Nepal/Localization/Localization Style Guide

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Mozilla L10n Style Guide for ne_np

Intro

Style guides define the standard against which we determine a translation's quality. They contain rules that are both defined by Mozilla and by Mozilla Nepal on how to best translate text in Mozilla products, websites, and other projects. Style guides are used to both translate and evaluate a translation's quality. By following these rules, a translator has a better chance of producing a high quality translation that represents Mozilla values and culture.

Style

Formality, Tone and Natural Expression

The localization in Nepali language is expected to be formal. The target user of a browser falls under wide range of age groups, but the main reason for it to be formal is the nature of Nepali language. Since it sounds a bit odd to most of the people to read an informal nepali text on a standard software (happened before with Microsoft), it is advised to use formal language whenever possible.

The strong emphasis is given to "translate for meaning" and not to "translate word to word". For example, when getting a sentence like:

"Wow. Such Nice Pair of Shoes!"

[x] Do not translate it as "वाह! कस्ता राम्रा जुत्ताका जोडा।"

[✔] But Translate it as "आहा, कती राम्रो जुत्ता।"

Also, complete sentences are preferred over incomplete english counterparts whenever space is not strictly constrained. For example, when translating About &brandShortName; preference is given to &brandShortName; को बारेमा जान्नुहोस् over &brandShortName; बारे . When space is a problem, (maybe in mobile?), find closest-to-complete phrase which is shorter in length. For the above example, it could be &brandShortName; को बारेमा . Always keep in mind that “easy-for-users-to-understand” is given preference over “because-there-was-no-space” translations.

Cultural References

If the source language has a cultural reference that has no equivalent and widely accepted Nepali phrase, remove the cultural reference and translate the core meaning.

Brand Names

All Brand Names are kept in it’s original language and never translated. For example do not translate "Firefox", "Mozilla", "Facebook", "Twitter", "Skype", anything that is a name of a brand.

Technical Strings

Strings which are part of a library specification, some complex words and phrases which gives meaning only on the context of the specific library or language should not be translated. This will be changed slowly when local developer start shifting their programming paradigm to the local language, in which case, we will slowly translate those english strings to nepali. But for this, a detailed meeting with list of words to translate to nepali will be published.

Short Forms

This is different from abbreviations, which are generally not translated but again depends on context. Short Forms such as prefs: for preferences will be elongated while translating to Nepali. This means that prefs: will be translated to प्राथमिकता and not प्रेफ्स:

MDN Links

When you are introduced with MDN Links, remove the `en-US/` part of the URL so that the URL redirects to the proper locale. Example. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Push_API/Using_the_Push_API#Encryption becomes https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/API/Push_API/Using_the_Push_API#Encryption

Translating Legal Strings

When translating somewhat legal strings(about:rights, licenses), pay special care to translate to corresponding legal Nepali tone.

Terminology

Here are a few existing term bases we approve of for software/internet terminology and definitions (though not limited to):


You should be consistent in the use of existing reliable appropriate term bases in Nepali language. These term bases could be developed and approved by the Mozilla Nepal community, or leveraged from another party that adhere to national, international or local standards for software and Internet terminology. Avoid the following:

  • Inconsistent use of terminology within the project
  • Inconsistent use of terminology with term base
  • Inconsistent use of terminology across all of your projects
  • Using terminology from another subject matter (e.g., don't use medical terminology in Firefox).

Units and Grammar

The translation should strive to achieve proper unit conversions for currency, measurements, etc. for the target audience.

Units and Unit Conversion

Date Format

The date formats for weeks and months can be expressed in the following forms:

  • Fully spelled out
  • Two or Three letters
  • Single letter

While localizing Dates, use the format by taking into consideration about the target space available.

Reference material can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country

Calendar view:

  • Sunday should be the first day of the week.
  • Even though lunar calendar is used in our daily life, we should follow Gregorian calendar for localization.

Regional Calendar is Observed. The calendar in use is “Bikram Sambat”, about 47 years ahead of A.D. (See: http://nepalipatro.com.np )

Time Format

HH:MM

Numerals

Use comma as a separator. Use Nepali system. eg Rs 1,000 & 1,00,00,000

Currency

Google App Store currently shows “NPR” as the currency to buy its apps. It is the standard currency code, we do not have any notations.

Units If Source strings will use the imperial system (e.g., miles, pounds, feet, gallons, etc.). Target translations should convert imperial metrics to metric measurement system.

Names

The order of name is: Prefix FirstName MiddleName LastName

Address and Postal Code Format

Zip code/Postal code is not widely used. Exact addressing is limited to certain places only. There is no any defined format as of now.

Word Forms

Pluralization

Please refer to the standard Unicode Plural specification for Nepali language (http://www.unicode.org/cldr/charts/latest/supplemental/language_plural_rules.html#ne).

When using plural verbs, use आ sound, instead अ sound which is used for singular verbs. Same rule applies for adjectives too.

Nepali language uses plural form #2 as specified in the following link: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Localization/Localization_and_Plurals

Singular: 1 Plural: 0, 0.0 - 0.9, 1.1 - ... , 2,3,4,5,...

User Interface Elements

  • Titles : Should be brief and precise. Localizers can assume that source content reaches 2/3 of the total available line space. This allows localization text to expand and not be truncated or resolved through ellipsis. Title on the final page (meaning no more click through) should allow enough room to display full text.
  • Buttons: Capitalize the first letter of each word. Limit to one or two words. Use verbs that precisely describe the button's action. For example, "Cancel", "Clear History", "Add Email", "Select All", etc.

Value Selector Lists: Capitalize the first letter of the first word and the first letter of any proper nouns. Limit to one or two words.

  • Articles: Avoid them where possible. Articles (such as the word "the" in English) should be avoided wherever possible. User interface elements have limited space available for text. Avoiding articles will help ensure that your translations will be accommodated within the user interface.
  • Ellipsis: Ellipsis are often inserted automatically in the UI where strings are truncated. Ellipsis should only be used at high level of UI pages, but not be on the final page (after a series of click-through) where detailed instruction is given. Ellipsis should not be used as a way to solve truncation issue. Focus on making the UI short and precise. The sequence of the sentence structure in another language may not translate well, when a sentence is half finished as such.

Translation Consistency

Consistent Localization means that same source should have same translation whenever possible.

We advise you to use Transvision (https://transvision.mozfr.org/consistency) to check for translation consistency and submit the translation.

General Mozilla L10n Style Guide

You should also follow the guidelines in the following link while localizing Firefox. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/L10n_Style_Guide#General_Mozilla_l10n_style

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