Bulgarian Style Guide
Contents
1. Ne103A 1136 02 12 34 56 02 12 34 57 278 1500 22902. 15 2011 11 45 Recommended Reference Material Use the Bulgarian language and terminology as described and used in the following publications Normative References These normative sources must be adhered to Any deviation from them automatically fails a string in most cases When more than one solution is allowed in these sources look for the recommended one in other parts of the Style Guide 1978 21 2003 2003 1994 1998 2000
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4. 3 Buttons which are localized with nouns approved exceptions Finish Finish Hau if no place 15 Reset available In other contexts this may be verb When the text on the button ends with a period translate it with noun and not with verb in 2nd person singular English Bugera 40 If the button contains a single adjective try to translate it with a verb if it is difficult to guess the gender and number In the example below New might refer to New page feminine or New tab Masculine Using a verb covers all possible genders and numbers and is always appropriate Bulgarian New The preferred actions to be performed with command buttons are click press even if the original ignores a similar recommendation given for English Click Cancel Note Always check current translations of command buttons in the Microsoft terminology databases STATIC TEXT Information text
5. 1 5 7 5 11 1
6. Save in this format by default no Create s bfolders if it is an option for the user 2 ako 3 There are no punctuation signs after check box text The preferred actions to be performed with check boxes are check and clear uncheck add component select its check box To remove the component clear the check box If the original does not mention the check box and only refers to the the check box applies to then use check and uncheck in reference to the items
7. Hd VOU tas Examples Verify that you have access to the folder Use Of Tenses In Error Messages Use the present simple tense with or without passive voice except when the message refers specifically to an event in the past Examples _ The product has been removed from your computer OT Word was unable to open the file Word 48 Pay special attention to translation of Present Perfect tense which very often is translated wrongly with indefinite past in Bulgarian 4 An error has occurred in this dialo Setup has finished Standard Phrases in Error Messages When translating standard phrases standardize Note that sometimes the US uses different forms to express the same thing Examples
8. 1995 2007 Informative References These sources are meant to provide supplementary information background comparison etc 1 The Windows User Experience Microsoft Corporation 2000 Also available on http msdn microsoft com en us library aa511258 aspx 2 Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary 4th Edition Microsoft Press May 1999 Includes CD Also available on http support microsoft com support glossary 3 The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications Microsoft Press 1998 Includes 3th edition of the above dictionary on CD Language Specific Conventions This part of the style guide contains information about standards specific to Bulgarian Country Region Standards Characters Country region Bulgaria Lower case characters 6 A X N H C T L 4 W LL b b 10 3 M H N P C T LU b b IO Upper case characters Characters in caseless S scripts Extended Latin characters Note on alphabetical order Alphabetical order is not necessarily indicative of sorting order Unicode codes The Unicode hexadecimal codes of the Bulgarian letters occupy the range from 0410 to 044F For the majority of the fonts most of the letters have one and the same shape for low
9. or nu Avoid starting with a noun etc Example na Continue without Undo 47 Punctuation After Error Messages Generally Bulgarian error messages finish with a period Exclamation marks are seldom used Use exclamation marks in Bulgarian error messages in similar manner as they are used in the US version You should remember that not every English sentence ending with an exclamation mark should have one in Bulgarian but the colon after alerting words like attention warning caution should be substituted by an exclamation mark Bulgarian Caution Question marks are used for questions Personification Generally use the polite form 2nd person plural in the computer messages Do not use the first person except for creatures like the Office Assistant If possible use nouns otherwise use passive voice If the agent is mentioned in US text use it in the translation as well Example mem Baw Word is deleting file 2 Word 2 Avoiding Pronouns In Bulgarian the pronouns are often omitted If it is not necessary don t use them in the error messages either
10. etc In most of these cases a list with items follows Example c Your computer has the following features cbc 25 Windows 7 Quotation Marks UI item names buttons menu items and etc and localized names of software components should be placed in quotation marks when they are mentioned in a phrase see a document as it will print click the Print Preview button To exit this wizard click Cancel t Click Finish to create the sho
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12. Web server Online Online _ Online mode 21 eun Ram _ DNS server DNS 8 HHC JPG file JPG RAM memory RAM Ha Windows 30 The only possible problem is when determining the gender of feature and product names Usually additional definitive word has to be place in front of the featur
13. 30 Tone The tone depends on the audience Example Audience Information and tone used will be technical and not marketing IT Pros expect to be provided with relevant comprehensive and neutral IT information The primary purpose of a text for the technical user is to inform Technical correctness and functionality is key Where there is doubt about technical correctness of a translation further information should IT Pros be requested from your Microsoft PU contact Pages with technical content aiming at more specialized users may indeed make an extensive use of field terms acronyms technical jargon etc It is not unusual to leave terms in English or in parentheses especially in the case of products that are highly technical such as SQL Exchange and Visual Studio Developers Same as IT Pros Information and tone used will be marketing and more business focused The purpose of a text directed towards the business decision makers is to influence them to make decisions for their business Business Decision Makers BDMs Technical abbreviations contractions and acronyms should be either avoided or explained Some technology concepts and names that would be understood by technical users might have to be explained Restrict field terms and jargon to very specialized topics Tone should be informative factual and inspiring It should not be colloquial Technical abbreviations contractions and acronyms should be
