Analysis of SDL TRADOS in Legal Text Translation

【Abstract】Constructing SDL TRADOS legal terms and exploring application strategies is to promote the legal text translation and the functionality of SDL TRADOS as a computer-aided translation.

【Key words】SDL TRADOS； legal text translation； aided translation

【作者簡(jiǎn)介】謝語(yǔ)，成都理工大學(xué)大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院。

Introduction

The development of SDL TRADOS has promoted the translation， as in law. It is based on the theory of creating a translation memory for text translation and common-cited terms. The paper is on the analysis of combining SDL TRADOS with legal text translation.

1. The characteristics of legal text

1.1 Semantic unity

As known it is always a single word to express many meanings in China. For example “bukekangli” means under control， while in law， the word “force majeure” just expresses the “In civil law， because of force majeure caused by the contract cannot perform， do not bear civil liability.” It is a single meaning refers to the law.

1.2 Word correspondence

In Chinas standard language， there are many antonyms in pairs， such as "characteristic-commonality". In the legal language， this phenomenon is still common. A word can represent a variety of relative legal concepts， such as the defendant （criminal） - the plaintiff （criminal）. In terms of terminology， normative legal texts are required to be precise， in line with legal norms.

2. The characteristics of SDL TRADOS

2.1 Formation

The traditional term management focuses on single and fixed formation， such as office software. However， TRADOS supports a variety of editing environments and automatic typography. For example， the legal text of the judgments， there are some relatively fixed format. However， in the case of finding different contents， it can use the TRADOS Tag Editor to edit some of the fixed format retained. Translators only concerned about the translation of text， and web page format can be automatically saved.

2.2 Term management

TRADOS terminology management functions are embodied in Multi Term， which is a powerful database solution with high degree of integration and accuracy. Consistency of the same text is one of the important criteria to measure the quality of translation， as well as keeping the terminology united. TRADOS operations open the corresponding list of terms， which will automatically identify the text and give a standard translation. For example， "insurance against all risks" is "yiqiexian"， while the professional name is "baoquanxian".

2.3 The memory and matching function

As in TRADOS， memory function automatically stores translation， builds and constantly updates the memory library. Matching will be the source and the target language file for analysis， accurately find the corresponding sentences and paragraphs. When matching the pop-up the segment it appears in the following paragraph automatically. The translator can focus on the new content based on the matching segment， or directly or by local modifications.

3. Analysis of SDL TRADOS in legal term

Although the term base can solve some practical legal terms of translation， considering the complexity of national laws， the establishment of different terminology has to adapt to different national laws. In terms of translating foreign legal documents， it is necessary to consult the legal terminology libraries of different countries in time so as to analyze the corresponding texts.

Once established， it can support for multiple editing environments and automatic typesetting capabilities， which will keep translation and original format consistent.

Conclusion

This paper analyses the characteristics of legal terminology and SDL TRADOS and the possibility of establishing translation terminology to promote legal texts. As a computer-aided tool， TRADOS is not perfect. For translators， it can be continuously improved the translation memory stored in the translation quality， which will exert an increasingly large advantage for the development of the translation industry contribute more power.

References：

[1]Anonymous.“SDL releases SDL Automated Translation Solutions”.Worldwide Computer Products News，2008.

[2]David L.Hoover.“Some Approaches to SDL TRADOS Stylistics”.Foreign languages（Journal of Shanghai International Studies University），2010.

[3]M.F.M Firdhous.“Automating Legal Research through Data Mining”.International Journal of Advanced Computer Sciences and Applications，2011.