Re: Vim explained in 6 Kbyte - Translation

Quick summary: it's a quirk of transliterating a word into a language that doesn't actually have the corresponding consonant sound.

Long version:

Technically, Arabic only has a single letter that does the work of both V and W. You see this in people starting from the Middle East and going all the way into India where they often mix the two together when speaking, especially when first learning a European language that does distinguish between the two sounds. 'Vorld Var II' and 'wolleyball', etc. So, V is often written as a F and what you see below is technically 'Fim'.

(I know most Indian languages don't use the same writing scripts, but they share that V/W ambiguity, all the same.)

You see a version of that F (ف) with three dots over it in Saudi Arabia that they pronounce like a proper V, but it's not a formal part of the language, so Vim ends up being Fim when written in Arabic (I would've chosen [VW]im, personally, so it would get pronounced as Vim or Wim) and risks getting transliterated incorrectly when brought back into English. 

Salman

On Sun, Nov 12, 2023, 11:13 Tom M <7tommm@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

Just our of curiosity I have put the text

>                              "ما هو فيم؟"
>                         شرح في ستة كيلوبايت.
> 
> فيم (بالإنجليزية: Vim) هو نسخة محسّنة من محرر نصوص أقدم
> يُعرف بإسم في آي (بالإنجليزية: Vi).

 into Google Translate to get English translation and this is what I've got:

> "What is Wim?"
>                          Explanation in six kilobytes.
> 
> Vim is an improved version of an older text editor
> Known as Vi.

Not the "Wim" in the first line. I expected this to be "Vim". All the rest has "Vim".

Is it an problem of the translation to Arabic or did Google do incorrect translation to English?

Or am I missing something?

Tom

On Monday, October 2, 2023 at 6:35:04 PM UTC+2 Christian Brabandt wrote:

On Mo, 02 Okt 2023, Harvey R wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
> I hope all is well.
>
> First of all, I am deeply saddened to hear about the loss of Mr. Moolenaar.
> Please accept my heartfelt condolences.
>
> Unfortunately, I am not a good programmer, and so I decided that it may be
> better to spread the word about Vim by translating the "Vim explained in 6
> Kbyte" into Arabic (my Arabic friends have helped me with the translation).
>
> So, I am writing to inform you that I have successfully completed the
> translation of the "Vim explained in 6 Kbyte" into Arabic. Throughout the
> translation process, I made sure to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the
> original documents while adapting them to cater to an Arabic-speaking audience.
> Please find the translated content, which is now ready for your review.
>
> I have followed the steps on https://vimonline.sourceforge.net/, but I am not
> sure if my emails get through to Sourceforge. So, I decided to post it here in
> the hopes that someone can advise me.
>
> Thank you for your hard work, as always.
>
> Wishing you the best.
>
>
> Harvey

Thanks, I can place it here: https://www.vim.org/6kbyte.php

Best,
Christian
--
Since when has the purpose of debian been to appease the interests of the
mass of unskilled consumers? -- Steve Shorter

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