Maria-sama ga Miteru:Format
Maria-sama ga Miteru Specific Formatting
These are the project guidelines and conventions to be used when working on Maria-sama ga Miteru. They are split between Translators and Editors. Seki wrote the original in 2008, which can be found on the talk page here. It has been modified to fit the current state of the project, and to address any future contributors in general.
Translators
Translators are asked to maintain these format guidelines as much as possible, within reason and skill. They are not required to adhere to typographical standards, such as writing soeur as sœur; use and/or placement of hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes; or any other markup-related formatting.
Terminology: Titles & Names
- All honorifics are to be used, following the author's use and placement.
- The school's name has been set as Lillian Girls' Academy.
- The terms Maria-sama and Gokigenyou should be left as is.
- The French titles are to be used when applicable: Rosa Chinensis, Rosa Gigantea, Rosa Foetida as well as en bouton.
- The French terms grande sœur, sœur and petite sœur should be left as is. Refer to words.
- The term onee-sama should be left as is when in reference/address to a grande sœur.
Perspective
Most of the text is in third-person narrative, yet the author had a tendency to switch into first-person every now and then, so there's an abrupt switch for those moments. Maintaining the author's style is preferred.
Formality
Lillian Girls' Academy is a prestigious private institution; the speech and mannerisms of the students within should follow suit. However, much like friends in real life, the characters can talk with familiarity. As Seki put it, translators should:
"[do their] best to make a distinction between when the characters are speaking formally and when they're not. . . . While it's a school for upper-class women, most of the students spoke quite casually to one another, particularly in the case of Yumi. Slang is out of the question, of course, but otherwise [keep] her speech rather normal. A few characters, such as Satou Sei, diving into slang and other such 'immature' modes of speech [are acceptable and in-character]. But, for characters like Sachiko (as well as certain 'modes' for characters), [try] to maintain as formal English as [possible]."
Specific word choice isn't crucial, and can be left to the editors if a translator wishes.
Words
There are a few recurring words that should be kept as is, whenever appropriate.
優雅 = Elegant
無垢 = Pure
華やか = Brilliant
結構 = Splendid
マリア様の心 = "Maria-sama's Soul"
スール = Sœur
Editors
Editors are asked to maintain these format guidelines as much as possible, within reason and skill. They are responsible for everything beyond the actual translation of the project, including typographical and markup formatting.
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