Norwegian Style Guide for Community

Transcription

1 Norwegian Style Guide for Community

2 Table of Contents Introduction... 4 Approach... 4 Content Principles... 4 The Facebook Voice... 4 Basics... 5 Be Brief... 5 Consider Your Audience... 5 Make it Readable... 6 Use Active Voice... 6 Style... 6 Abbreviations... 6 Acronyms... 8 Capitalization... 8 Consistency... 9 Contractions... 9 Gender... 9 Numbers (includes currency, dates and times) Pronouns Punctuation Spacing Titles and Subtitles Tone Other Language Conventions Localization Guidelines General Information Product Names User Interface Buttons Mobile Third Party UI Tokens

3 References Facebook References Public References

4 Introduction Created: May 2014 The purpose of this document is to provide the stylistic guidelines for community translators who contribute to Facebook Norwegian localization. The scope of this style guide includes general Facebook content standards, Norwegian language conventions and localization specific guidelines. Approach Content Principles All Facebook content should follow these 3 simple rules. This keeps people's experience consistent, builds trust and strengthens our brand. 1. Keep It Simple Use short words and sentences, and keep the number of words to a minimum. 2. Get to the Point Clearly explain how things work and give people enough information to make good decisions. 3. Talk Like a Person Keep things friendly, conversational and respectful, like you re talking to a neighbor. The Facebook Voice The Facebook voice is our personality. Our tone may change in different contexts, but we always sound like Facebook: simple, straightforward and human. Simple: Stick to common words that people use in everyday speech. Be concise. Write short sentences that are easy to understand. 4

5 Straightforward: Keep terms and messaging consistent across all channels, on and off Facebook. Don't bury information or gloss over it. Don't use language that s vague or possibly misleading. Human: Translate like you re talking to someone one-on-one. (Read your content out loud if you re not sure it sounds natural.) Stay neutral. Avoid language that s opinionated, cutesy, irreverent or otherwise over the top. Don't sound like a robot. Even the smallest bits of interface content should be approachable. Basics Be Brief Use as few words as possible while still being clear. Make sure every word has a job to do Replace jargon with everyday terms Consider Your Audience Facebook reaches people of all ages and backgrounds in nearly every country around the world. While most websites have a target demographic, we want to help people around the world connect each other on Facebook. This means our audience is truly everyone. Exceptions When translating for specific audiences (ex: advertisers, developers, people in security checkpoints, and so on), you may need to incorporate special terminology or adjust your tone. However, the basic standards above still apply. 5

6 Make it Readable Readability is a measure of how easy it is to both read words and understand them. With an audience of diverse ages, cultures and literacy levels, readability helps make Facebook usable and accessible. Use Active Voice In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence is doing something. In a passive sentence, something is being done to the subject (making the subject passive). Example: English Error Example Correct Example Good customers are given Gode kunder gis prioritet. Gode kunder har prioritet. priority. Examples may be taken from this text. The rules can be found here: Eksempler kan tas fra denne teksten. Reglene kan finnes her: Du kan ta eksempler fra denne teksten. Du finner reglene her: Style Abbreviations An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word. Abbreviate text if space is an issue or to make the text easier to read at a glance. General rule: Period after an abbreviation Exception: No period after abbreviated units of currency, dimension, and weight: kr 12,50 2 cm 13,3 kg 110 km/t 55 m/s (meter per sekund) 6

7 Units of time: Century 21. århundre (space after period) Decades 80-årene (hyphen, not dash) Months If abbreviation needed: jan., feb., mars, apr., mai, juni, juli, aug., sept., okt., nov., des. (According to Språkrådet. Microsoft uses no periods when abbreviating names of months, but that is not standard Norwegian) Dates 9. januar, 1. februar (space after period) Days If abbreviation needed (can be used without periods in tables, etc.): søn, man, tirs, ons, tors, fre, lør (even sø, ma, ti, on, to, fr, lø when context is clear). But generally abbreviation with only two letters left: ma. 3. mars, ti. 22. mai Hours min, sek (no periods) Other common usages: osv. Do not use etc. in Norwegian. Do not use a comma before osv. dvs. (det vil si) Period only at the end mfl. (med flere) Period only at the end mht. (med hensyn til) Period only at the end moh. (meter over havet) Period only at the end vha. (ved hjelp av) Period only at the end e.l. (eller lignende) Period after each element, and no space f.eks. (for eksempel) Period after each element, and no space f.o.m. (fra og med) Period after each element, and no space Facebook Don't abbreviate Facebook. USA Never U.S.A. or U.S. Source (among others): 7

