Amiga Glossary English�bersetzungsrichtlinien f�r Spezialausdr�cke in
Amiga- und CDTV-Dokumentationen
(Der Erl�uterungstext ist in Englisch gehalten, damit er auch f�r
ausl�ndische Softwareanbieter anwendbar ist.)
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Guidelines for German translations of Amiga documentation
Additional remark on 12.Nov.96: Within certain limits this glossary
can be used also for BeOS on the BeBox. Of course there will have
to be made adaptions to the different terminology, of which nothing
has happened yet in this version 9.
Version 9, 1.10.1992
by Dr. Peter Kittel, Commodore Frankfurt, Germany
This document is intended to help you make your German documentation for
your Amiga products consistant with the documentation Commodore provides
with its products. You should strictly follow these guidelines. Otherwise,
the user may be confused by several manuals talking about the same subject
in totally different ways.
For the same reason, these guidelines should be followed by authors of
computer books or magazine articles.
Though here more Amiga specific terms are covered, most of these
guidelines are also applicable for documentation for Commodore
MS-DOS PC's.
1. Part One is a simple vocabulary list where you will find many
Amiga-specific and general computer terms. You will not find terms
you can directly take from any normal English-German dictionary
that have no special or differing meaning in the computer world.
2. Part Two is a special glossary for CDTV. It has certain similarities
with Amiga, but also some significant differences. This part is not
only a vocabulary, but also comes with explanations of the terms and
when to use which of them. These explanations are in German.
3. Part Three is a collection of some general rules and hints for the German
language and documentation.
This document is provided "as is" and is subject to change. It reflects the
current status of the project.
First part: Vocabulary
American German
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# (number) Nr.
3-prong power plug Schutzkontaktstecker, Schukostecker
@ (at sign) a) letter: "Klammeraffe", "geschweiftes a",
b) meaning at: an, bei
AC Wechselspannung
AC adapter Netzteil
AC outlet Netzsteckdose
accelerator board Beschleunigerkarte
action gadget Aktionssymbol
activity light Kontrollampe
add-on Zusatz
alarm (clock) Wecker
alert Warnmeldung
allocate, to reservieren
ampersand kaufm�nnisches Und
animation Animation
argument (of a command) Argument
array Feld (-variable)
array subscript Feldindex
aspect (vert. or horiz.) Bildlage
aspect ratio Bildseitenverh�ltnis
assembly (language) Assembler
assign, to zuweisen
At sign "At"-Zeichen, "Klammeraffe"
autoboot Autoboot
autoconfig, to autokonfigurieren
AutoScroll Auto-Rollen
average current Betriebsstrom
back Hintergrund
back gadget Hintergrundsymbol
backdrop window Hintergrundfenster
backfilled ausgef�llt
backslash Schr�gstrich r�ckw�rts
backspace key R�cktaste
backup Sicherungskopie
bail arm B�gel (mit Andruckrollen)
bail roller Andruckrollen
bank, banks (of memory) (Speicher-)Bank, B�nke
batch file Befehlsdatei, Skript
battery-backed-up real-time clock
batteriegepufferte Echtzeituhr
baud rate Baudrate
BBS Mailbox
beep, to piepsen
bezel Blende
binary a) file: ausf�hrbares Programm,
b) else: bin�r
bit plane Bitplane (Speicherebene)
bitmap Bitmap
block statement a) Anweisungsblock,
b) Blocksteueranweisung
bob Bob
bold fett (precise: halbfett)
boldface Fettdruck
boolean operation boolsche Operation
boot, to (neu)starten (booten)
boot block Boot-Block
box (graphics) Feld, Rahmen
bridge slot Br�ckensteckplatz
bridgeboard Br�ckenkarte
brush Pinsel
buffer Pufferspeicher
bus Bus
button a) mouse: Taste (never: Knopf!),
b) the physical device: Knopf,
c) sort of gadget: Feld
bypass, to umgehen
cache der Cache (schneller Pufferspeicher)
calculator Taschenrechner
call Aufruf
cancel, to abbrechen
canvas Zeichenfl�che
Caps Lock key Taste "Nur Gro�buchstaben"
caret sign (^) Pfeilzeichen
carriage return Wagenr�cklauf
character chart Zeichensatztabelle
check box Auswahlfeld
check spelling Rechtschreibkontrolle
checkmark H�kchen
CHIP RAM Chip-RAM
circuitry Elektronik
clear, to l�schen
CLI CLI (Befehlszeileneingabe)
click, to w�hlen (mit der Maus), klicken
clipboard Zwischenspeicher, Clipboard
clock a) time: Uhr,
b) processor: Takt
clock speed Taktfrequenz
close gadget Schlie�symbol
close, to schlie�en
code (program) Programm (-Text)
coiled cable Spiralkabel
color cycling Farbzyklus
column Spalte
command line Befehlszeile
command template Befehlsschablone
compatible with kompatibel zu
complement, to invertieren
composite video signal Composite-Videosignal
compress, to komprimieren
component a) electronics: Bauteil,
b) else: Komponente
component siS replaced by double ss.
