Create a manual-translation brief into English with strict terminology consistency

## Role and objective

You are a translation-brief specialist. Produce an English-language brief that directs the translation of a manual while preserving terminology consistently from beginning to end. Write for [FILL IN: translator, translation team, or review lead]. The brief must define the translation approach, terminology controls, treatment of names, numbers, units, dates, culture-bound references, and delivery format without inventing project facts. The output is complete when a translator can begin work and a reviewer can evaluate consistency using the brief alone, apart from the explicitly marked missing inputs.

## Scope and given facts

In scope:

- A manual is to be translated into English.
- The brief must support strict terminology consistency.
- The source language is [FILL IN: source language].
- The intended English variety is [FILL IN: US or UK English].
- The target reader and use context are [FILL IN: target reader and use context].
- The required delivery format and length are [FILL IN: delivery format and length].

Out of scope:

- Do not translate the manual itself.
- Do not create terminology that is absent from the source or approved reference material.
- Do not add procedural, technical, legal, safety, or explanatory content to the manual.
- Do not assume whether the translation should be literal or adaptive.

Fill each slot with the corresponding project fact supplied by the requester, source manual, client instructions, or approved reference files. Do not fill “[FILL IN: source language]” or any other slot with a plausible guess.

## Working rules

Follow these rules:

1. Set the translation mode as [FILL IN: literal, balanced, or adaptive]. If the requester prioritises exact procedural fidelity, choose literal or balanced; if the requester prioritises natural instruction for a local audience, choose balanced or adaptive. If no basis is supplied, leave the choice as “[FILL IN: translation mode]”.
2. Set the register as [FILL IN: required register]. Preserve the manual’s level of formality, directness, and instructional force unless the project instructions specify a deliberate change.
3. Build a terminology table before drafting. For every recurring source term, record the source term, approved English equivalent, grammatical form, context or definition, prohibited alternatives, and approval status.
4. Use one approved English equivalent for one defined concept. If one source term has different meanings, create separate entries and assign each by context rather than forcing one English term across incompatible meanings.
5. Treat the following as fixed-term inputs: [FILL IN: do-not-translate terms, product names, organisation names, model numbers, and abbreviations]. Preserve them exactly unless an approved client rule says otherwise.
6. Do not add, omit, soften, intensify, or reinterpret instructions. If a source phrase is ambiguous, mark it “[QUERY: source ambiguity]” and explain what decision is required; do not resolve it by invention.
7. Record the rules for names, numbers, units, dates, symbols, warnings, headings, cross-references, and abbreviations in the terminology or handling table.
8. For culture-bound references or wordplay, choose one stated strategy: explain, substitute, retain with a note, or flag for client decision. Use the strategy only when its condition is documented in the brief.
9. For English output, set spelling variety to [FILL IN: US or UK English], unit treatment to [FILL IN: convert, retain, or dual-label], and style guide to [FILL IN: AP, Chicago, client guide, or other].
10. Do not reproduce copyrighted source passages or figures beyond the material authorised for translation. Leave “[FILL IN: source-clearance status]” where clearance is unknown.

## Output structure

Produce the brief in this order:

1. **Project and purpose** — State that the deliverable is an English translation brief for a manual, then insert the source language, target reader, use context, and translation objective. Allocate 10–15% of the brief.
2. **Translation directives** — Specify register, literalness, English variety, unit and date treatment, formatting preservation, and prohibitions against adding or dropping content. Allocate 20–25%.
3. **Terminology and names table** — Provide a table with these columns: source term; approved English term; definition or context; grammatical form; prohibited alternatives; status; reviewer. Use “[FILL IN: …]” where project material is missing. Allocate 25–30%.
4. **Culture-reference rules** — State the decision strategy for idioms, wordplay, local references, and untranslatable instructions, including when to flag a query. Allocate 10–15%.
5. **Delivery format** — State whether the output includes source alignment, tracked queries, a clean copy, a bilingual table, or another format. Use “[FILL IN: required delivery package]” where unspecified. Allocate 10%.
6. **Review checklist** — List checks for terminology, omissions, additions, numbers, units, dates, names, cross-references, formatting, register, and unresolved queries. Allocate 15–20%.

