Catalan Style Guide
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Catalan Style Guide Published: June, 2017 Microsoft Catalan Style Guide Contents 1 About this style guide ......................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 Recommended style references .............................................................................................. 4 2 Microsoft voice ...................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Choices that reflect Microsoft voice ...................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Word choice ........................................................................................................................... 7 2.1.2 Words and phrases to avoid .......................................................................................... 10 2.2 Sample Microsoft voice text ................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Address the user to take action .................................................................................... 12 2.2.2 Promote a feature .............................................................................................................. 13 2.2.3 Provide how-to guidelines .............................................................................................. 13 2.2.4 Explanatory text and support ........................................................................................ 14 3 Language-specific standards .......................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Grammar, syntax and orthographic standards ................................................................ 15 3.1.1 Abbreviations ....................................................................................................................... 15 3.1.2 Acronyms .............................................................................................................................. 16 3.1.3 Adjectives .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.1.4 Articles .................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1.5 Capitalization ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.6 Compounds .......................................................................................................................... 22 3.1.7 Conjunctions ........................................................................................................................ 23 3.1.8 Diacritics ................................................................................................................................ 23 3.1.9 Gender .................................................................................................................................... 24 3.1.10 Localizing colloquialism, idioms, and metaphors ................................................... 24 3.1.11 Nouns ..................................................................................................................................... 25 3.1.12 Numbers ................................................................................................................................ 26 3.1.13 Prepositions .......................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.14 Pronouns ............................................................................................................................... 27 3.1.15 Punctuation .......................................................................................................................... 28 3.1.16 Sentence fragments .......................................................................................................... 33 Microsoft Catalan Style Guide Page 2 of 52 3.1.17 Subjunctive ........................................................................................................................... 33 3.1.18 Symbols & nonbreaking spaces ................................................................................... 33 3.1.19 Verbs ....................................................................................................................................... 34 4 Localization considerations ............................................................................................................. 36 4.1 Accessibility .................................................................................................................................. 36 4.2 Applications, products, and features ................................................................................... 36 4.3 Frequent errors ............................................................................................................................ 37 4.4 Trademarks ................................................................................................................................... 38 4.5 Geopolitical concerns ................................................................................................................ 38 4.6 Software considerations ........................................................................................................... 39 4.6.1 Error messages .................................................................................................................... 39 4.6.2 Keys ......................................................................................................................................... 42 4.6.3 Keyboard shortcuts ........................................................................................................... 44 4.6.4 Arrow keys ............................................................................................................................ 46 4.6.5 Numeric keypad ................................................................................................................. 46 4.6.6 Shortcut keys ....................................................................................................................... 46 4.6.7 English pronunciation ....................................................................................................... 49 Microsoft Catalan Style Guide Page 3 of 52 1 About this style guide This style guide is intended for the localization professional working on localized products that run on a Microsoft platform. It’s not intended to be a comprehensive coverage of all localization practices, but to highlight areas where Microsoft has specific preferences or deviates from standard practices for Catalan localization. The primary goal of this guide is to help you understand and learn how to address all of the necessary linguistic and stylistic nuances of Catalan during the localization of your products and services. The style guide covers guidelines and recommendations for translating the Microsoft voice into Catalan, including words, grammatical structures, the needs of the audience, and the intent of the text that are to be considered. Each of these areas is supplemented with samples. Other language considerations covered in this style guide are accessibility, trademarks, geopolitical concerns and specific software considerations. We welcome your feedback, questions and concerns regarding the style guide. Please send your feedback via Microsoft Language Portal. 1.1 Recommended style references Unless this style guide or the Microsoft Language Portal provides alternative instructions, use the orthography, grammar, and terminology in the following publications: Normative references These normative sources must be adhered to. Take into account that the Institut d’Estudis Catalans (IEC) published a new grammar and orthography in 2016 and 2017, which include some changes in the rules. Any deviation from the normative sources automatically fails a string in most cases. When more than one solution is possible, the more recent rules apply, and you must also consult the other topics in this style guide for guidance. 1. Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Gramàtica de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: IEC, 2016. 2. Institut d’Estudis Catalans. Ortografia catalana. Barcelona: IEC, 2017. Available online at https://www.iec.cat/llengua/documents/ortografia_catalana_versio_digital.pdf Microsoft Catalan Style Guide Page 4 of 52 Secondary normative sources 1. Badia i Margarit, A. M. Gramàtica de la llengua catalana. Descriptiva, normativa, diatòpica, diastràtica. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1994. 2. Fabra, P. Gramàtica catalana. Barcelona: Teide, various editions. 3. Jané, A. Gramàtica catalana. Barcelona: Salvat, 1977. Dictionaries 1. Alcover, A. M.; Moll, F. Diccionari català-valencià-balear. 2a ed. Palma de Mallorca: Moll, 1978. 10. vol. Also available at http://dcvb.iecat.net/. 2. Bruguera, J. Diccionari ortogràfic i de pronúncia. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1990. 3. Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana. Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1998. Available online at http://www.diccionari.cat. 4. Diccionari de la llengua catalana. 2a ed. Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 1997. Available online at http://dlc.iec.cat/. 5. Diccionari de neologismes. Barcelona: Termcat; Edicions 62, 1997. 6. Ginebra,