T RANSLATION S TYLE G UIDE
FOR I TALIAN
BY ALBERTO SALA
FREELANCE TECHNICAL & FINANCIAL TRANSLATOR
CONTENTS
PART 1 – GENERAL RULES (for translators) . 2
1. Use of this guide ......................................... 2
1.1. Aim and Interested Parties of this
Guide .........................................................2
1.2. How to read this Guide ..............................2
1.3. How to read only the New Text.................2
2. Reference material ...................................... 2
2.1. Client's Glossary and/or Instructions .........2
3. Global and Cross-language
Dictionaries.................................................. 2
PART 2 – USING TRADOS (for translators) .... 3
4. How to work with Trados............................ 3
4.1. THE GOLDEN RULE: One Period, One
Segment .....................................................4
4.2. DISADVANTAGE #1: Unknown reuse
of the same segment...................................4
4.3. DISADVANTAGE #2: Concepts split in
2 or more sentences....................................4
4.4. DISADVANTAGE #3: Colon as a
separator.....................................................4
4.5. DISADVANTAGE #4: Sentences split
on Several Lines ........................................5
4.6. DISADVANTAGE #5: Sentences with
Subordinate Clauses split on Several
Lines ..........................................................5
4.7. DISADVANTAGE #6: Spelling mistakes
in the source have to be ignored ................5
4.8. ADVANTAGE #1: Terminology and
Style Consistency.......................................5
5. Translation and Revision of .htm, .ppt
and .xls Files................................................ 5
5.1. The Problem...............................................5
5.2. Translation .................................................5
5.3. Revision .....................................................5
6. Using Trados colors ................................... 5
6.1. Overview of using colors in Trados...........5
6.2. Using colors for the translation..................6
6.3. Using colors for legacy/repeated
segments ....................................................6
PART 3 – ITALIAN RULES (for translators) .... 6
7. References for the Italian Language ......... 6
8. Swiss Italian................................................. 7
8.1. The Swiss Italian Standards .......................7
8.2. References to Swiss Terminology .............7
9. Names of Laws, Institutions, etc................7
9.1. National Laws............................................7
9.2. EU Directives ............................................7
9.3. Formatting of Institution/Law Names .......8
10. Geographical Names...................................8
10.1. Translation of Towns and Countries
in Addresses ..............................................8
10.2. Official Names of Countries......................8
11. Currency symbols .......................................8
11.1. General ......................................................8
11.2. Euro, EUR and € .......................................8
12. Nouns ...........................................................9
12.1. Acronyms ..................................................9
12.2. Names in CVs............................................9
12.3. Names of functions/positions ....................9
12.4. Uppercase ..................................................9
12.5. Differences in the Orthography
between EN/FR and IT..............................9
12.6. Foreign Nouns ...........................................9
13. Grammar.....................................................10
13.1. Passive: "essere" or "venire"?..................10
13.2. Use of the Subjunctive clause..................11
13.3. Apostrophe ..............................................11
13.4. Euphonic "d" ...........................................11
13.5. Partitive Article to be avoided .................11
14. Punctuation................................................11
14.1. Apostrophe ['] ..........................................11
14.2. Quotation Marks ["].................................11
14.3. (No) Comma before "e" and "ecc." .........11
14.4. Quotation Marks......................................11
14.5. Punctuation in titles .................................11
14.6. Ellipsis replaced with " ecc." ...................11
PART 4 – TRADOS ISSUES FOR ITALIAN (for
translators and agencies) ...............................12
15. Differences between EN and IT................12
15.1. Days/Months/Currencies .........................12
15.2. Dates/Percentages....................................13
15.3. Uppercase and lowercase ........................14
16. Wrong Legacy Segments .........................14
16.1. Legacy Segments with Wrong
Spelling....................................................14
16.2. Legacy Segments from Other
Languages................................................14
PART 1 – GENERAL RULES (for translators)
1.
USE OF THIS GUIDE
1.1.
Aim and Interested Parties of
this Guide
The aims of this Style Guide are:
1. to provide translators and reviewers a tool in
order to standardize translation style and
terminology
2. to provide project managers a tool in order to
improve the consistency of legacy and new
segments.
Since translations are carried out with Trados and many
segments are used in an interchangeable way for
several clients, consistency in style and terminology
in all the segment is very important.
The rules set in this guide do not aim to state a single
and universal truth. They are just meant to assure the
consistency mentioned above, therefore the
contribution of all translators, reviewers and project
managers is highly appreciated.
1.2.
How to read this Guide
In order to better understand who and when some
instructions have been entered and to highlight some
critical points, the following conventions have been
used:
a)
3.
When a new instruction has been added, a text like
the following has been entered formatted with the
"Heading 6" style:
b) When a new instruction could cause some conflicts
as different translators may agree or not on it, a
yellow highlight with a border has been added to
it, e.g.:
In this case too we have to agree on a shared
solution
1.3.
How to read only the New Text
If you have already read this guide before and would
like to read only the updates, do the following:
1) Choose View / Structure.
2) In the Structure toolbar, click on 6.
Since edit dates are formatted in "Heading 6", you
can easily see all the added topics as Heading 6.
3) Clic on a + symbol of a "Heading 6" to read the
relevant text.
2.
REFERENCE MATERIAL
2.1.
•
•
Client's Glossary and/or
Instructions
If the client's glossary and/or instructions are
available, they have top priorities.
If client's glossary and/or instructions are NOT
available, please use the Glossary provided in
Excel format. This is intended to be used as a
reference in order to guarantee consistency in
terminology and in style. Since it's a "work in
progress", it can be amended and updated based on
translator's and editor's suggestions and feedback.
