Original & Translation

[Martin WHEELER <mwheeler@startext.co.uk>]

Can someone please explain to me in very clear terms the exact
procedures for submitting the following different, mutually exclusive,
types of document:

a) an original document composed in English;

b) an original document composed in any language other than English
(say, Gaelic or Tamil);

c) the translation into English of a document originally composed in any
other language;

d) the translation into any specific language (say, French) of a
document originally composed in English.

----

Now let's also consider the case of someone who composes a document in
English, but for whom English is only their third or fourth language,
and so contains a multiplicity of syntactical and semantic
peculiarities. (Hell, I'd be hard-put to produce even a single word
if I had to write anything in say, Maori or Krio.) This document is
then used as the basis for translation into yet another language (say,
Polish or German) which this time contains NO linguistic peculiarites
whatsoever, and is in fact, extremely readable and informative.
Which document is then considered to be the definitive "base" or
"master" document for the subject?
(And by whom?)
Why?


Is there any such thing as a team of editors for each different
language in which documentation is produced?  (*NOT* translators --
>>EDITORS<<. The same person may be able to do both jobs; but the job
functions are different in each case.)
Where do I find these people?
How do I contact them to ask if there's a decent guide to any given
subject in *their* language that I can't find in my own? (Particularly
when it's language- or culture-specific.)


I'm extremely curious about this, and can't find any policy guidance
anywhere.
-- 
Martin Wheeler <mwheeler@startext.co.uk> gpg:1024D/01269BEB the.earth.li