Introduction
Whether you're stepping in for the first time or returning, welcome (back)!
This guide serves as a compass for your work. Our global community shares a dedication to continual learning, and a pivotal part of this journey involves comprehending and following our guidelines.
It's crucial to grasp that this article provides a guideline—think of it as a starting point. It doesn't intend to be an exhaustive manual on language use.
Additionally, if a customer's instruction conflicts with the language guidelines, the customer's directive always supersedes the language guidelines.
1. Grammar
1.1. Agreement
1.1.1. Tense, mood, aspect, person (for verbs)
Although in Traditional Chinese, there are no strict distinctions on tense, mood, aspect, or person for verbs, as Western languages have, there are proper signifiers to reflect the tense, mood, and aspect of the source text in translation. Words that indicate tense, such as ‘已經’, ‘了’ and ‘過’, should also be used before or after the verb wherever necessary.
Examples
| Source text | Our technical support team is trying to solve this issue. |
| ✘ | 我們的技術支援團隊將要嘗試解決此問題。 |
| ✓ | 我們的技術支援團隊正在設法解決此問題。 |
| Source text | The operation has been completed. |
| ✘ | 此操作完成。 |
| ✓ |
此操作已經完成。 |
1.2. Determiners
Traditional Chinese has a much simpler system of determiners compared with Western languages, but there is one category that we must pay extra attention to: classifiers (量詞) in Chinese.
Traditional Chinese has a wide range of classifiers for different items. When you need to describe a certain amount of an item, you should use a proper classifier for that specific item.
Example
| Source text: |
We recently received a lot of emails regarding this issue.
|
| ✘ | 我們最近收到了多個詢問此事的電子郵件。 |
| ✓ | 我們最近收到了多封詢問此事的電子郵件。 |
Depending on the context, demonstratives like ‘這’(this) or ‘那’ (that) may be added when necessary. As for the plurality of nouns, please consider adding the word‘些’after the demonstratives.
Example
| Source text | The buses. |
| ✓ | 這些/那些巴士 (depending on the context) |
1.3. Prepositions
Translation of prepositions in Chinese may be tricky because the same preposition in English can be translated in different ways depending on the context. Sometimes, a preposition may be translated as a verb, or by using the possessive marker ‘的’ for readability.
Example
| Source text | a tool for building code |
| ✓ | 用於創建程式碼的工具 |
| ✓ | 適用於創建程式碼的工具 |
| ✓ | 創建程式碼的工具 |
1.4. Pronouns
In Traditional Chinese, you should pay extra attention to the translation of third-person pronouns, since they have more variants than Western languages.
For example, the pronoun ‘it’ in English has three variants in Traditional Chinese: ‘它’(referring to lifeless objects), ‘牠’(referring to animals), ‘祂’(referring to gods).
Additionally, the pronoun ‘they/them’ in English can refer to ‘他們’, ‘她們’, ‘它們’, ‘牠們’ and ‘祂們’ in Traditional Chinese, so you will need to use the correct selection according to the context when translating them.
Example
| Source text | They are our newly added features. |
| ✘ | 他們是我們最新加入的功能。 |
| ✓ | 它們是我們最新加入的功能。 |
1.5. Particles
There is a trio of conjunctions (structural particles) in Traditional Chinese that are often confounded with each other: ‘的’, ‘地’, and ‘得’. Although they sound similar and usually have the same placement in a phrase, they have totally different semantic roles. And here are the distinctions among them:
- 的
When used as a conjunction, ‘的’ is placed behind an adjective to connect a noun, a pronoun, a gerund, an adjective, or a phrase it modifies, e.g. ‘藍色的天空’.
- 地
When used as a conjunction, ‘地’ is combined with an adverbial to modify a verb behind, e.g. ‘飛快地奔跑’.
- 得
When used as a conjunction, ‘得’ is combined with an adverbial to act as a complement for the verb, adjective, or adverb ahead, e.g. ‘跑得快’.
