This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s Localization Style Guide for Valencian (Catalan, Valencia variant), originally written for software/UI localization. The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Valencian translation work. Restructured and reformatted as a general Valencian translator reference by ChatsControl.

Valencian Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Address Valencian readers with informal tu (singular) for consumer products like Windows Phone, formal vós/vosaltres for Office and business contexts — register choice is context-driven, not universal.
• Avoid barbarismes — Spanish/English influenced words that sound natural in everyday speech but violate normative Valencian: tanmateix/no obstant → però (however); sol·licitar → demanar; requerir → necessitar; localitzar → trobar/buscar.
• Use definite article before product/feature names (unlike Spanish/English): el Word, el Windows, la finestra del document — Valencian always needs the article.
• Valencian-specific differences from Central Catalan: per a (not per) for purpose, este/esta (not aquest/aquesta) for proximal demonstratives; arrere, eixir, faena, guardar (not endarrere, sortir, feina, desar).
• Decimal is comma (5,25 cm); thousand separator is space (14 400); product names stay in Latin script (Microsoft, Office, Windows) with definite article preceding; capitalize sparingly compared to English — only first word of headings/UI elements.

Register and tone for Valencian translation¶

Modern Valencian readers expect clear, friendly, concise language across consumer content. Use language that resembles everyday conversation as opposed to the formal, technical language often used for technical and commercial content.

Three guiding principles:

• Warm and relaxed. Natural, less formal, grounded in honest conversation.
• Crisp and clear. Written for scanning first, reading second. Simplicity above all.
• Ready to help. Anticipate user needs and offer the right information at the right moment.

Biased language¶

Use neutral, gender-balanced language. Don’t reinforce stereotypes. Create balance when assigning roles to men and women: active vs. passive, leading vs. secondary, technical vs. nontechnical professions. Avoid referring to a specific gender when gender isn’t known or relevant. Make the subject plural to avoid forced gendering. Avoid slash or brackets to combine genders.

Avoid ethnic/racial slurs. Use the names that groups themselves use; these can change over time, so research current sources.

Why this matters: Heavily formal Valencian signals bureaucratic distance. In marketing copy it kills engagement. In patient-facing medical materials it reduces comprehension. In software UI it creates friction. In consumer-facing legal documents plain Valencian is increasingly expected. Sworn legal translation and traditional documents retain formal register.

Word choice: short forms, everyday words, and synonyms¶

Terminology must be used consistently per approved reference materials.

Short word forms are not as common in Valencian as in English — be careful when using them:

Synonyms for variety and natural tone¶

Word variety conveys natural, conversational tone in longer text and informal topics. Deviate from established terminology for general terms when they’re used repetitively:

Avoid barbarismes — non-normative words influenced by Spanish or English. They may be widely used in speech but are incorrect in normative Valencian.

Words and phrases to avoid in Valencian¶

Sample voice usage¶

Address the user to take action¶

Promoting a feature¶

Providing how-to guidelines¶

Explanatory text and providing support¶

Language-specific standards¶

Abbreviations¶

Order of letters in abbreviation should match source word (art. for article). Don’t abbreviate by omitting only one letter. Don’t abbreviate so the result coincides with an established convention for a different word.

Some abbreviations require extended characters (°C, 1ª). Never use degree symbol ° (Alt+0176/Alt+248) as substitute for ordinal º (Alt+167). Don’t abbreviate product/application names.

Acronyms¶

Distinction in Valencian:

• Sigles — formed from initial letters of each part (set in full capitals, no plural added): WYSIWYG.
• Acrònims — formed from initial syllables or combinations (written as words): radar, modem.

Acronyms and sigles behave like nouns. Gender is that of the spelled-out form. For non-Valencian words, gender varies by usage. Sigles have no plural — number given by preceding determiner. If pronounceable as a proper name, write in lowercase with initial capital (Unesco, Opep).

Localized acronyms:

Unlocalized acronyms: PC, USB, PIN, CD. No plural form.

Adjectives¶

Adjectives placed AFTER noun (unlike English):

Possessive adjectives. In English used frequently; in Valencian only for real sense of property — usually translate with definite article:

Articles¶

English texts omit articles; Valencian uses all necessary linguistic elements (articles, pronouns, prepositions):

Unlocalized product names. English uses them without articles; Valencian (unlike English and Spanish) requires definite article:

Localized feature names also take definite article: A page which can be easily edited in the web browser using Web Edit → Una pàgina que pot editar-se de manera fàcil en el navegador web mitjançant l’Edició web.

English borrowed terms: the internet → Internet; a banner → un bàner; a blog → un blog; a URL → una URL.

