I’m curious about the process for generating aligned translations on SuttaCentral (especially for Pāli). Most translations in my native language are not aligned, and I couldn’t find technical details about the alignment process on the official website. Because of this, I have a few questions:
Where can I find detailed information about the alignment process?
How is an aligned translation created?
Is it possible to revise an existing translation so that it becomes aligned?
Wouldn’t it be possible to display the Pāli text alongside non-aligned translations?
Aligned translations are created using our own software app called Bilara.
All Bilara translations must be free from any copyright (i.e. CC0 or public domain.) The majority of non-aligned texts have some kind of copyright, therefore they cannot even be retroactively added to the Bilara system.
There is no way on SuttaCentral itself to show line by line with the Pali on non-aligned texts. That’s the whole reason there are aligned texts.
However, you can use the SC browser extension to display the Pali along side the translation without it being aligned:
For %99 of Legacy texts, they’re un-alignable. The only exception I know of is Charles Patton legacy translations - he has some legacy and some aligned translations, and is in the process of getting all his work aligned.
There might be a few other exceptions I’m not aware of. Perhaps some very old material that’s public domain now (though I’m not sure if they can be put into Bilara’s CC0 licensing). However, it’s safe to say that if a translation is not aligned already, it probably can’t be aligned.
All the copyright info can be seen when you look at a translation and click on the I - Info above.
I am not sure if this applies throughout, but in any case it’s a LOT of work to aligne non-aligned texts! In principle, it needs to be done by someone who understands both the root language and the translation language.
