Guidelines:Translations

	These guidelines are currently out-of-date in light of ongoing changes.
	The wiki is presently revamping how translation pages are managed. Certain guidelines will no longer be applicable. This page will be updated once all changes have been fully implemented.

The translations policy of Megami Tensei Wiki outlines how translations should be managed and formatted on the wiki.

General

Nomenclature

Most pages have a Nomenclature section near the bottom, following Trivia and preceding Gallery sections if present. This section is predominately used to display the Names in Other Languages template table, as well as clarify the meanings or origins of the subject's name. "Nomenclature" is preferred over "Etymology" as this term extends to names and titles.

The Names in Other Languages table is used to list the subject's names in other languages that the source media has been officially published in. As such, this table should not include names that originated from fan translations or names that were independently localized. (E.g. if a piece of media was never officially published or localized into a particular language, do not add that language to the table.)

If a subject's name or spelling differs between other media or versions, each variant should be listed in the same language column and have its source clarified using Template:Exp App. Example:

|ja=ガキ ''Gaki''{{Exp App|SMT1|SMT5|plat1=SFC}}{{clear}}餓鬼 ''Gaki''{{Exp App|SMT1|plat1=MCD}}

The meaning or origin of a name can also be outlined within the Nomenclature section, either right before the Names table (preferred for lengthy or contextual explanations) or within the table's Meaning parameter. Statements discussing name meanings or origins should always preferably be accompanied by a credible citation, especially if they are speculative. If Atlus or a member of Atlus staff has clarified a name's origin, this takes priority over any speculation.

Romanization

To retain site-wide consistency, Megami Tensei Wiki recommends certain romanization schemes for languages with non-Latin scripts. The following are recommended:

Language	Recommended scheme
Arabic	EALL (Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics)
Avestan	Hoffman
Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin
Egyptian	Gardiner
Greek	ALA-LC, but with diacritical markings for acute, circumflex, grave, and diaeresis
Hebrew	Modified version of SBL's Academic transliteration system (with spirantization) to account for modern research regarding the pronunciation of the vowel sheva (SBL transliteration: ĕ) in the authoritative Tiberian pronunciation: Usual: ă Before yodh: ĭ Before aleph, he, heth, and ayin: the same as the vowel after that consonant, but with a breve
Japanese	Hepburn
Korean	Revised Romanization
Russian	BGN/PCGN
Sanskrit	IAST

These schemes should be kept to in most cases, except for instances where another scheme would be required for contextual purposes.

Transliterations for citations can be displayed using Template:JP for Japanese and Template:Translit for other languages.

Translation Pages

Translation pages are listings that document all the names of subjects and terminology found within a piece of media, essentially acting as an expanded and comprehensive version of a Nomenclature section. They are especially helpful for listing the names in other languages for subjects that do not warrant their own page on the wiki (such as the case with most equipment in a game).

Translation pages sort subjects into category sections, i.e. "Playable Characters", "Demons", "Equipment", "Terminology", etc. These sections list names using a wikitable.

Because of the high variance of available languages between each media, translation pages do not use a table template, but instead a recommended wikitable format:

{| class="wikitable large-cells" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=3|Japanese
!rowspan=2|English
|-
!Kana
!Hepburn
!Translation
|-
| Kana || ''Hepburn'' || Translation || English
|}

As the Megami Tensei franchise originates in Japanese, the Japanese language should always be the first listed language in the table. This is followed by English if available, followed by any other available languages. The formatting of the table, however, will differ depending on the extent of available languages (as outlined in the following subsections).

While translation pages should ideally only list names found natively within the media (i.e. a page for a game should list the in-game names), certain supplementary material can also be added as a name's source, such as a game's packaged or digital manual. This can be helpful if a subject is not actually named in-game but in another source, such as the case with most protagonists. This should be clarified as a tooltip using Template:Exp. Example:

主人公{{Exp|PlayStation version manual}}

Some games have different spellings or namings between version releases. In these cases, list all variants within the same language column and clarify the version source using Template:Exp Plat. Example:

ガキ{{Exp Plat|SFC}}{{clear}}餓鬼{{Exp Plat|MCD}}

Multiple Languages

If a piece of media has been translated into many multiple languages, such as the case with Persona 3 Reload which is officially available in 13 languages, then it is highly recommended that the wikitable be split into tabs by continent in order to accommodate the high number of languages.

Example:

<tabber>
Asia=
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=3|Japanese
!colspan=3|Korean
!colspan=3|Simplified Chinese
!colspan=3|Traditional Chinese
|-
!Kana
!Hepburn
!Translation
!Hangul
!{{Tt|Revised|Revised Romanization of Korean}}
!Translation
!Hanzi
!Pinyin
!Translation
!Hanzi
!Pinyin
!Translation
|-
|
|}
|-|
North America=
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!English
!Latin American Spanish
|-
|
|}
|-|
South America=
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Brazilian Portuguese
|-
|
|}
|-|
Europe=
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!English
!French
!German
!Spanish
!Italian
|-
|
|}

Fan Translations

In addition to documenting officially localized languages, translation pages can also cover any available fan translations as well, and are the only place on the wiki that will extensively document these. These should only be of fan translations that have been completed. Translations that were largely carried out by machine translation should not be added.

Fan translations should be kept in a tab simply named "Fan Translations"; any official localizations are kept in a tab named "Official". In the event that a wikitable needs to be split into both continental and translation source tabs, clarify the continent in parentheses. I.e. Official (North America).

If multiple fan translations in the same language exist, each table column should be labeled in parentheses by the name of the translator / group, the version the translation applies to, or both. I.e. English (Aeon Genesis, SFC).

Example:

<tabber>
Official=
{| class="wikitable large-cells" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=3|Japanese
!rowspan=2|English
|-
!Kana
!Hepburn
!Translation
|-
| Kana || ''Hepburn'' || Translation || English
|}
|-|
Fan Translations=
{| class="wikitable large-cells" style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan=3|Original
!rowspan=2|English
|-
!Kana
!Hepburn
!Translation
|-
| Kana || ''Hepburn'' || Translation || English
|}
</tabber>