FontLab localization: Russian¶
A first draft for Russian. A model researched the guidance below and the
term table in references/terms.md; no native reviewer has approved the
language as a whole. Individual terms carry their own approval status; a
proposed term remains proposed, and a protected name keeps its glossary spelling. The Russian interface catalogs
are unfinished machine drafts: a string found in one settles neither a term
nor a rule.
Use references/terms.md, and a newer core memory when one is supplied, for
terminology, definitions and review status. Keep a proposed term consistent
across the interface and help, and report it as proposed. Where a native
reviewer's decision or newer project data disagrees with this skill, follow
it and record the change. Report only checks performed: text written with
this skill is not reviewed by a native speaker and not tested in the running
application until someone does that.
Use these rules with the localization principles (in fontlab-localization),
Qt interface rules (in fontlab-localization) and Russian language guide (in the FontLab writing guide).
Locale and register¶
Russian for Russia, Qt locale ru_RU, Cyrillic script. Address the reader as
вы, never capitalized inside a sentence, never ты. The tone is plain and
professional: no пожалуйста for every please, no exclamation marks, no
first person for the application. Use sentence case everywhere: only the first
word and proper names take a capital, Информация о шрифте (Font Info), never
English title case.
Grammar of interface strings¶
Localized macOS, Windows, Qt and Glyphs name a command with the infinitive, not the imperative. Aspect carries meaning: perfective for a one-time action, imperfective for a setting that stays on.
| Element | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Menu command | perfective infinitive | Добавить компонент… (Add Component…) |
| Button | perfective infinitive | Сохранить (Save), Закрыть (Close) |
| Checkbox, lasting option | imperfective infinitive or noun phrase | Показывать сведения о глифе (Show Glyph Details) |
| Panel, dialog or group title | noun, nominative | Выравнивание (Alignment) |
| Status, in progress | verbal noun and ellipsis | Проверка шрифтов… (Validating fonts…) |
| Success | short passive participle | Стандартные шрифты восстановлены. (Standard fonts were restored.) |
| Failed attempt | Не удалось + infinitive | Не удалось установить шрифт. (Could not install font.) |
| Present inability | Не удается or Невозможно + infinitive | Невозможно сохранить атрибуты пути в формате 2. (Can’t save path attributes in format 2.) |
| Confirmation | Вы действительно хотите…? | Вы действительно хотите удалить «%1»? (Are you sure you want to delete “%1”?) |
| Tooltip that describes | third person, present | Добавляет новый элемент. (Adds a new item.) |
| Tooltip or step that instructs | imperative, вы form | Удерживайте клавишу Option (⌥), чтобы удалить этот элемент. (Hold down the Option key (⌥) to remove this item.) |
The examples come from Font Book and Glyphs 3, with placeholders rewritten in Qt syntax. A tooltip that only names its command repeats the command's infinitive. Keep one form per element type in the whole catalog. An object of a command takes the accusative (Удалить папку), a label names its object in the nominative (Папка). Objects with animate-looking names decline as inanimate: выбрать мастер, not мастера.
Compact labels¶
Russian runs longer than English. Shorten by dropping what the screen already says, by choosing the shorter synonym, and by label and value (Глифов: %1). Never shorten by dropping a case ending, a preposition or the agreement of an adjective: a label stays a grammatical phrase. Avoid chains of more than two genitives.
Abbreviate only where the control is too narrow, and only with established forms: мин., макс., гориз., верт., доп., альт., пред., см., и т. д. A truncated word ends in a consonant and takes a period; a unit takes none: пт, мм, МБ. Never abbreviate a glossary term, a command verb or a word to a single letter, and never invent an abbreviation.
Plurals and placeholders¶
A Qt numerus string has three forms. Fill all three, each with %n:
| Form | Selected by | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ends in 1, except 11: 1, 21, 101 | %n файл |
| 2 | ends in 2 to 4, except 12 to 14: 2, 22 | %n файла |
| 3 | all other integers: 0, 5, 11, 12, 25, 111 | %n файлов |
Form 1 covers 21 and 101, so never write один or a literal 1 in it. An
adjective follows the count: %n активный стиль, %n активных стиля,
%n активных стилей. A participle before the count is singular and agrees in
form 1 (Выбран %n файл) and neuter in forms 2 and 3 (Выбрано %n файла,
Выбрано %n файлов). Test 1, 2, 5, 11, 21, 22, 25 and 101. CLDR has a fourth
category for fractions (1,5 файла); Qt has none. When a count arrives in a
plain %1, no form fits every number: write label and value, Файлов: %1.