14. e eter tive Bae tee etal 35 Fictitious Information ttr e eee tette em d vea dda drea beate i D eerte RCM ERES 35 Recurring Patterns ine d EET eade dun duke 35 Standardized Translations 36 DIE 37 Using the Word Microsoft reae ete 38 Software Considerations 38 User lriteiface tibt 38 Messages Ee 45 51 Document Translation 55 PERPE 55 eb tete a ett 56 The word Click a Oe 57 What s New Last Updated May 2011 A big part of the Style Guide has been modified and almost all sections have been affected This Style Guide has a bit different structured when compared to the previous version and some of the old sections now have new names or several sections are combined Below you can see a list with New and Updated Topics Note that changes in these sections also apply to the corresponding sub sections New Topics The following topics were added e Language specific conventions The word Click Updated Topics February 2011 The Most of the Style Guide was reworked and upd
15. Example Windows Media Center Windows Media Center Te 9 ES DVS Dashes and Hyphens In Bulgarian two types of hyphens are used the n dash U 2013 ALT 0150 and the regular hyphen The regular hyphen is used to divide words at the end of a line or to add suffixes to abbreviations special characters dates or times acronyms with certain foreign words names etc In those cases there should be no space around the hyphen The m dash U 2014 ALT 0151 is not used in Bulgarian Regular hyphen should be used also in compounds if the grammar rules require it e g multiple compound words above 6 syllables have to be hyphened at the border of the compounds Ellipses Suspension Points There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Period Usually the standard rules apply Though do not use period when the Bulgarian sentence contains
16. Cannot Could Failed to Failure of Cannot configure Cannot determine Cannot load Internet Explorer cannot find DLL for Security Protocol Module Cannot open files from later versions of Microsoft Graph Cannot save User defined Autoformats Failed to create directory Failed to find device driver IE DLL Microsoft Graph ce 49 Cannot find Could not find He Cannot find device Unable to find driver Unable to locate Not enough memory Insufficient memory There is not enough Th h Ils is not en memor ereis not enough
17. Notes e Postal codes consist of 4 digits with no separators Title Name and CompanyName lines can change their order i e first CompanyName line then Title Name line e MiddleName is very often abbreviated and sometimes omitted 13 For big and well known towns no need of the Province line but for small towns or villages it is better to write it Currency Currency Name Currency Symbol In fact there is no special currency symbol but the abbreviation is Currency Symbol Position used instead The digits come first followed by a space and then always in lowercase and followed by a full stop Positive Currency Format 123 45 Negative Sign Symbol c ee Negative Currency Format 123 45 Decimal Symbol comma Number of Digits after Decimal 2 Digit Grouping Symbol space Number of Digits in Digit Grouping 3 Positive Currency Example 123 456 789 00 Negative Currency Example 123 456 789 00 ISO Currency Code BGN Currency Subunit Name There is no special symbol for currency subunit but if such symbol is really needed the abbreviation ct can be used instead Actually the practice is Currency Subunit Symbol to use the currency name rather than the currency subunit name even when the pointed amount is less than 1 lev For example 0 50 is preferred to 50 cr Currency Subunit Example 50 14 Digit Groups Country r
18. Ctrl Esc no Ctrl Esc Display next child window Ctrl F6 Ctrl F6 Display next tabbed pane Ctrl Tab Ctrl Tab Launch Task Manager and Ctrl Shift Esc Ctrl Shift Esc system initialization Fie Print Preview me Edt Delete Edi Select Al 54 US US English Shortcut Bulgarian Bulgarian Command Key Command Shortcut key Underlined Word underline Ctrl U Ctrl U Large caps Ctrl Shift A Ctrl Shift A Small caps Ctrl Shift K Ctrl Shift K Paragraph Format Centered Ctrl E Ctrl E Let aligned Right aligned Ctrl R Ctrl R Justified Ctrl J Ctrl J Document Translation Considerations Document localization may require some specific considerations that are different from software localization This section covers a few of these areas Titles In English the titles for chapters usually begin with How to or with phrases such as Working with or Using In the Bulgarian version of Microsoft documentation only the first letter of a heading is capitalized
19. mistranslation or omission You re not allowed to do this He Inappropriate style for Command Click the Save button Menu Button etc Ul UI terms not verified in the Open Windows Defender OrBopere Windows Defender Language portal Windows Glossaries No special information here for Bulgarian language Please see the Language Portal http www microsoft com Language en US Default aspx as a resource of MS terminology Fictitious Information Fictitious content is legally sensitive material and as such cannot be handled as a pure terminology or localization issue Below is some basic information and contact points when dealing with fictitious content Vendors and Localizers are not allowed to create their own fictitious names You must either use the source names or use a list of legally approved names Please contact your product team representative for further information on how to deal with fictitious companies names addresses email addresses phone numbers etc in your product For technical products you may also check with the product team representative whether localized fictitious content is required or not e g Visual
20. 1050 1082 1051 n 1083 M 1052 1084 1053 1085 1054 o 1086 sorting order 1055 n 1087 1056 p 1088 C 1057 c 1089 T 1058 1090 Y 1059 y 1091 1060 1092 X 1061 x 1093 1062 u 1094 1063 4 1095 1064 1096 1065 1097 1066 1099 b 1068 1100 1070 1102 1071 1103 Examples of sorted words 16 Online Start 1979 home work 17 Geopolitical Concerns Part of the cultural adaptation of the US product to a specific market is the resolving of geopolitical issues While the US product should have been designed and developed with neutrality and a global audience in mind the localized product should respond to the particular situation that applies within the target country region Sensitive issues or issues that might potentially be offensive to the users in the target country region may occur in any of the following e Maps e Flags e Country region city and language names Art and graphics e Cultural content su
