Chartered Institute
of Linguists

Glossary of Terms

Key terms:

                                                                                                                                                         
    Chartered Body                 Chartered professional                 Conference interpreting                 Consecutive interpreting                 Interpreter                 Interpreting/ Interpretation                 Language Professional                 Language Service Provider (LSP)                 Linguist    
                                                                                                                                                         
   

 

               

 

                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                         
    Localisation                 Machine Translation                 Post Editing                 Pre-professional linguist                 Professional Body                 Project Manager                 Public Service Interpreter                

Qualified Interpreter/Translator

                Remote Simultaneous Interpreting    
                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                         
    Sign Language interpreting                 Simultaneous interpreting                

Transcreation

               

Transcription

               

Translation

               

Translator

                Whispered interpreting                                        
                                                                                                                                                         

 

Chartered Body

An organisation (or professional body) in receipt of a Royal Charter granted by the Monarch establishing its rights and responsibilities in leading the profession on behalf of all those active within it.

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Chartered professional

A chartered professional has competences recognised as meeting an established set of career standards, educational and skills criteria within the framework regulated by a professional body, is actively practising within the sector and is committed to Continuing Professional Development.

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Conference interpreting

Conference interpreting can comprise both consecutive and simultaneous interpreting and occasionally, whispered.  Typically, interpreters work in a booth or from a remote location, working in pairs, in alternation, for short periods of around 20 minutes.

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Consecutive interpreting

In consecutive interpreting, interpreting takes place after a spoken communication has been heard. The interpreter takes notes while a person is speaking and renders the message in the target language during a speaker pause left intentionally for this purpose, at a frequency and length appropriate for the purpose.  Consecutive interpreting may involve an element of summarization.

This mode of interpreting is particularly suitable for diplomatic negotiations, one-to-one meetings, in public services (courts, police, hospitals etc).

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Interpreter

An interpreter transposes a spoken message from one language into another, in one or both directions, accurately, faithfully, in its entirety and maintaining its original sense, meaning and conveying the correct register, to reflect the tone and convictions of the speaker.

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Interpreting/Interpretation

Interpretating/interpretation renders spoken communications from one language into another, in one or both directions, accurately, faithfully, in its entirety and maintaining its original sense, meaning and style and conveying the tone and convictions of the original message.

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Language Professional

A language professional applies their language skills in an alternative sector (i.e. tourism, banking) or their knowledge of languages in language-related activities (i.e. proof-reading, glossary development, language services delivery etc).

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Language Service Provider (LSP)

A language service provider may be an individual, or more usually an organisation, that provides services related to languages e.g. interpreting, translation, transcription, localisation, amongst others, to an end-client or end-user. (see Project Manager)

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Linguist

A linguist actively studies, uses or applies more than one language, or their knowledge of languages, academically, professionally or for educational purposes, to communicate or facilitate communication with/between different languages, cultures and communities.

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Localisation

The process of adapting a piece of writing, usually but not exclusively a translation, to meet the particular expectations or needs of different countries or regions, cultural, social or religious groups etc.

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Machine Translation

The use of software, typically using corpus statistical or neural techniques, or a combination of both, to translate text or speech from a source language into a target language

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Post Editing

The process of improving a piece of machine-generated writing, usually but not exclusively a translation, so that an acceptable final product is achieved. Depending on requirements, this might simply be making  it understandable or it might also be making it stylistically appropriate

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Pre-professional linguist

A pre-professional linguist uses, studies or applies their language skills in preparation to join the profession or at a defined lower level than that required to meet full professional standards.

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Professional Body

An organisation actively representing a profession which sets, maintains and guards standards, leads and promotes the profession, represents those working within it, and sets and delivers qualifications and accreditation.

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Project Manager

A professional working as or for a Language Service Provider, or for a localisation team within a Corporate Department who coordinates translation projects or interpreting services.

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Public Service Interpreter

A public service interpreter interprets within a public setting for the public good, typically in places such as courts of law, the health service, schools and education, local government etc. In the UK, their work assures important understanding of and access to public services for those who cannot do this through the medium of English.

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Qualified Interpreter/Translator

An interpreter/translator who holds a recognised qualification, regulated by an appropriate standards framework, at a level that meets accepted professional standards for the sector.

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Remote Simultaneous Interpreting

The same as “Simultaneous Interpreting”, but performed online, i.e., the interpreter is located in a different location from the meeting or in the case of a virtual meeting, all participants are connected via an online platform.

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Sign Language interpreting

Sign language interpreting renders spoken communications from one language into a signed language, in one or both directions, accurately, faithfully, in its entirety and maintaining its original sense, meaning and style.

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Simultaneous interpreting

In simultaneous interpreting, interpreting takes place at the same time as a spoken communication is heard, producing the interpreted message while the original speaker continues to talk with a time lag of a number of seconds.

This mode of interpreting is mostly done in a booth with headset and microphone in settings such as multilingual meetings, conferences and within international organisations such as the UN or EU.

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Transcreation

Transcreation is a dual process of translation and creation and is the means by which a piece of text or message is creatively translated into another language, usually in the media or marketing sectors, to produce a new piece of writing that reflects the branding, imaging and nuanced messaging of the original. The target language piece may differ substantially in how it is worded from the original but will have a similar meaning, similar feeling, and similar impact on the reader.

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Transcription

A written record of a spoken utterance, usually but not always, with all its hesitations, false starts, self-correction and original errors.

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Translation

Translation renders a piece of written language from its source language to a target language accurately, faithfully, in its entirety and maintaining its original sense and meaning.

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Translator

A translator renders a piece of written language from its source language to a target language accurately, faithfully, in its entirety, maintaining its original sense, meaning and style, using all reference materials and technologies available.

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Whispered interpreting

Whispered interpreting is simultaneous interpreting done where the interpreting is whispered directly to a listener. Typically the interpreter will sit just behind the person listening to the whispered interpretation. This form of interpreting is also sometimes referred to in English by its French equivalent term of “chuchotage”.

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