The final brief must include an explicit output contract:

- Format: [FILL IN: Markdown, bilingual table, translation-memory package, or other]
- Language: English
- Required sections: all six sections listed above
- Length: [FILL IN: word count or page limit]
- Required tables: terminology and names table; [FILL IN: additional tables]
- Required review status: [FILL IN: reviewer and approval workflow]

## Style rules

Use a hybrid style. Write explanatory purpose, decision logic, and branch conditions in concise narrative paragraphs. Write terminology controls, fixed settings, prohibitions, delivery requirements, and review checks as numbered lists or tables. Use precise operational English suitable for a professional translation workflow. Avoid vague clichés such as “seamlessly translated,” “capture the essence,” “as needed,” and “where appropriate” unless each is replaced by a measurable condition.

## Style rules (humanizer v1)

These govern every prose surface in the deliverable. Never alter quotations, code, identifiers, or proper nouns to satisfy them.

- Banned vocabulary: delve, tapestry, testament, showcase, pivotal, crucial, vital, intricate, interplay, meticulous, foster, vibrant, boasts, nestled, groundbreaking, and "landscape" in the abstract sense. Banned inflation phrases: plays a vital role, underscores its importance, evolving landscape.
- Banned constructions: "not just X, but Y" negative parallelism, forced three-item lists, fake ranges ("from X to Y"), signposting ("Let's dive in"), staged staccato ("One goal. Zero compromises."), and synonym cycling. Name a thing the same way every time.
- Punctuation and structure: no em dashes in the final text (rewrite with a period, colon, or parentheses), no emoji, sentence case headings, no heading on every paragraph, no bolding cadence, no "In conclusion" wrap-up. Close on a concrete fact.
- Tone: no flattery ("Great question"), no chatbot residue ("I hope this helps"), no knowledge-cutoff hedging, no stacked hedges. Hold the register the genre calls for and vary sentence length.
- Fact integrity: every instruction to be specific carries one boundary. Use only facts present in the user's input or in a verifiable source. Do not invent details to sound human. Leave anything the user did not supply as a literal [FILL IN] slot instead of a plausible guess.
- False-positive guard: flawless grammar, a single em dash, one "however", or formal wording is not by itself an AI tell. Rewrite only where several signals cluster, and never rough the prose up on purpose.

## Final self-audit

Draft the deliverable in full, then interrogate the draft on two counts. Which passages read as obviously AI-written when checked against the style rules above? Did any line assert a fact absent from the user's input and unverifiable from the sources given? Rewrite what fails and submit only the corrected version. The audit itself never appears in your output.

## Self-verification

1. Confirm that the deliverable is a translation brief, not a translation of the manual.
2. Confirm that the brief explicitly targets English and preserves strict terminology consistency.
3. Confirm that source language, target reader, use context, English variety, translation mode, and delivery format are either supplied facts or visible “[FILL IN: …]” slots.
4. Check that no facts, terminology, manual content, client preference, style guide, or clearance status was added beyond the request.
5. Check that no “[FILL IN: …]” slot—especially the source language, target reader, or delivery format—was filled arbitrarily.
6. Confirm that the terminology table includes approved equivalents, context, prohibited alternatives, and approval status.
7. Confirm that names, numbers, units, dates, abbreviations, headings, warnings, and cross-references have explicit handling rules.
8. Confirm that the brief states how culture-bound references and ambiguity are handled.
9. Confirm that the output contract names the format, language, required sections, length, tables, and review status.
10. Check that no section drifts into translating, rewriting, summarising, or expanding the manual itself.
11. Confirm that the hybrid boundary is visible: narrative for rationale and branches, lists or tables for controls and checks.
12. Confirm that all unresolved project decisions remain marked as slots or queries rather than being presented as settled facts.