GLOBAL AND CROSS-LANGUAGE DICTIONARIES
The following dictionaries can be useful as reference and for cross-language checks:
Type
Finance
Finance
Lang
EN
EN
Name
Investopedia
Bloomberg
Finance
DE (EN)
Boerse.de
Finance
Finance
General
DE
EN/FR/E
S
EN/FR
Commerzbank - Finanz Lexikon
ITC (Glossary on Trade Financing Terms of
the International Trade Centre)
Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique
General
General
DE/EN
DE/FR
LEO (DE/EN)
LEO (DE/FR)
URL
http://www.investopedia.com/
http://www.bloomberg.com/invest/glossary/
bfglosw.htm
http://nachrichten.boerse.de/wissen.php3?te
xt=lexikon&was=A
https://www.commerzbank.de/index.html
http://www.intracen.org/tfs/docs/glossary/in
dex.htm
http://www.granddictionnaire.com/btml/fra/
r_motclef/index_redirection.asp
http://dict.leo.org/
http://dict.leo.org/frde?lp=frde&search=
PART 2 – USING TRADOS (for translators)
4. HOW TO WORK WITH TRADOS
Translations and reviews are done using Trados. Please bear in mind the following very important Trados concepts,
which have powerful advantages but also some disadvantages.
Overview of Trados advantages and disadvantages
TRADOS FEATURE CONSEQUENCES
General
THE GOLDEN RULE: One Period, One
Segment.
1. Identical
DISADVANTAGE #1: Unknown reuse of the
segments can be
same segment
You don't know in which context the same
reused in other
segment could be reused.
contexts and
situation
2. Trados allows to
translate one
"segment" after the
other. One
segment usually
ends with a new
paragraph symbol,
a full stop, a tab or
a colon.
3. Agencies may
pretranslate their
copy of the same
file for internal
reasons
4. Trados stores all
the translated
segments in a
Translation
Memory (TM).
DISADVANTAGE #2: Concept splits in 2 or
more sentences
Some concepts that in English are expressed in
two or more sentences (segments), are usually
translated with one Italian sentence.
DISADVANTAGE #3: Colon as a separator
In English, sentences after the colon usually
starts with an uppercase letter, while in Italian
they start with a lowercase letter.
DISADVANTAGE #4: Sentences split on several
lines
If the original sentence is split on several lines
with the new paragraph "¶" or the new line
symbol "" (in order to see them you need to
select the Show/Hide command in Word),
Trados consider each line as a separate segment.
DISADVANTAGE #5: Sentences with
Subordinate Clauses split on Several Lines
SOLUTION
Always try to stick to the original text and
avoid:
1. adding information which are not clearly
stated in the original segment
2. adding masculine or feminine pronouns that
in other context may be wrong.
If this cannot be done, use the Expand Segment
feature (in Word: Trados menu / Expand
Segment menu item) in order to group sentences
and be sure that the new segment created in this
way can only and uniquely be used in the same
context.
Use the Expand Segment feature as many times
as necessary in order to group two or more
segments and get one full Italian sentence
(instead of two or more pieces of sentence).
Expand the segment containing the colon in
order to include the next sentence and have this
started with a lowercase letter.
The Expand Segment feature is useless in this
case. Remove paragraph end or line end
symbols in order to have a complete clause,
before translating it with Trados.
To be completed
DISADVANTAGE #6: Spelling mistakes in the
source have to be ignored
To be completed
To be completed
ADVANTAGE #1: Terminology & Style
Consistency
You can always know if a word/phrase has
already been translated and how. In this way
you can check the terminology & style
consistency throughout the text.
Use the Concordance feature (in Trados: Tools /
Concordance, or F3) when you are in doubt
about a translation.
In the following chapters main disadvantages are described in detail.
4.1.
THE GOLDEN RULE: One Period,
One Segment
The GOLDEN RULE is to have the translation stick as
much as possible to the original without adding words
that in another context would not make any sense.
Each segment has to be translated like if it were
independent, otherwise it has to be expanded until
an independent translation will be reached.
We will see in detail the reasons in the following lines.
4.2.
DISADVANTAGE #1: Unknown
reuse of the same segment
Since the same sentence can be reused for the same
client or for other clients, always try to stick to the
original text and avoid:
• adding information which are not clearly stated in
the original segment
• adding masculine or feminine pronouns that in
other context may be wrong.
Ex.:
the price … shall be an amount equal to the Dealing
Price of shares of the relevant class, determined in
accordance with Article 23 hereof
>
il prezzo … equivarrà al Prezzo di Negoziazione delle
azioni della classe interessata, determinato in
conformità all'Articolo 23 del presente documento
Avoid the following solution:
il prezzo … equivarrà al Prezzo di Negoziazione delle
azioni della classe interessata, determinato in
conformità del successivo Articolo 23
If this cannot be done, use the Expand Segment feature
(in Word: Trados menu / Expand Segment menu item)
in order to group sentences and be sure that the new
segment created in this way can only and uniquely be
used in the same context.
To be completed.
4.3.
DISADVANTAGE #2: Concepts split
in 2 or more sentences
To be completed.
4.4.
DISADVANTAGE #3: Colon as a
separator
4.4.1. When Translating from EN
Trados consider a colon as a separator, i.e. as a final
point of a segment.
Often the words after the separator are written in
Uppercase in English, but in lowercase in Italian.
Therefore you need to expand the 1st segment in order
to include the second and avoid using the Uppercase in
Italian.
The worst annoying cases are the ones were the colon
is used after words like Note, Remarks, Tips, etc.
Ex.:
Note: If you choose the other option, the file cannot
be saved
If you let Trados consider the whole period, you will
have 2 segments, i.e.:
Note:
and
If you choose the other option, the file cannot be
saved
Do not forget that both segments could be used in other
parts of the document and that a unique translation
should be given in order to avoid the wrong use of
lowercase/Uppercase letters.
There are two workarounds for this.
1.
The first and easiest solution consists in closing
"Note" with another separator, like "." or "-". In
this case you would have:
Original segment 1 > Note:
Original segment 2 > If you choose the other option,
the file cannot be saved
>>>
Translated segment 1> Nota.
Translated segment 2> Se si sceglie l'altra opzione,
non sarà possibile salvare il file.
which will be read in this way
Nota. Se si sceglie l'altra opzione, non sarà possibile
salvare il file.
However this solution may not implemented in some
cases.
• In fact, it can be implemented when the character
formatting of the 1st segment (the word "Note" in
this case) is different from the formatting of the 2nd
segment, e.g. the 1st segment is written in bold, or
italic, or with a bigger size or with a difference
typeface.
