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On 9/07/09 04:41 PM, Saunders, Ian wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Can anyone tell me whether colons used to introduce lists, sequences, etc. cause problems for text localisation/translation?
>
> If they do not have this function in all languages (that are likely to require translated versions!), would you expect the person doing the translation to deal with them, or would you be expected to modify your text in some way before it gets translated (e.g. replace them with periods)?
>
Our localization people have not indicated that colons are
a problem. However, they do have several recommendations
about list introductions and verbs. For example, do not
use a split infinitive with lists, so that the list
introduction reads, for example, "This feature enables
you to:" because not all languages have infinitives
that use this structure. (If you have a copy of
_Read Me First_, we cover this information in
Chapter 2.)
-- Janice
***********************************************************
Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with
janice -dot- gelb -at- sun -dot- com | this message is the return address
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