Capitalization¶

English capitalizes much more often than Valencian. Avoid unnecessary capital letters.

• CORRECT: Definició de la taula. INCORRECT: Definició de la Taula.
• Capitalize: first letter of sentence (after period/exclamation/question/ellipsis), proper names, menu/dialog names. Only FIRST letter of heading capitalized.

Always all caps: device names (LPT1), drive names (unitat A:), environment variables (INCLUDE), message constants (WM_PAINT), registers (DS), symbolic constants (NULL).

Always lowercase: command-line commands (l’orde copy), command-line options (l’opció /l:), toolbar (barra d’eines), unnamed windows (la finestra del document), user input, utility names (la utilitat chkdsk).

Accented capital letters are MANDATORY in Valencian. Use É, À, Ó, etc., unless software incompatibility prevents it.

Software interface elements — capitalize only first letter of first word in commands, dialog titles/options, menus, buttons, window names:

• Al menú Fitxer, tria l’orde Anomena i guarda.
• Al quadre de diàleg Selecció especial, tria l’opció “Cel·les en blanc”.
• A la finestra Ajuda, selecciona el botó “Cerca”.
• Al menú Visualització, tria Capçalera i peu.

Compounds¶

Compounds should be understandable. Avoid overly long/complex compounds.

Usually no hyphen in prefixes or most compounds: antivirus, audiovisual.

Use hyphen with compounds containing two Valencian words when the second begins with s, r, or x: porta-retalls, posa-ratolins.

New spelling rules for compounds:

• Use hyphen for phonetic reasons: nord-estejar, sud-americanització.
• Use hyphen when terms don’t reflect unitary concept: tractat hispano-portugués.
• Duplicate r with prefixes a-/co-/e- (arrítmia, corresponsable, erradicar) and with roots raqui(o), reo, rin(o), riz(o), rodo and endings -rafia, -ragia, -rea, -rexi, -rinc, -oide: glucorràquia, biorreologia, hemorràgia, diarrea, hemorroide.

Prefixes are written together EXCEPT:

• Root formed by multiple words: pro drets humans, vice primer ministre, anti pena de mort.
• Root has graphic element (hyphen, upper case, acronym, symbol, number, quotes, italics): pseudo ciència-ficció, anti nord-americà, pro ping-pong, ex Unió Soviètica, ex URSS, anti e-mail, sub 21, ex “hippy”, anti rock-and-roll.
• Combination produces homonymous form: ex pres, co rector.

Conjunctions¶

Modern Valencian style allows starting sentence with conjunction (informal tone):

Gender¶

When same adjective/participle modifies two nouns of different gender, use masculine form:

Localizing colloquialism, idioms, metaphors¶

Don’t replace source colloquialism with Valencian one unless perfect natural fit (and never use barbarismes — Spanish-influenced incorrect forms). Translate intended meaning when integral. Omit if possible without affecting meaning.

Nouns, Prepositions, Pronouns¶

Use second person consistent with chosen register (tu vs vós). Address with the form appropriate to the product context.

Punctuation¶

Comma. Decimal separator (5,25 cm). Use for series.

Period. End of sentences. Don’t use after measurement abbreviations.

Dashes. Hyphen for word-internal (compounds), en dash for ranges (without spaces), em dash for emphasis (less common than English).

Ellipsis. Triple dots; no space before in some software contexts.

Quotation marks. Use straight ” ” for software references and quotations.

Parentheses. No space between parentheses and inner text.

Symbols and non-breaking spaces¶

Use non-breaking spaces between number and unit, before percent, in dates.

Verbs¶

Use simple tenses. Subjunctive used as required by Valencian grammar (more frequent than English).

Localization considerations¶

Applications, products, and features¶

Product/application names usually trademarked and rarely translated. Always use definite article before product name in Valencian.

Frequent errors¶

• Don’t use barbarismes.
• Don’t omit articles or prepositions.
• Don’t place adjectives before nouns.
• Use correct accented capitals.
• Use Valencian-specific vocabulary (este not aquest, eixir not sortir, faena not feina).

Error messages¶

Use consistent terminology and language style. Apply natural, empathetic, non-robotic style.

Reference materials: authoritative Valencian sources¶

Specific Valencian references (normative):

1. Criteris lingüístics de l’Administració de la Generalitat (Generalitat Valenciana).
2. Gramàtica normativa valenciana (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua, València, 2006).
3. Criteris lingüístics per als usos institucionals de les universitats valencianes (Alacant, 2005).
4. Diccionari normatiu valencià (Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua) at avl.gva.es/lexicval.
5. Diccionari ortogràfic i de pronunciació del valencià (AVL, 2006).
6. Dictionary in SALT Traductor i Corrector de Valencià (Generalitat Valenciana).