21. 2 x Lana ep ide e d que a Gee Dep 20 GOMPOUNGS Perna 21 E MU EE 22 GenltiV6 a cce ceti ate eat ede ud ere eate a ttu 23 IMOGITIGIS sta cree tenu nk su HM xs 23 Mog aX eh oni el oe os i 23 PrepOSILIOFIS Rer i i Iba erar EE A as eR ies 24 Pronours e ca EP DR Pad ERE HR La Pase Te dee eo HD fossae id 24 PUNCTUATION m 24 es ttem tho 27 Split AAG e e tet es 27 n 27 Symbols Non Breaking 27 Syntax suae e eie TD US LED Eb p Beat ee 27 dicc EE 28 Word E A P E E E T 28 Style and Tone 29 ERROR REMIT 29 estis n melt terit estime iier Meere eter 31 32 Localization Guidelines rite eid geen en tt ed em te 33 General Considerations 33 Abbreviatlornis creta 33 ia eaedem eek inim 33 peni mE 34 Applications Products and 34 Frequent ENOPS iR on e e bn DARE eO M le s 35
22. Memory There is not enough memory operation available He e is not available The optical drive is not is unavailable He e available Error Messages Containing Placeholders When localizing error messages containing placeholders try to find out what will replace the placeholder This is necessary for the sentence to be grammatically correct when the placeholder is replaced with a word or phrase Note that the letters used in placeholders convey a specific meaning see examples below Mid u and lu means number means letter 5 means lt string gt Examples of error messages containing placeholders Checking Web 1 d of 2 d means Checking Web number of number INI file 1 200s section means INI file lt string gt section Example Bulgarian Cannot open s He 905 50 Sometimes you will have to put options in parenthesis Bulgarian After s month s s The keyboard is the primary input device used for text input in Microsoft Windows For accessibility and efficiency most actions can be performed using the keyboard as well While working with Microsoft software you use keys key combinations and ke
23. Tab Alt Tab application Display next window Alt Esc Ha Alt Esc Display pop up menu for the Alt Spacebar Alt Spacebar window Display pop up menu for the active child window Display property sheet for current selection Close active application window Switch to next window within modeless compliant application Capture active window image to the Clipboard Capture desktop image to the Clipboard Ha Alt Alt Enter Alt Enter Alt F4 Alt F4 Alt F6 Alt F6 Alt Prnt Sern Ha Alt Prnt Sern Prnt Sern Ha Prnt Sern 53 US US English Shortcut Bulgarian Bulgarian Command Key Command Shortcut key Access Start button in taskbar
24. a new loan word and its proper article to avoid inconsistencies Example Router Pytep Capitalization In English it is a general practice to capitalize all first characters of the words in titles names etc and sometimes middle characters in words too Bear in mind that this is an error for the Bulgarian texts Move Down AutoArchive p The names of days months languages nationalities also adjectives derived from country names are not capitalized Pay attention to the fact that the pronouns must begin with lowercase letter except in official or personal letters and formal correspondence In a previous version of this Style Guide it was accepted always to capitalize From now on use capitalization rules for this word as for any other word lower case 20 Compounds Generally compounds should be understandable and clear to the user Overly long or complex compounds should be avoided Keep in mind that unintuitive compounds are ultimately an intelligibility and usability issue According to the last Bulgarian dictionaries words like Internet web e mail and similar foreign for Bulgarian words should be written in Cyrillic The compound expressions words where
25. and then Full Items v Download Headers On Slow Connections Only Download Headers Work Offline Updating Inbox 257 KB BS Connected to Microsoft Exchange 7 45 Bulgarian Style in Status bar Messages In English the status bar messages have different forms dependent on the information they must convey In Bulgarian menu status bar messages and commands status bar messages do not differ as shown in the tables When the message is a direct instruction the imperative mode is used formal for addressing the user and informal for the system Periods are used at the end of sentences in status bar messages when they are full sentences English Status Bar Bulgarian Status Bar Bulgarian Name Category message message Contains editing commands H CBAB x Copy to 807 Copies the selected items to Folder nanka a new location New Creates a new document Word The importance of standardization Word is converting the document Press Esc to stop In the US product you can often find messages that are phrased differently even though the
26. articles in these titles If for some reason the command name in the US software is not the same as the dialog title stay close to original Bulgarian with the translation Command Information Dialog Information window Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases GROUP BOX TITLES When translating the title of a group of control elements and it is a verb or verb phrase note to whom it is addressed Translate as informal 2nd person singular if it is to the system and polite 2nd person plural if it is to the user Nouns adjectives and questions are translated as nouns adjectives and questions Save the file Select the right file Now always check the context and gender if applicable Include in index Group titles are not grammatically connected to the options that follow This means that the options are capitalized as usual and their form does not depend on the form of the group title Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases OPTION BUTTONS Option buttons presented by verbs may be localized as commands to the
27. contained in dialog boxes as well as confirmation text should be translated consistently and the verbs should take personal polite form 2nd person plural when the text is addressed directly to the user Bulgarian If you don t want to filter the data click Next All the static terms in a given dialog box should be in a same form If more of the static terms are in personal polite form the rest should have the same form If more of them are in impersonal form the rest should be too Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases DIALOG BOX TITLES In English dialog box titles are usually identical with the command that opens the dialog box In Bulgarian it is preferred these titles to be nouns adding suffixes aHe BaHe except for adjectives translated as adjectives see special Adjectives entry and questions translated as questions Find and Repl New always check the context and Include in index 41 Pay attention to the articles definite and indefinite in the Dialog Box Titles Only by exception we use
