Samplaí den ábhar aistrithe | Sample Translations
The sample material shown here is only at the initial translation stage. It has not undergone any interim or final editing; in practical terms it consists of a draft translations that need to be checked and supplemented before being forwarded to an editor in Phase 2C (Editing and Compiling the Entries).
Key criteria in the Irish translation process
(1) Current usage in Irish: to capture current usage of Irish as spoken by the language community, and to give it due consideration in the editorial process. To this end, the initial translation of all the English material except terminology is being done on a spontaneous basis, i.e. the translators do not consult any sources, rather they register any relevant translations that occur to them ex tempore.
(2) Existing primary sources: to capture all relevant information and translations from existing lexicographical and terminological sources. To achieve this, the primary sources are systematically checked and the translated entry is supplemented with any relevant material which may be missing, as part of the pre-editing process.
(3) Coverage of the main dialects: to ensure that the three main Gaeltacht dialects are evenly covered in the compilation of the translated material and in the subsequent editing process. To this end, the 1000 most common English headwords, covering 80% of everyday spoken and written communication, are to be translated in each dialect. Furthermore, each translation under these headwords is being labelled for each dialect in order to build up a dialectal profile of each translation .i. to indicate which, if any, of the main dialects the translation pertains to.
Classification of the English material in the translation process
For the purpose of the translation phase, the English material has been divided into 3 categories as follows:
Category A: Comprehensive Translation. Category A consists of the 1000 most frequent English headwords. Each headword is initially translated without reference to sources (except for any related technical senses). A translator from each of the three main dialects participates in the initial translation, and also marks each translation to indicate whether or not it pertains to his/her own dialect. The dialectal marking is done in a DIAL field where, depending on the translator’s dialect, he/she selects C (= Connacht), M (= Munster) or U (= Ulster) followed by one of the following codes:
| 1 | (in this particular sense of the English headword) this is an Irish word/phrase I would use in my own dialect |
| 0 | (in this particular sense of the English headword) this is an Irish word/phrase I would not use in my own dialect |
| A | (in this particular sense of the English headword) I am not sure whether or not I would use this Irish word/phrase in my own dialect |
| N | (in this particular sense of the English headword) this is a dialect-neutral word/phrase, .i. I would use it in my own dialect even though it does not pertain to the dialect per se, for example: ríomhaire (= computer), bus, litearthacht (= literacy), etc. |
Sample entries from Category A: help and kind
Category B: Intermediate Translation. Category B consists of all headwords except the 1000 that are in Category A and the technical headwords in Category C below. Each headword is initially translated by a single translator and without reference to sources (except for any related technical senses). They are not marked by dialect.
Sample entries from Category B: kick and kiss
Category C: Basic Translation. Category C consists of the technical headwords, i.e. headwords where every sense is labelled with a technical domain. The translation process for Category C consists largely of checking against sources, and the source information is always included for each translation.
The same translation process applies to all technical senses that come under headwords in Categories A and B also. The source information is contained in a SRC field:
| Source field | Summary |
|---|---|
| SRC=focal | to register whether or not the Irish translation can be found on www.focal.ie (the official Irish language terminology site) |
| SRC=EID | to register whether or not the Irish translation can be found in English-Irish Dictionary (de Bhaldraithe, 1959 - the last major English-Irish dictionary) |
| SRC=FGB | to register whether or not the Irish translation can be found in Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla (Ó Dónaill, 1977 - the last major Irish-English dictionary) |
| SRC=Other | to suggest a translation where no sourced translation can be found to register a translation that is not to be found in the primary sources but that is in current usage (in case of headwords from foreign languages other than English) to register a word/phrase from a French/Spanish etc. dictionary |
Sample entries from Category C: monotonic-muezzin