• When the 1st segment is inside a paragraph without
new lines, this 1st solution can look odd.
1st Example:
Choose this option to save the files. Note: If you
choose the other option, the file cannot be saved.
•
2nd Example:
Choose this option to save the files. (Note: If you
choose the other option, the file cannot be saved.)
To be completed.
2.
The second solution consist in combining the 2
segments in one only. This is the safest solution
but also the most labour-intensive. In this case you
would have one segment only
Original segment (expanded) > Note: If you choose
the other option, the file cannot be saved
Translated segment > Nota: se si sceglie l'altra
opzione, non sarà possibile salvare il file.
However this solution may not implemented in some
cases.
• It cannot be implemented if the 1st segment is used
alone in parts of the document. In this case you
will need to translate it as it is and unfortunately
this will be used to pretranslate the file.
4.8.
4.4.2. When Translating from FR
In French, often titles or subtitles ends with a colon (:).
The body text can follow on the next line or on the
same line of the title.
To be completed.
4.5.
DISADVANTAGE #4: Sentences
split on Several Lines
If in the original text, a clause is split on two or more
lines because of the use of paragraph end or line end
symbols, please remove paragraph end or line end
symbols in order to have a complete clause, before
translating it with Trados.
Ex.:
prises et mises en
pension par référence au
code monétaire et financier
>
pronti contro termine e pronti contro termine in
acquisto come previsto dal Code monétaire et
financier (Codice monetario e finanziario, CMF)
4.6.
DISADVANTAGE #5: Sentences
with Subordinate Clauses split
on Several Lines
If in the original text, a sentence is composed of
clauses on different lines, pay attention to use a good
phrasing and avoid keeping in a clause prepositions
that would not make sense if the same segment would
be used in a different context (this is particularly
important for translations from German, where the verb
could be positioned after all the subordinate clauses).
Ex.:
L’instrument financier à terme sous-jacent est à
prendre en compte dans les :
- calcul du ratio de 5% et ses dérogations
- calcul du risque de contrepartie de l’instrument
financier
>
Lo strumento finanziario a termine sottostante va
preso in considerazione nei seguenti casi:
- calcolo della quota del 5% e delle rispettive
deroghe
- calcolo del rischio di controparte dello strumento
finanziario
Avoid the following solution:
Lo strumento finanziario a termine sottostante va
preso in considerazione:
- nel calcolo della quota del 5% e delle rispettive
deroghe
- nel calcolo del rischio di controparte dello
strumento finanziario
4.7.
DISADVANTAGE #6: Spelling
mistakes in the source have to
be ignored
To be completed.
ADVANTAGE #1: Terminology and
Style Consistency
Trados allows you to always check the terminology
and style.
If no glossary entries are available for some words you
are in doubt of, always use the Concordance feature in
Word (menu Trados, menu item Concordance) to
check them.
5.
5.1.
TRANSLATION AND REVISION OF
.HTM, .PPT AND .XLS FILES
The Problem
Changes in Excel (.XLS), PowerPoint (.PPT) and
.HTM(L) cannot be tracked in their applications,
therefore an alternate translation/review process is
suggested.
5.2.
Translation
Translate.XLS,.PPT and .HTM(L) files in the
following way:
• Open the file in TagEditor and save it. You get a
.TTX file.
• Copy the content of the TagEditor file in Word
and save it. You get a .DOC file.
• Translate the file in Word.
• Run Trados on the .TTX file.
• Save the .TTX file in the original format (PPT or
XLS)
In this way the reviewer can see final result of the
translation work in the original format and edit it in
Word.
5.3.
Revision
After the reviewer edited the Word file, the translator
should follow this procedure:
• Accept/Reject change in the Word file
• Clean the Word file in Trados
• Rerun Trados on the .TTX file in order to update
it.
• Save the .TTX file in the original format (PPT or
XLS)
6.
6.1.
USING TRADOS COLORS
Overview of using colors in
Trados
1. Trados allows you to use colors (Options /
Translated Text Colors) both in the pretranslation and
translation process.
2. However please note that colors can be used only if
the file does not contain any color formatting (typically
files extracted from FrameMaker or other applications).
If you use it with color formatted files, you can loose
the color formatting of the original file.
6.2.
Using colors for the translation
In the translation process, there is no need to use
colors. On the contrary, this can only create problems if
the file contains color formatting of if the translation
and the reviewer use different Trados color schemes. I
therefore suggest to avoid using Trados colors, unless
clearly requested by the client.
6.3.
Using colors for legacy/repeated
segments
1. For files extracted from FrameMaker or other
applications, pretranslating files using different colors
can be useful for the reviewer to avoid going through
segments that have already been approved (legacy
segments) and do not need any review.
•
•
•
To do so, in Trados Workbench choose Options /
Translated text colors, then click on the Suggestion
button, then click on OK.
Choose Tools / Translate, then set a percentage
value in the "% or higher match value" text box
(not below 85%), click on Add to add the file to
pre-translate, then click on OK.
The file will be pre-translated with the colors and
the match value set.
3. I also use the pink color to define segments, or parts
of segments, which are repeated in the text. This means
that if the reviewer enters a change in a pink formatted
segment, the same change is supposed to be entered in
the same or in a similar segment in another part of the
document(s).
2. Trados suggests 2 different colors for pre-translated
segments: green for 100% and olive-green for fuzzy
matches.
PART 3 – ITALIAN RULES (for translators)
7.
REFERENCES FOR THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE
Here you will find a list of useful references for the Italian language.