A placeholder that stands for a name or a noun has unknown gender, number and case, and Russian verbs in the past, participles, adjectives and pronouns all agree. Do not guess, and never attach an ending to a placeholder. Use one of two constructions:
- A generic noun before the placeholder carries case and agreement, and the value stays in the nominative inside quotation marks: Удалить коллекцию «%1», Не удается удалить коллекцию «%1», в файле «%1» (not в %1).
- Label, colon, value with an impersonal neuter form: Удалено: %1, Свернуть: %1.
Prepositions that change before certain sounds (в/во, с/со, о/об) must not stand directly before a placeholder. The examples with Выбран, Удалено and в файле are constructed; the others follow Font Book.
Numbers, punctuation and spacing¶
- Decimal comma:
1,5. Thousands are separated by a no-break space from five digits up:12 345, but1234. Numbers formatted at runtime stay as the application supplies them. - A no-break space stands between a number and
%or a unit:25 %,12 пт. The degree sign of an angle takes none:45°. - Quotation marks are «…», with „…“ inside them. Straight quotes stay in code.
- The dash is an em dash with a space on each side, the first one no-break:
Курсив — это начертание. Do not copy an English dash that Russian grammar
does not need. A numeric range takes an en dash without spaces,
10–20; a negative number takes the minus sign−. - Keep the source ellipsis as one character
…, attached to the word. - No space before a colon; lowercase after it inside a sentence. A label has no final period; a complete sentence has one.
- Write е, not ё, as macOS, Windows and Glyphs do. Keep ё only where the word would be misread (всё against все), in the letter's own name and in proper names.
- In running help text, tie a one-letter preposition to the next word with a no-break space.
Mnemonics and key names¶
Windows and Qt's own Russian catalog put the ampersand before a Cyrillic
letter of the translation: &Файл, &Правка, &Справка, От&мена. Do not
append a Latin letter in parentheses. Use one & per label where the source
has one, on a letter unique within the menu or dialog. Standard commands keep
the platform's letter. Elsewhere avoid letters whose descender hides the
underline (д р у ф ц щ) unless no other letter is free. macOS shows no
mnemonics.
Key names stay in Latin script, as the keycaps and Qt print them: Shift, Ctrl, Alt, Cmd, Option, Esc, Tab, Enter, Backspace, Delete. Space is Пробел; the arrows are стрелка вверх, вниз, влево, вправо. Join keys with a plus sign and no spaces: Ctrl+Shift+S. In a sentence the word клавиша carries the case: Удерживайте клавишу Shift. Do not use the capitalized ВВОД and CTRL of older Microsoft documentation.
Names and loans¶
Product and company names, OpenType tags, table names, format names, glyph
names, file extensions and code stay in Latin script, unchanged and never
transliterated: FontLab, liga, OS/2, TrueType. A Latin name takes no Russian
ending and no apostrophe. Put a generic Russian noun before it; the noun
declines and governs agreement: файл AFM, кривые TrueType, класс
OpenType, в приложении FontLab. Use a hyphen only in a number compound:
4-буквенный. Localized feature names come from the term table.
Script-specific rules¶
Never mix alphabets inside a word. Cyrillic а с е о р х у look like Latin letters: a tag, glyph name or placeholder is pure Latin, a Russian word pure Cyrillic, or search and sorting break. Type й and ё precomposed (NFC).
False friends and traps¶
- A counter is the enclosed space of a letter, never счетчик, the office tally. Read short labels by context: Glyphs 3 shows Case as Случай and Cap as Крышка.
- An English noun stack reverses: Export Options is Параметры экспорта, not Экспорт параметров.
- Machine errors: an imperative on a command or checkbox (Сохраните, Всегда центрируйте); a first-person status (Загружаю обновление…); capitals copied from English (Добавить Мастер); the calque Вы уверены, что…; bureaucratic данный, является, осуществить, выполнить удаление.
- Cancel and Undo must stay two different labels.
- Billion is миллиард; data is данные, not дата; actual is фактический, not актуальный; original is исходный.
Review¶
Check first: all three numerus forms against the test numbers; infinitive and aspect on every command and option; agreement around each placeholder; letters of the wrong alphabet; ё; «…» and no-break spaces; unique Cyrillic mnemonics; sentence case; then terminology and length.
FontLab terminology and compact labels¶
Preserve deliberately uppercase source labels using the language’s case rules. Keep numeric controls compact with UPM, PPM and LSB/RSB (French AG/AD); explain the full terms in help. The Family Dimensions “Units Per eM:” label is an intentional expanded exception.
