting worthy (i.e., funny) pieces example, the five-letter word “exact,” without “x,” would accompanied only by statements such as “Where it comes from, require six letters: “egzact.” How about “c,” the sounds of which and where it’s been —who knows!”. Illegal use of copyrighted are usually duplicatable by a single other letter: “k” or “s”? Not material, on the Internet or anywhere else, does not put it into entirely useless, because “c” is still needed for the digraph “ch,” the public domain, and neither I nor the ATA will reprint mate- although some people have proposed that “ch” be replaced by rial which may be under copyright unless it is known for sure “c” alone, and that all other “c”’s be replaced by “k” or “s.” that the material is not copyrighted, or explicit permission to How about so-called silent letters? I say so-called because reprint is received from the copyright holder. many aren’t silent at all. Even if they themselves are not pro- nounced, they usually change the pronunciation of the word. Submit items for future columns via e-mail to her- Silent “e” almost always operates this way: “cub” and “cube,” [email protected] or via snail mail to Mark Herman, 5748 “hat” and “hate,”“bit” and “bite” don’t sound anything like W Brooks Rd, Shepherd MI 48883-9202. Examples of transla- each other. But “pie” and “pi” are pronounced identically. So tions of humor are preferred, but humorous anecdotes about have we finally found a useless letter in the “e” in “pie?” Not translators, translations, and mistranslations are also welcome. completely. The “e,” at least in the written language, still serves Include copyright information and permission if relevant. Unless to distinguish between two words with different meanings. submitters request otherwise, material submitted may be shared Other “silent” letters which serve to distinguish between words with Robert Wechsler of Catbird Press ([email protected]), with different meanings are the second “t” in “but/butt” and the who is planning an international collection of humor in English second “s” in “bus/buss.” translation. How about the “b” in “debt”? Though approaching total use- lessness, we are not quite there yet. The “b” is useful in that it

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54 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISEMENTS

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ATA’S DOCUMENT Need a membership form for a colleague? Want the latest list of exam sites? ON REQUEST LINE Call ATA’s Document on Request line, available 24-hours a day. For a menu of available documents, please press 1 at the prompt, 1-888-990-3282 or visit ATA’s Website at http://www.atanet.org.

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 55 ACCREDITATION FORUM

ATA’s Accreditation Program: Getting Ready for the New Millennium by Shuckran Kamal, Accreditation Committee Chair

ignificant efforts have been underway to place ATA’s services to members of the American Translators accreditation program in a position that would enable it Association and to issue Accreditation Certificates to indi- S to continue improving its services to the membership. To viduals who meet the standards for professional competence this end, this short article, which includes the text of a proposed, set by the American Translators Association. To accomplish revised Mission Statement for the Accreditation Committee, that mission, the ATA Accreditation Committee shall under- hopes to launch a constructive and purposeful exchange of take the following tasks: information and ideas about the program. Members of the Accreditation Committee will be using this forum in the coming To establish working groups that perform the following functions: months to express their ideas, concerns, aspirations, and other 1. Prepare and evaluate practice tests so that interested candi- opinions. It is my hope, as current chair of the Accreditation dates may receive marked copies of these tests and better deter- Committee, that ATA members who are interested in and con- mine their chances for success in the accreditation examination. cerned about the accreditation program will do the same. It seems appropriate, therefore, for the purpose of launching 2. Prepare and evaluate examinations for translator accredita- this column to print here a proposed, revised Mission tion from certain foreign languages into English, and from Statement for the Accreditation Committee. English into certain foreign languages. Each examination shall Proposed revisions appear below in bold, italic letters. The contain one passage in each of the following five categories: text of this Mission Statement, which is currently being consid- general, scientific/medical, semi-technical, business/legal, and ered by Committee members, is based on a mission statement literary. New examination passages shall be prepared at least that was revised in November 1996. The proposed text, which once a year in all language pairs. was submitted a few weeks ago to the president of ATA, reflects To standardize text selection criteria for exams and grading to a certain extent some of the changes that have taken place in practices among graders in all the language combinations. the Accreditation Committee during the past two years. It is also To offer graders workshops to help them maintain and the product of limited e-mail discussions on the subject among sharpen their skills. Committee members, who plan to discuss the proposed revi- To develop relations with sister associations in other coun- sions at their next meeting late in the spring. At that time we tries with a view to cooperate with them on accreditation mat- hope to adopt a version of that statement. ters and/or streamline accreditation policies and practices. If you wish to comment on the Mission Statement, we invite To review the Accreditation policy periodically to make you to do so in writing. Please mail your comments to the sure that it remains effective and relevant and to recom- Chronicle editor, and mark the lower front of the envelope with mend changes as necessary. the phrase, “ATTN: Accreditation MS.” We thank you in advance for your input, and we look forward to receiving your To issue a certificate of accreditation to each candidate who comments, which we hope will enrich our discussion. successfully completes the examination. To take all necessary measures to ensure that reviews of exam- The Mission Statement inations for unsuccessful candidates who request a review In order to achieve the American Translators Association’s during the specified time and pay the appropriate fee are con- stated purpose of formulating and maintaining standards for ducted as expeditiously as possible in a manner that is thor- professional competence, it is the mission of the ough, careful, and objective. Accreditation Program, which is administered by the January 2000 Accreditation Committee, to administer training and testing

