Translating perceived affective quality attributes of soundscape from English into Korean

Abstract

The primary goal of ISO 12913 series is to foster a wide-ranging international consensus and establish a universal framework for interdisciplinary and professional communication about soundscapes. However, a critical challenge arises in non-English speaking countries regarding translating Perceived Affective Qualities (PAQs) from English. This translation issue is pivotal in accurately evaluating soundscapes according to the guidelines set by ISO/TS 12913–2, as it directly affects the reliability and consistency of soundscape assessments across different linguistic and cultural contexts. To address this, the Soundscape Attributes Translation Project (SATP) was initiated, focusing on the translation and validation of soundscape PAQs across various languages, with this study specifically aiming to be translated into Korean. This study aims to translate the soundscape PAQs suggested in ISO/TS 12913–2 Method A into Korean and examine the differences in soundscape evaluation between Korean and English. The study is divided into three phases. In Phase I, we gathered a wide range of possible Korean translations for the soundscape attributes and narrowed this down to twenty-four attributes. Phase II involved a quantitative evaluation of these 24 attributes to derive the most appropriate Korean attributes for the translation of soundscape PAQ. Finally, in Phase III, a listening test was conducted to discern the differences in soundscape evaluations between Korea and the UK. This comprehensive approach led to the identification of eight Korean soundscape attributes. With these attributes, twenty-seven different soundscapes were evaluated, revealing notable differences, particularly in the interpretation of the attribute ’monotonous’ between English and Korean evaluations. The findings are expected to contribute significantly to the standardization of soundscape evaluation in Korea and lay a foundation for future soundscape research and assessment in the Korean context.