In translation, we should be careful about the selection of these three conjunctions.
Example
| Source text | I am happy to inform you |
| ✘ | 很高興的通知您 |
| ✓ | 很高興地通知您 |
2. Orthography
2.1. Foreign words
Please note that Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese may sometimes adopt different lexical forms for the same foreign word. Please use the appropriate translation based on the region.
Example
| Source text | hacker |
| ✘ | 黑客 (commonly used in Simplified Chinese) |
| ✓ | 駭客 (commonly used in Traditional Chinese) |
2.2. Numerals
When dealing with numerals format (written in numbers or words), you must always respect the source text: if they are written as digits in the source text, this should be maintained in the translation; on the other hand, if they are written as words, they should be translated to the target language.
In Traditional Chinese, there is a different set of numerical separators from Western languages. Especially when it comes to larger numbers, you should use ‘萬’ (10 thousand) and ‘億’ (100 million), rather than million or billion, as separators.
Example
| Source text |
25 million
|
| ✘ | 25百萬 |
| ✘ | 2千500萬 |
| ✓ |
2500萬
|
Please note that in Traditional Chinese, we don't use decimal separators in numbers with Chinese numerical separators.
Example
| Source text | 25 million |
| ✘ | 2,500萬 |
| ✓ | 2500萬 |
For large numbers without Chinese numerical separators, you still need to use the same decimal separator as English (comma).
Example
| Source text | 25,300,400 |
| ✘ | 25300400 |
| ✓ | 25,300,400 |
2.3. Symbols
In Traditional Chinese, you don't need to place a whitespace between characters and symbols. However, you should always pay attention that some symbols in the source text may act as identifiers for machine recognition (e.g. ‘{ }’ ), so please do not alter them and the text within the target text.
Example
| Source text | Visit {course_name} |
| ✘ | 訪問 {course_name} |
| ✘ | 訪問{課程_名稱} |
| ✓ | 訪問{course_name} |
2.4. Whitespaces
Traditional Chinese usually doesn’t have whitespaces between characters/words. However, there are some exceptions, which are listed below.
- Place a whitespace before and after foreign words
Example
| Source text | On LeanCloud, the data storage is based on AVObject. |
| ✘ | 在LeanCloud上，數據存儲是圍繞AVObject進行的。 |
| ✘ | 在 LeanCloud上，數據存儲是圍繞AVObject 進行的。 |
| ✓ | 在 LeanCloud 上，數據存儲是圍繞 AVObject 進行的。 |
Note: When it comes to product and brand names with mixed scripts, follow the official usage as defined by the brand, even if it deviates from general spacing rules:
Example
| Source text | Douban FM |
| ✘ | 豆瓣 FM |
| ✓ | 豆瓣FM |
- Place a whitespace before and after numbers
Example
| Source text | I spent 5000 yuan on grocery shopping today. |
| ✘ | 今天出去買菜花了 5000元。 |
| ✘ | 今天出去買菜花了5000元。 |
| ✓ | 今天出去買菜花了 5000 元。 |
- Place a whitespace between numbers and units
Example
| Source text | The speed of the optical fibre cable of my house is 10 Gbps. And my SSD drive has a storage of 20 TB. |
| ✘ | 我家的光纖入屋寬頻有 10Gbps，SSD 一共有 20TB。 |
| ✓ | 我家的光纖入屋寬頻有 10 Gbps，SSD 一共有 20 TB。 |
Exception: There should not be any spacing between numbers and degrees/percentages.
