Format guideline

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This page came about to lay down some foundation Guidelines to assist Editors & Translators alike to create a consistent reading format though out all the novels, to ensure the best Haruhi experience.

This page will be updated to include all terms, formats notes and other points for this project, it should always reflect the joint agreements of all parties.

This does not mean the Translators will have to take it upon themselves to apply the guidelines. This guide will mainly affect Editors, and we stress to Translators not to take it upon themselves to change their habits or preferences that will hamper your progress.

In short let the Editors do all the hard work, while you lot can continue to concentrate on the Translating (^-^)/

But as this implies this is not a Rule. It is a Guide, and you will not be punished for not agreeing to it, but at the same time know that any edits which will not comform to this guide will be corrected by other Users.

I strongly advise that if you really do have an issue with some of these accepted points, that you please add your voice to the Discussion on the Talk page, before you edit.



Suzumiya Haruhi Series Format Guidelines

This page is a style guide for Suzumiya Haruhi Project. The consensus of many Editors & Translators formed the conventions described here. Translated Chapters should heed these rules. Feel free to update this page as needed, but please use the discussion page to propose major changes.

Translators

  • Work will be divided by Chapters per Volume


  • You are required to register which Chapters you wish to work on


  • Registration is on a "First Come, First Served" please register your intended chapters on the Registration Page


  • The maximum number of chapters you are recommended to work on is no more than half of any given volume



  • Maximum number of volumes you may be active on is one


  • Do not worry about first drafts, it will be the Editors job to clean it up. Discussion between Editors and Translators are advised.

Onizuka-gto 15:51, 23 April 2006 (PDT)


  • The Registration page is not some Binding Contract of "I must do the work I put down here". Choices put down here are negotiable between translators (including their own selves who signed up for it).

Psieye 17:01, 23 April 2006 (PDT)


  • Anonymous Translated Contributions are required to inform thelastguardian and the designated Project Translator of the intend Chapters as shown on the Registration page before any major contribution

Onizuka-gto 17:33, 23 April 2006 (PDT)


  • In the event that another Translator wish to work on a Chapter that has already been registered, provided that s/he has translated the entire Chapter before hand, they may publish the script, but must mark it for all so that it is a "preview" which can be taken down without prior warning.


  • Registered Translator of chapters which has "Preview" scripts has the right to take down or keep the script as see fit, when they are ready to work on that chapter.

Onizuka-gto 05:18, 14 June 2006 (PDT)

Editors

  • Editors are required to justify in the related chapter Talk page for Major Edits. Which could be considered disputable


  • Always fill in the summary box on all non-minor edits


  • Editors are advised to communicate with Translators for any Major Edits


Onizuka-gto 14:32, 25 April 2006 (PDT)


Anonymous Editors

  • Anonymous Editors are Welcome, but please note that any large edits, which are considered further then grammar and spelling corrections, must be justified in the Discussion page before hand.


  • Anonymous Editors be aware that your edits will be reverted if you have not complied to the above points, this is to prevent perceived vandalism.


  • Registration is free, and we strongly advised that you do, in order to acknowledge worthy contributions


  • Always fill in the summary box after all edits, one word is better then nothing.


Onizuka-gto 15:57, 23 April 2006 (PDT)


Dialogue and Narration Syntax Section

  • No parenthesis (a.k.a. inverted commas/double quotation marks) for when Kyon's "inner dialogue leaks out"


  • No-line break for lines that directly reference a character's line


  • Use original tenses for Kyon's narration. For cases where this seems awkward, apply the following rule of thumb:
Prologue and Vol 1 Ch 1 are Kyon's Backstory telling, therefore should default to Past Tense. Ch 2+ are Kyon living out his experiences, so default to Present Tense (and secondarily to Immediate Past Tense).

--Psieye 15:46, 23 April 2006 (PDT)


  • Since there's not much sarcasm within the Japanese language, an exclamation mark is used to emphasize Kyon's sarcasm on Haruhi's eccentricities. In Chinese, as the grammatical structure is similar, the punctuations are carried over. However, in English, Kyon's sarcastic and witty remarks actually works better ending with a fullstop than with an exclamation mark, since sarcasm in English is very subtle, the reader can sense it even without the exclamation mark.

--Kinny Riddle 14.20, 24 April 2006 (BST)


  • Please use past tense for all of Kyon's narration as with most of what I've read. This is the case for the latter chapters of volume one. The translators seem to use present tense for Kyon's constant tsukkomi (commentary), which is great. Perhaps the error that I correct the most is tense agreement within the same paragraph or sentence.

--Eleutheria 04:17, 27 April 2006 (EST)


In my opinion, proper sarcasm does not always need to be accentuated by adding exclamation marks, which normally connotes heightened emotions, be it surprise, happiness, anger .etc Basically, sarcasm is intended to be a witty ridicule which, more often than not, is fairly subtle.

e.g. "I watched Amy perform at the concert the other day." I mentioned. "Oh really? I heard she wants to become a professional singer one day. How was her singing?" Mavis queried. "Oh she does, does she? In which case, I shall remember to wish her all the best the next time I see her." I smiled.

