SIL Base Plan

Developing the translation BriefThe translation brief is a statement of the standards for the project, such as which source texts are used, and the specific audience and intended uses of the translation. Setting these principles out at the beginning will help the translation team work together towards the common goal.For more information about the translation brief read:Introducing the Translation Brief: A Practical Tool for Improving Translations The translation brief, also referred to as translation instructions (Nord, 1991b), is a set of instructions prepared by a requester that accompanies a translation assignment,thus enabling the requester to convey information about the source text, the specific communicative purpose and context in which the text is used, the intended uses of the translation and what it aims to accomplish. In short, it enables the requester andtranslator to be, quite literally, on the same page from start to finish.

The first translation task is to study the text carefully, using Bible versions and commentaries. This is called “doing the exegesis”. There should be at least one person on each translation team who is a skilled exegete.

A translator, a mother-tongue speaker of the receptor language, studies the text in a LWC, then retells the text in the vernacular to others on the team. It may be recorded for use in the drafting of the text in the next step.

The translator, a mother-tongue speaker of the receptor language, makes the first draft of the translation, typing it into Paratext.

The translator, a mother-tongue speaker of the receptor language, reads the draft aloud to the team, and possibly other mother tongue speakers of the language to check for naturalness and clarity. Then adjust the text based on comments from the group.

Draft section headings

Draft footnotes. These may be drafted after main text has been finalized. After you have drafted the footnotes, it may be helpful to go to Tools–>Checklist–>Footnotes. This checklist will compare the footnotes in your text to other resources that you specify.

Draft the book introduction. Be careful to use the same key terms in the introduction as in the text.

Draft glossary entries. The glossary is one of the books that occur after Revelation, and its short name is GLO. It is recommended to add glossary entries from within the Biblical terms tool. Using the Biblical terms tool will create GLO book for you. Look in Help under “glossary” for more information.

Make initial decisions on illustrations. If captions contain text not directly from the scriptures, they should be consultant checked. This should be done in conjunction with the publications department. Sample illustrations can be seen at:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cs0qspb52iwa2rj/AACr9xi7s2LVoheonn0OnjPla?dl=0

ChapterVerse; Marker

Notes Assigned to Me

This check is done by the translation team (Read the draft, check the general flow of the discourse, its logic, chronology, participant reference, sentence length & rhythm, language style and register, etc.)

This check is done by the translation team. Compare the draft with one or two translations in the national language, discuss exegetical choices that have been made in the translation, identify possible exegetical mistakes in the translation; identify any missing verses or sentences.)

Verify that proper names have been transliterated according to agreed upon rules, and are consistent. Verify that capitalization has been done correctly and consistently. For languages with word level and grammatical honorifics, verify that they are used correctly. The Greek and Hebrew texts will not have the level of honorifics that some languages will need. Therefore Paratext cannot check for them reliably. Paratext can help if you add the honorifics plus the name as an acceptable rendering for a name, but only native speakers can say for a given instance of a name whether a honorific is required or not. Note: The Biblical terms tool can help with the verification of names if the list is filtered for the “Names” category. The Biblical terms tool will not find instances of a name in book introductions, section headings, footnotes, illustration captions and glossary entries. You will have to find the proper names in these locations manually.

This check is done by the translation team (Identify the Biblical key terms in the passage, keyboard the renderings into the Biblical terms Tool, check the consistency of the Biblical key terms used in the passage with the terms documented in the Biblical terms Tool, discuss and document significant variations and/or alternatives that need to be discussed with the translation consultant), compare the draft with one or two translations in the national language, discuss exegetical choices that have been made in the translation, identify possible exegetical mistakes in the translation; identify any missing verses or sentences.)

Under the Checking Menu is “Spell Check Current Book”, click on this and accept or correct the spelling of all of the words present. For those that need more discussion open the wordlist tool and add a spelling discussion note.

