142 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
142 lines
7.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: translation
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description: Translate Chinese↔English Buddhist/Dharma content — register guidance from Mindfulness Bell corpus, tone, voice, cultural bridging technique.
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---
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# Translation
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Core translation technique for Buddhist/Dharma content. Conventions (djot format,
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terms DB query, workflows, output format) are in AGENTS.md.
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## Mindfulness Bell Corpus
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English Buddhist prose — register/style reference for translation.
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- **PDFs + index**: `~/meta/www.files/public/The Mindfulness Bell/` — 6 issues (MB92–MB97, 2023–2026), `index.yaml` lists all articles by author/title/page
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- **Articles**: `~/documents/jingxin-lessons/Mindfulness Bell/MB{92..97}/*.md` — per-issue markdown files. Read with `read_file`.
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Four registers, useful as style targets:
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| Register | Example | Key features |
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|----------|---------|-------------|
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| Dharma talk | Thầy (MB94 "Roses and Garbage", MB97 "Go as a River") | Short sentences, concrete images, coined terms ("interbeing"), oral address, Sanskrit with narrative explanation |
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| Teaching lineage | Sister Đoan Nghiêm (MB93 "Our Patriarch Liễu Quán") | "We" voice, terms explained, cultural bridging ("like Jesus"), dates in narrative |
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| Personal narrative | Mick McEvoy (MB94 "Touching the True Nature") | First-person, confessional, borrowed Dharma vocabulary, vernacular |
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| Editorial | Brother Pháp Lưu (MB94 welcome letter) | Polished but warm, conceptual framing, "we" address |
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Quick-find in index: Thầy talks → `"Thích Nhất Hạnh"` + page ≤ 10; teachings → `"Sister"` or `"Brother"`; narratives → first-page articles by non-monastics; lineage → `"Patriarch"` or `"ancestor"`.
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## Translation Principles
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1. **Terms**: Either keep Sanskrit w/ narrative explanation (bodhisattva, Māra) OR coin new English (interbeing, inter-are). Avoid clunky calques.
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2. **Cultural bridging**: Add bridges for Western readers. A Chinese text mentioning 孔子 can stay; explain the function. Đoan Nghiêm's "like Jesus" is the pattern.
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3. **Tone**: Chinese Dharma texts are typically more formal than English equivalents. Decide consciously: keep formality or warm up (Thầy style).
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4. **Voice**: Direct address ("you"), concrete images, and oral rhythm make Dharma land in English. Abstract noun chains (common in Chinese→English translationese) kill it.
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5. **Sutra quotes**: Use standard English Buddhist idiom. Check terse-idiom conventions (e.g., Diamond Sutra "lives" not "bodies").
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## Pitfalls
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### Pre-flight accuracy check
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Before delivering a translation, run through the structured accuracy/readability
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taxonomy in `skills/translation-review/references/common-issues-taxonomy.md`.
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Catching these before review saves iteration cycles:
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- Omission, over-literal renderings, over-free renderings, subject confusion,
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overtranslation, terminology errors
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- Long/nested sentences, passive voice clustering, nominalization, top-heavy
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structure, obscure word choices, weak transitions
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### 1:1 line mapping
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Each physical source line maps to exactly one physical target line. Never merge
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continuation lines (lines ending with ` ` soft breaks) into a single
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translation entry. The bilingual format preserves the original line structure —
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breaking this destroys alignment.
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### Blank lines in bilingual
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When creating an initial bilingual template from source only: blank source
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lines pass through as-is. Only non-blank lines get an empty target placeholder.
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Treating blank lines as content lines (adding target+separator) creates
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excessive blank clusters. See `references/bilingual-format.md`.
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### Soft break markers
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Trailing ` ` (two spaces) on source lines indicate soft line breaks (paragraph
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continuations). Preserve these markers on both source and target lines.
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### Practice element lists: use noun forms
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When translating lists of Buddhist practice elements — especially the five
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essentials (皈依、发心、戒律、正见、止观) or similar enumerated components —
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render each as a noun phrase, not a gerund. "Refuge, aspiration, precepts,
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right view, śamatha-vipaśyanā" — not "taking refuge, arousing aspiration."
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These are named components of a system, not actions being described. The same
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applies to any catalog-style listing (三学, 八正道 components, etc.).
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### Terminology decisions: user is the source of truth
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When the user proposes a non-standard rendering (e.g. "人间佛教 should be
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'Buddhism for daily lives'") or asks for your input ("although I don't know
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what X should be"), respond with a brief options table — strengths and
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weaknesses — and let them choose. Do NOT unilaterally commit to a rendering
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and start applying it across the file. The user often has a reason for their
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proposal (e.g. deliberate departure from terms DB convention) or a strong
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opinion they haven't voiced yet. Once they pick, then apply consistently and
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annotate in the inline `{% %}` comment WHY this rendering was chosen so future
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editors know it was deliberate, not a slip.
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## Polishing (润色)
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After translating, do a deliberate readability pass before submitting for review.
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Read the English aloud — if a sentence can't be spoken in one breath, fix it.
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These are common patterns (not an exhaustive list). For the full taxonomy with
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more categories and examples, read
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`../translation-review/references/common-issues-taxonomy.md`.
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Examples of systematic adjustments:
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1. **Passive → active**. Passive clusters (3+ per paragraph) are the top
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readability killer in CN→EN translation. `If meat consumption were reduced`
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→ `If people consume less meat`.
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2. **Nominalization → verb**. `placed emphasis on cultivating` → `emphasized
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cultivating`; `the application of` → `applying`.
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3. **Sentence splitting**. If a sentence has 3+ clauses and runs past one breath,
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split it. The source's period is not a contract — English readers need
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shorter breath units than Chinese readers.
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4. **Academic → plain**. `constitute` → `make up`; `facilitate` → `help`;
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`endeavor to` → `try to`; `in order to` → `to`. These texts are lectures
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and conversations, not journal articles.
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5. **Register match**. Dharma talks and dialogues should sound spoken —
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contractions, direct address, concrete images. If the English reads like a
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paper abstract, warm it up. Check against the MB corpus registers for the
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target genre.
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Do NOT apply these mechanically — each is a judgment call. A passive may be
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correct when the agent is unknown; a nominalization may be the right technical
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term. The goal is natural English that matches the source's register, not a
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formulaic rewrite.
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## Meditation / Mindfulness Content
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When translating guided meditation scripts, exercise guides, or posture instructions
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(rather than Dharma talks), use a lighter workflow. See `references/meditation-translation.md`.
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## Pitfalls
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### article-specific scripts
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`scripts/proofread-pdf.py` is hardcoded for 佛教徒的人生态度 — body-start
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markers, header patterns, slug regex. Do NOT reuse for other articles.
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Create article-specific scripts per `references/proofread-pdf-workflow.md`.
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## References
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- `references/meditation-translation.md` — lighter workflow for meditation/mindfulness content
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- `references/markdown-to-djot.md` — converting .docx.md to .dj for translation prep
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- `references/bilingual-format.md` — bilingual.dj layout: source/target adjacent, blank separator between pairs
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- `references/diacritics-convention.md` — diacritics rules
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- `references/proofread-pdf-workflow.md` — pattern for creating article-specific PDF-vs-DOCX comparison scripts
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- `../translation-review/references/common-issues-taxonomy.md` (cross-skill) — structured accuracy/readability checklist for pre-flight review
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