2000 ATA Editorial Calendar

Here is the Chronicle editorial calendar for the coming year. Letters and articles are encouraged. You can find submission information on page 4.

April June August October Focus on Terminology Focus on the Client Focus on Freelancers Focus on the Law and Language: Chinese Languages: Nordic Language: Portuguese Translating/Interpreting Language: Italian May July September Focus on Literary Focus on Science and Focus on Agencies, November/December Translation Technology Bureaus, and Focus on Training and Language: Spanish Languages: Slavic Corporations Pedagogy Language: Japanese Languages: Limited Diffusion

56 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Upcoming Accreditation Exam Information Upcoming Accreditation Exam Information

California Florida New Mexico Oregon May 20, 2000, San Francisco September 23, 2000, Orlando May 20, 2000, Albuquerque August 12, 2000, Portland Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: May 5, 2000 September 8, 2000 May 5, 2000 July 28, 2000

Colorado Massachusetts New York Puerto Rico May 13, 2000, Boulder April 30, 2000, Boston May 6, 2000, New York City April 1, 2000, San Juan Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: April 28, 2000 April 14, 2000 April 21, 2000 March 17, 2000

May 20, 2000, Colorado Springs Michigan North Carolina Texas Registration Deadline: April 8, 2000, Kalamazoo June 4, 2000, Pinehurst May 6, 2000, El Paso May 5, 2000 Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: March 25, 2000 May 19, 2000 April 21, 2000

District of Columbia July 15, 2000, Novi Ohio Washington May 13, 2000, Washington, DC Registration Deadline: May 6, 2000, Brecksville April 29, 2000, Seattle Registration Deadline: June 30, 2000 Registration Deadline: Registration Deadline: April 28, 2000 April 21, 2000 April 14, 2000

Registration for all accreditation exams should be made through ATA Headquarters. All sittings have a maximum capacity and admission is based on the order in which registrations are received. Forms are available from the ATA Website or from Headquarters. Please direct all inquiries regarding general accreditation information to ATA Headquarters at (703) 683-6100.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to the following people who have successfully The Active Member Review completed accreditation exams: Committee is pleased to grant active English into German Gudrun E. Huckett Ulrike Wiesner or corresponding status to: Mirjam E. Benneker-Mion Albuquerque, NM Alexandria, VA Villa Grande, CA Giovanni Maragno Jeffrey A. McCabe English into Spanish Edith Matteson Rosemarie S. Greenman Pfaffenhofen, Tirol, Austria Rosalba Ordoñez Palacino Egemen Bagis Knoxville, TN Bogota, Colombia

ATA BOOK ON TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING PROGRAMS AVAILABLE

Translating and Interpreting Programs in America, A Survey is now available from ATA. Compiled and edited by Bill Park, this 68-page publication gives the contact names and course offerings for degree and certificate programs given by schools throughout North America. This is the updated and expanded version of Park’s Translator and Interpreter Training Programs in the U.S. The cost is $20 to members and $25 to nonmembers. For more information or to order, contact ATA Headquarters at (703) 683-6100; fax: (703) 683-6122; or e-mail: [email protected].

