>Hi, this is a question for the Germans. In doing some technical translations into German, I had some doubts about whether certain terms I used are commonly used that way, or not. These are some of the terms about which we (me and my client) have doubts:
>
>1) root (of a hierarchy, e.g., root directory). I used "Wurzel", but also considered "Stamm" as an alternative.

Correct translation for "root", but in day to day usage mostly used for plants and teeth, *not* as in "root directory".
Update: "Stammverzeichnis" is more common here, but will probably understood as "install directory", not as root directory in a unix sense or a top level dir. /Update

Consider "Ursprung" [origin] or some description like "top-level" or leaving it as "root directory" if the targeted audience is only slightly techie minded, as this is understood outside of pure programmer circles by smart audiences.

>2) To narrow down a search. I used "einengen". I also considered changing the wording, as in "add additional criteria" (zusätzliche Kriterien angeben), but I think that changing the wording a lot is something that is better avoided.

Sounds solid, but if whole sentence is formulated very short or awkwardly might add a negative connotation from the side of "put in a straightjacket". Without further knowledge of context I would propose something on the lines of "Suche verfeinern", "genauer spezifizieren" or a more general "[Eingabewerte/Suchparameter] überarbeiten"

regards

thomas