Re: Formatting of Simplified Chinese & Traditional Chinese

[Sean Wheller <swheller -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au>]

On Tuesday 21 January 2003 11:27 pm, Broberg, Mats wrote:
> Sean,
>
> Perhaps my original message was a bit unclear.
>
> Today I _do_ use a complete XML workflow for the manuals: authoring -
> version control - configuration management - translation - generation of
> translation memories in XTranslate/TRADOS - formatting in XEP/RenderX using
> XSL-FO.
>
> However, I was interested to hear how you deal with the fact that ways to
> emphasize text in European languages are not easily converted to CJK
> languages, since concepts like "bold" and "italic" don't connote the same
> meaning as they do in European languages. Using a Unicode typeface (e.g.
> Arial Unicode MS) - which was an early idea that I adopted - has its
> drawbacks since it either does not support "bold" and "italic", or does not
> support CJK script systems.
>
> This problem gets even worse when a source manual in English uses an Adobe
> MM typeface to typographically distinguish between code samples, menu
> commands, buttons etc in the original text. I was looking for ideas how
> these ways to distinguish between different concepts in a hardware or
> software manual are dealt with when translating into CJK and other SE Asian
> languages.

Matt,

Yes now it's much clearer. I think I understand the problem. Though I am not 
sure I can provide you with all the answers. Perhaps you may glean some ideas 
from my experience with i18n.

What I can say is that, as you know, your DTD does not format your document or 
it's content. Rather it is used to describe the document and its content. 
Formatting concepts like bold and italic are not part of your DTD. Bold and 
Italic only be defined in XSLT. Your processors output is the result of the 
input from your XML, DTD and XSLT. If the XSL stipulates an element as bold 
then it will be shown that way in the target.

My editing environment does not show me any font formatting. Everything is the 
same font. I can change it, but it will have no impact on the output font. 
Instead all I know is <guibutton> or <filename> or <command>. Syntax 
Highlighting is the only on screen formatting I see. Depending on which 
stylesheet I apply, each of the afore mentioned elements may be displayed in 
another formatting within the target. The choice of which font is also 
decided in the XSLT, so each language chooses the fonts it needs. 

In Hebrew bold and italic are used regularly, there are even bold and italic 
fonts. This does not mean you must use one of these fonts to format, it can 
be locally applied with a standard font like "david". One thing worth noting 
is that there is no upper or lowercase in print.

In Chinese I had notice that bold and italic are not used. Perhaps, as you 
say, it is a new addition in the evolution of Chinese publishing. I do notice 
that color is used to denote meaning. Problem is that this does not help when 
something is in B/W. Although a red font will print is a lighter shade of 
grey. In most boos the "terms and conventions" describes the use of bold and 
italic. Though in the Chinese I see they sometimes use a bold font and in 
other times change the font set. The effect is the same and for me , so long 
as the text is understandable, I remain happy. 

EN is always my first language. Hence any change to my xml source means that a 
translator must update the other language formats. As they are native 
speakers, they generally tend to do the best thing and meaning is very rarely 
lost. They manage the XSLT's for their language and I have to trust them. 
They are the experts for their language. My translation process is semi 
automated, part software and final part human. The only part that stays the 
untouched in all cases is the DocBook XML DTD elements. Other than that they 
are free to change as required. Though the changes are generally small and 
have a valid reason. Like if I make an <emphasis>, they may remove it.

So what I essentially have is an EN book and X number of language translations 
for that book. Once translated, each book is on its own until the next update 
to the EN. There is very little reuse between the various language files as 
software interfaces are generally localized. If not, then a mediaobject from 
EN is reused.

Interesting subject, I look forward to reading other peoples ideas and 
experiences.

Are you happy with XTranslate/TRADOS?

-- 
Sean Wheller
swheller -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au
XWriter




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