L10n:Teams:bn-BD/StyleGuide
bn-BD L10n Style Guide
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's localization communities 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.
Available style guide for Bangla:
Bengali Language
Bengali also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in South Asia. It is the national and official language of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, and official language of several northeastern states of the Republic of India, including West Bengal, Tripura, Assam (Barak Valley) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. (more in Wikipedia)
Characters
Language-specific Mozilla style
Style
Formality and Tone
Instructions from the early days of Bengli l10n from Ankur Bangla Project (read-more)
While translating, remember not to kill the language ;-). Do not overdo the translation - do not use Sadhu Basha . Also, when the computer is addressing the user, it is samman-shuchak (karun, balun, etc) while the computer is addressed by karo, balo, etc. If a Bangla equivalent sounds too out of the ordinary - keep the English word (in Bangla script) - it can be always changed/improved later. DO NOT overdo anything.
- The language should not be too much formal and bookish. The tone should be less formal and bookish.
- The user should be addressed as "আপনি". Machine provide any message should be in "আপনি" tone.
- In a case of command machine should be addressed machine as "তুমি".
Natural expression
- Handling cultural references, idioms, and slang
- Style consistency
Terminology
Here are a few existing term bases we approve of for software/internet terminology and definitions (though not limited to):
- Tips on translating difficult concepts
- Developing new term bases
- Units and Grammar
- Units and Unit Conversion
Date Format
In general in Bangladesh
- date format
- dd/mm/yyyy (২৭/১২/২০১৬)
- ১২ জুন, ২০১৬
- পহেলা এপ্রিল
How are the date formats for weeks and months expressed in the following forms:
- Month (Fully spelled)
- জানুয়ারি
- ফেব্রুয়ারি
- মার্চ
- এপ্রিল
- মে
- জুন
- জুলাই
- আগষ্ট
- সেপ্টেম্বর
- অক্টোবর
- নভেম্বর
- ডিসেম্বর
- Month (2 or 3 letters)
- জানু
- ফেব্রু
- মার্চ
- এপ্রি
- মে
- জুন
- জুলা
- আগ
- সেপ্টে
- অক্টো
- নভে
- ডিসে
- Week (Fully spelled)
- শনিবার
- রবিবার
- সোমবার
- মঙ্গলবার
- বুধবার
- বৃহস্পতিবার
- শুক্রবার
- Week (2 or 3 letters)
- শনি
- রবি
- সোম
- মঙ্গল
- বুধ
- বৃহঃ
- শুক্র
- Week (1 letters)
- শ
- র
- সো
- ম
- বু
- বৃ
- শু
- Reference material can be find here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country
Calendar view
রবিবার is considered as the first day of the week in Bangladesh, and শনিবার is the end of the week. শুক্রবার is the day off in Bangladesh.
Time Format
In Bangladesh time is presented as hh:mm
- am=পূর্বাহ্ন
- pm=অপরাহ্ন
Time also can be presented as in 24 hours format as well.
Short form of Bangladesh Standard Time is BST.
Numerals
Numbers should not be translated. This is applicable for decimals. Comma in numbers should be like 10,00,000.
Currency
Bangladeshi currency should be presented as "টাকা" (Taka). Symbol of the currency is '৳'. Short form of Bangladeshi Taka is "BDT".
Units
Units which is written in full-form, transliterate it in Bengali. Like kilometer can be written as 'কিলোমিটার'। But if it is written in short-form, that should be kept as it is. Like km must be written as km.
Names
Brand names, trademarks, product names should be kept as it is. Like Mozilla, Google, Firefox. Other than that any name can be transliterated. Visit URL for more on names http://wiki.mozillabd.org/index.php?title=Unchanged_Words#Names
- Address and Postal Code Format
- Telephone Number format
- Spelling And Grammar Checks
- Tense
- Word Forms
- Pluralization
- Abbreviations
- Acronyms
- Punctuation
- Emphasis
- Hyphens and compounds
- Prepositions and articles
- Diacritics and Special characters
- Quotes
- Whitespace
- User Interface Elements
- General Mozilla l10n style
- Accuracy
- Meaning-based translation
- Should not be translated
- Shortcuts and accesskeys
- Variables
- Brands, copyright, and trademark
- Translating culture-specific references
- Legal content
- Fluency
Natural expression
Using natural expressions make your localization sound natural to a native speaker. If your translation does not follow the community defined language guidelines for translating content that contains local or natural expressions, this results in a mediocre and/or awkward translation. Teams should be careful to address those and keep them in mind while translating, which is why it is an important section to address in a Style Guide. An example of a natural expression in a translation would be translating the xxxxxxxx
- Handling cultural references, idioms, and slang
- Style consistency
Terminology
- Tips on translating difficult concepts
- Developing new term bases
- Units and Grammar
- Units and Unit Conversion
- Date Format
How are the date formats for weeks and months expressed in the following forms:
Fully spelled out 2). 2 or 3 letters 3). Single letter
What is the order of Year, Month and Day?
- Month (Fully spelled)
- জানুয়ারি
- ফেব্রুয়ারি
- মার্চ
- এপ্রিল
- মে
- জুন
- জুলাই
- আগষ্ট
- সেপ্টেম্বর
- অক্টোবর
- নভেম্বর
- Month (2 or 3 letters)
- জানু
- ফেব্রু
- মার্চ
- এপ্রি
- মে
- জুন
- জুলা
- আগ
- সেপ্টে
- অক্টো
- নভে
Reference material can be find here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_format_by_country
- Calendar view:
- Time Format
- Numerals
- Currency
- Units
- Names
- Address and Postal Code Format
- Telephone Number format
- Spelling And Grammar Checks
- Tense
- Word Forms
- Pluralization
- Abbreviations
- Acronyms
- Punctuation
- Emphasis
- Hyphens and compounds
- Prepositions and articles
- Diacritics and Special characters
- Quotes
- Whitespace
- User Interface Elements
- General Mozilla l10n style
- Accuracy
- Meaning-based translation
- Should not be translated
- Shortcuts and accesskeys
- Variables
- Brands, copyright, and trademark
- Translating culture-specific references
- Legal content
- Fluency