Type
GENERAL
Lang
IT
Name
UNIONE EUROPEA - UFFICIO DELLE
PUBBLICAZIONI - MANUALE
URL
http://publications.europa.eu/code/it/it000300.htm
INTERISTITUZIONALE DI CONVENZIONI
REDAZIONALI (MICR)
Italian
Grammar
Italian
Grammar
Introduction
to funds
General
General
General
IT
Accademia della Crusca
IT
Maurizio Pistone's web site
IT
Morningstar - L'ABC dei fondi
http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/index.p
hp
http://www.homolaicus.com/linguaggi/ling
uaitaliana/discussioni/grammatica_1_b.html
http://www.morningstar.it/investabc/
Garzanti linguistica
De Mauro Paravia
Garzanti linguistica
http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/index.html
http://www.demauroparavia.it/
http://www.garzantilinguistica.it/index.html
General
IT
IT
EN<>IT
FR<>IT
EN<>IT
Picchi Fernando
Finance
IT
Dizonario di contabilità e finanza / Simone
Finance
EN<>IT
Finance
EN<>IT
Finance
EN<>IT
Dizionario di business english Garzanti
italiano-inglese, inglese-italiano | 1ª ed /
Garzanti
Picchi Fernando / Economics & business.
Dizionario enciclopedico economico e
commerciale inglese-italiano, italiano-inglese.
Con CD-ROM / Zanichelli
Codeluppi Livio / Dizionario di economia
banca & borsa. Inglese-italiano, italianoinglese. Con CD-ROM / Le Lettere
Grande dizionario di inglese. 2003 / Hoepli
http://www.hoepli.it/dizionari.asp
http://www.simone.it/cgilocal/Dizionari/newdiz.cgi?index,6,A
(http://www.bol.it/libri/scheda/ea97888480
0303.html)
(http://www.internetbookshop.it/ser/serdsp.
asp?shop=1&c=FNVT3TNPKLJLI)
(http://www.internetbookshop.it/ser/serdsp.
asp?shop=1&c=MFYNQDDUXRSVP)
Finance
FR<>IT
Finance
DE<>IT
European
Union
IT
8.
8.1.
Le Bris Annie / L' économie et les affaires.
Dizionario fraseologico francese-italiano,
italiano-francese dei termini dell'economia e
del commercio. Con CD-ROM / Zanichelli
Dizionario tedesco di economia & finanza.
Tedesco-italiano. Italiano-tedesco. Con CDROM. / Hoepli
Dizionario dell'Unione Europea / Simone
http://www.internetbookshop.it/ser/serdsp.a
sp?shop=1&c=MKMP4JNORI0PM
http://www.internetbookshop.it/ser/serdsp.a
sp?shop=1&c=UVFWPS6XXAJDK
http://www.simone.it/cgilocal/Dizionari/newdiz.cgi?index,1,A
SWISS ITALIAN
The Swiss Italian Standards
Swiss Italian uses some specific rules, especially for the Formal Speech and the formatting of numbers and dates.
The formal speech in Swiss Italian requires the 3rd singular person, like in German, also in marketing material, where in
Italian the 2nd plural person would be used instead.
The following table lists the main format differences between Standard Italian and Swiss Italian.
Speech/Format
Thousand separator
Decimal separator
Negative numbers
List separator
Currency symbol
Currency positive #
Currency negative #
Time format
Short date format
Long date format
Standard Italian
. (period)
, (comma)
- (minus)
; (semicolon)
€ (+ hard space)
€ (+ hard space)
-€ (+ hard space)
H.mm.ss
gg/MM/aaaa
gggg g MMMM aaaa
Ex.
123.456.789
123.456.789,00
-1,1
Swiss Italian
' (apostrophe)
. (period)
- (minus)
; (semicolon)
SFr.
SFr. (+ space)
SFr.- (with no space)
HH:mm:ss
gg.MM.aaaa
gggg, g. MMMM
aaaa
€ 123.456.789,00
-€ 123.456.789,00
15.50.12
16/08/2006
mercoledì 16 agosto
2006
Ex.
-123'456'789
-123'456'789.00
-1,1
SFr. 123'456'789.00
SFr.-123'456'789.00
15:50:12
16.08.2006
mercoledì, 16. agosto
2006
A hard space is a space which keeps together the word that precedes with the word that follows it.
In Microsoft Word a hard space:
- can be created pressing Ctrl + Shift + Spacebar
- can be searched entering the string ^s in the search box
See also 11. Currency symbols.
8.2.
References to Swiss Terminology
Type
General
Terminology in the Swiss
Administration
Betreibung Konkurs
Lang
IT
EN/DE/FR/IT
Name
Il lessico italiano in Svizzera
Confederazione Svizzera
DE/FR/IT
URL
http://crcsoft.com/lessico/
http://www.admin.ch/index.ht
ml
http://www.betreibungkonkurs.ch/Uebersetzungen_de
.htm
Example for Italy:
9.
9.1.
NAMES OF LAWS, INSTITUTIONS,
ETC.
National Laws
For names of national laws, I would follow the
standard used by the Italian Parliament
<kind of law/bill> <date of the law > <number of the
law> <title/description of the law>
Legge 19 febbraio 2004, n. 40 "Norme in materia di
procreazione medicalmente assistita"
Example for Switzerland:
(http://www.admin.ch/ch/i/rs/c921_0.html)
Legge federale del 4 ottobre 1991 sulle foreste
9.2.
EU Directives
For names of national laws, I would follow the
standard used by the European Institutions
<kind of directive/regulation> <number> <issuing
body> <date> <title/descritpion of the law>
Example:
Direttiva 2003/48/CE del Consiglio del 3 giugno
2003 in materia di tassazione dei redditi da
risparmio sotto forma di pagamenti di interessi
When in the English text a short form of the Directive
name is used, I would use the directive/regulation
number in Italian
10.2. Official Names of Countries
For the official full names of countries (e.g. Republic
of Italy, Kingdom of the Netherlands) in Italian, please
refer to:
http://publications.europa.eu/code/it/it-370100.htm (for
EU contries only)
and
http://publications.europa.eu/code/it/it-5000500.htm
(for all the countries)
In particular:
Example:
EN: EU Saving Directive
IT: Direttiva 2003/48/CE
9.3.
Formatting of Institution/Law
Names
Names of institutions, bodies, laws, and so are
suggested
• be left in English
• be followed by the translation in the target
language
• be possibly formatted in italics.
If their acronym is used in other parts of the text, the
acronym should be entered the 1st time the phrase is
found.
