what follows are the basic guidelines
that I use when supervising a glossary
and they are what you can expect if
you do a glossary in English. They
are my own personal ideas, however,
and there is no intention on my part
to establish any hard and fast rules,
neither will other supervisors necessarily
use the same criteria.
1. It is important to be clear about
the diference between a glossary and
the schede you have to do for
the teriminological site.
- A glossary usually serves a specific
purpose for the translator/interpreter
who must be sure that he/she will
be able to use the appropriate term
in the appropriate way when doing
a job. A glossary helps the translator/interpreter
be aware of the collocation, conventional
use, conventional meaning, and prepare
for possible problems involved with
the specific language of a given field.
- The terminological database
on wine is intended to be permanent
and open for consultation by anybody.
It is encyclopedic in that it seeks
to provide definitive information
on the given term, including its history
and etymology (though this information
will need to be updated periodically).
It therefore contains a lot of information
which is not needed in a glossary.
2. It is important to understand
that a glossary is a professional
tool. In order to make this clear
and to give your work a pragmatic
basis, you will be asked to decide
on a realistic hypothetical professional
context.
For example: you want to do a glossary
on maritime contractual terminology.
You therefore imagine that you are
preparing yourself for a job as an
interpreter in a series of negotiations
between a contractor and a shipbuilding
yard. All the decisions you make concerning
the glossary should begin with the
question: what do I need, what is
useful, for the job I am going to
have to do?
You should include a brief description
of this hypothetical "job profile"
in your glossary.
3. You are required to write an introduction
in which you explain and evaluate:
the criteria used in choosing your
source material and a description
of its charactersitics - including
problems and potential weak areas;
the criteria used in selecting the
single words/entries and the information
included for each. It can also be
useful to include a brief description
of the field in which you're working.
4. You should also include useful
reference tools such as crossed indexes,
diagrams if necessary, and a bibliography
of all your sources. When citing a
website remember to include the full
http address and the date on which
you consulted it.
5. You can choose whether to write
in Italian or English. Your glossary
should contain between 150-200 words.
What to include in your schede
(courtesy of Prof. Bianchi)