General Catalan references:

1. Gramàtica de la llengua catalana de l’Institut d’Estudis Catalans — reduced version online.
2. Diccionari de la llengua catalana (IEC) at dlc.iec.cat.
3. Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (Enciclopèdia Catalana, 1998).
4. Optimot (Direcció General de Política Lingüística + IEC + TERMCAT) at gencat.cat/optimot.
5. TERMCAT at termcat.cat/ca.
6. ésAdir (Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals) at esadir.cat.

FAQ¶

How should I address users in Valencian translation?¶

Register choice is context-driven, not universal. Use informal singular tu (with verb forms torna-ho, vols, dona) for direct consumer products like Windows Phone. Use formal vós (verb forms torneu-ho, voleu, doneu) for Office and business-context products. Always double-check the project’s address convention. For impersonal, formal contexts, use vosaltres (verb forms torneu-ho, voleu, doneu — same as vós but plural). The choice signals the relationship the product wants with the user — consumer-friendly tu vs. professional vós.

What are barbarismes in Valencian and which ones should I avoid?¶

Barbarismes are non-normative words and expressions influenced by Spanish or English that may be widely heard in everyday speech but violate normative Valencian — they MUST be avoided in translation. Replace: tanmateix / no obstant / no obstant açò → però (however); sol·licitar → demanar (request); requerir → necessitar (require); localitzar → trobar / buscar (locate); detectar (un error) → trobar (un error) / topar amb (un error) / ensopegar amb (un error); tindre l’oportunitat de → poder (have a chance to); mail / email / e-mail → correu electrònic / correu (use Catalan, not English borrowings). Avoid Spanish-influenced word order, calques, and vocabulary even when they sound natural.

What are the Valencian-specific differences from Central Catalan?¶

Valencian uses per a (not just per) for purpose: Per a tornar arrere (to go back). Proximal demonstratives are este/esta/estos/estes (not aquest/aquesta/aquests/aquestes used in Central Catalan): este document, esta carpeta. Some vocabulary differs: arrere (not endarrere), eixir (not sortir), faena (not feina), guardar (not desar), afig (not afegeix). Verb -isar/-itzar forms: use the appropriate one per AVL recommendations. The diaeresis ü is preserved in Valencian (qüestió, lingüística). Some morphology: -en in 3rd-plural present indicative for -ir verbs (corregisquen).

How are English loanwords and product names handled in Valencian?¶

Microsoft product names stay in Latin script untranslated: Microsoft, Windows, Office, Excel, Word. CRITICAL: Valencian (unlike Spanish or English) requires the definite article before product/feature names: el Word, el Windows, la impressora del Word. Some English loanwords are accepted: un bàner (banner), un blog, una URL, demo (informal). Acronyms differ: VAT → IVA; FAQ → PMF; USA → EUA; CD / USB / PIN / PC stay unlocalized. Don’t pluralize sigles (PCs is wrong; use el PC). For megabyte/gigabyte/terabyte, the informal abbreviated forms mega/giga/tera are acceptable in informal contexts (necessitaràs 2 gigues per a…).

What are the Valencian capitalization rules that differ from English?¶

Valencian capitalizes much less than English. Capitalize only first letter of: a sentence (after period, exclamation, question, ellipsis), proper names, menu/dialog names. Heading capitalization: only the FIRST word capitalized (unless name contains a proper noun or acronym). Don’t capitalize: days, months, seasons (dilluns, gener, primavera), languages and nationalities (anglés, francés, xinés, alemany), genitive adjectives (argentí, brasiler, holandés, rus), views (visualització del full de dades). Capitalize device names (LPT1), drive names (unitat A:), environment variables, program name abbreviations (RC), message constants (WM_PAINT). Accented capital letters are MANDATORY in Valencian (É, À, Ó), never substitute degree symbol ° for ordinal º.

When should I deviate from literal translation in Valencian?¶

When literal translation produces stiff text or violates normative Valencian. Required in sworn legal translation and certified documents. Strongly advised in marketing, healthcare patient materials, and software UI — restructure sentences to add necessary articles/pronouns/prepositions (English is more economical with words; Valencian needs all linguistic elements), reorder adjective+noun to noun+adjective (Create new folder → Crea una carpeta nova), avoid barbarismes consistently. Use word variety to avoid repetition (utilitzar/usar/emprar, carregar/penjar/pujar for non-UI contexts) — synonyms convey natural conversational tone.

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guides hub
• Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL)
• Diccionari Normatiu Valencià (AVL)
• Optimot — consultes lingüístiques
• TERMCAT
• Institut d’Estudis Catalans — Diccionari