This article was originally published on our blog Dragosfer a couple of years ago. It focuses on how to eliminate junk words in Turkish to English translations. As part of our consolidation efforts, I wanted to include it in this knowledgebase. Avoiding junk words is a much wider topic and a good habit to acquire. We are open to publishing your articles and more tips on plain language. Turkish language is usually long winded and redundant. Translators should learn how to avoid unnecessary words […]
When using “between” to specify a date or number range, we must replace the hyphen with and. Incorrect: Demirkent served in senior executive roles between 1936-68. Correct: Demirkent served in senior executive roles between 1936 and 68. So, please do not add a hyphen between numbers or dates, if you are constructing the phrase with “between”. You may find a related article on dashes in here.
Here is another quick tip on capitalization. Our aim, as always, is to teach our audience at least one good trick in less than a minute. This time we are discussing capitalization of headlines. If you are involved in translation, copy-editing or proofreading or in general in publishing, you will find our posts very useful. Do not use ALL CAPS for headlines and headings! Use ONE of these styles instead: 1. Lower case, except for the first word and proper […]
Dragoman prefers preceding initialisms with a definite article. An initialism is an abbreviation formed from initial letters. They require “the”, because they are pronounced letter by letter. Incorrect: Trump told world leaders to support overhauling U.N. Correct: Trump told world leaders to support overhauling the U.N. An acronym, on the other hand, is a word made up from the first letters of the name of something such as an organization. For example, NATO is an acronym for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Because they are pronounced as words, there is no need to precede them with definite article: […]
This piece is a part of our capitalization series. Proper capitalization in English is tricky. Stay tuned with our Language Tips for more. 1. If magazine or journal is part of the title, use upper case New York Magazine Journal of the American Medical Association 2. If magazine or journal is not part of the title, use lower case Time magazine 3. Capitalize the article the if part of the title of a newspaper, magazine, or journal The Washington Post […]
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) (also known as external dispute resolution in some countries, such as Australia) includes dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation. It is a collective term for the ways that parties can settle disputes, with (or without) the help of a third party. Highest form of alternative dispute resolution is an arbitration. Arbitration often requires interpreting because the parties are international and prefer […]
Who is a Dragoman? What does it mean? A dragoman was an interpreter, translator and official guide between Turkish, Arabic, and Persian-speaking countries, delegations and politicians of the Middle East and European embassies, consulates, vice-consulates and trading posts. Dragomans would typically speak Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and several European languages. History records Dragomans at high government ranks like ambassadors, envoys and even ministers. There were Dragomans working for a daily fee or on a monthly allowance, although many Dragomans belonged to […]
A sign language (also signed language or simply signing) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses manual communication and body language to convey meaning. This can involve simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker’s thoughts. Every nation has their own sign language. There is one international sign language, but with very limited words. Even British Sign Language is different then the American […]
In sign language, orientation (ORI) refers to the distinctive relative orientation of the hand when signing. Orientation is one of five components of a sign, along with handshape (DEZ), location (TAB), movement (SIG), and facial-body expression. Every language has its own signs, even British Sign Language is different then the American Sign Language.
In sign language, expression refers to distinctive body postures and facial expressions that accompany signing, and which are necessary to properly form words. Expression is one of five components of a sign, along with handshape (DEZ), orientation (ORI), location (TAB), and movement (SIG). A major component of expression is mouthing. However, not all signs have an inherent expression.