Examples
| Source text | Today's temperature gets as high as 33°C. |
| ✘ | 今天是 33 °C 的高溫。 |
| ✓ | 今天是 33°C 的高溫。 |
| Source text | The new MacBook Pro gains a 15% boost on CPU performance. |
| ✘ | 新 MacBook Pro 有 15 % 的 CPU 性能提升。 |
| ✓ | 新 MacBook Pro 有 15% 的 CPU 性能提升。 |
- Do not place whitespaces before or after punctuation in full-width form
Example
| Source text | I just bought an iPhone, which made me so happy! |
| ✘ | 剛剛買了一部 iPhone ，好開心！ |
| ✓ | 剛剛買了一部 iPhone，好開心！ |
3. Punctuation
3.1. How to use punctuation marks
In Traditional Chinese, you should use full-width punctuation marks （，。？「」！）, rather than half-width punctuation marks in Western languages (, . ? “ ” !).
Here are some of the punctuation marks that you should pay extra attention to in Traditional Chinese:
- Enumeration (頓號)
Unlike English, when listing items in Traditional Chinese, you should use ‘、’ rather than ‘，’.
Example
| Source text | You should learn their interests, hobbies, habits and studying methods. |
| ✘ | 你應該了解他們的興趣，愛好，習慣和學習方法。 |
| ✓ | 你應該了解他們的興趣、愛好、習慣和學習方法。 |
- Hyphen & Dashes
Since Traditional Chinese doesn’t have a compound noun system like Western languages, we seldom use hyphen (-) in our language.
In Traditional Chinese, you should keep the same usage of en dash of the source text if it indicates a span or range of numbers, usually with spaces before and after.
Example
| Source text | You will find this material in chapters 8 –12. |
| ✓ | 你會在8 – 12章找到這些材料。 |
The em dash (──) is often used like parentheses, as it can also substitute for something missing. Unlike in English, we use a double em dash (——) in Chinese. So please do not use a single-em dash or en dash or even a hyphen when a double-em dash is needed.
Example
| Source text | The core of the auditorium building — The Central Hall. |
| ✘ | 大會堂建築的樞紐部分—中央大廳。 |
| ✘ | 大會堂建築的樞紐部分--中央大廳。 |
| ✓ | 大會堂建築的樞紐部分——中央大廳。 |
- Quotation marks
Please pay extra attention to the fact that Traditional Chinese has a unique set of quote marks (「」&『』), which is different from English (“ ” & ‘ ’), and Simplified Chinese (“”&‘’).
Example
| Source text | They are the best people you should turn to for these 'hacking' behaviors. |
| ✘ | 他們是處理這種“入侵行為”的最佳人選。 |
| ✓ | 他們是處理這種「入侵行為」的最佳人選。 |
- Ellipsis
For the usage of ellipsis (…) in English, we use a double ellipsis (……) instead. Please note that an ellipsis is not three periods (...). It’s a single punctuation.
Example
| Source text | You can win coins, exp, boosters... |
| ✘ | 您可以獲得金幣、經驗、道具... |
| ✓ | 您可以獲得金幣、經驗、道具…… |
- Guillemet (書名號)
In Traditional Chinese, you should use a unique set of guillemet (《》) to indicate the title of a publication or other forms of production.
Example
| Source text | According to “New York Times” |
| ✘ | 根據紐約時報的消息 |
| ✓ | 根據《紐約時報》的消息 |
- Interpunct (間隔號)
When translating a foreign person’s name into Traditional Chinese, you should add an interpunct (·) between his/her given name and the family name.
Example
| Source text | Albert Einstein |
| ✘ | 阿爾伯特愛因斯坦 |
| ✓ | 亞伯特·愛因斯坦 |
3.2 Punctuation in greetings and closings
Unlike English, it is preferred to use a colon (：) rather than a comma (，) after greetings in letters.
Example
| Source text | Dear Ms. Chen, |
| ✘ | 尊敬的陳女士， |
| ✓ | 尊敬的陳女士： |
In Traditional Chinese closings without any punctuation behind are preferred.
Example
| Source text | Best regards, |
| ✘ | 謹致問候， |
| ✓ | 謹致問候 |
4. Register
4.1. Grammatical and Lexical Registers
Register refers to the level of formality used in the text. It shows how our clients address their customers and it contributes to the voice of the brand itself. Register may vary depending on the company, the brand, the service they offer, the customers, and the target language.
