Principles of translation use of electronic means Translation memory

Electronic dictionaries

• The most important access facility in ED is linking. A link may be either a dictionary-internal or dictionary external. The type of dictionary-internal link that is most reminiscent of print dictionaries is the cross-reference, from which a click of the mouse will take the user to the place where the nomination is given. However, the ED offers an endless number of other internal linking possibilities, for instance:
• Linking to a certain entry by clicking on the lemma concerned in an alphabetical lemma list displayed in a separate window.
• Linking to a certain entry by clicking on the lemma concerned when it appears in another entry.
• Linking to a certain sense by clicking on it in a window where the polysemy structure of the lemma is displayed in diagrammatic form.
• Linking to another dictionary component that may offer, among other things: audio pronunciation, a list of semantically related words, a picture, supporting a definition, a selection of examples showing the use of the word in the sense concerned, etc.

Electronic dictionaries

• Dictionary-external links lead to components other than those included in the dictionary the user is currently consulting. Some EDs are provided with entire ‘bookshelves’ containing, for instance:
• An encyclopedia
• A technical dictionary
• A reverse-order dictionary
• An etymological dictionary
• A thesaurus
• A searchable corpus of authentic text.

Translation memory

• What is a translation memory
• A translation memory (TM) is a database containing pairs: a sentence and its translation. This means that if you or your translator has previously translated a sentence or phrase, the system will find it in the database and prompt you to use it instead of translating it again from scratch.
• How is a TM different from a glossary?
• Glossaries only contain translations of words or short phrases, as individual concepts or units. Translation memories can contain whole passages of text, within their own context.