8 Example: English Error Example Correct Example Approx. 6 cm Ca 6 cm Ca. 6 cm 5grams 5gr. 5 g and more m.fl. mfl. Acronyms Acronyms are abbreviations formed using the first letters of a compound term. URL, SMS and PC are common acronyms. If an acronym is not universally recognized, replace it with common words. Bad URL MT Good link or web address motortankskip Exceptions Use of acronyms that are commonly accepted, and there is no common word(s) to replace it, or spelling it out is unusual. Then it is fully accepted: PC, SMS, WC (or wc), TV (or tv), NOK, NB, NN, PIN, ISBN. Most acronyms are written in capital letters. If the acronym is not very common, it can be defined in parentheses the first time you use it. Ex: API (Application Program Interface) Don t use periods for established acronyms. Ex: API, not A.P.I. Example: English Error Example Correct Example Why don't you text? Hvorfor tekster du ikke? Hvorfor sender du ikke SMS? NN is reponsible. N.N. er ansvarlig. NN er ansvarlig Capitalization Generally capitalization should be less used in Norwegian than in English. Examples from Facebook: 8

9 English Error Example Correct Example People Engaged Personer Engasjert Personer (som er) engasjert Add Using My Phone Legg til med Telefonen Legg til med telefonen Consistency The general rule is to keep consistency in translating the same terminology with the same concept. Example: English Examples of translations Suggested consistent translation Add friend Legg til venn Legg til venn Add friend Legg til som venn Legg til venn Contractions Contractions are shortened versions of words or groups of words. Usually an apostrophe ( ) replaces at least one letter to make a contraction. We sometimes use contractions in Norwegian, like in English, but is rare in standard written language. It gives the language a very oral and colloquial tone. If this is wanted, you may use expressions like: Ha'kke tid! (Jeg har ikke tid!) Er du sikker på at du vil dette, 'a? (Er du sikker på at du vil dette, da?) Nå skal du få en gla'nyhet! (Nå skal du få en god nyhet!) Få'kke lov av fatter'n. (Jeg får ikke lov av faren min.) Gender Gender is a challenge when translating from English into Norwegian, as English has grammatical gender only in pronouns, and not in nouns or concordance in adjectives. Particularly placeholders present a problem (not an existing example): This {thing} is brand new. could be translated as: Denne {thing}en er helt ny. Dette {thing}et er helt nytt. 9

10 This is mine. could be translated as: Denne er min. Dette er mitt. This has to be sorted out in each case English flexibility does not apply to Norwegian here. In a list, one may have to rewrite items to get articles and adjectives correct, please see examples in table below. Example: English Error Example Correct Example You may share a picture, Du kan dele et bilde, lenke, Du kan dele et bilde, en link, video. video. lenke, en video. Both the picture and the video were new to me. Både bildet og videoen var ny for meg. Både bildet og videoen var nye for meg. Numbers (includes currency, dates and times) We use numbers in text, when referring to currency, and in time stamps and dates. Numerals in headlines and text Standard rules for Norwegian: Numbers up to 12 are spelled out in general texts. Exceptions can be done for texts where numbers are essential (mathematics, technical texts). On Facebook, there is an established use to follow the English rule, which says: Use the numerical form of numbers (ex: 2, 3, 4, and so on), except for the number one, which is spelled out in most contexts. Title Case Headline: 5 grunner til å prøve tilbudene News feed story: Tiffani Brown og 2 andre venner liker dette Subhead: Kjøp én, få én gratis Please distinguish between the number "én" and the article "en". Comma is the decimal separator in Norwegian, while space is the thousands separator. This space is optional with 4 digits, and mandatory with more than 4 digits: 10,00 100,00 10

11 1000,00 or 1 000, , , ,00 Currency Use the numerical form. There is always a space between the number and the currency unit: Dette koster kr 10 Du må betale 80 Time stamps and dates Use the numerical form and write the numbers as compactly as possible. for 5 minutter siden Timestamps can be written with a period or without it. You may drop the leading zero if you use the period. kl. 13 kl kl Do not use a colon like in English! kl kl kl There is always a space between the date with the period and the month, but all the following are correct examples: den 7. mai mai

12 Periods of time There is a dash (not a hyphen), but no space, between the two elements of time: Vi jobber mandag fredag kl or also correct: Vi jobber fra mandag til fredag fra 0800 til Jeg har ferie or also correct: Jeg har ferie fra 1.7. til BUT: Please do not mix up the two expressions example in table below. Exceptions Spell out én in text, except when telling time (ex: kl. 0100), presenting a series (ex: 1 7) or providing a time stamp (ex: for 1 uke siden). Example: English Error Example Correct Example Working hours are Monday- Arbeidstiden er mandagfredag Arbeidstiden er mandag Friday from 08:00-16:00 fra kl fredag kl Working hours are Monday- Friday from 08:00-16:00 Arbeidstiden er mandagfredag kl til kl Arbeidstiden er mandag fredag fra kl til kl Telephone numbers Landline numbers are usually grouped: nn nn nn nn. Mobile numbers are usually grouped: nnn nn nnn Numbers as attributes Please note writing: 64-biters system 3-roms leilighet (also: treroms) 24-timers åpningstid 12-timers vakt Please use a non-breaking space in all cases with numbers where readability demands it (CTRL+SHIFT+SPACE). 12