28. specific rule for the possessive adjective is their initial Small letter in cases like Capital letters Articles General considerations There is no specific information for Bulgarian language Unlocalized Feature Names Microsoft product names and non translated feature names are used without definite or indefinite articles in the English language We treat them in this way in Bulgarian too Example Internet Explorer Localized Feature Names Translated feature names are handled as regular words Sometimes an additional word can be but in front in order to determine the gender of the feature Example Use Parental Controls 19 Articles for English Borrowed Terms When faced with an English loan word previously used in Microsoft products consider the following options e Motivation Does the English word have any formally motivated features that would allow a straightforward integration into the noun class system of Bulgarian language e Analogy Is there an equivalent Bulgarian term whose article could be used e Frequency Is the term used in other technical documentation If so what article is used most often The internet may be a helpful reference here Please always consult the Language portal to confirm the user of
29. system or options available for the user Translate the former as normal commands and the latter as noun When translating with verb pay special attention to the fact whether the action is repeated or single If you are not sure translate it as noun Always allow use of recognized media without prompting Autodetect proxy settings There are no punctuation signs after option button text 42 The preferred action to be performed with option buttons is select even if the original ignores a similar recommendation given for English Click Right Select Right Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases CHECK BOXES Check boxes presented by verbs may be localized as commands to the system or options available for the user Translate the former as normal commands with verb and the latter with noun When translating with verb pay special attention to the fact whether the action is repeated or single If you are not sure translate it with noun Reply to new items with
30. Bulgarian Style Guide Contents Whats 2 o edendi e AEE E 4 New TODICS ai yeti latin a ede eee ee ee 4 Updated Er iere EP iter rite ini e Pee Poterie 4 per 5 About This e 5 Scope of This Docutmiernt ue ree fd to ot teneri t ogg 5 Style Guide 5 SEIS IEEE AT 6 Recommended Reference Material sss 7 Normative References nee eden ede ee dag ene d ce ange 7 Informative 7 Language Specific 8 Country Region 8 Gharacters cce ert E het er ette Pott E t edt b ea DEUS 8 PEEL 8 Baie een 10 INU OFS seus tect edite cr ne Pri pee CORE 12 rese 16 Geopolitica Concerns tee a e 18 Grammar Syntax amp Orthographic Conventions sse 19 Dec 19 huie cw PEE 19 Capitalization
31. English with a gerund which should be translated into Bulgarian either by deverbative noun or by reflexive or imperfect verb Printing document ce Loading page ce Word Order There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language 28 Style and Tone Considerations This section focuses on higher level considerations for audience style tone and voice Audience The target audience is defined by the Microsoft Program Manager Depending on the chosen target audience the contents terminology and style may differ but a core terminology should apply for every project Example Audience IT Pros Developers Business Decision Makers BDMs Information workers Home PC Users Style The following guidelines apply e Appropriate An IT executive manager or staff who s primary job is in a formalized IT information systems or MIS department E g DB admin Tech Syst Engineer etc Create software applications build complex macros write computer code or develop web sites for own and or others use at work E g Architect programmer analyst etc Significant decision making authority at work for own depa
32. Studio Recurring Patterns There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language 35 Standardized Translations There are a number of standardized translations mentioned in all sections of this Style Guide In order to find them more easily the most relevant topics and sections are compiled here for you reference Appendix Operators Guide Publication xxx xx xxx Revision 01 October 2010 xx xxx 01 2010 Revision Section Section on page 36 o Tp Voume 06 7 Unlocalized Items Trademarked names and the name Microsoft Corporation shouldn t be localized A list of Microsoft trademarks is available for your reference at the following location http www microsoft com trademarks t mark names htm In Bulgarian usually some of the product and feature names are not localized For example almost every Windows Live product is left unlocalized There is no particular pattern for determining which items are unlocalized the best reference would be the Language Portal http www microsoft com Language en US Default aspx as a resource of MS terminology Emm 37 emm Upgrade Advisor Product feature name or trademark Windows Update Product feature name or trademark Dynamics CRM Online Product feature name or trademark Visual St
33. and row headings should take the same language style throughout the software Column and row headings should start with capital letters and they usually do not end with any punctuation marks When table items are complete sentences each of them starts with a capital letter and ends with a period When table items are not complete sentences they may start with a small or capital letter and do not end with a period However the whole column must be consistent i e start with either small or capital letter The preferred action to be performed with list boxes is and select even if the original ignores a similar recommendation given for English Select your location from the Country list box 44 Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases TOOLTIPS Most of the US ToolTips have texts which are identical with the texts of the objects they enlighten Generally this consistency should be maintained in the localized software as well however if a given ToolTip explain a command to the computer which is generally translated in 2nd person singular it is preferable to translate the ToolTip of this command with a noun or in other des
34. ar ia gem Exceptions Generally when there are more than one word and the first word is already used as a verb Save as Place Special BUTTONS Try to use verbs for command buttons this is the main rule 39 The word classes of the US term and the localized term do not have to coincide i e consider the possibility of translating a verb as a noun or vice versa if that improves the result but in most of the cases verbs are preferred Adjectives are used relatively rarely see special Adjectives entry and adverbs only in exceptional cases Verbs should normally be in informal imperative mood 2nd person singular nouns in singular or plural nominative Verb examples Delete Send 2 CTRL
