This guide adapts rules and examples from Microsoft’s 9-page Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) Localization Style Guide (originally written for software/UI localization). The underlying linguistic rules apply universally — to legal contracts, medical documents, marketing copy, and any Kashmiri translation work in Perso-Arabic script. Restructured and reformatted as a general Kashmiri translator reference by ChatsControl.

Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) Translation Style Guide — Voice, Word Choice & Common Pitfalls (Legal, Medical, Marketing, IT)¶

TL;DR¶

• Modern Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) translation prefers warm, clear, conversational register; avoid literal translation, split or merge sentences as needed to keep prose natural across software UI, marketing, medical, and legal-consumer content.
• Use formal address (ۍہُت) for Microsoft privacy content and similar professional contexts where a respectful relationship with the reader matters.
• Use right-to-left punctuation specific to Kashmiri Perso-Arabic — full stop (۔), comma (،), semicolon (؛), question mark (؟). Using English Latin punctuation will corrupt the bidirectional text rendering.
• Apply gender-inclusive strategies: prefer collective and role-based nouns (ھکول, مزلٲ مُ فرٲص, لوو سیلوپ), use plural pronouns (مٔت) in generic single-person references, avoid gendered compounds (درم/نانزَ).
• Reference authoritative Kashmiri sources: Shauq Shafi’s Kaesher Lugaat dictionary and Kaishrik Grammer, George Grierson’s A Dictionary of Kashmiri Language, T R Wade’s A Grammar of the Kashmiri Language.

Register and tone for modern Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) translation¶

Register is the level of formality, warmth, and conversational ease the target text projects. The modern Kashmiri register for consumer-facing content is warm and relaxed, crisp and clear, and ready to lend a hand.

• Write short, easy-to-read sentences.
• Do not translate literally.
• Be pleasant and ensure explanations are appropriate for the target audience and as enjoyable to read as possible.
• Avoid slang and be careful with colloquialism. Conversational tone is acceptable to reassure and connect with customers, but stay professional.

Literal translations should be avoided — they often fail to get the intended meaning across and sound unnatural, even ridiculous. If necessary, split or merge sentences.

Examples:

Why this matters: Source-faithful translation produces unnatural prose that reads as translated. Required in sworn legal translation and certified documents where literal accuracy is mandated. Harmful in marketing translation (lost conversion), patient-facing healthcare materials (lost clarity), and software UX (lost engagement). Knowing where the boundary sits is the core translator judgment that distinguishes professional work from raw machine output.

Tone of voice and form of address¶

The formal pronoun ۍہُت matches the tone expected for legal-consumer content, official communications, and respectful product copy.

Abbreviations¶

You might need to abbreviate words due to lack of space, especially in the UI:

• No full stop after the abbreviation.
• Abbreviations remain in singular form. Only the context makes them singular/plural.

Examples:

Acronyms¶

Acronyms are words made up of initial letters of major parts of a compound term (DNS, HTML).

• Same as English, no plural ‘s’ is needed.
• Unmarked (neutral) gender will be used.
• If an English acronym is used throughout a text, the first occurrence uses: Full form (acronym). Subsequent uses use the acronym only.
• Some English acronyms are kept in English due to wide acceptance and usage in the target language.

Capitalization¶

Capitalization does not apply to Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic). A single form is used for each letter.

Punctuation¶

Punctuations differ with right-to-left direction. If you use English punctuation inside the translation, it will corrupt the whole text. The Kashmiri punctuations are:

Bulleted lists¶

Bullets remain the same as in English. If the source bullet line is a complete sentence, so will the translated bullet line. If the source is just a clause/heading, the translation will also be the same.

Dashes and hyphens¶

Hyphen. The hyphen (-) is the shortest of the three dash characters. Use hyphens for:

• Compound words
• Breaking words at the end of a line
• Page numbers, dates, and other number intervals
• Establishing relationships between two concepts

En dash. The en dash (–) is obtained by pressing Alt + 0150 or Ctrl + - (num) in Windows. Used in arithmetic operations and negative numbers.

Em dash. The em dash (—) is obtained by pressing Alt + 0151 or Ctrl + Alt + - (num) in Windows. Avoid extensive use of the English em dash and use commas or parentheses instead. You can also start a new sentence. Feel free to change the sentence (you can remove the em dash) so that it will look and sound more natural in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic).

Quotation marks¶

The straight quotation marks are used in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic). Use them to quote or refer to UI items.