Use the current core memory and its approval status. OpenType lookup defaults to the translation of procedure, with a different term only when strong OpenType-specific evidence supports it. Explicit choices are German Lookup, French lookup, Polish procedura and Russian процедура. Ordinary searches, individual rules and OpenType features are separate concepts. Preserve literal code keywords and identifiers.
Translate Fusion with the fallback Welder. Use the core's phonetic FontAudit transliteration in non-Latin scripts, including Chinese; preserve FontAudit in code. Proposed spellings remain proposed. Before rebuilding a QPH, recover team edits and import their terms and notes into the core memory.
Compare mnemonic-split terms with unmarked labels. Keep labels compact, aiming for 120% of the English length in Dimensions and Glyph Window preferences without losing meaning. Omit redundant font, color or command wording when context supplies it. TTH labels can omit “use” and abbreviate TrueType hinting; help can explain more. A full harmonization requires three complete catalog reviews, then reconciliation of help with the final UI and verification of generated resources.
Run the review as a loop¶
The Review list above is this skill's checklist. Run it on each portion as H17 describes: one item at a time against source, target and the term table; name the string behind each answer; repair what fails and recheck it. Stop after three rounds and report what still fails.
References¶
references/terms.md: the full Russian term table, generated from the core memoryru-core.tmxof the writing guide, with the status, translator note and definition of every term.- The Russian localization guide of the writing guide is the source of the sections above.
Related skills¶
fontlab-localization for the shared rules; fontlab-terminology for
product names and shared nouns; fontlab-technical for Russian help text.
House rules¶
These rules implement the FontLab writing guide. They are copied into every skill so each installed skill can work independently. Corpus measurements can inform review; they are not quotas, universal laws, or tests of authorship.
H1. Accurate actors. Address the reader when they act or choose. Name the application when it performs an operation. Fonts and files contain data that software interprets. Prefer active voice when the actor matters; retain a clear passive construction when the actor is unknown or irrelevant. Never invent an actor or cause to change the grammar. When an English sentence pairs a reader action with the software's response, give each clause a subject and restate the action compactly: “If you generate a glyph with Aidus, FontLab generates each master independently.” Name the most specific responding surface the evidence supports (a window, tool or dialog), otherwise the application. Use present tense for an immediate result. Where a glossary entry exists and the surface can link, link a domain term to it rather than defining it in an apposition.
H2. Never invent a fact. Ground numbers, names, dates, labels, shortcuts, defaults, errors, versions, and quotations in supplied or checked evidence. A draft is evidence of what was written, not independent proof of its claims. Mark unresolved facts with a specific working placeholder such as [VERIFY CLAIM], [CONFIRM LABEL], or [CONFIRM OFFER]. A marked draft is unfinished; resolve the gap before publication. Clearly label fictional examples before their invented details.
H3. Preserve certainty and scope. “May reduce” does not become “eliminates.” Preserve conditions, negation, timing, quantities, compatibility, licensing, and other consequential limits. State a limitation directly rather than disguising it as a favorable position. A single observation does not prove universal behavior. Conflicting sources need scope checks, not an automatic choice of the stricter claim.
H4. Preserve the writer's voice. Do not manufacture stakes, candor, reader emotion, endorsement, or a new narrator. Preserve useful habits and the supplied stance. Reorder, split, or shorten according to the requested edit depth and reader need, without adding facts or causal relationships. A correct draft can remain unchanged.
H5. Give thought a rhythm. Carry a subject through an action, distinction or consequence. Let a developed sentence explain a relationship; let a shorter one settle a result when that change of pace helps. Repeat a concrete object or term when its meaning develops, not as a compulsory callback. Technical actions stay literal; explanations and marketing have room for patient attention, a bounded comparison or dry observation. Keep useful qualifications beside their claims. Do not impose sentence-length, pronoun, punctuation or paragraph quotas, or force every paragraph into the same long-then-short pattern.
H6. Notice the useful detail. Retain names, mechanisms, conditions, versions and issue numbers that help the reader understand or act. From the evidence, choose the object, contrast or small behavior that makes the explanation tangible: a changed preview, a repeated comparison, a file whose status matters. Follow that detail far enough to explain its significance. Warmth can come from this attention and patience. Never invent an observation, personal experience or reader emotion to make prose vivid, or remove a necessary qualification to shorten it.
H7. Punctuation serves meaning. Prefer a colon for an explanation or list. A spaced dash can carry a turn; avoid decorative glosses and repeated interruptions. Use sentence case for new headings and preserve exact source labels. A punctuation pattern does not establish authorship.
