Working with Questions that have Biblical Terms

Overview of Biblical Terms in Transcelerator

One of the ways that Transcelerator helps with the translation of questions is by automatically supplying translations for words in questions that it identifies as biblical terms (sometimes also referred to as “key terms”). If a thorough analysis of the Major Biblical Terms list has been completed in Paratext, all the identified renderings for each term will be available to Transcelerator. For any terms that do not yet have identified renderings, Paratext attempts to do a statistical analysis to find likely renderings, so in some cases there can be omissions or incorrect renderings included.

For the built-in questions in Transcelerator that include proper names and other biblical terms, this knowledge about how terms are rendered in the target vernacular speeds up translation. Not only does the translator not need to keep going back to Paratext to remember how a particular name or other term was rendered, Transcelerator can identify questions that are similar, differing only by the terms (usually names) they use. For these kinds of questions, Transcelerator can figure out what the “frame” is and how that frame is expressed in the target vernacular. Then every question that has that same frame is automatically filled in using the default rendering of each term used. Assuming the guesses are correct, the translator can quickly confirm them.

Working with Renderings in the Biblical Terms Pane

In the main window in Transcelerator, when you select a question containing biblical terms, the Biblical Terms Pane will display a list of potential vernacular renderings for each occurrence of each term. If there are no known renderings, the list will be empty, but the English term will still appear as the heading. If the same term occurs more than once in the question, the same list of renderings will be displayed for each occurrence, corresponding to their order in the English question. Note: If the source questions are being displayed in a language other than English, it is possible that the order will not correspond to the order of the terms in that language.

For any term that has one or more known renderings, Transcelerator automatically includes the default rendering in its guessed translation. So in the common case of questions that match a “frame” (e.g., What did Jesus say to Peter?), Transcelerator will usually be able to fill in the names to achieve a guessed translation that is correct and merely needs to be confirmed.

To change the rendering used in a particular translation, select the desired rendering from the list.

If the needed rendering is not available in the list, do one of the following:

• Right-click the corresponding occurrence of the term in the Biblical Terms Pane, and in the context menu, select Add Rendering. In the Add Rendering dialog box, type the desired rendering, and then click OK. The newly added rendering will be selected and will automatically replace the previous rendering in the translation.
• Simply type the desired word in the translation, replacing the default rendering. If the term is not rendered directly in your translation or the rendering you typed is not likely to be useful for other questions that might use that term, there might be very little need to add it as a rendering. Note however that since Transcelerator will not be able to identify any part of the translation as a rendering of that term, no rendering will be selected for that occurrence of the biblical term and it will not be possible for Transcelerator to process this translation as a model for other questions that might have the same frame.
• If the desired rendering is one that is used in the Scripture translation and you want the Biblical Terms tool in Paratext to include it as a recognized rendering, then do the following:
1. Right-click the corresponding occurrence of the term in the Biblical Terms Pane to open the shortcut menu, and then select Find Term in Paratext.
2. If there are multiple entries corresponding to the term in the Biblical Terms Tool in Paratext, find the one(s) for which the new rendering is appropriate.
3. Add the desired rendering in Paratext using whichever method is most appropriate:
   • In the Biblical Terms Tool, highlight the rendering for the term in a verse; then in the Edit menu select Add rendering.
   • Use drag-and-drop with the Biblical Terms Renderings tool.
   • Edit the renderings manually.
   • Approve an adapted name or guessed rendering.
   Consult Paratext Help for more information.
4. When the list of renderings in Transcelerator reloads, select the correct one for each instance of each term.

Default Renderings

In most languages, many terms — proper names, for example — will have a single rendering in the target vernacular. When a term has more than one known rendering, either because there are multiple senses or multiple surface forms, Transcelerator chooses a default one, usually the one used the most often to render the term in the Scripture text. But that might not always be the best default for translating the questions in Transcelerator. To change the default rendering for a particular term, simply right-click the rendering for any occurrence of the term in the Biblical Terms pane and select Set as default rendering. This rendering will immediately be used for the specific occurrence of the term in the selected question. It will also be the one used for any other occurrences of this biblical term in any guessed (unconfirmed) translation of any question that uses that term — except in the case of questions where a ruleBiblical Terms Rendering Selection Rule results in a different selection.

View this page in: