Zielsprachige

Zielsprachige is a German adjective meaning “target-language,” used primarily in translation studies, localization, and language technology to describe content that is rendered in the language that a text is translated into. The corresponding noun form is Zielsprache, referring to the target language itself. The term is commonly contrasted with Quellsprache (source language).

In practice, zielsprachige describes translations, texts, or materials that exist in the target language. Examples include zielsprachige Übersetzung (translation into the target language), zielsprachige Texte (texts in the target language), and zielsprachige Inhalte (target-language content). The expression is often used in phrases related to the direction of translation or localization projects, such as “die zielsprachige Lokalisierung der Software” or “eine zielsprachige Version des Manuals.”

Usage and scope vary by field. In translation studies and corpus linguistics, it helps distinguish the language into which a text is translated from the original language of the source text. In localization and software development, zielsprachige outputs denote user interfaces, manuals, or help content adapted for a specific target audience. The term is typically employed as an attributive adjective (zielsprachige Texte) rather than a stand-alone noun, and it coexists with terms like Zielsprache and Quellsprache to describe directional language processes.

Etymology and related terms: formed from Ziel (goal/target) and Sprache (language), with the suffix -ig to create an adjective. Related concepts include Zielsprache (target language), Quellsprache (source language), Übersetzung (translation), and Lokalisierung (localization).