Ex.:
prises et mises en pension par référence au code
monétaire et financier
>
pronti contro e pronti contro termine in acquisto
come previsto dal Code monétaire et financier
(Codice monetario e finanziario, CMF)
10. GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
10.1. Translation of Towns and
Countries in Addresses
Each client having its own rules, it may be necessary to
translate names of towns and countries in addresses.
For more information, please see the "Names of
Towns" and "Names of Countries" entries in the
Glossary.
However "Swiss Post International no longer
recommends using country abbreviations (ISO codes)
before the destination postcode on letters. This is
because problems can arise with sorting in some
destination countries, and thus result in delays. The
destination country should therefore always be written
out in French or English on the last line of the address.
For countries bordering Switzerland, the country name
can also be written in the relevant national language"
(http://www.swisspost.com/en/index_spi/spi_iso_laend
ercode.htm).
English
Czech Republic
Italian
Repubblica ceca (lowercase
"c")
Granducato di Lussemburgo
Grand Duchy of
Luxembourg
Thailand
Channel Islands
Thailandia
Isole Normanne
11. CURRENCY SYMBOLS
11.1. General
In most English text different currency symbols are
used, e..g
EN def.
US Dollars
1st form
US$, $
Euro
British Pound
€
£
Japanese Yen
Swiss Franc
¥
2nd form IT def.
USD
dollaro
statunitense
EUR
euro
GBP
sterlina
britannica
JPY
yen giapponese
CHF
franco svizzero
Most translators seem to opt for the 2nd form and to
replace the 1st form with the 2nd form, so please follow
this rule.
For a correct formatting of the currency numbers,
please also see Chapter 8, Swiss Italian on page 7.
11.2. Euro, EUR and €
11.2.1. Publication Office of the EU
According to the Publications Office of the European
Union, the following should be used:
euro
When
referring to
the European
currency,
without
stating any
amount.
EUR
When amounts are used,
in the following form:
253 EUR.
"EUR" always follows
the amounts, in all the
languages but English.
(However this is in
contrast with 8 Swiss
Italian)
Some examples:
€
As a selling
price of a
publication.
Ex.:
Numbers < 1
million
Number ≥ 1
million
English
An amount of
EUR 30
Italian
Una somma di
30 EUR
10 Mio EUR
10 milioni di
euro
10 Mrd EUR
10 miliardi di
euro
For further information, see:
http://publications.europa.eu/code/it/it-370300.htm.
11.2.2. Common practice
However apparently for most clients, putting the
currency symbol before the amount is a common
practice that should be discussed with the agency
before changing it.
12. NOUNS
"paese" = "village" / "Paese" = "country"
"stato" = "status" / "Stato" = state
"borsa" = "bag" / "Borsa" = stock exchange
"lei" = "she" / "Lei" = "you" in formal speech
However Uppercase words are used less and less.
Personally, in the cases mentioned above, I would use:
Stato, paese, borsa, Lei.
In this case too we have to agree on a shared
solution.
12.5. Differences in the Orthography
between EN/FR and IT
Some nouns of Latin origin are written in a different
way in English/French and in Italian. Here some
examples.
Issue
Dash
12.1. Acronyms
When finding a text followed by the relevant acronym,
I usually put the acronym first followed by the
acronym explanation in the original language and its
translation between parenthesis.
Standards from ISO 17799 and the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST)
>
Standards della norma ISO 17799 e dell NIST
(National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Istituto nazionale di standard e tecnologia)
Space
English/French
anti-terrorism
co-operation
non-European
pre-sales
post-production
semi-conducteur
sub-manager
super-user
vice president
Italian
antiterrorismo
cooperazione
extraeuropeo
prevendita
postproduzione
semiconduttore
subgestore
superutente
vicepresidente
For the sake of consistency I would suggest to avoid
using the dash and the space after Latin prefixes (like
anti, co, pre, post, semi, sub, super, vice, etc.).
For more details about the use of the dash, see the next
paragraph.
12.2. Names in CVs
12.5.1. Use of the Dash
In CVs, whenever the English source repeats the first
name of a person, generally this is avoided.
For the use of the dash, the Accademia della Crusca
states the following:
Ex.
Michael Smith
Portfolio Manager
Michael began his financial career in 1989...
>
Michael Smith
Gestore di portafoglio
Ha iniziato la sua carriera finanziaria nel 1989...
12.3. Names of functions/positions
When names of position refer to women, they are
translated with the male equivalent, for reasons of
political correctness.
Il trattino può essere di due tipi: lungo si usa al posto
delle virgolette dopo i due punti per introdurre un
discorso diretto o, in alternativa a virgole e parentesi
tonde, si può usare in un inciso; breve serve invece a
segnalare un legame tra parole o parti di parole e
compare infatti per segnalare che una parola si
spezza per andare a capo, per una relazione tra due
termini (il legame A-B), per unire una coppia di
aggettivi (un trattato politico-commerciale), di
sostantivi (la legge-truffa), di nomi propri (l’asse
Roma-Berlino), con prefissi o prefissoidi, se sono
composti occasionali (per cui il fronte antiglobalizzazione ma l’antifascismo) e infine in parole
composte (moto-raduno, socio-linguistica) in cui
tendono a prevalere, però, le grafie unite.
12.4. Uppercase
12.6. Foreign Nouns
12.4.1. Uppercase and Change in the
Meaning
12.6.1. Plural
1. According to some grammars, some words should be
always written in Uppercase as they are supposed to
have a different meaning if written in lowercase.
Unless otherwise stated by the client and reported in
the Glossary, please always use foreign words in their
singular form, as suggested by the Accademia della
Crusca
(http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/faq/faq_risp.php?i
d=3781&ctg_id=93):
In un testo scritto in italiano, i termini inglesi al
plurale vanno scritti con o senza "S" finale?
