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List: kde-devel
Subject: Context information needed for isolated words
From: Eloy Cuadra <ecuadra () eloihr ! net>
Date: 2020-05-02 10:31:29
Message-ID: 2033505.Icojqenx9y () orion ! home
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Hi,
There is a widespread problem across many text strings to be translated: some isolated
words are gender invariable in English, but not in many languages.
For example, let's consider this case of a cascade menu:
New
Folder
File
In Spanish (as well as in many languages), "new" is gender sensitive. It can be translated as
"nuevo" (when referring to masculine words, like "file") or as "nueva" (when referring to
feminine words, like "folder"). If I translate "new" as "nuevo" in Spanish, I would get
"Nuevo->Carpeta", which is totally wrong.
It would be highly desirable that all the words that appear isolated had a context to ease the
task of the translators. For all these words, I would advise against using i18n() and would
prefer using i18nc() in source code (or using disambiguation comments in UI files).
It's a very common problem for almost all isolated words: automatic, small, etc., especially if
they are adjectives.
Let's see a specific case in kde-workspace/plasmanetworkmanagement-libs.po:
Message #113 is:
"Automatic"
And is used in these files:
editor/settings/ui/802-1x.ui:635[1]
editor/settings/ui/connectionwidget.ui:160[2]
editor/settings/ui/infiniband.ui:80[3]
editor/settings/ui/ipv4.ui:49[4]
editor/settings/ui/ipv6.ui:227[5]
editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:141[6]
editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:271[7]
editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:112[8]
editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:197[9]
And it refers to these topics:
i18n: automatic band i18n: ectx: property (specialValueText), widget (QSpinBox, mtu)
i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget (KComboBox, method) i18n: ectx: property (text),
item, widget (KComboBox, band) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget (KComboBox,
metered) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget (KComboBox, peapVersion) i18n: ectx:
property (text), item, widget (QComboBox, linkNegotiation)
Some of these topics are masculine gender and others are feminine gender, as "automatic"
should be. The result is that I can't translate "automatic" correctly in Spanish (and other
languages).
Going back to the case of the aforementioned cascade menu, the solution would be to use
other words:
Create
New folder
New file
I think it would be necessary to thoroughly review the translatable words that appear
isolated in source code and UI files to provide a context for them.
Just my two cents.
--
Eloy Cuadra
--------
[1] src:/editor/settings/ui/802-1x.ui:635
[2] src:/editor/settings/ui/connectionwidget.ui:160
[3] src:/editor/settings/ui/infiniband.ui:80
[4] src:/editor/settings/ui/ipv4.ui:49
[5] src:/editor/settings/ui/ipv6.ui:227
[6] src:/editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:141
[7] src:/editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:271
[8] src:/editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:112
[9] src:/editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:197
[Attachment #3 (unknown)]
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body><p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Hi,</p>
<p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">There \
is a widespread problem across many text strings to be translated: some isolated \
words are gender invariable in English, but not in many languages.</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">For example, let's \
consider this case of a cascade menu:</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> New</p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
Folder</p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
File</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">In Spanish (as \
well as in many languages), "new" is gender sensitive. It can be translated \
as "nuevo" (when referring to masculine words, like "file") or as \
"nueva" (when referring to feminine words, like "folder"). If I \
translate "new" as "nuevo" in Spanish, I would get \
"Nuevo->Carpeta", which is totally wrong.</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">It would be highly \
desirable that all the words that appear isolated had a context to ease the task of \
the translators. For all these words, I would advise against using i18n() and would \
prefer using i18nc() in source code (or using disambiguation comments in UI \
files).</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">It's a very common \
problem for almost all isolated words: automatic, small, etc., especially if they are \
adjectives.</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Let's see a \
specific case in kde-workspace/plasmanetworkmanagement-libs.po:</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> Message \
#113 is:</p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
"Automatic"</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> And is used \
in these files:</p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
<a href="src:/editor/settings/ui/802-1x.ui:635">editor/settings/ui/802-1x.ui:635</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/connectionwidget.ui:160">editor/settings/ui/connectionwidget.ui:160</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/infiniband.ui:80">editor/settings/ui/infiniband.ui:80</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/ipv4.ui:49">editor/settings/ui/ipv4.ui:49</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/ipv6.ui:227">editor/settings/ui/ipv6.ui:227</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:141">editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:141</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:271">editor/settings/ui/wificonnectionwidget.ui:271</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:112">editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:112</a><p> <a \
href="src:/editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:197">editor/settings/ui/wiredconnectionwidget.ui:197</a></p>
<p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
And it refers to these topics:</p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
i18n: automatic band i18n: ectx: property (specialValueText), \
widget (QSpinBox, mtu) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget \
(KComboBox, method) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget \
(KComboBox, band) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget \
(KComboBox, metered) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget \
(KComboBox, peapVersion) i18n: ectx: property (text), item, widget \
(QComboBox, linkNegotiation)</p> <p> </p>
<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Some of these \
topics are masculine gender and others are feminine gender, as "automatic" \
should be. The result is that I can't translate "automatic" correctly in \
Spanish (and other languages).</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Going back to the \
case of the aforementioned cascade menu, the solution would be to use other \
words:</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> Create</p> \
<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
New folder</p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;"> \
New file</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">I think it would \
be necessary to thoroughly review the translatable words that appear isolated in \
source code and UI files to provide a context for them.</p> <p> <p \
style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Just my two \
cents.</p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">-- \
</p> <p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;">Eloy \
Cuadra</p> </body>
</html>
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