35. ated Many examples were added and updated Introduction This Style Guide went through major revision in February 2011 in order to remove outdated and unnecessary content About This Style Guide The purpose of this Style Guide is to provide everybody involved in the localization of Bulgarian Microsoft products with Microsoft specific linguistic guidelines and standard conventions that differ from or are more prescriptive than those found in language reference materials These conventions have been adopted after considering context based on various needs but above all they are easy to follow and applicable for all types of software to be localized The Style Guide covers the areas of formatting and grammatical conventions It also presents the reader with a general idea of the reasoning behind the conventions The present Style Guide is a revision of our previous Style Guide version with the intention of making it more standardized more structured and easier to use as a reference The guidelines and conventions presented in this Style Guide are intended to help you localize Microsoft products and materials We welcome your feedback questions and concerns regarding the Style Guide You can send us your feedback via the Microsoft Language Portal feedback page Scope of This Document This Style Guide is intended for the localization professional working on Microsoft products It is not intended to be a comprehensive coverage of all locali
36. buttons or options names due to lack of space This can be done in the following ways e Truncation with a period Initial capitals e Slash List of common abbreviations 7 Don t abbreviate such words as Product names and UI strings Unless otherwise approved Accessibility Microsoft provides people with disabilities single handed or with hearing or motion disabilities with more accessible products and services These may not be available for Bulgarian speaking market Please double check with the appropriate subsidiary or through your Microsoft Program Manager 33 Acronyms Acronyms are words made up of the initial letters of major parts of a compound term Some well known examples are WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get OLE Object Linking and Embedding or RAM Random Access Memory Generally in
37. ch as encyclopedia content and other text where historical or political references may occur Some of these issues are relatively easy to verify and resolve the objective should be for the localizer to always have the most current information available Maps and other graphic representations of countries regions and regions should be checked for accuracy and existing political restrictions Country region city and language names change on a regular basis and need to be checked even if previously approved A thorough understanding of the culture of the target market is required for checking the appropriateness of cultural content clip art and other visual representations of religious symbols body and hand gestures 18 Grammar Syntax amp Orthographic Conventions This section includes information on how to apply the general rules of the Bulgarian language to Microsoft products and documentation Adjectives Bulgarian adjectives unlike the English ones have gender and number and it is impossible to localize single adjective correctly without having a context or when the context requires the adjective to be in masculine feminine or neuter at the same time this often happens in menus In these cases try to localize the adjective with verb or noun Unknown Hama Possessive adjectives The frequent use of possessives is a feature of English language In Bulgarian the
38. criptive way but not with a verb You should translate the English ToolTip text selecting appropriate terminology but try not to use direct address to the computer or to user Regardless of how the US ToolTips end with or without a period ToolTips localised into Bulgarian doesn t end with a period Bulgarian US Command Copy Bulgarian command Konupan US ToolTip Copy Bulgarian ToolTip The main problem with ToolTips is that very often their String Category in LocStudio is not correct and they are pointed only as Text Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases Wizards often include US specific information For relevant specific Bulgarian information contact your Project Team representative in Microsoft in order to replace the US specific information Messages Please see the information below regarding the localization of the different messages Status Messages What is a Status Bar Message A status bar message is an informational message about the active document or a selected command as well as about any active or selected interface item Messages are shown in the status bar at the bottom of the window when the user has chosen a menu a command or any other item or has started a function The status bar messages refer to actions being performed or already complete for example in Outlook below Download Full Items Download Headers
39. difier but do it very carefully only when it is possible and when the space for the translation is limited Click Save Select Save from the File menu gt Nouns General considerations There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Inflection There is no specific information about this section for B
40. e Though this is not compulsory if the text is a marketing one then there is more freedom Example Em mam Windows Media Player e Windows Media Player is very good for Windows Media Player Windows 7 Windows 7 22 Genitive There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Modifiers In Bulgarian localized text you often need to add modifiers before names of objects menus commands dialog box elements icons etc descriptions of the object the name refers to In general English text doesn t have these modifiers Modifiers are especially necessary when the whole phrase needs to be declined In this case decline only the modifier and leave the name in the form that it has in the user interface but put it in quotation marks In the menu itself don t put quotation marks Sometimes you can omit a mo
41. egion Bulgaria Decimal Separator Decimal Separator Description comma Decimal Separator Example 0 23 Thousand Separator space Thousand Separator Description space Thousand Separator Example 12 345 Notes If the number is 4 digit then there is no thousand separator for example 1234 Measurement Units Metric System Commonly Used Yes Temperature Celsius umere m 15 English Units of N A Measurement Feet N A Notes If the unit of measure is preceded by a number there should be a non breaking space between the number and the unit of measure 35 MM 256 Percentages The percentage symbol 96 is always after the number No spaces in between Example 10096 Sorting The only letter which practically is not used for sorting is b since there is no word beginning with it Though its position will be considered when comparing with another word s second third etc letter 1 The order of sorting Bulgarian characters is as follows Bulgarian letters English letters digits and special characters International characters are alphabetized with the English equivalent 2 Capital letters and lowercase letters are equal No distinction is made between them 1040 a 1072 B 1041 6 1073 B 1042 1074 1043 1075 1044 1076 E 1045 e 1077 1046 1078 3 1047 3 1079 1048 1080 1049 1081 Character
