translation theory question

[Paul W. Frields]

On Tue, 2007-03-13 at 13:12 -0700, Karsten Wade wrote:
> I was wondering ... would it be desireable to be able to flag a chunk of
> content as, "Don't retranslate"?
> 
> The case I'm thinking of is where a small change in the source language
> fixes punctuation, grammar, or style without affecting the meaning.  The
> current translation tools flag that section as fuzzy or untranslated,
> after the change is made.
> 
> I can do this manually by diffing the two POT files, finding the changed
> msgid sections, and sending out a note not to bother translating those
> msgids.  But that throws off the automagic tools that say how much needs
> to be translated, etc.
> 
> So I'm wondering:
> 
> 1. Is this a good idea?
> 2. Can we do it with xml2po?

I think the answer to (1) may be "no."  How, for example, do we tell
that a translation does not misinterpret the original POT entry based on
a stylistic mistake, confusion, or technicality, and that the change
might allow the translators to better understand and translate the
content?

If the change very subtly erases the confusion because it is a wording
change, we would *want* translators to see the change and fix their
translations.  I'd think it's possible even for two translators to agree
that their understanding of wording is correct, yet make a mistake
simply due to an ambiguity created by the author and editor.  These
sorts of changes would cause an "untranslated" message more often than
not, and the automatic flag to the translator is to at least look at the
meaning and decide for themselves (as the SMEs) whether a change is
warranted.  Punctuation changes, on the other hand, might make a "fuzzy"
message, but are very easy for translators to cope with.

I don't think we really want to munge around with established tools just
for the purpose of creating uncertainty about PO stats.  That way lies
madness.

-- 
Paul W. Frields, RHCE                          http://paul.frields.org/
  gpg fingerprint: 3DA6 A0AC 6D58 FEC4 0233  5906 ACDB C937 BD11 3717
      Fedora Project:  http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/PaulWFrields
  irc.freenode.net: stickster @ #fedora-docs, #fedora-devel, #fredlug
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://listman.redhat.com/archives/fedora-docs-list/attachments/20070313/c51f9929/attachment.sig>