Gateway Language Alignment

Note

This module answers the question, “How do I align my GL translation in tC?”

The purpose of the aligning tool in translationCore (tC) is to create highlighting that will appear for the OL translator who will use the GL text as a source text for an OL translation. This highlighting will show the user of the GL text how that GL text represents the meaning of the original biblical language text.

When the OL translator uses the tW or tN tools in tC, the aligned GL text will allow tC to highlight the word or phrase that the tC check is talking about in both the original biblical language and the GL. This will help the OL translator to see how the biblical language expressed that meaning, how the GL expressed that meaning, and how he might express that same meaning in the target language. So as you align the GL text with the original language text, your job is to match as accurately as possible the words of the GL text to the words of the original text that express the same meaning.

See also

Always check to make sure you are using the latest version of tC, which is available from http://translationcore.com. Please also read the Release Notes for the most up to date instructions.

Alignment Instructions

In the tC Word Alignment tool, the GL chapters and verses are listed down the left side. When you click on a verse to open it, the words of that verse appear in a vertical list, ordered from top to bottom, just to the right of the list of chapters and verses. Each word is in a separate box.

The words of the original language (Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic) text for that verse are also in separate boxes in a field to the right of the GL word list. There is a space under each of the source word boxes outlined with a dotted line.

To align the GL text:

  1. Click and drag each word box of the GL text into the space under the word box of the source text that the GL word corresponds to.
  2. Drop the GL word by releasing the mouse button.

When the GL word is over a word box of the original, the dotted outline will turn blue to let you know that the word will drop there. If you make a mistake or decide that the GL word belongs somewhere else, simply drag it again to where it belongs. GL words can also be dragged back to the list.

When the same GL word occurs more than once in a verse, each instance of the word will have a small superscript number after it. This number will help you to align each repeated GL word to the correct original word in the correct order.

Merge and Unmerge Notes

tC supports one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many alignments. That means that one or more GL words can be aligned to one or more original language words, as necessary to get the most accurate alignment of the meaning conveyed by the two languages.

  • To align multiple GL words to a single original language word, simply drag and drop the GL words onto the box below the desired original language word.
  • When it is desired to align GL word(s) to a combination of original language words, first drag one of the combination original language words into the same box as the other original language word. Multiple original language words can be merged together in this fashion.
  • To unmerge previously merged original language words, drag the rightmost original language word slightly to the right. A small new alignment box will appear, and the unmerged word can be dropped into that box.
  • The leftmost original language word can also be unmerged by dragging and dropping it into the original language word box immediately to its left.
  • Any GL words that were aligned with that original language word return to the word list.
  • The original language words should remain in the proper order. If the merge contains 3 or more original language words, unmerge the rightmost original language word first. Un-merging the center word(s) first may result in the original language words becoming out of order. When that happens, unmerge the remaining words in that box to properly return the original language words to their original order.

Alignment Philosophy

Because each GL will have different requirements for sentence structure and the amount of exclipit information that must be provided there is often not a one-to-one correspondence of the original language word and the GL word. In these cases, the GL words that are provided should be aligned with the original language word that implies them.

For English, we follow these principles, but your GL may need a different list to support full alignment.

  • Align indefinite articles to their “head word.” For example, both “a” and “servant” should align to doulos in Titus 1:1.
  • Definite articles that English supplies should also be aligned to their “head word.” For example, both “the” and “faith” should align to pistin in Titus 1:1.
  • Original language definite articles that English does not use need to be combined with their original language head word. For example, ton and logon need to be combined, then “word” aligned with that combination in Titus 1:3.
  • Implicit verbs in the original language that are translated explicitly in the target language should be aligned with the predicate. For example, “he should be” that is supplied in English should be aligned to philoxenon along with “hospitable” in Titus 1:8.
  • Words with apostrophes will be split and show up as two words in the word panel. This allows for proper alignment of the two parts of meaning. In most cases in English these are used to represent possession and will be aligned to a single original language word in the genitive case. For example, both “God” and “s” will align to theou in Titus 1:1.
  • Often the original language and GL part of speech won’t match. That is inevitable. Often an original language word will be translated as a GL phrase. For example, the three words “does not lie” in English all align with the single word apseudes in Titus 1:2.

Alignment Philosophy for the ULT

The ULT is intended to be a fairly literal translation of the original, so that it reproduces the structure of the original language when that is also understandable in the GL. Ideally, then, there would be one GL word aligned with each original language word. Of course, this is not possible, because languages work very differently from each other.

Therefore, we expect that you must align words or phrases in the GL with words or phrases in the original language that differ in the number of words, order of words, and parts of speech, as described above. Always, however, you should align the GL words to the original language words whose meaning they express, in whatever combination is necessary to produce the most accurate alignment of the meaning.

After aligning a verse, there may be words in the GL text that are left over and seem to be extra. If those words are truly necessary for the GL text to make sense, then find the original word or words that they help to express and align them there. But if those words do not express a meaning found in the original text, then it may be that those words should be deleted from the GL translation.

Sometimes, in the process of aligning a verse, you will find:

  • A original language word that is not represented in the GL translation.
  • A mistake in the GL translation.
  • Words in the GL translation that do not represent anything in the original text.
  • A better or more literal way to express something in the GL translation.

In the above cases, if you are an authorized editor, you will want to edit the GL translation so that it is more accurate to the original.

If you notice places where the ULT is wrong or potentially wrong, create an issue for it at https://git.door43.org/Door43/en_ult/issues and we’ll address it in the next release. In the meantime, align the text as well as possible.

Alignment Philosophy for the UST

The UST is intended to be, above all, a clear translation. Therefore, it adds words and phrases to explain the meaning of the original for the reader. These words and phrases should be aligned with the word or words that they are explaining. For example, in Titus 1:1, the phrase, “I am a servant” must be aligned with the single word, doulos.

Sometimes, for the sake of clarity, the GL of the UST will repeat things that are only mentioned once in the original. This often happens with subjects or objects of sentences. For example, in Titus 2:9 the English UST refers to “their masters” twice, although the original language only has idiois despotais once. In these cases, You should align each occurrence of the repeated reference with the same original language words, so that the highlighting will show that each of these represents the meaning conveyed by those same words of the original.

Some of the words and sentences of the UST do not directly represent the meaning of the original words. This is information that is only implied by the original words, but included in the UST because it is necessary for understanding the meaning of the original. For example, in Titus 1:1, the sentence, “I, Paul, write this letter to you, Titus” includes information that is not there in the original words, such as the fact that what the reader is about to read is a letter, and that it is written to someone named Titus. This information, however, makes the text more clear and understandable. For the aligning, then, all of this explanation must be aligned with the single word that it is explaining, Paulos.

If you notice places where the UST is wrong or potentially wrong, create an issue for it at https://git.door43.org/Door43/en_ust/issues and we’ll address it in the next release. In the meantime, align the text as well as possible.