Unreadable text: What is 'translated'?
Thread poster: Clifton Silvers
Clifton Silvers
Clifton Silvers
Local time: 23:21
Thai to English
+ ...
Jan 3, 2007

I have a very old birth certificate which contains text that has faded and is totally illegible. How does one translate this? Are there strict guidelines as to how this is done?

Respect.


 
Stephen Rifkind
Stephen Rifkind  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 18:21
Member (2004)
French to English
+ ...
Square Brackets Jan 3, 2007

Translators comments are generally in square brackets. If you can somehow guess, place your translation in square brackets with a comment like "uncertain". If the quality is so bad that you cannot take an educated guess, write "[illegible]". That way, you are protecting yourself.

Josephine Cassar
 
Nadia-Anastasia Fahmi
Nadia-Anastasia Fahmi  Identity Verified
Greece
Local time: 18:21
English to Greek
+ ...
Or else, Jan 3, 2007

You could ask the client whether they can send a better copy or, even better, if their copy is not illegible, whether they could OCR it and send it to you.

Josephine Cassar
 
Carole Paquis
Carole Paquis  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:21
Member (2007)
English to French
Agree with other comments Jan 3, 2007

Hello,

I agree with the two preceeding comments.
You first ask the client if they have/can have a better version that one could read.
If not, you make a translator's note.
I have been known to do that for official documents like birth certs and the Consulate was happy with it.


 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:21
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
If the text is not in your native language... Jan 3, 2007

(as is often the case with me - I get scrawled Russian handwriting to decipher sometimes)... it is worth while co-operating with someone who is, to look at the bits you can't decipher and see if more can be got out of it. This service will have to be paid for, of course, unless you come to a mutual agreement to co-operate in the same way with the other person concerned.

 
Clifton Silvers
Clifton Silvers
Local time: 23:21
Thai to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Translator's notes in [brackets]? Jan 3, 2007

Nadia Fahmi wrote:

You could ask the client whether they can send a better copy or, even better, if their copy is not illegible, whether they could OCR it and send it to you.


My thanks to everyone.

Is it safe to assume that translator's notes of any description belong in [brackets]?

Nadia, would it be possible to highlight what the term OCR means for a newbie?


 
Steffen Walter
Steffen Walter  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:21
Member (2002)
English to German
+ ...
OCR = Optical Character Recognition Jan 3, 2007

Hi Clifton,

I'm not Nadia but this is one of the definitions of OCR available on the web:

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/electronicrecords/erglossary.html#o
"Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
OCR is the recognition of printed or written text characters by a computer. This involves analysis of the scanned-in image, and t
... See more
Hi Clifton,

I'm not Nadia but this is one of the definitions of OCR available on the web:

http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/electronicrecords/erglossary.html#o
"Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
OCR is the recognition of printed or written text characters by a computer. This involves analysis of the scanned-in image, and then translation of the character image into character codes, such as ASCII. OCR is being applied by libraries, businesses, and government agencies to create text-searchable files for digital collections. OCR is also used to help process checks and credit card slips and sort the mail."

Steffen
Collapse


 
Stephen Rifkind
Stephen Rifkind  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 18:21
Member (2004)
French to English
+ ...
Concur with Jack Jan 3, 2007

I also occasionally get handwritten Russian material. It is obligatory to give a Russian native speaker who has a much better intuition what is written. I check his English, which tends to be academic. So, it works out over a period of time.

 
Jennifer Forbes
Jennifer Forbes  Identity Verified
Local time: 16:21
French to English
+ ...
In memoriam
What about a footnote? Jan 14, 2007

Clifton Silvers wrote:

Nadia Fahmi wrote:

You could ask the client whether they can send a better copy or, even better, if their copy is not illegible, whether they could OCR it and send it to you.


My thanks to everyone.

Is it safe to assume that translator's notes of any description belong in [brackets]?

Nadia, would it be possible to highlight what the term OCR means for a newbie?


If the illegible word is on its own (a name or figure, for example) I'd put "illegible name" or "illegible figure" in square brackets.
If more detail is needed, or a guess at what the phrase might be, I'd put a footnote entitled "Translator's note". "Microsoft Word" is brilliant at footnotes, which can be formatted just like regular text.


 
Malcolm Rowe
Malcolm Rowe
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:21
French to English
+ ...
If I am expected to certify the translation...? Feb 4, 2021

I have a text with a stamp that is partly illegible.
I have represented this as:

[stamp: “NEUILLY SUR S[illegible] TOWN HALL”
“148” “Hauts de Seine”
]

Now it is obvious that the illegible word is "SEINE".

The client has asked if it is possible to remove the note of "illegible".

Would it be acceptable, given that they want me to certify the translation with a 'statement of truth', to replace "illegible" with
... See more
I have a text with a stamp that is partly illegible.
I have represented this as:

[stamp: “NEUILLY SUR S[illegible] TOWN HALL”
“148” “Hauts de Seine”
]

Now it is obvious that the illegible word is "SEINE".

The client has asked if it is possible to remove the note of "illegible".

Would it be acceptable, given that they want me to certify the translation with a 'statement of truth', to replace "illegible" with "EINE" or "EINE?" but keep it within the square brackets?

[stamp: “NEUILLY SUR S[EINE] TOWN HALL”
“148” “Hauts de Seine”
]

or

[stamp: “NEUILLY SUR S[EINE?] TOWN HALL”
“148” “Hauts de Seine”
]

Or should I stick to "illegible"?
Collapse


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 17:21
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
@Malcolm Feb 5, 2021

Malcolm Rowe wrote:
I have a text with a stamp that is partly illegible.
Now it is obvious that the illegible word is "SEINE".
The client has asked if it is possible to remove the note of "illegible".


Unfortunately I've met sworn translators who have both possible opinions on this.

Some hold fast to the principle "if it is illegible, don't guess, even if think it's obvious what it should be". Other hold that the principle of not guessing what is illegible applies only to unique content -- in other words, if the document contains some standard wording that is not unique to that particular file (and this may include things like known official addresses or the wording of stamps), you are allowed to guess, without indicating that you're guessing, if you're quite certain about it.

This decision is easier to make if you have the physical document in front of you. If something is illegible on that document, then it is illegible. But often, these days, we get scans, faxes and photocopies to work on (and some countries' laws allow one to certify translations of such copies), and then you can't be certain whether the text is also illegible on the original document, and guessing becomes more risky.


 
Malcolm Rowe
Malcolm Rowe
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:21
French to English
+ ...
@Samuel Feb 5, 2021

I had a feeling that there might be varying opinions on this.

Happily, the client accepted the "[illegible]" note in the end.
I did also suggest the possibility of just putting "[stamp]" and not mentioning any of the stamp content.


 


To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator:


You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request »

Unreadable text: What is 'translated'?







TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »
Trados Business Manager Lite
Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio

Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.

More info »