3 ms·

I created Localize.js (https://localizejs.com https://localizejs.com), a localization SaaS. Pluralization is a challenge, but we're able to solve this with som

by cj 12y ago

I created Localize.js (https://localizejs.com https://localizejs.com), a localization SaaS. Pluralization is a challenge, but we're able to solve this with some pretty simple HTML tags. For example: <div>I have <var pluralize="3">3</var> dogs!</div> Localize.js identifies the <var> tag with the pluralize attribute, and pluralizes the phrase to any language (including languages like Arabic which can have 6 different plural forms).

julie1 12y ago
You don't solve the inflexion problem. You would need something where the lemmization tokenization of the sentence is easily accessible to a grammar engine. Something horrible like: <div ><lemm="personnal pronoun">I</lemm> <lemm=verb>have</lemm>< <case=accusative quant=3><lemm=noun quantifier /><lemm=....</div>
- cj 12y ago
  Lemmatization isn't necessary in this case, as there's no need for a grammar engine. Here's how we handle pluralization on our backend (all abstracted away from the user): For a language with 2 plural forms (ie. French), we create 2 different phrases. One singular and one plural. Or for languages like Arabic, we create 6 different phrases for each plural form. We then send each plural form of the phrase to a human translator, who translates each phrase independently. This ensures proper plural forms for all variations, without the need for complicated grammar syntax.
mfenniak 12y ago
Huh. Localize.js sounds really cool. Fantastic idea. Can you explain your example a little more? What would translators see in this case for Arabic; would they need to provide three translations? And if there were two variables, nine translations? "Localization" also implies a lot more than just translation. Does Localize.js handle work like culture-specific number and date formatting? Different collation of records for different languages? How does it identify application-generated text versus user data (eg. on a blog, does it translate blog comments entered by readers, or just text like "Please enter a comment below")?
- cj 12y ago
  > What would translators see in this case for Arabic The Arabic translator would have to provide 6 different translations, one translation for each plural form. > And if there were two variables, nine translations? We currently only allow for pluralization based on one variable per phrase. We're hoping address this soon. > Does Localize.js handle work like culture-specific number and date formatting? We usually recommend libraries like moment.js to handle date localization. They do a fantastic job at localizing dates. > How does it identify application-generated text versus user data We provide a set of HTML markers that you can use to indicate to Localize.js that certain text should be translated. For example... <div class="blog-comments" notranslate> [...] </div> https://localizejs.com/docs/usage/variables https://localizejs.com/docs/usage/variables
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

by cj 12y ago

julie1 12y ago

You don't solve the inflexion problem. You would need something where the lemmization tokenization of the sentence is easily accessible to a grammar engine. Something horrible like: <div ><lemm="personnal pronoun">I</lemm> <lemm=verb>have</lemm>< <case=accusative quant=3><lemm=noun quantifier /><lemm=....</div>

cj 12y ago
Lemmatization isn't necessary in this case, as there's no need for a grammar engine. Here's how we handle pluralization on our backend (all abstracted away from the user): For a language with 2 plural forms (ie. French), we create 2 different phrases. One singular and one plural. Or for languages like Arabic, we create 6 different phrases for each plural form. We then send each plural form of the phrase to a human translator, who translates each phrase independently. This ensures proper plural forms for all variations, without the need for complicated grammar syntax.

mfenniak 12y ago

Huh. Localize.js sounds really cool. Fantastic idea. Can you explain your example a little more? What would translators see in this case for Arabic; would they need to provide three translations? And if there were two variables, nine translations? "Localization" also implies a lot more than just translation. Does Localize.js handle work like culture-specific number and date formatting? Different collation of records for different languages? How does it identify application-generated text versus user data (eg. on a blog, does it translate blog comments entered by readers, or just text like "Please enter a comment below")?

cj 12y ago
> What would translators see in this case for Arabic The Arabic translator would have to provide 6 different translations, one translation for each plural form. > And if there were two variables, nine translations? We currently only allow for pluralization based on one variable per phrase. We're hoping address this soon. > Does Localize.js handle work like culture-specific number and date formatting? We usually recommend libraries like moment.js to handle date localization. They do a fantastic job at localizing dates. > How does it identify application-generated text versus user data We provide a set of HTML markers that you can use to indicate to Localize.js that certain text should be translated. For example... <div class="blog-comments" notranslate> [...] </div> https://localizejs.com/docs/usage/variables https://localizejs.com/docs/usage/variables

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]