General points about translation - Eachdraidh nam mùthaidhean

Susanharris 04:29, 28 dhen Ghearran 2015

2015-02-28T04:29:23Z

Akerbeltz: /* Consistency */

2015-01-12T22:55:03Z

Consistency

Akerbeltz: /* Consistency */

2015-01-12T22:54:32Z

Consistency

Akerbeltz: /* Capital letters and stuff */

2015-01-12T22:47:56Z

Capital letters and stuff

Akerbeltz: Created page with "You can write entire books about translation. But I'll try and be more concise than that. ==The ultimate purpose== This is really where translation can go wrong badly. Always..."

2015-01-12T22:41:06Z

Created page with "You can write entire books about translation. But I'll try and be more concise than that. ==The ultimate purpose== This is really where translation can go wrong badly. Always..."

Duilleag ùr

You can write entire books about translation. But I'll try and be more concise than that.

==The ultimate purpose==
This is really where translation can go wrong badly. Always bear in mind that you are not just replacing English words with words in your languages. You're trying to communicate a message in a way that other people can understand. Of course there are only so many ways one can say ''Close'' or ''Edit'' but when the strings (=sentences and phrases) are longer, there are more questions about how to translate. I will give you just two examples from my own language.

<blockquote>Please close this window</blockquote>

Perfectly ok English phrase. But before you start typing, just consider this - does your language use ''please'' naturally? Because Gaelic doesn't. Yes, there is a phrase for ''please'' (''mas e do thoil e'' - ''if it is your pleasure'') but that's a horrible phrase based on English usage which nobody really says unless they're trying to be funny.

Instead, to be polite, we use other ways of showing that. So a good translation here would be

<blockquote>Nach dùin thu an uinneag (Won't you close the window?)</blockquote>

because in Gaelic to be polite, you don't just blurt our 'do this' and then add ''please'' - you use an indirect question.

Second example:

<blockquote>This file has been corrupted</blockquote>

Again, it's a perfectly good English phrase. Now your language may or may not have a passive but the general principle applies. In Gaelic, there IS a passive but we use it less than English does. So the normal way we would say this would be

<blockquote>Tha am faidhle seo coirbte (This file is corrupt)</blockquote>

So the message here is, when you're translating, don't start inventing a translation but at the same time, try and translate in a way that works well in your language. There is no need to stick to English idiom like mud to a blanket.

==Capital letters and stuff==

==Consistency==

@@ Loidhne 2: / Loidhne 2: @@
 ==The ultimate purpose==
-This is really where translation can go wrong badly. Always bear in mind that you are not just replacing English words with words in your languages. You're trying to communicate a message in a way that other people can understand. Of course there are only so many ways one can say ''Close'' or ''Edit'' but when the strings (=sentences and phrases) are longer, there are more questions about how to translate. I will give you just two examples from my own language.
+This is really where translation can go badly wrong. Always bear in mind that you are not just replacing English words with words in your languages. You're trying to communicate a message in a way that other people can understand. Of course, there are only so many ways one can say ''Close'' or ''Edit'' but when the strings (=sentences and phrases) are longer, there are more questions about how to translate. I will give you just two examples from my own language.
-<blockquote>Please close this window</blockquote>
+<blockquote>Please close this window.</blockquote>
 Perfectly ok English phrase. But before you start typing, just consider this - does your language use ''please'' naturally? Because Gaelic doesn't. Yes, there is a phrase for ''please'' (''mas e do thoil e'' - ''if it is your pleasure'') but that's a horrible phrase based on English usage which nobody really says unless they're trying to be funny.
@@ Loidhne 10: / Loidhne 10: @@
 Instead, to be polite, we use other ways of showing that. So a good translation here would be
-<blockquote>Nach dùin thu an uinneag (Won't you close the window?)</blockquote>
+<blockquote>Nach dùin thu an uinneag? (Won't you close the window?)</blockquote>
-because in Gaelic to be polite, you don't just blurt our 'do this' and then add ''please'' - you use an indirect question.
+because in Gaelic, to be polite, you don't just blurt out 'do this' and then add ''please'' - you use an indirect question.
 Second example:
-<blockquote>This file has been corrupted</blockquote>
+<blockquote>This file has been corrupted.</blockquote>
-Again, it's a perfectly good English phrase. Now your language may or may not have a passive but the general principle applies. In Gaelic, there IS a passive but we use it less than English does. So the normal way we would say this would be
+Again, it's a perfectly good English phrase. Your language may or may not have a passive but the general principle applies. In Gaelic, there IS a passive but we use it less than English does. So the normal way we would say this would be
-<blockquote>Tha am faidhle seo coirbte (This file is corrupt)</blockquote>
+<blockquote>Tha am faidhle seo coirbte. (This file is corrupt.)</blockquote>
 So the message here is, when you're translating, don't start inventing a translation but at the same time, try and translate in a way that works well in your language. There is no need to stick to English idiom like mud to a blanket.
 ==Capital letters and stuff==
-No if your language doesn't use an alphabet that had capital letters, you can smile and stop reading. But for most language which use the Latin alphabet, there is the question of what to do with capital letters. Purely because English, well, is crazy when it comes to capital letters these days. Anything can happen:
+Now, if your language doesn't use an alphabet that has capital letters, you can smile and stop reading. But for most languages which use the Latin alphabet, there is the question of what to do with capital letters simply because English is crazy when it comes to capital letters. These days, anything can happen:
-* Include the address of the page I was on (only the first letter of the sentence is capitalised)
+* Include the address of the page I was on. (only the first letter of the sentence is capitalised)
 * Open File Menu (the first letter of each word is capitalised)
 * search functions (no letter is capitalised)
-If you're lucky, your language has specific rules about when you should and should not use capital letters. In any case, if your language does not have strict rules about this kind of thing, before you start translating, decide what you're going to do. You can try and follow the way English does it but in many cases, you will hate yourself for having started this.
+If you're lucky, your language has specific rules about when you should and should not use capital letters. In any case, if your language does not have strict rules about this kind of thing, before you start translating, decide what you're going to do. You can try and follow the way English does it, but in many cases you will hate yourself for having started this.
-My advice is this: if your language tends to use a capital letter only on names and at the beginning of a sentence, stick to that. It will make your life so much easier. Trust me, I've been doing this for over 10 years. It's ok to do so, almost never is there a '''rule''' that says you have to follow English capitalisation.
+My advice is this: if your language tends to use a capital letter only on names and at the beginning of a sentence, stick to that. It will make your life so much easier. Trust me, I've been doing this for over 10 years. It's ok to do so and there's almost never a '''rule''' that says you have to follow English capitalisation.
 ==Consistency==
-This is a tricky one. If your lucky, someone in your language has done all the hard work and has created all the computer terminology you need. But if you're reading this, chances are you will have to make it up yourself to some extent. There is no golden rule about how to do this, sadly. So just some things you should think about and make some decisions about:
+This is a tricky one. If you're lucky, someone in your language has done all the hard work and has created all the computer terminology you need. But if you're reading this, chances are you will have to make it up yourself to some extent. Sadly, there is no golden rule about how to do this. So here are some things you should think about and make some decisions about:
-* You don't have to translate absolutely every technical term. Some won't even be around for long enough for people to learn them. So if ''popup'' does not translate at all into your language, just leave it like that maybe?
+* You don't have to translate absolutely every technical term. Some won't even be around for long enough for people to learn them. So if ''popup'' does not translate at all into your language, just consider leaving it like that.
 * If you make new words, remember that they should make sense to people who haven't seen the English text.
 * If you use too many made-up words, it's possible you're going to put off people who are not as keen on new words as you are. Finding a balance is really hard.