13 Pronouns Not Applicable Punctuation Språkrådet's punctuation rules should be followed that can be found here: Comma Be careful not to keep commas from English please see examples in table below. Colon The colon is a useful sign in Norwegian, and should be used much more than in English to make things clear. Examples: EN: I have a number of issues to solve, among others spelling issues and punctuation issues. NO: Jeg har flere problemer jeg må løse: staveproblemer og tegnsettingsproblemer. Semicolon The semicolon is generally not used in Norwegian, but is acceptable if you need it to distinguish elements, and comma is already in use: Her er resultatet: 1,82; 1,76; 1,60; 1,95. Note: Dealing with punctuation rules is a little different in UI translations. Make sure to follow the English source strings to avoid any potential issues. For example, a source string may not include a period after a full sentence though the general rule is that we should add a period after a full sentence in Norwegian. Some strings are structured this way on purpose, so please follow the punctuation used in source strings. 13

14 Example: English Error Example Correct Example As a general rule, this is not acceptable. Som generell regel, er ikke dette akseptabelt. Som generell regel er ikke dette akseptabelt. or even better: Dette er generelt ikke akseptabelt. In all big cities in the world, it is crowdy. I alle store byer i verden, er det folksomt. I alle store byer i verden er det folksomt. Spacing Not applicable Titles and Subtitles Titles and subtitles help you organize information, introduce ideas and highlight key concepts. Interface content Dialogs and pop-ups usually have just one title and subtitle. 14

15 Titles Use title case. Then: Always capitalize the first word of a title Don't put periods at the end of titles o Exception: Question marks are okay, where appropriate Bad en Ny måte å vise bilder på Good En ny måte å vise bilder på Subtitles No difference between titles and subtitles Tone Not applicable Other Language Conventions A small checklist specific for Norwegian vs. English general issues: Inflection of participles While adjectives as predicatives are inflected for number, participles are usually not (though they function as adjectives). Use the indefinite singular form: Filene er lagret. (BUT a preceding participle: Du mister ikke lagrede filer.) Use of relative sentences instead of adjectives EN: They had a spacious, newly refurbished bathroom. NO: De hadde et romslig bad som nylig var pusset opp. Use of prepositional phrases instead of genitives where the owner is an object not mandatory, but usually better language: EN: All the book's pages were blank. NO: Alle sidene i boka var tomme. Less use of possessive pronouns in Norwegian than in English: EN: Open your file on your phone. NO: Åpne filen på telefonen. 15

16 Less use of indefinite articles in Norwegian than in English: EN: He works as a teacher. NO: Han jobber som lærer. Heavy adverbial elements preferably put at end of sentence. Particularly if the verb is in the impertive mode, reshuffling the words may be useful: EN: On the home screen, press the red button. NO: Trykk på den røde knappen på startskjermen. Localization Guidelines General Information Product Names Product and feature names should be consistently translated. Some product and feature names are translated and others are used in English based on strategic decisions. For example, Messenger was translated in many languages, but now changed back to English in all languages. User Interface Buttons Buttons are one of the main ways people take action on Facebook, so they should be clear, active and specific. Please note that there may be length restrictions on buttons. No periods should be used at the end, even if it is a full sentence. Mobile Mobile UI localization has more space constraint than regular UI localization. Mobile strings sometimes come with specific description about the allowed number of characters. It is important to keep translation within this limit in order to avoid any truncation issues, e.g.: in SMS-related translations. 16

17 If possible, try to put the most important information at the front of the sentence so that it won t be buried with other information. However, translations should not deviate from the English source unless instructed otherwise, since this may cause accuracy issues. Example: Third Party UI If you encounter third party UI terms, please check if they were localized. For example, please check the existing translations on iphone if they refer to iphone UIs. Tokens UIs often include tokens which are a portion of full sentences and represent the bricks of what will be seen by the users. Note that text in { } are placeholders and replaced by either a variable or another string. For example, {name} is replaced by a user name and {count} is replaced by a number. If the placeholder contains the = sign right after the opening bracket, it means that it will be replaced by exactly the same text that it contains. Example: {user} edited his {=changed relationship status} that you followed. The {user} token will be replaced by the name of the user, while the {=changed relationship status} token will be replaced exactly by the words changed relationship status, and this will look like Jane edited her changed relationship status that you followed. 17

18 References Facebook References Glossary in Admin Panel Public References These are a few of the generally recommended public references. Språkrådet's website, with access to dictionaries and comprehensive material on the Internet, Tanums store norske rettskrivingsordbok, Kunnskapsforlaget 2005, ISBN Other popular information on the Internet like and Microsoft Language Portal 18