Abbreviations, Acronyms, Articles, and Loan Words
Abbreviations
Common Abbreviations
You might need to abbreviate some words in the UI (mainly buttons or options names) due to lack of space. This can be done in the following ways:
It should be noted that Bambara does not frequently use abbreviations and acronyms and consequently there are very few abbreviations and no acronyms found in Bambara. Bambara adopts the French version of some abbreviations e.g. measurement.
The words in the glossary were translated so as to have the smallest possible designations.
Do not abbreviate such words as and, or, something, someone, or any other word that users might not recognize. If you have any doubt, spell out the word rather than using an abbreviation.
Measurements and Numerals
Metric System Commonly Used? Yes
Temperature: Celsius
| Category | English | Translation | Abbreviation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linear Measure | Kilometer | Kilomɛtiri | km |
| Meter | Mɛtiri | m | |
| Decimeter | Decimɛtiri | dm | |
| Centimeter | Santimɛtiri | cm | |
| Millimeter | Milimɛtiri | mm | |
| Capacity | Hectoliter | Ektomɛtiri | hl |
| Liter | Litiri | l | |
| Deciliter | Desilitiri | dl | |
| Centiliter | Santilitiri | cl | |
| Milliliter | Mililitiri | ml | |
| Mass | Ton | Tɔni | t |
| Kilogram | Kilogaramu | kg | |
| Pound | n/a | n/a | |
| Gram | Gararamu | g | |
| Decigram | Desigaramu | dg | |
| Centigram | Santigraramu | cg | |
| Milligram | Miligraramu | mg | |
| English Units of Measurement | Inch | n/a | n/a |
| Feet | n/a | n/a | |
| Mile | n/a | n/a | |
| Gallon | n/a | n/a |
Note: On units of measure, Bambara adopts the same style and rules as French. Percentages are like in French, e.g. 85 %.
Digit Groups
Country/region: Mali
Decimal Separator: 0,00
Decimal Separator Description: nkɔri
Decimal Separator Example: 5,6 ; 75,05
Thousand Separator: Space
Thousand Separator Description: Space
Thousand Separator Example: 1 543 672; 1 765 234 987
Notes: Bambara follows French in this regard.
Filename Extensions
Filename extensions and graphic formats referenced by filename extensions such as BMP, GIF, HTML, PNG and TIFF must not be translated.
Acronyms
The term acronym refers to words that are made up of the initial letters of the major parts of a compound term if they are pronounced as a new word. Some well-known examples of acronyms are WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), OLE (Object Linking and Embedding), or RAM (Random Access Memory). .
Localized Acronyms
When acronyms are localized, which does not happen often, they take the gender of the first substantive. Example:
PAOCAOSGBD
Unlocalized Acronyms
If an acronym must remain in English throughout a manual or other text, the first time it occurs, write its full name in Bambara in normal style followed in parentheses by the acronym and its full spelling in English in italics.
Example:
kunnafoniw ka yɛrɛman yɛlɛman ka taa mansin wɛrɛw kɔnɔ (DDE, Dynamic Data Exchange)
Articles
Product Names
As a general rule, all product names are used without definite or indefinite articles. They are treated as proper names.