And also the number format differs in Switzerland: Where we
write 2.345.300,5 in Germany, they write 2'345'300,5.
6. Remember date and time format in Germany: dd.mm.yy, hh:mm:ss
always 24 hour! ("A.m." and "p.m." are totally unknown here!)
Also the number separators are just the other way round as in
English: in German, a long figure looks like 2.345.678,91 .
7. Some special remarks about numerical factors: There is a
convention for the letter k (and only for this) that it is
written in lowercase (normal) when it stands for a factor of
exactly 1000, as in kHz. But we write it as uppercase when
the factor 1024 is meant, like in KBytes. (This does not
apply for other letters like m/M where m stands for milli
and M for Mega.)
Also it probably will become a convention that a single,
uppercase "B" stands for Byte(s), whereas you have to write
"Bit(s)", if single bits are counted.
8. DO NOT use American rules for hyphenation. Especially the
German language consists of rather long words, so there is no
way to get around hyphenation (or it will look really ugly).
You MUST do it. Don't trust your text system for this - it may
be totally wrong because of strongly differing hyphenation
rules (e.g. in German you almost never are allowed to hyphenate
between an s and a t). You may be better off using a nationalized
version of your word processor (MS-Word German, in my experience,
is very trustworthy). Naturally, this goes for the spell checker
as well - disable it if you don't have a nationalized version.
And also then, German spell checkers can cover only far fewer
cases than American ones because of the complexer grammar of
German language.
9. Abbreviations: Only with a dot at the end, NOT with other
characters like slash. Likewise, alternatives are always indicated
by a slash: 12/24 Stunden. So, Software may be abbreviated as SW
(in this case even without a dot), but never as S/W.
Please follow the german rule to put a space inbetween a two-letter
abbreviation: d. h., z. B., z. Z., ...
10. You know in German you must write nouns together or at
least bind them together via hyphens. This sometimes leads
to ugly combinations like "der MPS-1230-Drucker". But this
can be solved easily by rearranging some words: "der Drucker
MPS 1230". This is possible and preferable on most occasions.
Other eample: instead of "der 68000-Prozessor" better write:
"der Prozessor 68000".
On other occasions you hardly can avoid long chains of words:
"das 880-KB-Floppylaufwerk". But you MUST use the hyphens!
11. A general hint: If you do something that is similar to parts
of normal Commodore shipments then look into the German
Commodore User Manuals in the appropriate chapters and try to
say it in similar words. Please do not confuse a user by naming
things totally different from the starter's manual he is
supposed to have read first. Mainly refer to the Glossary
section of the German 2.0 manual.
12. Many computer specific words are not translated at all but
taken directly as foreign words. Please add in this case an
explanation of the term on the first use/appearance.
13. There are several words where no German translation exists
at all. In these cases at least follow German rules of conju-
gation for verbs:
to PEEK --> PEEKen, PEEKte, gePEEKt (NOT: gePEEKed)
to POKE --> POKEn, POKEte, gePOKEt
to sample --> samplen, samplete, gesamplet (NOT: gesampled)
to edit --> edieren, edierte, ediert (NOT: editiert)
Some proposals for choice of genus for imported nouns (though
for some of these also exist translations):
der: Amiga, Cache, Chip, Chunk, Cursor, Drive, Hunk, Interrupt,
Joystick, Kickstart, Port, Printer, Record, Task, Track
die: Bank, CPU, Floppy, Workbench
das: Directory, EPROM, File, Flag, Gadget, Gate-Array, IC,
Interface, Memory, Modem, PROM, Prompt, RAM, ROM, Sprite,
Utility
14. When a manual with command line examples is set in a
proportional font, one should be very clear to show where
spaces are to insert in the command line and where not.
Better use multiple spaces to avoid confusing the reader:
search >to-file file "search text"
15. Please note that the paper formats in Europe differ strongly
from those in USA. There simply is no "Standard Three-Ring Binder".
Manuals that come as binder are in most cases in DIN A5 format
with a 2-ring binding. In few cases also binders in DIN A4 format
are used, that also may come with 4-ring binding, where all the
hole distances are the same as in the case of the 2-ring binding.