← Mùthadh nas sine		Mùthadh on 22:55, 12 dhen Fhaoilleach 2015
Loidhne 42:		Loidhne 42:
	One rule though:		One rule though:
	<blockquote>Whatever terms you choose, be consistent. Don't use 4 different words for 'file'. And if you decide that you really should change a term, do the extra work and change all of them. It keeps other people from going crazy.</blockquote>		<blockquote>Whatever terms you choose, be consistent. Don't use 4 different words for 'file'. And if you decide that you really should change a term, do the extra work and change all of them. It keeps other people from going crazy.</blockquote>
		+	==Other topics==
		+	* [[Pootle]]
		+	<br />
		+	<br />
		+	{{l10n}}

← Mùthadh nas sine		Mùthadh on 22:54, 12 dhen Fhaoilleach 2015
Loidhne 35:		Loidhne 35:

	==Consistency==		==Consistency==
		+	This is a tricky one. If your lucky, someone in your language has done all the hard work and has created all the computer terminology you need. But if you're reading this, chances are you will have to make it up yourself to some extent. There is no golden rule about how to do this, sadly. So just some things you should think about and make some decisions about:
		+	* You don't have to translate absolutely every technical term. Some won't even be around for long enough for people to learn them. So if ''popup'' does not translate at all into your language, just leave it like that maybe?
		+	* If you make new words, remember that they should make sense to people who haven't seen the English text.
		+	* If you use too many made-up words, it's possible you're going to put off people who are not as keen on new words as you are. Finding a balance is really hard.
		+
		+	One rule though:
		+	<blockquote>Whatever terms you choose, be consistent. Don't use 4 different words for 'file'. And if you decide that you really should change a term, do the extra work and change all of them. It keeps other people from going crazy.</blockquote>

← Mùthadh nas sine		Mùthadh on 22:47, 12 dhen Fhaoilleach 2015
Loidhne 25:		Loidhne 25:

	==Capital letters and stuff==		==Capital letters and stuff==
		+	No if your language doesn't use an alphabet that had capital letters, you can smile and stop reading. But for most language which use the Latin alphabet, there is the question of what to do with capital letters. Purely because English, well, is crazy when it comes to capital letters these days. Anything can happen:
		+	* Include the address of the page I was on (only the first letter of the sentence is capitalised)
		+	* Open File Menu (the first letter of each word is capitalised)
		+	* search functions (no letter is capitalised)
		+
		+	If you're lucky, your language has specific rules about when you should and should not use capital letters. In any case, if your language does not have strict rules about this kind of thing, before you start translating, decide what you're going to do. You can try and follow the way English does it but in many cases, you will hate yourself for having started this.
		+
		+	My advice is this: if your language tends to use a capital letter only on names and at the beginning of a sentence, stick to that. It will make your life so much easier. Trust me, I've been doing this for over 10 years. It's ok to do so, almost never is there a '''rule''' that says you have to follow English capitalisation.

	==Consistency==		==Consistency==