Editing Editorial Guidelines - Texts and Translations (section)

== Style Guide for Translations ==
=== Scope and Translation Register ===
* Applies to the generated English editions corresponding directly to the preserved source texts.
* The register must be rigorously academic. Translations are not strictly literal word-for-word substitutions but must stay as close to the original text as possible.

=== Inline Translation Conventions: Names and Terminology ===
To balance rigorous academic depth with scannability, translators must adhere to strict rules regarding when and how original scripts are embedded directly into the English translation text.

==== Handling Personal and Place Names ====
* '''First Mention Rule:''' The very first time a personal name, organization, or historical location is mentioned within a translated text, it must be written in Latin script followed immediately by its original native script version enclosed in parentheses.
** ''Example:'' "When Uchiyama Gudō (内山愚童) published his critique of the imperial system..."
* '''Subsequent Mention Rule:''' Every subsequent mention of that same name or entity within the text must use the Latin script alone. Do not repeat the original script.
** ''Example:'' "Following his arrest, Gudō was transported to..."

==== Inline Terminology and Source Script Injections ====
* '''Permitted Cases:''' Translators may inject original language terms (in their original script and/or standard romanization) in parentheses immediately following an English translation for:
*# Unusual, highly niche, or idiosyncratic radical terminology.
*# Particularly dense or hard-to-translate passages.
*# Any critical instance where providing the original text is deemed necessary, important, or useful for scholarly analysis.
* '''The Principle of Parsimony (Sparsity):''' Inline script injections disrupt the flow of reading. Therefore, this practice must be used '''as sparingly as possible'''.
* '''Workflow Guidance:''' If a term requires more than a simple parenthetical script reference to be understood, or if a passage is so difficult that it requires a lengthy linguistic explanation, do not cluster the main text body. Move the analysis to a footnote instead. If the discussion is too long even for a footnote, move it to the "Translation Notes" section described in [[#4. Translation Notes (optional; translation pages only)|the page layout]].

=== Footnotes and Technical Commentary ===
Footnotes are an integral part of the translation and should provide readers with the historical, linguistic, and technical background necessary to understand the source text. Their purpose is to make specialized material accessible without interrupting the flow of the translation itself.

Footnotes should be used whenever they significantly improve the reader's understanding of the text, including (but not limited to):
* '''Technical terminology:''' Explain Buddhist, Marxist, political, philosophical, or other specialized terms that may be unfamiliar to a general academic audience.
* '''Historical context:''' Provide concise background on historical events, organizations, institutions, publications, legal systems, or political circumstances mentioned in the text when they cannot reasonably be assumed to be common knowledge.
* '''People and places:''' Briefly identify historical figures, organizations, geographical locations, or other proper nouns whose significance would not be immediately apparent to most readers.
* '''Language and translation:''' Explain idioms, puns, rhetorical devices, unusual grammatical constructions, culturally specific expressions, or difficult terminology where the English translation alone cannot adequately convey the original meaning.
* '''Textual and editorial issues:''' Record significant variant readings, ambiguities, uncertainties, reconstruction decisions, or other editorial observations that are relevant to the translation.

Footnotes should remain concise and directly relevant to the passage they annotate. They should clarify the text rather than distract from it, and should avoid lengthy digressions unless such discussion is essential for understanding the document.

The MediaWiki Cite extension should be used for all annotation. Citations of sources in footnotes follow [[Editorial Guidelines - Citation Format]]. The Notes section is placed as described in [[#7. Notes|the page layout]].