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 57 American Translators Association 41st Annual Conference Wyndham Palace Resort • Orlando, Florida September 20-23, 2000 Plan now to attend ATA’s Annual Conference. Join your colleagues for an exciting educational experience in Orlando, Florida. ATA’s 41st Annual Conference in Orlando will feature: ¥ Over 120 educational sessions offering something for everyone; ¥ A Job Exchange area for individuals to promote their services and for companies to find the translators and interpreters they need; ¥ Exhibits featuring the latest publications, software, and services available; ¥ Opportunities to network with over 1,200 translators and interpreters from throughout the U.S. and around the world; and ¥ Much more!

The Registration Form and Preliminary Program will be mailed in May to all ATA members. The conference rates are listed below— with no increase for 2000. As always, ATA members receive significant discounts: Conference Registration Fees ATA member Nonmember Student Member Early-Bird (by 8/15/2000) $185 $275 $70 One-day $95 $140 n/a After 8/15/2000 $230 $345 $80 One-day $115 $170 n/a On-Site (after 9/15/2000) $290 $430 $90 One-day $145 $215 n/a

Note: Students and one-day participants do not receive a copy of the Proceedings. All speakers must register for the conference. Hotel Accommodations The Wyndham Palace Resort, the host hotel, is conveniently located in the Walt Disney World Village Resort. The hotel, which is 20 minutes from Orlando International Airport, is within walking distance of many Disney attractions. Conference attendees can register at the discounted rate of $138 single/double per night. This rate is good until August 27. To make your hotel reservations, contact the Wyndham Palace Resort at 1-800-327-2990. Be sure to specify that you are attending the ATA Annual Conference. Mark Your Calendar Today! September 20–23, 2000

Once Again, ATA Offers the Services of Conventions In America GET THERE To Help You with Your Travel Arrangements. FOR LESS! Conference Attendees Are Eligible for the Following: ¥ On American Airlines and Delta, save 5% - 10% off the lowest applicable fares; take an additional 5% off with minimum 60-day advance purchase. Travel between September 15-28, 2000 on America or September 18-25, 2000 on Delta. Additional information, such as optional tours, ¥ Call Conventions in America, ATA’s official travel agency, for the lowest available fares on any air- pre-conference semi- line and discounts on the official carriers. Plus, receive free flight insurance of $100,000. nars, and various net- working events, will ¥ As for car rentals, conference attendees are eligible for discounts through Alamo Rent A Car. Rates appear in the ATA start as low as $28/day for economy models or $120/week, with unlimited free mileage. Check with Chronicle as it Conventions in America personnel for more information. becomes available. Call Conventions in America at 1-800-929-4242, ask for ATA group #505. Outside the U.S. and Plan now to attend the Canada, call (619)232-4298; fax: (619)232-6497; Website: http//www.stellaraccess.com; E-mail: flycia@ largest gathering of stellaraccess.com. Reservation hours: Monday-Friday 6:30am - 5:00pm Pacific Time. translators and inter- preters in the U.S. If you call direct or use your own agency: American: 1-800-433-1790, ask for Starfile #8690UE Delta: 1-800-241-6760, ask for File #159252A Alamo: 1-800-732-3232, ask for ID #252553GR

58 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 Association for Machine Translation in America

Envisioning Machine Translation in the Information Future

Misión del Sol October 10-14, 2000

Cuernavaca, Mexico one hour south of Mexico City

(www.isi.edu/natural-language/ conferences/amta2000/theme.html)

The Translation Inquirer Continued from p. 53 in English, says Filemón Sosa, than the literal crime against him as Authorization is given for the replacement of roofs in public health. disrepair, while retaining the placement and spacing of the (Sp-E 10-99/13) (“tercerista”): Filemón Sosa looked in Pina beams, as well as their right angle to the roof. & Pina Vara Diccionario de Derecho and discovered that this is In (13.b), “impermeabilización integral” is built-in or perma- a person who files an intervention lawsuit, “tercería” being nent waterproofing. A possible overall translation of this phrase: intervention. That means that the subject of this query is an The shingles and a layer of reinforced concrete will be treated intervenor. Black’s Law Dictionary, Sixth Edition, defines the with permanent waterproofing and finished with a layer of clay. latter as a person who voluntarily interposes in an action or He likes work permit or work order for (13.c) “derecho de obra.” other proceeding with the permission of the court. (Sp-E 11-99/13) (roof replacement query cluster): Carl The Translation Inquirer brings the name of Roy Wells front Schwanbeck tackled all three components of the query from and center in just about every column as a valuable helper, but page 68 of the November-December 1999 Inquirer. For (13.a), tribute should also be paid to a much more hidden partner, Per he points out that “la escuadria” is derived from “escuadra,” Dohler. The latter, of Barendorf, Germany, has been a won- meaning right angle. The noun means the condition of being at derful proofreader of this column for quite a few years. Per, a right angle. The whole phrase of (.a) could be translated by Prosit Neujahr!

