VI. Status of the Languages
When multilingual equivalents for an existing monolingual thesaurus are created , the language of one of the monolingual thesauri becomes the exchange language or temporary source language. This does not imply that the language chosen as the starting point is given greater importance; it merely describes the starting point of the work. Each of the other languages becomes a target language. The experience gained in residencies has shown that initially it is often easier to designate the vocabulary with the smallest number of terms as the source language for a particular project. In fact, to resolve problems in determining linguistic equivalents, researchers often must change their approach and exchange the source language for a target language, and vice versa (see also Section X, Feedback). The ultimate goal of this process is to create a thesaurus in which all languages have equal status.The languages in a multilingual thesaurus are said to have equal status when each main term or descriptor in one language is matched by an equivalent, or near equivalent, preferred term in the other languages. Multilingual thesaurus reference guides and standards recommend that equal status be achieved, if at all possible[13]. This is an arduous task for a variety of reasons, including the evolution of the discipline in each culture and the richness of each language. Notwithstanding these difficulties, multilingual thesaurus builders have discovered that in a given domain of knowledge equivalent terms can be found in each language for approximately ninety percent of the terms[14]. This percentage may vary depending on the discipline and the specificity of the vocabulary. Developing equivalent terms for the remaining terms requires a process described as feedback (see Section X below).
13. ISO 5964, p. 6.
14. ISO 5964, p. 7.
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