Il dubbio riguarda il trattamento dei nomi stranieri
che sono entrati nell'italiano senza adattamento
morfologico, cioè mantenendo la loro forma
originaria. Dobbiamo premettere che, nella maggior
parte dei casi, queste parole sono entrate in forma
scritta, spesso attraverso l'uso giornalistico e ciò ha
determinato che la forma grafica sia risultata
predominante su quella sonora. Le parole straniere
di questo tipo, in generale, restano invariate e,
specialmente per quelle ormai acquisite da tempo
non si pone più il problema (bar, film, quiz, tram,
ecc.). Possono invece riaprire la questione i
neologismi e le voci di uso raro o fortemente
specialistico, che possono ricorrere, soprattutto nella
scrittura, con il morfema finale -s, marca del plurale
in inglese, francese, spagnolo e portoghese: proprio
la diffusione di questa modalità di formazione del
plurale nelle lingue europee presenta però il rischio
di poter essere intesa, nella coscienza comune,
come la modalità tipica per ottenere un plurale
straniero e quindi di essere applicata anche a parole
provenienti da lingue che formano il plurale in modo
diverso. Si tratta quindi di considerare, di volta in
volta, se il forestierismo che intendiamo utilizzare sia
acquisito stabilmente e da tempo nell'italiano e in
questo caso possiamo lasciarlo invariato, o se invece
sia un neologismo recente o un termine fortemente
specialistico e allora è consigliabile utilizzare il
plurale della lingua d'origine.
See also Elisabetta Sandri
(http://guide.supereva.com/italiano/interventi/2001/07/
53412.shtml):
Parole straniere: evitare il plurale, a meno che non
siano entrate nella nostra lingua proprio al plurale,
come nel caso dei jeans. Per quanto riguarda il
genere, questo non cambia rispetto alla lingua
d'origine, quindi si deve dire il soufflé o il gazpacho.
Per le lingue che hanno anche il genere neutro - il
latino, il tedesco, il russo - questo diventa maschile in
italiano. L'inglese fa eccezione, perché persone o
animali mantengono il loro genere mentre le cose si
accordano con le corrispondenti parole italiane,
come il weekend o l'authority.
12.6.2. Formatting
1. In the past, some terms in foreign language have
been formatted in italics.
Ex.:
- opérations de gré à gré
>
- operazioni over-the-counter
2. However the current trend is to leave them in the
normal font and to add quotation marks.
Ex.:
- sub-funds in the value categorie
>
- comparti che applicano metodologie "value"
13. GRAMMAR
13.1. Passive: "essere" or "venire"?
(See
http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/faq/faq_risp.php?i
d=6602&ctg_id=44)
Premettiamo che il verbo venire si usa per esprimere
chiaramente la costruzione passiva quando il participio
passato del verbo portante ha anche valore di aggettivo
e quindi con l’uso di essere il significato passivo non
risulterebbe evidente: dicendo "il vetro è pulito", "la
porta era aperta", indichiamo normalmente condizioni
in atto (con il verbo essere in funzione di copula,
seguito da un aggettivo) e non descriviamo, in forma
passiva, azioni compiute da qualcuno. Con altri
participi passati invece il rischio non c’è: "Paolo è
amato", "l’annuncio era diramato" sono sentiti come
passivi. Nei casi ambigui, per esprimere il passivo si
ricorre perciò al verbo venire: "il vetro viene pulito (da
…)", "la porta veniva aperta (da …)". Tale impiego di
venire è limitato ai tempi semplici (soprattutto presente
e imperfetto dell’indicativo e del congiuntivo: viene,
veniva, venga, venisse, e condizionale verrebbe, per
fare esempi solo di terza persona singolare; si aggiunga
il gerundio venendo; meno necessario l’uso di verrà per
sarà e di venne per fu) perché l’ambiguità sussiste solo
per questi tempi. Quando, invece, nella costruzione
entra il participio stato tutto è chiaro: "il vetro è stato
pulito", "la porta era stata aperta".
Si noti un uso speculare. Quando si vuole esprimere più
nettamente l’idea di una condizione in atto e durevole,
ed evitare invece l’eventuale interpretazione del
costrutto come passivo, si sostituisce essere con restare
o permanere: in tal caso è meglio dire "la porta resterà
aperta" invece di "la porta sarà aperta".
(See
http://forum.accademiadellacrusca.it/forum_7/intervent
i/2268.shtml)
L'uso del verbo 'venire' al posto di 'essere' nella
costruzione passiva è corretto. Trascrivo da Serianni:
"14. II. L'uso di 'venire' (solo nei tempi semplici) in
luogo di 'essere', il quale conferisce alla frase un valore
dinamico, sottolineando un'azione: "'la finestra viene
chiusa' parla dell'atto di chiuderla; mentre 'la finestra è
chiusa', che pure è il normale passivo di 'chiude la
finestra', viene più spontaneamente interpretato come
copula + aggettivo, con riferimento allo stato della
finestra ('la finestra è chiusa' come 'la finestra è
grande'), e non all'azione di chiuderla" (LepschyLepschy 1981:137). Talvolta il ricorso a 'venire' come
ausiliare non risponde a un particolare modo di
presentare l'azione, ma al semplice gusto personale di
chi parla o scrive, come nel seguente passo di Tomasi
di Lampedusa (Il Gattopardo, 73-74), nel quale in
luogo di 'venire' avrebbe potuto figurare 'essere',
almeno per le prime tre occorrenze: 'la serata [...] venne
seguita da altre egualmente cordiali; durante una di
esse il generale venne pregato di interessarsi affinché
l'ordine di espulsione per i Gesuiti non venisse
applicato a padre Pirrone che venne dipinto come
sovraccarico di anni e malanni'". (XI, §14) Come in
tutto, si tratta di non esagerare, e d'impiegare la scelta
con cognizione di causa per raggiungere l'effetto
stilistico desiderato.
14.1.2. No Space After an Apostrophe
13.2. Use of the Subjunctive clause
Ex.:
For the use of the Subjunctive clause, please refer to
this exhaustive web page:
http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/faq/faq_risp.php?i
d=4369&ctg_id=93
An apostrophe after an article or a preposition is never
followed by a space.
un fondo d'investimento
>
un fondo d' investimento
14.2. Quotation Marks ["]
The Subjunctive is supposed to be used especially after
verbs that translate: "to believe", "to estimate", "to
think", etc.
