Controlled English Rules for Translation
The most pertinent rules for a Translation-Oriented Controlled Language have been selected from the eight rule sets under analysis and are presented below.
Lexical Rules
Vocabulary Usage
- Only use dictionary-approved words.
- Use approved words in the dictionary only as part of speech given.
- Avoid abbreviations and acronyms.
Spelling
- Use standardised spelling.
Synonymy
- Do not use different words for the same concept.
Pronoun Usage
- Avoid stand-alone pronouns with indefinite reference, e.g. “mine”, “yours” etc.
Coordination
- Avoid ambiguous co-ordination.
Verb Form Usage
- Avoid present participles.
- For phrasal verbs, always write the verb next to its particle.
- Use past participles only as an adjective.
Syntactic Rules
Agreement between Sentence Constituents
- Ensure that there is agreement between the subject and verb in a sentence.
- Ensure that article and noun agree.
Repetition
- Do not duplicate words unnecessarily.
- Repeat auxiliaries in verb phrases that are connected by “and”.
- Repeat the head noun with conjoined adjectives.
Modifiers
- Make sure that modifiers apply directly to the object they are supposed to modify.
- Expand post-nominal modifiers into full relative clauses.
Adverbs
- Make sure that adverbs directly modify a verb.
- Sentential adverbs should be placed at the start of a sentence.
- Avoid connecting adverbs such as “thus”, “hence”, “so”, “as such”.
Ellipsis
- Avoid Ellipsis.
- Do not omit definite or indefinite articles before a noun.
- Do not omit the relative pronoun “who”, “which” or “that”.
- Do not omit direct objects.
Noun Cluster Size
- Noun Clusters should not exceed three nouns.
Pronoun Usage
- Avoid the use of pronouns, especially if they have an indefinite referent.
Prepositions
- Use single word prepositions.
Tense
- Keep your tenses simple, e.g. simple present and simple past, infinitive, imperative, and future.
Voice
- Use only the active voice.
Segment Independence
- Make sure that every segment can stand alone.
- Do not use footnotes in the middle of a sentence.
- Do not use parentheses in the middle of a sentence.
Semantic Rules
Polysemy
- Keep to the approved meaning of a word in the dictionary. Do not use the word with any other meaning.
Text Structure Rules
Sentence Length
- Keep sentences short (no more than 23 words).
- Avoid writing sentences of four words or less.
- Avoid overly complex constructions.
Punctuation
- Use a comma to separate a subordinate clause at the start of a sentence.
- Separate list items in a sentence with a comma.
- Do not use periods inside words or abbreviations.
- Do not use a semi-colon to separate two independent clauses.
- Do not end a sentence with a colon.
- Do not use a slash as a word separator.
Pragmatic Rules
Textual Devices
- Avoid metaphor, slang, jargon, irony.
by Sharon O'Brien
Reference: Excerpt of "Getting Started with Controlled English" from the article “Controlling Controlled English: An Analysis of Several Controlled Language Rule Sets”, Sharon O’Brien, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland
11.10.2012
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