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[BG] Formal vs. Informal form of addressing

nasko says:

[Bulgarian]
В някои текстове се използва учтивата форма, а в други - не. Нека се спрем на един от двата варианта и да бъдем последователни. Предлагам след като стигнем до съгласие тук, да променя навсякъде текстовете.

[English]
In Bulgarian there are 2 different forms of addressing someone, i.e. formal vs. informal. I've noticed some inconsistencies with respect to forms of addressing, so I'm suggesting that all of the bulgarian translators reach an agreement as to which form to use throughout the interface. I could then correct the inconsistent texts accordingly.
Emily, Omar, you could help us here if you think either form is preferable to the other.

Posted at 10:41am on August 3, 2006

emily (Remember The Milk) says:

Good question!

There was a similar issue with the German translation, and I think it was decided to use the formal addressing (as Remember The Milk can be used by a variety of people) but to keep the tone friendly and casual.

As we don't know Bulgarian, we'll leave this up to the translators to decide if this would work for Bulgarian too :)

Posted 6 years ago

sorin.ionescu says:

The problem is that formal addressing is not casual in the languages that have it such as, Bulgarian, German, French, Romanian, etc.

Posted 6 years ago

thierry says:

Sorin, the level of formality varies between languages.

The "tu" is quite acceptable in Spanish, in Italian or in Dutch (a formal address would even look weird), but it wouldn't be in German or French.

My Bulgarian is not very good, but I would rather opt for the "Вие", which is what's used on various non-formal, entertainment sites ( for instance, on www.uno.bg ).

I don't know Romanian, but as far as I can guess from discussing with my Romanian colleague, it's really somewhere in the middle, so you'll have to make your own decision!

Posted 6 years ago

sorin.ionescu says:

It isn't in the middle. "Tu" is casual/rude "vous" isn't.

Posted 6 years ago

thierry says:

Yes, I know, like in any language that has it. That's not the point.
The point is the context. For example, in French one would never use "tu" in an advertisement excepted when it's targeted at children, or "cool" teenagers. In Dutch or Italian, you would use it preferably, the equivalent of "vous" being used maybe by a bank...

Another example: when I work with Spanish clients (respectable middle-aged professionals), we switch to "tu" after a few meetings only when we speak Spanish, much later if we are speaking French. And with Germans, it usually never comes.

So it's not the notion, it's the use that's the point.

Posted 6 years ago

This topic has now been closed automatically due to a lack of responses in the past 90 days.