From kde-i18n-doc  Thu Aug 11 13:56:43 2005
From: Gregory Mokhin <mokhin () bog ! msu ! ru>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:56:43 +0000
To: kde-i18n-doc
Subject: Re: KGeography needs your help
Message-Id: <42FB591B.6050208 () bog ! msu ! ru>
X-MARC-Message: https://marc.info/?l=kde-i18n-doc&m=112376868204216

> different script too -- Scheme will swallow all :) In Russian:

Thanks for using Russian as an example. "KDE breaks easily with
Russian - (C) coolo, 2002"

> 
> msgid "Greece"
> msgstr "Греция"             # "Greciya"
> "|/|"
> "$[имеет генитив Греции]"   # "$[has genitive Grecii]", no quotes inside
> 
> msgid "Capital of %1 is..."
> msgstr "%1 - столица:"      # Ugly but safe form: "%1 - the capital:"
> "|/|"
> "Столица $[генитив %1]:"    # "The capital of $[genitive %1]:"

Is it possible to maintain these forms in one file, say,
kdelibs/ru-inflections.po, that would be like an inflection database
for a language? A translation team would be responsible for
maintaining this file for its language.

I am too lazy to type all the forms again and again in all po files,
even with translation memory of KBabel it is not always feasible. This
line in proper Russian would be:

"$[родительный-падеж: Греции]"   # "$[has genitive Grecii]",

and

"Столица $[родительный-падеж: %1]:" # "The capital of $[genitive %1]:"

to say nothing of other 5 inflections (that have equally longer
names), three genders and three plural forms in Russian.

Keeping all these forms in one file has the advantage that I can write
a script for Russian that will take "Греция" as an input word and
automatically construct all six grammar forms for it. This way a list
of Russian geographic names will be instantly transformed into a
comprehensive po file with all forms.

Best regards,
Gregory