VISIT ATA’S WEBSITE AT WWW.ATANET.ORG

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 59 CHAPTERS,AFFILIATED GROUPS, AND OTHER GROUPS

Seattle WA

MT ME ND VT OR MN NH ID WI Weston SD NY MA RI WY MI CT Novi New York City PA IA Seven Hills NV NE Chicago West Chester NJ Provo OH MD UT DE Eldorado IL IN ✪ Springs Washington, DC Berkeley WV CO Kansas City CA KS VA MO St. KY Louis

Santa Clarita NC Fuquay- TN Varina Albuquerque AZ OK NM AR SC

Atlanta MS AL GA Dallas

El Paso TX LA Austin Map Key Houston ✪ ATA Headquarters FL ATA Chapter Miami Affiliated Group Other Group

Note: All announcements must be received by the first of the month prior to the month of publication (September 1 for October issue). For more information on chapters or to start a chapter, please contact ATA Headquarters. Send updates to Christie Matlock, ATA Chronicle, 225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590, Alexandria, VA 22314; Tel: (703) 683-6100; Fax: (703) 683-6122; e-mail: [email protected].

ATA Chapters Mid-America Chapter of ATA (MICATA) P.O. Box 144 Atlanta Association of Interpreters and Translators (AAIT) Shawnee Mission, KS 66201 P.O. Box 12172 Attn.: Meeri Yule Atlanta, GA 30355 Tel: (816) 741-9441 ¥ Fax: (816) 741-9482 Tel: (770) 587-4884 http://www.mwis.net/~owls/micata.htm Carolina Association of Translators and Interpreters (CATI) National Capital Area Chapter of ATA (NCATA) 604 W. Academy Street P.O. Box 65200 Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526 Washington, DC 20035-5200 Tel/Fax: (919) 577-0840 Tel: (703) 255-9290 ¥ E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] ¥ http://www.ncgg.org/CATI ¥ The Professional Services Directory of the National Capital Area Chapter of ¥ Local group meetings held in Asheville, Charlotte, and Research Triangle Park, the American Translators Association (NCATA) has gone online. It lists NC; and Columbia and Greenville/Spartanburg, SC. NCATA members and the services they offer, together with additional infor- ¥ 1999 membership directory, $10; CATI Quarterly subscription, $12. mation that enables translation and interpretation users to find just the right language specialist for their projects. Bookmark http://www.ncata.org and Florida Chapter of ATA (FLATA) check out the NCATA directory. If you maintain language-related Web pages, P.O. Box 830632 you may want to include a link to the directory. NCATA is always interested in Miami, FL 33283-0632 comments and suggestions. Tel/Voice: (305) 274-3434 ¥ Fax: (305) 387-6712 ¥ April 1, 2000: Accreditation exam workshop, Cleveland Park Public Library. [email protected] ¥ http://members.aol.com/flata2 Contact Harvey Fergusson at [email protected] for more information.