The symbol used in Italian for quotations marks is ",
both for opening and closing quotations marks.
Avoid any other symbols, especially the French « ».
13.3. Apostrophe
Ex.:
Cases in which I would use the apostrophe (').
To be completed
13.4. Euphonic "d"
Cases in which I would use of euphonic "d".
Prev.
vowel
A
A
A
A
A
E
E
E
E
E
O
Next
vowel
A
E
I
O
U
A
E
I
O
U
O
Y/N E.g.
Y
Y
N
N
Y
N
Y
N
N
N
N
assegnazione ad amministratori
ad esempio, mira ad evitare
ad imporre
ad obiettivi
ad un'azione
gestione ed amministrazione
titoli quotati ed elencati
ed il relativo
ed obiettivi
solo ed unico
od ovunque
13.5. Partitive Article to be avoided
I personally use the partitive article (e.g. consiglierà
delle modifiche), while somebody does not like this
use.
Can we agree on using some indefinite articles
instead? (e.g. consiglierà talune modifiche)
14. PUNCTUATION
14.1. Apostrophe [']
14.1.1. Use of the Apostrophe
I generally use an apostrophe between two words
when:
- the last letter of the 1st word and the 1st letter of the
2nd word are an identical vowel, and
- the 1st word is a preposition or an article
- the 2nd word is a singular noun or adjective
Ex.:
un fondo d'investimento
>
un fondo di investimento
"microcap"
“microcap”
« microcap»
14.3.
(No) Comma before "e" and
"ecc."
1. In general, the Italian preposition "e", "ecc." ("et
cetera") shouldn't be preceded by a comma.
2. Comma before "e" may be added:
a) in order to separate long propositions with
different subject.
b) or after a series of "e"
14.4. Quotation Marks
In Italian, quotation marks are as follows: "text".
Avoid using the French quotations marks: «text».
Also the use of curly quotes (also called "virgolette
inglesi") should be avoided: “text”. To remove them in
Word XP, choose Strumenti / Correzione automatica /
"Formattaz. autom. durante la digitazione" tab, deselect
"Vigolette semplici con virgolette inglesi.
14.5. Punctuation in titles
In Italian it is not very elegant to finish a title with a
colon (:), so please remove it.
14.6. Ellipsis replaced with " ecc."
Ellipsis must be replaced with " ecc."
Ex.:
obligations convertibles, échangeables en titres
donnant directement ou indirectement accès au
capital…
>
obbligazioni convertibili scambiabili con titoli che
diano direttamente o indirettamente accesso al
capitale ecc.
Avoid the following solution:
>
obbligazioni convertibili scambiabili con titoli che
diano direttamente o indirettamente accesso al
capitale…
PART 4 –TRADOS ISSUES FOR ITALIAN (for translators and
agencies)
15. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN EN AND IT
Because of some grammar/orthography differences between English and Italian, special attention should be paid to
some elements, which are summarized in the following table.
Item
English example
Italian example
GROUP ONE
Days/Months names - Currencies
(problem in the use of Uppercase/lowercase)
Day
Month
Currencies
Monday
January
Euro
lunedì
gennaio
euro
GROUP TWO
Dates and percentages
(problem in the use of (preposition+)articles)
Dates
1 single article
on/from/to/of May the 22nd
on/from/to/of May the 8th
on/from/to/of May the 11th
Percentages
1 single article
2 articles: il, l'
GENERAL RULE
il/dal/al/del 22 maggio
TYPE 1 EXCEPTIONS (8, 11)
l'/dall'/all'/dell'8 aprile
l'/dall'/all'/dell'11 aprile
(no space after the apostrophe)
SPECIAL CASE, WITH "°" (1)
il 1° aprile
3 articles: il, l', lo
GENERAL RULE
-/from/to/of 2%
il/dal/al/del 2%
TYPE 1 EXCEPTIONS (1,
-/from/to/of 1%
-/from/to/of 8%
-/from/to/of 11%
-/from/to/of 0,5%
8, 11)
l'/dall'/all'/dell'1%
l'/dall'/all'/dell'8%
l'/dall'/all'/dell'11%
TYPE 2 EXCEPTION (0)
lo/dallo/allo/dello 0,5%
15.1. Days/Months/Currencies
If day, month and currency names are used at the beginning of a segment, but the segment is part of a previous
sentence, in the Italian translation you will have a uppercase letter instead of a lowercase.
Ex.:
<segment 1> Distributions will be done in the following months:
<segment 2> June
<segment 3> December
>
<segment 1> Le distribuzioni verranno effettuati nei mesi seguenti:
<segment 2> giugno
<segment 3> dicembre
However segments 2 and 3 will probably come from a table, where they are supposed to be used capitalized
Ex. (table, 3 segments):
Distributions
>
Distribuzioni
June
December
Giugno
Dicembre
15.2. Dates/Percentages
Trados considers dates and percentage numbers as variables, i.e. it replaces them dynamically when it found them in
two sentences where the only different part of the sentences is either a date or a number.
This procedures is based on the fact that in the English language only one article exists and prepositions are not
merged with articles.
15.2.1. Use of articles
In Italian both dates and percentages are masculine, but 2 masculine articles exist (il, lo) with 3 possible uses depending
on the 1st letter of the word corresponding to the date/percentage, as summarized in the following table.
1st letter of the Art.
ffg word
Z
lo
vowel
l'
other cases
special case
Nos involved
Example (in letters)
0 (zero)
1 (uno, just for %)
8 (otto)
11 (undici)
lo zero
l'uno
l'otto
l'undici
il venti
il primo
il
1° (just for dates)
Ex with dates
l'8 aprile
l'11 aprile
il 20 aprile
il 1° aprile
Ex with %
lo 0,3%
l'1%
l'8%
l'11%
il 20%
15.2.2. Use of preposition + article
An additional problem is caused by the use of some combinations of "preposition + article" which in Italian are
translated with one single word (as in French), as roughly summarized in the following table. As you can realized, each
critical "preposition + article" combination can create 3 situations.