42. eia click can be often seen in Bulgarian texts translated as This is a pure Cyrillic transliteration of the English word and not a Bulgarian onomatopoeia Not to mention that in some regional dialects Bulgarian is sometimes replaced with and for people in these regions the phrase will have a very different meaning definitely not Click on the down right corner That is why we have chosen to translate click as an onomatopoeia and the long established Bulgarian onomatopoeia for similar sounds is 1 VIBOPEIE WOR DdUUIHMHH VTaprwr 2
43. either avoided or explained Some technology concepts and names that would be understood by technical users may have to be explained Restrict field terms and jargon to very specialized topics Information workers Tone should be informative factual and inspiring May be colloquial Home PC Users when dealing with games and Xbox Everything translated Technical or field terms should be either avoided or explained 31 Voice The pronouns must begin with lowercase letter except in official or personal letters and formal correspondence Also try avoiding these in the Bulgarian translation since they re making the sentence construction very heavy and in the most cases doesn t influence the meaning if removed Example Cera cre You are now connected to the Internet Bue cera c Also avoid impersonal as much as possible Only in cases where the passive is used intentionally in English i e the agent is not known or is not relevant the term may be translated as impersonal in Bulgarian The message has been sent 32 Localization Guidelines This section contains guidelines for localization into Bulgarian language General Considerations Abbreviations Common Abbreviations You might need to abbreviate some words in the UI mainly
44. er and upper cases Date First Week of the Year The week that contains the first 4 days of the year Default Short Date Format d MM yyyy Default Long Date Format d MMMM 8 17 2011 Additional Short Date Format 1 d RD yyyy 17 11 2011 Additional Short Date Format 2 d MM yy 17 03 11 Additional Long Date Format 1 Additional Long Date Format 2 Leading Zero in Day Field for Short Date Format No of digits for year for Short Date Format Leading Zero in Day Field for Long Date Format Leading Zero in Month Field for Long Date Format Number of digits for year for Long Date Format Date Format for Correspondence d MMMM yyyy r 17 2011 e The leading zero is not normally used for day numbers may be used in legal documents for making forgery more difficult e Note that the name of the month begins with regular letter and it is not Leading Zero in Month Field for Short Date Format yes abbreviated Also note the possible use of Roman digits for the months d is for day number of d s indicates the format d digits without leading zero dd digits with leading zero ddd the abbreviated day name dddd full day name Abbreviations in Format M is for month number of M s gives number of digits digits without leading Codes zero MM digits with leading zero MMM the abbreviated name MMMM full name y is for year number of y s gives n
45. f Digit region Digits Groupings Digits Mobile Groupings Digits Groupings Local Local Mobile International International Bulgaria 3 4 5 6 7 iHHE 10 including the O 12 13 including 359 THEE THE HH HH leading zero THHE the leading 359 1t 1HHE THE THE HHH HERE zero THE 359 THE THER H THEE THER HHH HH H HH THER HE 483 488 41 12 Notes Area code is preceded by 0 for domestic calls 02 123 456 Sofia For international calls the zero in area codes should be omitted 359 2 123 456 Sofia Mobile phone numbers for domestic use are preceded by 0 0888 123 456 0889 123 456 For international calls the zero in mobile phone numbers should be omitted 359 888 123 456 359 889 123 456 Area codes should be always used when dialling domestic numbers with mobile phones Addresses Country region Bulgaria Disclaimer Please note that the information in this entry should under no circumstances be used in examples as fictitious information Address Format Title Honorific FirstName MiddleName LastName CompanyName Address 1 Address2 Province PostalCode City or Village 7 Country Example Address 5 2517 Local Postal Code Format
46. gain if really the computer application is doing the action or this is the user who is doing it For example you mustn t localize Edit as 38 because it is the user who is doing actually the edition That is why localize Edit as Adjectives are used relatively rarely see special Adjectives entry and adverbs only in exceptional cases Verbs in menu items should be in informal 2nd person singular imperative mood nouns in singular or plural nominative In Bulgarian it would sound funny if you give orders to your computer in formal mood 2nd person plural while for the messages from computer to the customer it is normal to use polite mood Menu titles should always contain only one word since a two word menu title would be undistinguishable from two single word ones The action to be performed with menu titles and menu items is click or select even if the original ignores similar recommendation given for English Click Save in the File menu Select Save from the File menu oT Menu headings are almost always nouns When a menu item ends with a period translate it with noun and not with verb in 2nd person singul
47. od goes outside of the parentheses It should be noted that using parentheses too often makes it difficult to follow the text 26 Singular amp Plural Translation of English phrases which allow both singular and plural forms at the same time should generally be changed into plural form only in Bulgarian especially when the definite article is used in order to avoid overcrowding of the noun mem Fill in the field s Split Infinitive There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Subjunctive There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Symbols amp Non Breaking Spaces In Bulgarian there is always a non breaking space between a number and the associated unit symbol Bulgarian 45 e 45 Syntax Syntax and register sometimes differ between Bulgarian and English The best option for the localizer is to adapt the text so it will sound typical for Bulgarian Unfortunately there are no specific rules here 27 Verbs Pay attention to perfect or imperfect form of translated verbs English verbs can be translated in either forms in Bulgarian depending on whether it is a repeated or a single action Read Print Continuous operations are usually expressed in
48. of American idioms or Microsoft jargon acronyms abbreviations Windows 7 Office 2010 Windows 7 4 Also when translating software you have to remember that the end users are people of all ages females and males and may have different religions You have to choose appropriate vocabulary and you must remember to select verbs which do NOT discriminate any of the sexes or religions Verbs are easier to understand than nouns therefore it is preferable to use verbs Example To establish connection