We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.
Both these registers are also divided into formal and informal, as shown below.
We make a first main distinction between grammatical and lexical register: the first one regards the use of pronouns and verb person (for the languages to which this morphological feature is applied), while the latter is related to lexical choices since some words and expressions also have a degree of formality or colloquialism.
Both these registers are also divided into formal and informal, as shown below.
4.2. Formal Register
|
Category
|
Examples
|
Type of Register
|
|
Personal pronouns
|
您
|
Grammatical
|
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)
|
請
|
Grammatical
|
|
Possessive pronouns
|
您的
|
Grammatical
|
|
Greetings
|
您好、尊敬的先生/女士
|
Lexical
|
|
Closings
|
此致、謹致問候、順祝商祺
|
Lexical
|
|
Apologies
|
非常抱歉
|
Lexical
|
4.3. Informal Register
|
Category
|
Examples
|
Type of Register
|
|
Personal pronouns
|
你
|
Grammatical
|
|
Verbs (person used to conjugate the verb)
|
N/A
|
Grammatical
|
|
Possessive pronouns
|
你的
|
Grammatical
|
|
Greetings
|
你好
|
Lexical
|
|
Closings
|
祝好
|
Lexical
|
|
Apologies
|
對不起、不好意思
|
Lexical
|
5. Localization challenges
5.1. Proper nouns
Proper nouns refer to unique entities, such as persons, places, organizations, brands, events, etc. As foreign proper nouns are concerned, languages may adopt different rules regarding whether they should be translated or kept in the original language. When editing a text, you should follow your language rules for all different types of proper nouns listed below.
However, please note that if there is a glossary provided by the client that includes these types of units, you should always apply the glossary items.
5.1.1. Persons
For normal foreign persons’ names (not nicknames or aliases), you need to translate them properly. On its first appearance in the text, you should place the original name inside brackets after the translated name. Since there may exist several homonyms for the same name, please use the most commonly used Chinese characters.
Example
| Source text | Albert Einstein |
| ✘ | Albert Einstein |
| ✓ | 阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦 |
5.1.2. Places
For well-known place names (countries, cities, monuments), you need to translate them properly, unless the client indicates they are not translatable. Since there may exist several homonyms for the same name, please use the most commonly used Chinese characters.
Example
| Source text | Statue of Liberty in New York |
| ✘ | 位於紐約的Lady Liberty |
| ✓ | 位於紐約的自由女神像 |
5.1.3. Organizations
When it comes to well-known organizations, you should translate them properly in Traditional Chinese, unless the client indicates they are not translatable. Since there may exist several homonyms for the same name, please use the most commonly used Chinese characters.
Example
| Source text |
University of Birmingham
|
| ✘ | Birmingham大學 |
| ✓ | 伯明翰大學 |
5.1.4. Brands and products
As for brands and products that have an official Chinese name, you need to translate them into their proper Chinese name.
Example
| Source text | Apple Computer |
| ✘ | Apple電腦 |
| ✓ | 蘋果電腦 |
For brands and products that do not have an official Chinese name, you need to keep them untranslated and not alter their specific casing or symbols within.
Example
| Source text | iOS |
| ✘ | IOS裝置 |
| ✓ | iOS裝置 |
5.1.5. Other entities
For well-known entities such as art (paintings), events (festivals, theatre plays, etc.), names of boats (e.g. Titanic), etc., we need to translate them properly into Traditional Chinese, unless the client indicates they are not translatable.
Example
| Source text | Titanic |
| ✓ | 鐵達尼號 |
5.2. Acronyms and initials
Since there are no acronyms and initials in Traditional Chinese, for well-known abbreviations (e.g. AIDS, UN, etc.), you need to translate them properly; for specific abbreviations provided by clients, you can keep them untranslated.
