ARCHIVED 5.7.3. Translation versus Localization

 

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Many international standards are adopted as national standards and many trade agreements, including those of the World Trade Organization (WTO), call upon signatories to adopt international standards wherever possible. This requires making the international standard available in the national languages. The question then arises as to whether the standard is to be translated strictly for meaning or whether it is to be localized, that is, tailored to the linguistic and/or cultural norms of the country. The question of translating or localizing raises some important issues in the case of terminology standards:

• Should the definitions be left in the original language and only the equivalent terms be provided in the other national language?
• If the definitions are rendered in the other language, should they be translated or localized?
• If the concept does not exist in a particular language, should it be created by translating the definition or should the concept system be localized to reflect the cultural needs of the language variant in a particular country?

Localization can result in a number of different equivalents for the same concept in the same language. For example, the same vocabulary standard could be localized into different Spanish versions, one for each Latin-American country. Once there is a multiplicity of terms for the same concept in the same language, can we speak of a standardized term? Which one would be the internationally standardized term? Would a terminology standard be possible in Spanish?

If the definitions are localized, the wording of the definitions may differ. How can we ensure that the concept is the same and that the definition will lead to the same understanding of the standard as in the original language? If international standards are localized, can we have international terminology standards?