49. oves input focus to the previous control Home End Up and Down also have their expected behavior within a group Users can t navigate out of a control group using arrow keys Numeric Keypad It is recommended that you avoid distinguishing numeric keypad keys from the other keys unless it is required by a given application In case which keys to be pressed is not obvious provide necessary explanations Example Ins oT Shortcut Keys Shortcut keys are keystrokes or combinations of keystrokes used to perform defined functions in a software application Shortcut keys replace menu commands and they are sometimes given next to the command they represent In opposition to the access keys which can be used only when available on the screen shortcut keys can be used even when they are not accessible on the screen In Bulgarian the same shortcut keys are used 52 Standard Shortcut Keys US US English Shortcut Bulgarian Bulgarian Command Key Command Shortcut key General Windows Shortcut keys Context sensitive Context sensitive Help Shi Display pop up menu Shift F10 Shift F10 Cancel Ese 09599 Activate Deactivate menu bar F10 Ha F10 mode H Switch to the next primary Alt
50. rtcut An error occurred while trying to launch the Remove Hidden Data tool If the quotation marks contain a complete sentence the final period should within the last quotation mark If it is an incomplete sentence the period should go outside the quotation mark Parentheses Parentheses normally contain additional information or embedded remarks If the parentheses include a complete sentence the final period goes inside the parentheses However if it is a phrase incomplete sentence the final peri
51. rtments or multiple departments but does NOT work in the IT department E g CMO president All workers who use transform consume or manage information in the course of their daily work E g translator consultant sales and marketing staff etc Use a PC at home for personal use Use a style adequate to the field discussed For example if introducing soccer use a conversational style and expressions from the game On the contrary if presenting a university research use a formal style When translating software related information follow the Microsoft Style Guide Direct You can use more frequently exclamation sentences and questions as well a less formal vocabulary Be careful not to overuse exclamation points in Bulgarian though and restrict them to titles or subtitles e g MVP 29 e Keep translations short The space for displaying content information is usually reduced to a section of the screen Long compound sentences should be avoided e Clear Use of shorter less elaborate sentences the pages should be easy to read users don t want to waste their time Subject should be closely followed by verb Compound sentences should be avoided as well as contractions where possible Local Adapt the pages to regional conditions and use local references The text should read like an original This means changing Fahrenheit to Celsius sorting countries lists etc Avoid the use
52. the Bulgarian text abbreviations might be used though it is good if their translation exist at the first instance of the text in brackets Example You may need the International Mobile Equipment ce IMEI International Identity IMEI number Mobile Equipment Identity Localized Acronyms Most of the acronyms are not localized though there are some exceptions in cases where the acronym is not a part of product name OS Unlocalized Acronyms There are some acronyms which are widely used in Bulgarian language in their original form They should be used as common words Example USB DNS LAN etc Applications Products and Features Application product names are often trademarked or may be trademarked in the future and are therefore rarely translated Occasionally feature names are trademarked too e g IntelliSense Before translating any application product or feature name please verify that it is in fact translatable and not protected in any way In Bulgarian the best practice is to check with Language Portal http www microsoft com Language en US Default aspx as a resource of MS terminology 34 Frequent Errors There are different kinds of errors not
53. themselves 43 Check all subfolders Uncheck subfolders Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases DIALOG BOX TABS Dialog box tabs should be treated similarly to dialog box titles see above plus obvious length constraints Also pay attention to consistency with similar dialog boxes elsewhere An example of a common dialog box containing the same terminology the Options dialog box The preferred action to be performed with dialog box tabs is select even if the original ignores a similar recommendation given for English Click the Edit tab Select the Edit tab Note Always look for approved current translation of the required term in the Microsoft terminology databases LIST BOXES TABLES Items in a list box or table are not grammatically connected to list box titles or table headings This means that the items are capitalized as usual and their form does not depend on the form of the title or heading Table column
54. these words take part can be written either together or separately In fact for some of the compound words such dictionaries recommend to write them together but also admit their separate writing while for other words such as they only allow to write them separately For not wondering which one to write separately and which not and for consistency reasons write separately all similar compound expressions containing foreign words see the table below Also do not capitalize unnecessary but bear in mind that we still capitalize Compound words which contain acronyms are also written separately In most of the cases we leave the acronym unchanged not localized and we do not put a dash after it Note Please note that the approved terminology database may not be updated according to these new instructions yet Example E mail or E mail message Internet Internet Internet connection Internet page Internet cafe Web Web page WoD sit
55. udio Product feature name or trademark Using the Word Microsoft In English it is prohibited to use MS as an abbreviation for Microsoft In Bulgarian the word Microsoft is used as is not abbreviated and not transliterated Software Considerations This section refers to all menus menu items commands buttons check boxes etc which should be consistently translated in the localized product Refer to http msdn microsoft com library aa511258 aspx for a detailed explanation of the Windows user interface guidelines English User Interface The user interface consists of different items which have different rules for localization Examples MENUS Menu titles and menu items should be consistently translated in all localized products the same US term should have identical translation in all localized applications If an exception to the rule is necessary please approve the new translation with MILS When possible try to use the following combinations of word classes in menus On the Insert menu Text Table A noun or noun phrase Picture A verb or verb phase On the Table menu Insert Table Select Row Insert Column The word classes of the US term and the localized term do not have to coincide i e consider the possibility of translating a verb as a noun or vice versa if that improves the result but bear in mind that generally the nouns in Bulgarian are longer than verbs When choosing to use a verb think a