Example
| Source text | AIDS |
| ✓ |
艾滋病
|
Example
| Source text | UN |
| ✓ | 聯合國 |
5.3. Date format
Regarding date format in Traditional Chinese, we tend to keep the numbers in digit form, and keep the date units in the order of year(年), month(月), day(日).
Example
| Source text | April 3, 2008 |
| ✘ | 2008年四月三日 |
| ✓ | 2008年4月3日 |
5.4. Time format
Regarding time format in Traditional Chinese, we tend to keep the numbers in the source text, but you must use half half-width colon (:) rather than full-width colon (：). For the time format am/pm, you can either convert it into a 24-hour format or translate them as 凌晨/上午/下午/晚上 accordingly.
Example
| Source text | 12:30 p.m. |
| ✘ | 12：30 p.m. |
| ✓ | 下午12:30 |
|
12 a.m.
|
凌晨12點
|
|
3 a.m.
|
凌晨3點
|
|
7 a.m.
|
上午 7 點
|
|
12 p.m.
|
中午12點
|
|
6 p.m.
|
下午6點
|
|
9 p.m.
|
晚上 9點
|
5.5. Measures
Measures should not be converted unless explicitly specified in the instructions. In Traditional Chinese, there are appropriate official translations for measurement units (eg. 5 公克 , 5 公里), please follow them in the translation. There's a whitespace between the number and the unit of measurement for all measurements except for temperatures.
Examples
| Source text | 20ft container |
| ✘ | 20ft的貨櫃 |
| ✓ | 20 英尺的貨櫃 |
| Source text | It's 13°C today |
| ✘ | 今天是 13 °C 的高溫 |
| ✓ | 今天是 13°C 的高溫 |
5.6. Currency
Currency values should be left as they are in the source text, only translating the currency.
Example
| Source text | 100 dollars |
| ✘ | 100 dollars |
| ✘ | 一百美元 |
| ✓ | 100 美元 |
For currency symbols (€, $, £, etc.) and initials (USD, GBP, RUB, INR, DKK, NOK, etc.), you need to translate them properly into Traditional Chinese too.
Example
| Source text | 20 GBP |
| ✘ | £20 |
| ✘ | GBP 20 |
| ✓ | 20英鎊 |
6. Tricky cases
Although there are many similarities between Traditional and Simplified Chinese, they are not just two different representations of the same characters. When translating into Traditional Chinese, please use the specific expressions, terms, and characters of Traditional Chinese and avoid using simplified characters.
Example
| Source text | Application |
| ✘ | 應用程序 |
| ✓ | 應用程式 |
| Source text | Reply |
| ✘ | 回復 |
| ✓ | 回覆 |
7. Most frequent errors
- Overly Literal
Traditional Chinese is very different from English in terms of expressions and sentence structure. If you translate the source text overly literally, the target text will be usually difficult to understand. You should try to modify the translated sentence with the correct expressions and sentence structures of Traditional Chinese.
Example
| Source text | Please feel free to reach out to us by email. |
| ✘ | 請隨時與我們聯繫通過電子郵件 |
| ✓ | 請隨時透過電子郵件與我們聯繫 |
- Lexical Selection
An English word may have multiple translations in Traditional Chinese, thus, you should select the most appropriate one according to the topic and context.
Example
| Source text | You can replay the levels as many times as you like to try and improve your high scores! |
| ✘ | 您可以多次重播關卡，盡量嘗試提高您的高分！ |
| ✓ | 您可以多次重玩關卡，盡量嘗試提高您的高分！ |
- Unnatural Expression
Only understanding the source text is not enough to deliver a good translation. Your target text should conform to the language habits of Traditional Chinese.
Example
| Source text | I'm sorry to hear that your system is giving you trouble. |
| ✘ | 對於得知您在系統上遇到問題我很抱歉。 |
| ✓ | 得知您在系統上遇到了麻煩，我深感抱歉。 |
8. Useful online resources
Bilingual dictionaries
English verb conjugator
English grammar guide
English dictionaries
Thesauruses
Other resources
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.