(Prep+) Art
(on) the
from the
to the
of the
1st letter of the ffg word
Z
vowel
other
Z
vowel
other
Z
vowel
other
Z
vowel
other
Italian
lo
l'
il
dallo
dall'
dal
allo
all'
al
dello
dell'
del
Ex with dates
l'8 aprile
il 20 aprile
dall'8 aprile
dal 20 aprile
all'8 aprile
al 20 aprile
dell'8 aprile
del 20 aprile
Ex with %
lo 0,3%
l'8%
il 20%
dallo 0,3%
dall'8%
dal 20%
allo 0,3%
all'8%
al 20%
dello 0,3%
dell'8%
del 20%
For dates we have the additional problem. The 1st day of the month is written as an ordinal number instead of a cardinal
number.
Ex. for date
La Società è stata istituita il 31 gennaio 2004 (il trentuno)
La Società è stata istituita l'8 gennaio 2004 (l'otto)
La Società è stata istituita il 1° gennaio 2004 (il primo)
To simplify both the translation and the review, and in order to streamline the re-use of these segments in future
projects, I suggest we find a reasonable way to avoid using articles.
15.2.3. Possible solutions for dates
For dates we have been using the "in data" solution,
which however can be possible only for a fixed date,
not for a "from-to" period.
Ex. for fixed date:
The Company has been established on January xx,
2004
>
La Società è stata istituita in data 31 gennaio 2004
La Società è stata istituita in data 8 gennaio 2004
La Società è stata istituita in data 1° gennaio 2004
Ex. for a "from-to" period
Conversion will be possible from January xx to
January xx 2004
>
La conversione potrà essere effettuata dal 1°
gennaio all'8 gennaio 2004
La conversione potrà essere effettuata dal 2 gennaio
all'8 gennaio 2004
La conversione potrà essere effettuata dall'8
gennaio al 31 gennaio 2004
Ex. for a "to" period
Conversion will be possible until January xx 2004
>
La conversione potrà essere effettuata fino al 1°
gennaio 2004
La conversione potrà essere effettuata fino all'8
gennaio 2004
La conversione potrà essere effettuata fino al 31
gennaio 2004
15.2.4. No solutions for percentages
Unfortunately for percentages there is no way to avoid
the use of articles.
Ex. for percentages
The performance commission is equal to xx%
>
La commissione di performance è dello 0,7%
La commissione di performance è dell'1%
La commissione di performance è del 2%
15.3. Uppercase and lowercase
Compared to English, the use of Uppercase in Italian is
quite limited. The following words are written with an
uppercase letter in English but with a lower case letter
in Italian. (Unless they are at the beginning of a
sentence, obviously.)
Names
of days of the week,
months,
season
of currencies
in titles
after colons (:)
English ex.
Monday
January
Spring
Euro
Dollar
The History
of the
Alphabet
Note: In
some
countries…
Italian ex.
lunedì
gennaio
primavera
euro
dollaro
La storia
dell'alfabeto
Nota: in alcuni
paesi
Only the last case can create problems in the use of
legacy segments.
In order to avoid this, 2 workarounds are available.
1. The better but also more time consuming one, is to
open the "Note:" segment, and expand it in order
to include the 2nd segment and translate it without
a Capital letter.
2. The less time consuming solution is to replace the
colon with either a point (.) or a dash, and to
translate the following segment with a Capital
letter.
Here is an example:
Solution
#1: the two segments are
considered as on segment
only
#2: the two segments are
considered as two separate
segments:
Translation
>Nota: in alcuni paesi<
seg #1 >Nota.< or >Nota <
seg#2 >In alcuni paesi<
16. WRONG LEGACY SEGMENTS
16.1. Legacy Segments with Wrong
Spelling
In my experience I have noticed that sometime legacy
segments contain some spelling (orthography)
mistakes.
The most common are summarized in the following
table
Wrong Spelling
stand-alone
e' or E'
words ending in:
-a', -á
-e'
-i', -í,
-o', -ó
-u', -ú
space after
apostrophe (')
stand alone
all'
dell'
dall'
«»
space before
%
Correct
Examples
è, È
-à
-è
-ì
-ò
-ù
remove
space
to be joint
to the
following
word
""
remove
space
cittá -> città
perche' > perché
cosi' > così
perció > perciò
caucciú > caucciù
dell'allegato
all'8%
dell'UE
dall'agosto 2006
«Sicav» > "Sicav"
2%
In these cases, please fell free to implement the correct
spelling.
16.2. Legacy Segments from Other
Languages
Sometime in cleaning files or merging memories into
an Italian TM, segments in different languages are
entered, typically Spanish and Portuguese.
In order to avoid this in the future, please read the
following lines.
1.
In Italian almost all the nouns and verbs end with
a vowel (a, e, i, o).
Only few words end in -u or with a consonant and
they are typically articles ("il"), prepositions ("in",
"con", "su", "per"), Latin words ("idem") or of
foreign origin (e.g. "caucciù").
Words ending in -s (typical plural form for FR, ES,
PO) are quite rare (e.g. "gas").
2.
Italian has only 6 extended characters.
Five of these are grave vowels: à, è, ì, ò, ù, which
are usually placed at the end of nouns accented on
the last syllable (e.g. "caffè", "perciò") or on verbs
in a future tense (e.g. "investirà", "potrà")
Le last extended character is the acute: é (e.g.
"perché", "poiché").
Words containing á, í, ó, ú are typically Spanish.
Italian words do not contain ñ (Spanish), nor ã, õ
(Portuguese), nor â, ê, î, ô, û (French), nor ç.
3.
The only stand-alone extended character is è
("he/she/it is")
à, é, ì, ò, ù cannot be used as stand-alone extended
characters (e.g. French "à" = at)
4.
The following groups of letter, which are used in
words of Latin origin in English and French, have
been replaced with different groups of letters in
Italian:
EN/FR
groups of
letter
CT
-CY
-ITY
PH
PSY
TION
X
Example
IT group of Example
letters
contact
pharmacy
complexity
pharmacy
psychology
attention
complexity
TT
-CIA
-ITÀ
F
PSI
ZIONE
SS
contatto
farmacia
complessità
farmacia
psicologia
attenzione
complessità