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Why are Some Segments Recognized as Non-Translatable?

Why are Some Segments Recognized as Non-Translatable?

Introduction

A translatable segment is a segment that contains at least one translatable element and therefore needs to be translated. Example: 12-17.01.2021 or 20-25.01.2021. This segment is translatable because of the word or which has a translation in the target language. The primary reason is that segments like the one above include words, and there may be instances where you would like to translate them.

A non-translatable segment, on the other hand, is a segment in which all elements are non-translatable. Example: 12-17.01.2021: 20-25.01.2021. A non-translatable element falls into one of the following categories:

  • Punctuation.

  • Number.

  • Link.

  • Currency.

  • Measurement unit.

  • XML.

  • Parameter.

  • Time.


Non-Translatable NLP Detector

As a basis, segments are divided into “tokens”. A token is a sub-string of a segment. A type and sub-type are assigned to each token. The mechanism for recognizing non-translatable segments has changed over time. Since XTM Cloud v.13.2, there have been improvements to the mechanism. (In v.13.3, a new standard enhancement was added. For v.13.2., configuration is needed). The new NLP non-translatable segments detector can recognize all non-translatable segments identified by the old detector. In addition, due to the added enhancements, the number of non-translatables recognized has increased by 30%.

The key areas of improvement include better handling of:

  • physical measurements.

  • markup segments (i.e. those containing HTML or XML tags).

  • URLs – more classes of correct URLs are recognized correctly.

The recognition of non-translatable segments is hard-coded by NLP algorithms and it is not possible to change the recognition configuration so that something is treated differently.


XTM Cloud UI settings

XTM Cloud offers a couple of UI settings related to non-translatable segments. To access them, you will need administrative privileges.

Matching of non-translatables

The first one is Matching of non-translatables, in Configuration → Settings → Translate → TM → Matches - general.

Use this parameter to specify whether non-translatable segments is to be left unchanged (Leave as non-translatables) or it it to be matched against your TM (Match against TM).

The setting applies globally, which means you cannot adjust it at XTM Cloud customer or XTM Cloud project template level.

Set non-translatables as done

The second setting for non-translatable segments is Set non-translatables as done. To enable it and decide on its default configuration, applied globally, you will also need administrative privileges. In XTM Cloud, go to Configuration → Settings → Translation → TM → Segment status.

As the setting name suggests, XTM Cloud can automatically set non-translatable segments to done (Completed) during project analysis without the need to confirm them in XTM Workbench. If a segment is marked as non-translatable, while a Linguist is working in XTM Workbench, this setting will not apply. If a Linguist translates a segment which, during project analysis, has been marked as non-translatable, this segment will still be marked as non-translatable.

  • Permit → Select this checkbox if you want to enable this option at in your XTM instance at all.

  • Default setting → Select this checkbox if you want to decide on its default configuration, applied globally.

    • All steps – XTM Workbench sets the status of non-translatable segments to Done in all workflow steps.

    • First step only – XTM Workbench only sets the status of non-translatable segments to Done only in the first workflow step.

    • All except last step – XTM Workbench sets the status of non-translatable segments to Done all workflow steps except for the last one.

If you decide to enable the Set non-translatables as done setting globally, you will also have the option to set it at:

  • Customer level: Customers → Customer list → (select a customer) → Settings → Segment status.

  • Project template level: Projects → Templates → (select a project template) → Project details → Settings.

  • Project level → During project creation, in the Settings section.

 

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