2012-01-03, 16:04
Big_Noid Wrote:Isn't there another option that fits without recoding? I mean couldn't you translate to something like movie(s)? Of course this is just guessing as I don't know any slavic language.
I'm afraid not. Yes, the form like "movie(s)" can be used, though it looks bad and some official localization guidelines (e.g. Microsoft's) even forbid to use it in Russian translations. But I think even minor grammar errors like ("4 фильмов" instead of correct "4 фильма") can be tolerated.
But still "generic plural" and "numeric plural" should be different strings. For example, the current top info panel uses the same strings "Movies" and "TV shows" ("X Movies", "Y TV shows") as button labels on the Home Screen ("Movies", "TV Shows") which is totally unacceptable for Russian because button labels and info strings should be different words and these words are not interchangeable in Russian. For example:
Фильмы (Movies) - for generic strings like Home Screen button labels.
10 фильмов (10 movies) - for information strings if we decide that minor grammar errors with different numeral forms can be tolerated.
Though, as I said the strings like "Фильмов: 10" (Movies: 10) would be better. In fact, this is a general workaround that is used when localizing software that is not optimized for Russian language on program code level.