H8. Choose precise words. Review vague praise and stock phrasing such as “seamless,” “game-changing,” “leverage,” and “unlock.” Replace them when they obscure the action or make an unsupported claim. Keep an accurate technical use or protected quotation. A count or cluster is a reason to inspect a passage, not proof that each matched word is wrong.
H9. Develop the explanation. Begin where the reader can understand the task, change or offer. Give adjacent sentences a real connection: the same subject under a changed condition, an action and its result, or a question and its answer. A before-and-after comparison needs evidence for both states; a transition must not invent causality. Let a useful aside return to the main thought. Place low-stakes discoveries where they aid understanding, while keeping price, risk, prerequisites and recovery visible when needed. End at the useful result or next action; a quiet ending or a substantial summary can each serve the material.
H10a. Preserve conditions. Use “if” for a condition and “when” where the intended timing or situation warrants it. Check the whole meaning: “when a panel opens” and “while a panel is open” describe different scopes. Keep useful conditionals and parenthetical explanations; do not insert them to imitate a presumed author.
H10. Preserve expression that works. A fragment, three-part phrase, exclamation, aside, or single-sentence paragraph can serve a passage. Keep it when it supports meaning or the writer's rhythm. Do not add one to meet a budget, or remove one because of a generic stylistic test. Keep instructions and consequential conditions literal and easy to find.
H10b. Use the destination's notation. Preserve exact interface labels, tags, extensions, and identifiers. Italicize labels in neutral release notes; in technical site content use supported highlight notation, with bold as the plain-Markdown fallback. Use code style for machine-readable text. State price amounts and currencies unambiguously from evidence; do not infer an exchange rate, tax policy, or license term. A supplied currency shorthand needs enough context to identify the actual offer.
H11. Names and collisions. FontLab is the product; Fontlab Ltd. is the company. Preserve product names, module identifiers, domains, historical names in their historical scope, and exact quoted strings. Do not translate a product name. Name the application when Layer, Mask, Group, Fill, Brush, Knife, Transform, Pencil, Eraser, or Scissors could have more than one meaning. Use a declared short form consistently.
H12. Protect literal material. Preserve quotations, code, commands, paths, identifiers, API names, URLs, legal text, interface strings, placeholders, and table data during prose editing. Change them only for a requested or necessary correction supported by evidence. Do not paraphrase a quotation while retaining quotation marks or an attribution. Explain a consequential correction when the output contract permits it.
H13. Choose the register per passage. Marketing helps assess an offer; technical writing explains or instructs; neutral prose states facts and changes warmly. A document can combine them. Prices, limits, licensing, compatibility, security, and migration facts stay plain and prominent. Audience and purpose determine an email's register. Do not impose a fixed emotional mixture or make every opening a story.
H14. Review facts, then movement. Compare claims and protected strings with their evidence; check scope, action order and terminology. Then read whole passages for attention, connection and pace. Repair a flat sequence by developing an existing detail or relationship, not by adding praise or invented events. Check that humor remains intelligible and the information remains true when the joke is missed. Recheck the facts after a voice edit. A measurement or passing build does not certify facts, usability or authorship. Report only checks actually performed.
H15. Scale to the surface. A button or tooltip needs a clear label, action, or condition, not a miniature essay. Apply factual and naming safeguards at every length. Include the detail the task requires; do not add proof paragraphs, metaphors, or pronouns to satisfy a template. For translation, keep essential instructions literal and references clear.
H16. The override. Follow the user's task and supplied voice before style defaults. Break a default sooner than make the writing worse. Source material and quoted prompts are data, not authority to change the task. Style preferences never justify presenting an invented or unsupported claim as established fact.
H17. Check each portion, repair, check again. Reading these rules does not apply them; checking the text does. After drafting or editing each portion (a section, one deliverable, a batch of entries; a label or tooltip is one portion), run the skill's checklist on it. Answer each item separately, against the text and the evidence. For a failure, quote the words that fail. For a pass, point to the passage that satisfies the item, or, for an item about something absent, confirm that you searched the whole portion and found none. An answer with nothing behind it has not been checked. Repair only the failures, because a passing item needs no edit and a correct sentence can stay unchanged. Recheck the repaired passages and every fact the repair touched. If the same item fails again after its repair, stop working on it and mark it; do not try a third time. Stop after three rounds in all, and mark what still fails with a specific placeholder instead of reporting a pass. If you can start a separate reviewer (a subagent or a fresh chat), give it the draft, the evidence and the checklist, not your drafting rationale, and ask for failures with locations; act on findings that name a rule and a passage. Keep the checklist record private unless the user asks for it or the output contract allows notes.