Discuss the format used in the translation and check if this is consistent with the agreed upon model translation (if there is one). Formatting to be checked includes but is not limited to: prose format, indented poetry format, differences in format in the translation and introductions. If another translation is used as a model then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Section Headings

Read the text and verify that the paragraph breaks are in the desired places. If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \p, and \m.

Verify other layout issues such as poetry. Particular attention should be given to poetry indentations. If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \q, \q1 and \q2.

See list of special formatting issues such as genealogies, words on the cross, letters, etc. Verify that text is marked using the correct standard format markers (USFMs). See https://paratext.org/about/usfm for latest guide to using USFMs.

Open the “Assignments and Progress” window and correct all errors/issues shown there. Once all errors are corrected and open notes are resolved, print a copy of the books or chapters to be reviewed by community group. The two simplest ways to print text from Paratext are found under the “File” menu. They are “Print Draft” and “Save as RTF”. There are other methods available for more advanced formatting, such as “Export to Pathway”. Use the method specified by your project administrator or translation consultant.

This is comprehension testing done with members of the language community who were not involved in preparing the Preliminary Version of the text. (Re-read the translation draft; Draft general retell questions for comprehension testing; Identify possible issues of misunderstanding; Draft specific questions related to the main events in the passage, participant reference, key terms, foreign concepts, metaphors, rhetorical questions, inferential information, positive or negative associations, etc.)

Character; Punctuation; Capitalization; RepeatedWord

Project Notes (Conflict); Project Notes (To Do)

In this plan it is assumed that any checks found unfinished from a previous stage should be dealt with appropriately. NOTE: if a check from a previously completed stage is found to have errors it will show up in the current working stage.While supplementary helps are specifically mentioned in the drafting section, it is assumed that all other checks will also be completed on supplementary materials and that these are a part of the final text.

The team discusses the comments from first comprehension testing and revises the text where appropriate. (Resolve any issues documented by project, spelling and rendering notes.)

Print chapter(s) or book(s) being reviewed using method specified by project administrator or translation consultant.

This check is done with a group of UNSs (Read the first revision of the passage; ask general retell questions; ask follow up questions; document problems of understanding that need to be fixed in the translation; issues related to spelling should be documented with a spelling note in the word list tool, and issues related to rendering words should be documented with a rendering note in the Biblical terms tool. Also note any changes related to improved naturalness of the draft)

The team discusses the comments from first comprehension testing and revises the text where appropriate. (Resolve any issues documented by project, spelling and rendering notes.)

Working with a group of UNSs, test any supplementary materials that have not already been tested. This would most likely include but is not limited to: glossary entries, illustration captions and book introductions.

The team discusses the comments from the comprehension testing of supplementary materials and revises the text where appropriate.

Open Biblical terms tool and filter for chapter(s) being prepared for consultant check. Verify that all the Biblical terms have approved renderings. Update any that are missing, or need to be changed because of a better understanding of what the Greek or Hebrew means. It is likely some are out-of-date, because of the revisions made after comprehension testing.

Prepare or revise a write up relevant grammar and discourse analysis and send to the translation consultant. A list of all connector words would be especially helpful for the consultant.

A back-translation is a translation into the major national or trade language of the area. It should be done by a speaker of the language other than the translator. It helps to show whether the translation is communicating effectively and accurately, and it serves as the basis for the consultant check.

The team should verify that back translation is complete, and there are no missing words or phrases, so it is usable by consultant. The purpose of this check is not for the team to change what the back translator thinks the text means.

Reference; QuotedText; Numbers; MatchedPairs; Quotation

Words with Unknown spelling status; Words with Incorrect spelling status; Spelling Discussion Notes

Spelling Discussion Notes; Renderings Discussion Notes

Biblical Terms renderings found

Consultant evaluates the text and places notes with his observations in the text (or back translation). The evaluation should focus on accuracy, clarity, naturalness, and acceptability of the translation including all supplementary materials and illustrations used.

Consultant interacts with the translation team concerning his observations about the text and supplementary materials, and gives assistance and advice as requested. The project administrator should give one team member (that could be himself) editing permission in the Assignments and Progress window for the “Consultant visit” task

The text and supplementary materials are revised based on input from the translation consultant. This task is for the editing that is done after the consultant has left. Some consultants call these edits “action items”, “to do list”, “homework” or something else.