56. ulgarian language 23 Plural Formation There is no specific information about this section for Bulgarian language Prepositions Pay attention to the correct use of the preposition in translations Influenced by the English language many translators omit them or change the word order English example Bulgarian Expression Customer Support Ha Though in the street language many people use the second suggestion it is not correct and shouldn t be used Cpaer Microsost ce Ha Ha Windows Pronouns In all texts except legal and formal ones avoid using the pronouns etc Example Your computer is found in your home group Punctuation Comma Standard rules apply nothing specific here 24 Colon Use colons in accordance with the standard grammar rules
57. umber of digits yy two digits yyyy four digits Time 24 hour format yes Time separator Colon Days Country region Bulgaria 10 First Day of Week Is first letter capitalized no Notes Abbreviated forms are seldom used mainly in calendars In some calendars even one letter abbreviation is used but as this might be confusing equal letters two letters abbreviations are preferred Here is a list of one letter abbreviations n cou Months Country region Bulgaria umgbmefm June July 11 Is first letter capitalized No Notes Use the three letter abbreviation only if you have three letter space Otherwise use the full name of the months Numbers The official numbers are Arabic In some cases Roman number may be used though these are limited cases for example volume numbers of court cases Phone Numbers Country International Number of Separator Number of Digit region Dialing Digits Area Digits Groupings Code Codes Domestic Domestic Bulgaria 2 3 4 5 space or 8 9 including HHH 6 including the hyphen the leading O leading zero hyphen is zero Oft HHH HH HH used less 0 these days HAH HH O OHH HHH HHH O OHHH HHH IHE HH HHH Country Number of Digit Number of Digit Number o
58. unless the heading also contains a word or words that would normally be written with an initial capital or in all capitals e g name of a product or an acronym Headings end without punctuation 55 Example Bulgarian Online Meeting Options Other Settings Help for Lotus 1 2 3 Users Lotus 1 2 3 Also when the English begins with How to this is not translated the same way in Bulgarian ONE HE How to update the computer Kak Copyright Copyright protection is granted to any original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which it can be perceived reproduced or communicated Pay attention to the fact that the trademarks and the name of Microsoft Corporation mustn t be localized Also the word Copyright is omitted in the localized term only the sign is preserved Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1995 2011 All rights Microsoft Corporation 1995 2011 reserved Windows a registered trademark of Microsoft Windows Ha Corporation Microsoft Corporation 56 The word Click The English onomatopo
59. y have the same meaning Try to avoid this in the localized Bulgarian version Use one standard translation as in the examples below English term Correct Bulgarian translation Press F1 to get Help F 1 If you want Help press 1 To get Help press 1 Not enough memory Insufficient memory There is not enough memory 46 Save changes to 961 B 961 Do you want to save changes to 901 Error Messages What Is An Error Message Here is an example File and Folder Rename Can t rename Pictures because a file or folder with that name already exists Specify a different name Close Error messages are messages sent by the system or a program informing the user that there is an error that must be corrected in order for the program to keep running For example the messages can prompt the user to take an action or inform the user of an error that requires rebooting the computer Bulgarian Style in Error Messages It is important to use consistent terminology and language style in the localized error messages and not just translate as they appear in the US product Please see the examples below Abbreviated Sentences The US messages sometimes contain abbreviated sentences using an imperative verb Translate the question starting with
60. y sequences In English References to key names like arrow keys function keys and numeric keys appear in normal text not in small caps For Bulgarian it is the same Access Keys Hot keys Access keys Shortcut keys Page Setup Print Ctrl P Exit Sometimes there are underlined or highlighted letters in menu options commands or dialog boxes These letters refer to access keys also known as hot keys that allow you to run commands perform tasks etc more quickly Hot Key Special Options Usage Is It Allowed Slim characters such as t r f no can be used as hot key Characters with downstrokes such no as g j y p and q can be used as hotkeys Extended characters can be used as yes hotkeys 51 Hot Key Special Options Usage Is It Allowed Noles An additional letter appearing yes between brackets after item name can be used as hotkeys A number appearing between yes brackets after item name can be used as hotkey A punctuation sign appearing yes between brackets after item name can be used as hotkey Duplicate hotkeys are allowed when no no other character is available No hotkey is assigned when no more yes characters are available minor options only Additional notes N A Arrow Keys The arrow keys move input focus among the controls within a group Pressing the right arrow key moves input focus to the next control in tab order whereas pressing the left arrow m
61. zation practices but to highlight areas where Microsoft has preference or deviates from standard practices for Bulgarian localization Style Guide Conventions In this document a plus sign before a translation example means that this is the recommended correct translation A minus sign is used for incorrect translation examples In Microsoft localization context the word term is used in a slightly untraditional sense meaning the same as e g a segment in Trados The distinguishing feature of a term here is that it is translated as one unit it may be a traditional term as used in terminology a phrase a sentence or a paragraph References to interface elements really only refer to translatable texts associated with those interface elements Example translations in this document are only intended to illustrate the point in question They are not a source of approved terminology Always check for approved translation in the Microsoft terminology database Sample Text
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