Thus, not all of Kyon's sarcastic remarks or thoughts should have exclamations added to them but should be worded in a similarly sarcastic fashion, without adapting the meaning of the original text as much as possible.

--Da~Mike 12:00, 5 May 2006 (GMT)


Correct English Terms

In this section we list the agreed English terms for specificly important words.


  • Due to the nature of this website, and the nationality of the majority of Editors & Readers the standard spelling lexicon for this project will be based upon American English as defined by the Fourth Edition of the American Heritage Dictionary


Onizuka-gto 12:32, 26 April 2006 (PDT)


  • Yuki's Alien Group

Integrated Data Sentient Entity/Information Synthesis Thought Entities


  • Itsuki's Supernatural Group

"Kikan", "機関" = 'Organization'

(Single quotes used throughout to avoid syntactic confusion when this name appears in quoted phrases.--Nutcase 05:49, 12 February 2007 (PST))

Note: It has been conjectured by that the name of Itsuki's group is a reference by the author to the "Instrumentality of Man" in the science fiction classics by Cordwainer Smith.


  • "Literature Club" not "Literacy Club"


  • "Class 1-5" not "Fifth Class" etc


  • "Aliens, Time Travellers, Sliders and Espers" as opposed to say "futurian" or "out-of-worlder"

--Psieye 21:26, 25 April 2006 (PDT)

  • Why "Espers" for 超能力者？ Esper implies only a tlepath, while 超能力者 can mean any kind of person with supernatural powers, though they are usually psychic in nature. "Psychic" is perhaps a better match.

--Kerry 16:12, 1 November 2006 (PST)


  • "Classified information" rather than "No comment" for information Asahina is unable to tell


  • Haruhi's Mental Manifestation

"Shinjins"= "Avatars"


Note: Literally meaning "God like Being", Shinjins reflect Haruhi's mental condition; it can be likened to the "Angels" from "Neon Genesis Evangelion", whose mental boundaries are physical, unlike humans who keep mental conflicts within their organic minds. Haruhi's mental state manifests within an alternative "Sealed Reality" on earth to vent her cognitive dissonance.


  • Name of the alternative reality Haruhi's mental state appears

"Heisa Kuukan"= "Sealed Reality"


Note: This is where the "Avatar" of Haruhi manifests itself to vent her cognitive dissonance. It is literally a parallel reality effectively locked within a region on earth. While physical landmarks such as buildings, streetlights, and roads are present and are frequently attacked by Haruhi's "Avatar" in this alternate reality, no humans are ever present. This environment is colored in a uniform shade of grey, and only members of the "Organization" can enter this "Sealed Reality".


  • Name of the School Club

"SOS DAN", "SOS団" = "SOS Brigade"


"Sekai wo Ooini moriagerutame no Suzumiya Haruhi no Dan", "世界を大いに盛り上げるための涼宮ハルヒの団"= "Save our world by Overloading it with fun: Suzumiya Haruhi Brigade"

Note: The literal translation of the full name of the club is: "Group of enjoying the Suzumiya Haruhi in order to uplift the world greatly". [The above requires additional info & clarification]

Perhaps a better literal translation of the above is: "Suzumiya Haruhi's group for greatly enlivening the world". The difficult part to translate is 盛り上げる [moriageru], which can mean to make something more fun, lively, or interesting. It is usually used with regards to a party, class in school, or some other group activity. There is no direct English translation. --Kerry 16:22, 1 November 2006 (PST)

Common Japanese Terms

The following terms will be considered well known enough to be used raw (without translation) - they'll be linked to a "Translator's Notes/Reference" section (to be discussed).

-san, -senpai, etc

Japanese Honorifics are well known (note the spelling of "-senpai" - not "-sempai") though of course we should mention them in a Reference section in case someone happens to be unfamiliar.

Moe

While its exact definition could be debated on, "turn-on factor" is a nice catch-all translation of it. It sounds a bit clunky in regular conversation though, so we'll use "Moe" in the text and link to another Translation Note explaining it.

--Psieye 08:03, 27 April 2006 (PDT)

Why not just use "cute", "hot", or "sexy" for "Moe", as the situation requires? Both are much less akward than "turn-on factor", which a native speaker would never use in the same situations.

--Kerry 16:22, 1 November 2006 (PST)

    • Translator Notes:


Sempai is not necessarily wrong. I remember in my Japanese-classes that sometimes the n sound becomes an m before certain sounds. Examples like tempura, shimbun. When written, it is spelled with an n, since the written m doesn't exist in Japanese, but it's pronounced with a m sound. An English analogy would be Leicester, prounounced as "Lester" and not "Ley-ces-ter", Warwick pronounced as "War-rick" and not "War-wick".

As for why I used "turn-on factor", as not everyone who reads the translation is familiar with otaku terminology, and I don't want to leave them out of it.

--Kinny Riddle 00:11, 29 April 2006 (HKT)

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