What is Glossary? Why it is important to build Glossary?

A glossary is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. In a general sense, a glossary contains explanations of concepts relevant to a certain field of study or action.

A glossary helps to eliminate uncertainty in the translation process of which word to use and under what context. Building a Glossary of terms will enforce

• Consistency of terminology
• Shorten the time it takes to translate a document
• Reduce the overall cost of translation over time.

Traditionally, a glossary appears at the end of a book and includes terms within that book which are newly introduced, uncommon or specialized.

A bilingual glossary is a list of terms in one language which is defined in a second language or glossed by synonyms (or at least near-synonyms) in another language.

Style Guide and Glossary

Every business has its own language. Choosing the right word is a deliberate decision. Making sure everyone in your company uses the same term for the same concept requires discipline. Building a style guide is a useful method alongside glossary of terms. Style Guide sets Visual and Usage rules. Some common examples are the presentation of the company name, capitalization of product names and categories, and the use of English measures or metric measures for global products. There may also be language-specific rules, such as using a personal or impersonal mode of address to suit the practices within a particular country.

Along with the glossary, the style guide helps ensure consistency and quality of your translations.

Creating Glossary and Style Guide

If Glossary is not provided or existing, the translation service provider coordinates with the company on understanding the style of the company in communication, the terms that are specific to the company usage of the product, corporate identity, and communication format. For example, the textile giant ‘Raymond’ will have a different tone than ‘United colors of Benneton’

Term-mining is done from existing translation from previous versions of the product or similar products can be leveraged using automated tools, helping the terminologists quickly find the correct translation for each term in the glossary. Then the translators provide the other metadata: usage, context, and definition.

Next, the company for whom you are creating Glossary and Style Guide will need to validate the terminology for correct usage in each target language. Your in-house expert for each language, ideally based in the country(s) where the translation will be used, needs to review the glossary to make sure each term is translated appropriately.

After formalizing the development, translation, and management of your glossary, the translation service provider uses it during the translation process. The glossary provides a needed level of precision for the most important terms in your source material,

Glossaries may include a list of not to be translated terms (NTBT). For example, product names are typically not translated. Noting these terms either within or in a separate list of NTBT terms helps translators identify these terms and leave them in the source language.

Based on many years of helping companies around the world develop and use glossaries, Shakti Enterprise has evolved following methods for best results.

• Create your glossaries from the terms appearing in your product’s User Interface (UI) and User documentation.
• Focus on your user-facing materials.
• For a new project, base your glossaries on the source material specific to that project.
• For projects that have already been translated, base your glossaries on the translated material.
• Focus on the core terminology of your product, processes, and company.
• Zero in on the most common, important terms, and validate the terms in your glossary.

Shakti Enterprise a professional translation service provider will guide you in translating and then localizing your website based on your market priorities.