16. If you use standard icons or gadget images for certain items,
please note that also here exist regional differences.
If you e.g. show a world globe, this will appear in Europe in
a way that Europe is visible on it and not America, as is the case
for most of the american software.
Also the simple hammer picture of the OS, that serves as default icon
for tools, shows a hammer that's totally non-standard in Germany,
only used by such specialists like shoemakers. The standard hammer
here is the simple, plain form, and this is also better recognized
here.
A last example is a power plug and a wall outlet. They differ
strongly from country to country. So be cautious not to use some
imagery that perhaps doesn't get understood or in worst case gets
misunderstood.
17. Some idioms in German and some special cases:
As in English, Software runs "under" an operating system, "l�uft unter
einem Betriebssystem", not "in" it.
In German, something is "kompatibel zu" something, not "mit" something.
In German, use always "Grafik", don't write "Graphik" or "Graphic".
Definition of "Disk": We chose this for German as the general term
for floppy disks and harddisks, all that is writable. So the
workbench menu item "Disk formatieren" is applicable on both.
But when you explicitly talk about floppies of e.g. a shipped new
software version, then you should refer to them as "Disketten".
In contrast, we use "Disc" also in German for not-writable
CDTV CD's.
Files are stored "auf einer Disk" and "auf einer Partition" (the latter
is treated like an independent disk), but "in Verzeichnissen"
(directories) and "in Schubladen" (drawers).
The english word "release" has no really well fitted german
equivalent. In most cases you may use "Version", but there are
special cases, where in English you have both "version" and "release"
with different meanings. Then you better concatenate both into
a general "Version" information.
Avoid the german word "installieren". This is only acceptable when
dealing with really complex things, like a whole new operating
system or a hardware addition that also needs software drivers.
In most cases, words like "einsetzen", "einbauen" (mechanically)
or "kopieren" (software) are to be preferred.
Avoid the german verb "ablaufen" for programs as translation of
"to run". Programs just "laufen". There's also the noun "Ablauf",
this is more rare, but less critical. Also when prompting a user
"to run" a program, don't use "ausf�hren" in German. Only the computer
(or microprocessor) does this, not the user. Use "starten" or
"aufrufen" instead.
Don't always translate the english "to move" with "bewegen". This
has in German more the meaning of gradual, longer lasting movements.
This is ok e.g. for a normal cursor key. But if an operation happens
instantaneously, e.g. cursor to end of line, then you better use
"stellen" or "(um)setzen". Also, when files are moved to a different
drawer, use "verlegen".
The english "at the prompt" should be translated as "hinter der
Eingabeaufforderung", not as "an der Eingabeaufforderung".
The english "load from disk" should be translated as "von Disk
laden", not as "ab Disk laden".
The english "string" always translates to "Zeichenkette", not
"Zeichenfolge".
Computer mice and keyboards have "Tasten", not "Kn�pfe".
In German, you always use "Tabulatoren", never "Tabulatorstopps".
Amiga files you find in "(Unter-)Verzeichnissen" or "Schubladen", but
never in "Ordnern"!
18. Please avoid typical english comma rules in German! E.g. the
sentence "After installation of the hardware, all should work."
MUST NOT have a comma in its german translation: "Nach Einbau der
Hardware sollte alles funktionieren."
19. Here a little list of terms where you should avoid the english
word totally and only use the translation:
File --> Datei
Script --> Skript
Drawer --> Schublade (NEVER use "Ordner"!)
Directory --> Verzeichnis
Subdirectory --> Unterverzeichnis (NEVER use "Ordner"!)
Icon --> Piktogramm
Menu --> Men�
Gadget --> Symbol
Window --> Fenster
Screen --> Schirm
Requester --> Dialogfenster
Boot --> Start, Neustart
Mouse --> Maus
20. Menus: For the german version of the Amiga menu system, we have
decided to take a different approach for the casing of menu items.
If a menu item together with the menu title gives some meaningful
sentence, then the menu item starts with a lowercase letter (if it's
not a noun, of course). Example: "Projekt / speichern"
Also, when a menu item has an ellipsis appended (those three dots,
indicating the opening of a requester for details), we insert a
space before these dots in German. Example: "Projekt / �ffnen ..."
21. If there remain any questions about correct german spelling,
you should always refer to the "Duden". This is what "Webster"
is for USA, the highest authority in these issues. The "Duden"
has sort of legal authority. There exists a number of volumes
of the Duden, the most important one is "Rechtschreibung".