Tamil Wiki:Translation Guidelines
Based on our early efforts with translating articles on Tamil Wiki to English, here are some points to keep in mind / guidelines.
This is an evolving list, and as we continue to work on the translations, we will update here.
As far as possible, if all contributors keep to these guidelines, the posts will have a uniform quality.
- Who is our audience? **
We expect three kinds of readers for Tamil Wiki's English page -
1. People from Tamil Nadu, who speak Tamil, but read in English, who are curious about Tamil cultural space 2. People from non-Tamil speaking Indian states who read in English 3. People from countries outside India. This includes native and non-native speakers of English
Our aim is to write these articles in a simple, straightforward language that will be understood by all three kinds of readers.
- Style **
- Names - Capitalize both parts. Suneel Krishnan, not Suneel krishnan
- Avoid random capitalizations - “A. Madhaviah was a social reformer”, not “A. Madhaviah was a Social reformer”.
- Be consistent with spellings. Padmavathi Charithram / Padmavati Charithram / Padmavathi Charithiram are three different spellings. In general, use the spellings on Wikipedia, or the preferred spelling used by the personalities themselves. So Sundara Ramaswamy, not Sundara Ramasamy. Wherever the original article links to references, please use the references to get the spelling right. Particularly names of researchers and authors. So Raj Gauthaman, not Raj Gautam.
- I prefer to italicize names of Tamil books etc. but we can discuss this.
- Overall - we need to evolve a style guide and stick to it. We can base it on the Tamil guide.
- Translation Prose **
- Generally it is good to ask ourselves - who is our audience? People reading only in English. So translation needs to be accurate, informative, with a good reading flow, self-contained. When reading it one more time after finishing the translation, please smooth it over. In the end it should read like something written entirely in English.
- Avoid broken phrases. Write full sentences. Even if in Tamil it is a broken phrase, in English it does not sound right. So please write complete sentences. 1943-ல் மறைந்தார் - ‘Died in 1943’ sounds clipped. ‘He died in 1943’ is better.
- Use simple past wherever possible. 'அ. மாதவைய்யா தேசிய இயக்கத்தை ஆதரித்து கவிதைகள் எழுதியிருக்கிறார்.' --> A. Madhaviah wrote poems in support of the nationalist movement. Not 'A. Madhaviah has written poems in support of the nationalist movement.'
- Wherever it makes sense, two smaller sentences can be combined into a larger sentence. In Tamil we usually write short sentences with எழுவாய் பயநிலை. Same need not be preserved in English, it makes the reading clunky. English allows for making long sentences with 'and', commas, and so on. So wherever it makes sense we can write it like that.
- On the other side - sometimes Je writes long, complex sentences with a lot of information packed into it. Eg. 'தெலுங்கு நாட்டார் தெய்வமான மாதங்கி தமிழ் வழிபாட்டுமுறையில் உருமாறி நீடிப்பதைப்பற்றிய ஆய்வுநூலான Mathangi : A Curious Religious Institution தமிழ் நாட்டாரியல் பற்றிய ஆய்வுகளில் முன்னோடியான ஒன்றாக கருதப்படுகிறது." When writing this in English, we can absolutely split it up to make the meaning clear. If you can write it as a single complex graceful sentence, good for you :) But sometimes it is hard to find an elegant solution so I just split it up.
Example:
தெலுங்கு நாட்டார் தெய்வமான மாதங்கி தமிழ் வழிபாட்டுமுறையில் உருமாறி நீடிப்பதைப்பற்றிய ஆய்வுநூலான Mathangi : A Curious Religious Institution தமிழ் நாட்டாரியல் பற்றிய ஆய்வுகளில் முன்னோடியான ஒன்றாக கருதப்படுகிறது.
Alternative 1:
Worship of the Telugu folk deity Mathangi continued in the clans that migrated to Tamil Nadu, according to the Tamil customs. A. Madhaviah wrote a treatise on this, called "Mathangi : A Curious Religious Institution". It is considered one of the pioneering studies in Tamil folklore.
Alternative 2:
A. Madhaviah wrote a treatise about the Telugu folk deity Mathangi, called "Mathangi : A Curious Religious Institution". In it he describes how the worship of Mathangi continued in the Telugu clans that migrated to Tamil Nadu, according to Tamil customs. It is considered one of the pioneering studies in Tamil folklore.
Alternative 3:
A. Madhaviah's treatise 'Mathangi: A Curious Religious Institution' about the Telugu folk deity Mathangi who is continued to be worshipped in the Tamil lands according to Tamil customs is considered one of the pioneering studies in Tamil folklore.
