Tools for food labelling translation

Linguistic, terminological and legal aspects

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that combines machine translation and terminology management techniques in the domain of food labelling, where terminological variation depends on many factors and needs to be strictly controlled. After a short outline of linguistic and legal aspects related to food labelling, we describe available systems for computer–assisted translation and terminology management, focusing on issues relevant for the specific needs of this genre. We then explore the advantages of our approach in terms of reliability and productivity, and sketch a system that, relying on a rich database of term — and phrase — based linguistic resources, is able to provide semi–automatic translations in this tightly controlled domain.