60 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 New York Circle of Translators (NYCT) Delaware Valley Translators Association (DVTA) P.O. Box 4051, Grand Central Station 606 John Anthony Dr. New York, NY 10163-4051 West Chester, PA 19382-7191 Tel: (212) 334-3060 ¥ E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] http://www.nyctranslators.org ¥ 1999-2000 Membership Directory available for $10. Please make Northeast Ohio Translators Association (NOTA) check payable to DVTA and mail your request to the above address. 1963 E. Sprague Rd. El Paso Interpreters and Translators Association (EPITA) Seven Hills, OH 44131 1003 Alethea Pl. Tel: (440) 526-2365 ¥ Fax: (440) 717-3333 El Paso, TX 79902 E-mail: [email protected] ¥ http://www.ohiotranslators.org Fax: (915)544-8354 Northern California Translators Association (NCTA) [email protected] P.O. Box 14015 Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs/International Federation Berkeley, CA 94712-5015 of Translators (FIT) Tel: (510) 845-8712 ¥ Fax: (510) 883-1355 2021 Union Avenue, Suite 1108, Montreal, Canada E-mail: [email protected] ¥ http://www.ncta.org Tel:+1 (514) 845-0413 ¥ Fax: +1 (514) 845-9903 ¥ Telephone/online referral service. See searchable translator database on E-mail: [email protected] Website. Houston Interpreters and Translators Association (HITA) ¥ 2000 NCTA Membership Directory available in print version for $25 or on 3139 W. Holcombe, Suite 140 diskette for $10. To purchase, mail remittance to the above address, or fax/tele- Houston, TX 77025 phone MasterCard/Visa number and expiration date. Tel: (713) 661-9553 ¥ Fax: (713) 661-4398 ¥ A Practical Guide for Translators, 1997 revised edition available for $10. E-mail: [email protected] To purchase, mail remittance to the above address, or fax/telephone Master- Card/Visa number and expiration date. Metroplex Interpreters and Translators Association (MITA) ¥ NCTA General Meetings for 2000: 7428 Summitview Drive Place: University of California Extension, 55 Laguna Street, San Francisco Irving, TX 75063 Tel: (972) 402-0493 Dates: May 20, September 16, December 9 http://www.users.ticnet.com/mita/ Southern California Area Translators and Interpreters Association Nebraska Association of Translators and Interpreters (NATI) (SCATIA) 4542 South 17th Street P.O. Box 802696 Omaha, NE 68107 Santa Clarita, CA 91380-2696 Tel: (617) 734-8418 ¥ Fax: (617) 232-6865 Tel: (818) 725-3899 ¥ Fax: (818) 340-9177 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] ¥ http://www.scatia.org New England Translators Association Affiliated Groups 217 Washington Street Brookline, MA 02146 Michigan Translators/Interpreters Network (MiTiN) Tel: (617) 734-8418 ¥ Fax: (617) 232-6865 P.O. Box 852 E-mail: [email protected] Novi, MI 48376 New Mexico Translators and Interpreters Association (NMTIA) Tel: (248)344-0909 ¥ Fax: (248)344-0092 P.O. Box 36263 E-mail: [email protected] Albuquerque, NM 87176 Utah Translators and Interpreters Association (UTIA) Tel: (505) 352-9258 ¥ Fax: (505) 352-9372 P.O. Box 433 [email protected] ¥ http://www.cybermesa.com/~nmtia Salt Lake City, UT 84110 ¥ 2000 Membership Directory available for $5. Please make check payable Tel: (801)583-1789 ¥ Fax: (801)583-1794 to NMTIA and mail your request to the address listed here, or contact us E-mail: [email protected] by e-mail. http://www.stampscapes.com/utia Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society (NOTIS) Other Groups P.O. Box 25301 Seattle, WA 98125-2201 American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) Tel: (206) 382-5642 Box 830688 [email protected] ¥ http://www.notisnet.org Richardson, Texas 75083-0688 Saint Louis Translators and Interpreters Network (SLTIN) Tel: (214) 883-2093 ¥ Fax: (214) 833-6303 P.O. Box 3722 Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association (AATIA) Ballwin, MO 63022-3722 P.O. Box 13331 Tel: (314) 394-5334 ¥ Fax: (314) 527-3981 Austin, TX 78711-3331 The Society of Translators and Interpreters of British Columbia http://www.aatia.org (STIBC) Chicago Area Translators and Interpreters Association (CHICATA) Suite 1322, 808 Nelson Street P.O. Box 804595 Vancouver, BC, Canada V6Z 2H2 Chicago, IL 60680 Tel: (604) 684-2940 ¥ Fax: (604) 684-2947 Tel: (773) 508-0352 ¥ Fax: (773) 508-5479 E-mail: [email protected] ¥ http://www.vcn.bc.ca/stibc E-mail: [email protected] The Translators and Interpreters Guild Colorado Translators Association (CTA) Local 32100 of the Newspaper Guild/Communications Workers of P.O. Box 295 America Eldorado Springs, CO 80025 8611 Second Avenue, Suite 203 Tel: (303)554-0280 ¥ Fax: (303) 543-9359 Silver Spring, MD 20910-3372 [email protected] Tel: (301)563-6450/Toll Free: (800)992-0367 ¥ Fax: (301)563-6451 E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] ¥ For more information about the online directory, newsletter, accreditation http://www.trans-interp-guild.org exams, and professional seminars, please visit http://cta-web.org.

ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 61 Singular Concerns Continued from p. 13 Dictionary Reviews Continued from p. 51 Since data rarely travel alone, there is such a strong incli- serve as “THE definitive” or uniformizing source of transla- nation to associate the term with our friend “information” tions. However, in choosing the Internet and computer tech- that many grammarians have resigned themselves to the nology as its progressive ally, a very opposing and far less use of a singular construction with “data”: “this data is defeating challenge is being met. Termium¨ is actually important” for “estos datos son importantes.” English- endeavoring to keep up with the movement and speed of speaking scientists and other experts, however, perhaps change in terminological development. This is an interesting because so much of their technical terminology also case of linguistic Darwinism (the survival of change), and a stems for Latin and Greek, cling to the plural construc- wonderful tribute to linguistic theory of the 20th century, tion. So a medical or technical report will say “these whose very essence arose in an effort to provide systematic, data are important” instead. descriptive alternatives to prescription. Thus, translators of Certain English terms of Latin origin may have both French, and Spanish to a lesser degree, are indeed privileged English and Latin plural forms: for instance, the plural to participate in, and share, the fruits of the Canadian form of “memorandum” can be either “memoranda” or Translation Bureau’s labor: a model and unique method of “memorandums.” This term is one of the few exceptions archiving terminology and assisting with translation activity. to the rule in Spanish: according to the Diccionario de Happy Termium Plus¨ using and building! Dudas by Manuel Seco, you can say either memo- rando/memorandos or memorandum/memorandums, although some cases of memoranda as a Spanish plural have been spotted in documents at the Inter-American Development Bank. American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation It Works for “Cafeteria” In other cases in English, a plural form is gradually he American Foundation for Translation and Interpretation, an leaning in the direction of a singular construction. For T independent, 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was estab- example, “criteria” is technically the plural form of lished to help the translation and interpretation professions to “criterion” (criterio), a term of Greek origin, which, preserve their past history, to assist in their present work, and to like “datum,” is not usually a loner. But again, the igno- stimulate future research through grants. rant masses, with their annoying tendency to simplify For more information, contact AFTI President Peter everything, have taken to using “criteria” in the sin- Krawutschke at (616) 387-3212; fax: (616) 387-3103; e-mail: gular, as in “this criteria” instead of “these criteria.” peter.krawutschke@ wmich.edu or contact ATA Headquarters at However, such unorthodox usage is not likely to be (703) 683-6100. appearing in print anytime soon.

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62 ATA Chronicle ¥ March 2000 AMERICAN TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION OFFICERS President President-Elect Secretary Treasurer Ms. Ann G. Macfarlane Mr. Thomas L. West III Ms. Courtney Searls-Ridge Mr. Eric Norman McMillan P.O. Box 60034 Intermark Language Services German Language Services 1824 S Street NW, #304 Seattle, WA 98160-0034 1175 Peachtree St., NE, Ste.850 2658 48th Avenue SW Washington, DC 20009-6137 Tel: (206) 542-8422 Atlanta, GA 30361 Seattle, WA 98116 Tel/Fax: (202) 332-6093 Fax: (206) 546-5065 Tel: (404) 892-3388 Tel: (206) 938-3600 [email protected] [email protected] Fax: (404) 892-1166 Fax: (206) 938-8308 twest@ courtney@ intermark-languages.com germanlanguageservices.com

DIRECTORS Mr. Allan W. Adams Ms. Beatriz Bonnet Dr. Gertrud Graubart Champe Prof. Alan K. Melby Mr. Timothy Yuan Adams Translation Services 7465 E. Peakview Avenue 521 Melrose Avenue 1223 Aspen Avenue 89-33 Pontiac St. 10435 Burnet Road, Suite 125 Englewood, CO 80111 Iowa City, IA 52246 Provo, UT 84604 Queens Village, NY 11427 Austin,TX 78758 Tel: (303) 779-1288 Tel: (319) 335-2002 Tel: (801) 378-2144 Tel: (718) 776-8139 Tel: (512) 821-1818 Fax: (303) 779-1232 Fax: (319) 335-3417 Fax: (801) 377-3704 Fax: (718) 776-3589 Fax: (512) 821-1888 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Mr. Scott Brennan Dr. Jo Anne Engelbert Ms. Izumi Suzuki Mr. Kirk Anderson 10005 Cairn Mountain Way 789 Captains Drive P.O. Box 852 2455 Flamingo SDrive, #401 Bristow, VA 20136-3009 St. Augustine, FL 32084 Novi, MI 48376 Miami Beach, FL 33140 Tel: (500) 447-7407 Tel: (904) 460-1190 Tel: (248) 344-0909 Tel: (305) 532-7252 Fax: (703) 393-0387 Fax: (904) 460-0913 Fax: (248) 344-0092 Fax: (305) 532-0885 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Accreditation Chapters Ethics Professional Development Terminology Shuckran Kamal Kirk Anderson Vacant Marian S. Greenfield Sue Ellen Wright Vienna, VA Miami Beach, FL Honors and Awards South Plainfield, NJ Kent, OH Tel: (703) 242-0740 Tel: (305) 532-7252 Courtney Searls-Ridge Tel: (212) 648-8421 Tel: (330) 673-0043 Fax: (703) 242-0750 Fax: (305) 532-0885 Seattle, WA Fax: (212) 648-5732 Fax: (330) 673-0738 Active Membership Review [email protected] Tel: (206) 938-3600 [email protected] [email protected] Vacant Dictionary Review Fax: (206) 938-8308 Public Relations Training Budget Albert G. Bork courtney@ L. Manouche Ragsdale Gertrud Graubart Champe Austin, TX germanlanguageservices.com Los Angeles, CA Iowa City, IA Eric Norman McMillan Tel: (512) 437-8772 Tel: (319) 335-2002 Washington, DC Interpretation Tel: (310) 275-9571 Fax: (512) 836-9440 Christian Degueldre Fax: (310) 271-1319 Fax: (319) 335-3417 Tel/Fax: (202) 332-6093 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Pacific Grove, CA [email protected] Divisions Tel: (408) 647-4179 Special Projects Translation and Computers Timothy Yuan Fax: (408) 647-4199 Alan K. Melby Queens Village, NY [email protected] Vacant Provo, UT Tel: (718) 776-8139 Tel: (801) 378-2144 Fax: (718) 776-3589 Fax: (801) 377-3704 [email protected] [email protected]

DIVISION ADMINISTRATORS French Language Hebrew Language Japanese Language Portuguese Language Slavic Languages Joan Bond Sax [being established] Jon Johanning Vera Abreu Natalia Kissock Weston, MA Batya Reichman Ardmore, PA San Jose, CA Morris, MN Tel: (781) 237-9697 Houston. TX Tel/Fax: (610) 642-1902 Tel: (408) 266-5832 Tel: (320) 589-3975 Fax: (781) 237-9704 Tel/Fax: (713) 721-7799 [email protected] Fax: (408) 266-5892 Fax: (320) 589-3289 [email protected] [email protected] Literary [email protected] [email protected] German Language Interpreters Clifford E. Landers Science and Technology Spanish Language Helge L. Gunther Diane E. Teichman Montclair, NJ Nicholas Hartmann Alicia Marshall West Chester, PA Houston, TX Tel: (201) 200-3239 Milwaukee, WI Evanston, IL Tel: (610) 430-0646 Tel/Fax: (281) 445-3119 Fax: (973) 744-4822 Tel: (414) 271-4890 Tel/Fax: (847) 869-4889 Fax: (610) 430-8623 [email protected] [email protected] Fax: (414) 271-4892 [email protected] [email protected] Italian Language Nordic [email protected] Translation Company Roberto Crivello Edith M. Matteson Steven P. Iverson Salt Lake City, UT Ballwin, MO Milwaukee, WI Tel: (801) 278-7757 Tel/Fax: (314) 207-7256 Tel: (414) 271-1144 Fax: (801) 278-4211 [email protected] Fax: (414) 271-0144 [email protected] [email protected]

ATA REPRESENTATIVES To International Federation To Joint National Committee To Regional Center for To ASTM Translation User of Translators (FIT) for Languages (JNCL) North America (RCNA) Standards Project Peter W. Krawutschke Vacant Vacant Rosalie P. Wells Kalamazoo, MI West Grove, PA Tel: (616) 387-3212 Tel: (610) 869-0920 Fax: (616) 387-3103 Fax: (610) 869-9320 [email protected] [email protected] FIT: http://www.fit-ift.org