Revise renderings in the Biblical terms tool as needed.

Revise the back translation as needed.

Consultant gives preliminary approval of the text, but it may have some follow-up tasks which are clearly defined.

Consultant report shared with the translation team and with major stakeholders.

The community does a naturalness review of the text based on the oral and/or written communication of the third revision.

The team should discuss the comments of the naturalness review and make the changes suggested that are valid.

The team writes a report about what changes were made in the fourth revision and why those changes were made, and sends it to the consultant.

Community leaders, church leaders, and other community members discuss how key terms are rendered.

The team discusses comments about key terms made at the community review and uses those changes they think are valid.

The team writes a report about what changes were made in the key terms and why those changes were made, and sends it to the consultant. The team should open the Biblical terms tool and consult the notes, and history sections for the terms being reported on. It is best practice to enter this information in the tool as the changes were being discussed and decided on.

Make final decisions on illustrations. If captions contain text not directly from the scriptures, they should be consultant checked. This should be done in conjunction with the publications department. Sample illustrations can be seen at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/cs0qspb52iwa2rj/AACr9xi7s2LVoheonn0OnjPla?dl=0

Make final decisions on maps. This should be done in conjunction with the publications department. Sample maps can be seen at:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0bi5dg8v7vj7y74/AAANSWfsC6uSL_mRSYKBx6T9a?dl=0

All planned front and back matter that has not already been done should be drafted by this stage.

Go to the Tools–>Parallel Passages menu, and use the Parallel Passages tool to guide you to make parallel passages the same to the appropriate level.

Open the Assignments and progress window, and correct all errors and resolve all outstanding issues reported there.

In the Biblical terms tool, create a new filter for the “Names” category.

Select the list “Numbers” as the Biblical terms list in the Biblical terms tool to find all the numbers in the New Testament.

Verify that words such as money, coin, silver, gold, denarii, and shekel are adequately differentiated and rendered consistently rendered.

Verify that words such as talent, mina, shekel, pim, beka, gerah etc., are adequately differentiated and rendered consistently.

Verify that words such as cubit, span, handbreadth, orgyia, stadion, milion, cor, lethech, ephah, seah, omer, cab, bath, hin, log, etc., are adequately differentiated and rendered consistently rendered.

Open Biblical terms tool and review all renderings for consistency, and make any last changes needed.

Open Parallel Passage tool and confirm all parallel passages. (This check is not simply that parallel passages have check marks, it is meant to read the verses and see if the appropriate words are green and yellow in each passage.)

Look up and verify that all Scripture references in footnotes, cross references, book introductions, etc., are referring to verse(s) that talk about the correct topic. (This is not the automated Paratext check to verify that a Scripture reference is in the correct format and exists in the cannon.)

Read all footnotes and cross references looking for inconsistencies in how they are formatted. The goal is to have a consistent look and feel across all footnotes, and not merely the absence of marker errors in the footnotes. It may be helpful to go to Tools–>Checklist–>Footnotes. This checklist will compare the footnotes in your text to other resources that you specify.

If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Section Headings

If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \p, and \m.

Verify other layout issues such as poetry. Particular attention should be given to poetry indentations. If another translation is used as a base then this check can be done using Tools > Checklists > Compare Markers and look for the new paragraph markers such as \q, \q1 and \q2.

See list of special formatting issues such as genealogies, words on the cross, letters, etc. Verify that text is marked using the correct standard format markers (USFM). See https://paratext.org/about/usfm for latest guide to using USFMs.

Consultant will check any new supplementary materials such as maps, illustrations, front matter, and back matter.

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This should use a draft produced by PA/InDesign so that the text is in close to final format.

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This task is not done by the translation team. It is done by a typesetter who is part of Global Printing Services (GPS).

Ask your entity what partner organizations are in your area that do Scripture recordings.

Parallel Passages