Usage of Nuqta¶

The Nuqta is a diacritic used in the Devanagari script to describe modern sounds borrowed from languages not native to Devanagari, mainly Urdu (Arabic, Farsi) and English. It appears as a dot and is used in some Hindi letters. However, Nuqta is not used in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic).

Numbers, symbols, and non-breaking spaces¶

Numbers. In documentation, numbers from one to ten need to be spelled out; the other numbers are written with numerals. The same rule applies to Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic).

Non-breaking space. Use a non-breaking space between the numeral and the symbol or unit of measure that goes with it.

Examples: س شلیس 20°, 75%, ہٹٕنھگ 1, رٹیم یٹنیس 30.

Ampersand. Always translate “&” as “ہ تٕ” when it refers to running text. Do not keep “&” in the target unless it is part of a tag, placeholder, shortcut, or other type of code.

Date¶

Date format is DD/MM/YYYY.

Example: ۔ 25/04/1989 ھُ چ شئٲدیپ خ ٕ یرٲت نوٗیمِ.

When only the month and year are included (such as “March 2025”), use the date format same as per source.

Inclusive language¶

Microsoft technology reaches every part of the globe, so all our communications must be inclusive and diverse.

General guidelines:

• Comply with local language laws.
• Use plain language.
• Be mindful when referring to various parts of the world.
• In text and images, represent diverse perspectives and circumstances.
• Don’t generalize or stereotype people by region, culture, age, or gender — not even if the stereotype is positive.
• Don’t use profane or derogatory terms.
• Don’t use slang that could be considered cultural appropriation.
• Don’t use terms that may carry unconscious racial bias or terms associated with military actions, politics, or controversial historical events and eras.

Avoid gender bias¶

Use gender-neutral alternatives for common terms. Avoid the use of compounds containing gender-specific terms (یرتیب نانزَ ، درم).

When presenting generalization, use plural noun forms (for example, یرتیب ملع بٕ لٲط ، صخش ،ھکول).

Don’t use gendered pronouns (مٔت، متِ، ہسٕ، ہسُ) in generic references. Instead:

• Rewrite to use the second or third person (ۍہُت or ھکَا).
• Rewrite the sentence to have a plural noun and pronoun.
• Use articles instead of a pronoun (for example, ز یواتسد instead of زیواتسد دنٛسُ مٔت).
• Refer to a person’s role (لوو نرپ ،مزلٲ مُ فرٲص or ٹ نئلاک).
• Use درف or صخش.

If you can’t write around the problem, it’s OK to use a plural pronoun (مٔت، نمِت، مِت) in generic references to a single person. Don’t use constructions like ہُس/ہ سِ.

When writing about a real person, use the pronouns the person prefers (ہسُ، ہسِ، they, or another pronoun). Gendered pronouns (ہ سُ، ہسِ، دنٛسُ مٔت، دنُٛہ نمتِ) are OK when writing about real people who use those pronouns themselves.

Accessibility¶

Focus on people, not disabilities. Don’t use words that imply pity, such as راچود ۍتسٕ or کُہ بئٲصم راکش. Don’t mention a disability unless it’s relevant.

Use generic verbs that apply to all input methods and devices. In procedures and instructions, avoid verbs that don’t make sense with alternative input methods.

Keep paragraphs short and sentence structure simple — aim for one verb per sentence. Read text aloud and imagine it spoken by a screen reader.

Spell out words like ہتٕ, سلُپ, and بیرق. Screen readers can misread text using special characters like the ampersand (&), plus sign (+), and tilde (~).

Application, products, and features¶

Application/product names that are trademarked are not translatable. Before translating any application, product, or feature name, verify it’s translatable and not protected in any way.

Version numbers always contain a period.

Trademarks¶

Trademarked names and “Microsoft Corporation” shouldn’t be localized unless local laws require translation and an approved translated form is available.

Reference information¶

Terminology. Use approved terminology from the translation editing environment (including product names) and the Microsoft Terminology Search page. The terminology in the editing environment is generally fresher than on the search page. Use approved terminology, especially for key terms, technical terms, and product names.

Normative references. Adhere to these. When more than one solution is possible, consult other topics in this guide.

1. Shauq, Shafi. Kaesher Lugaat (Dictionary of Kashmiri Language)
2. Grierson, George. A Dictionary Of Kashmiri Language
3. Shauq, Shafi. Kaishrik Grammer
4. Wade, Rev T R. A Grammar Of The Kashmiri Language

Note: If more than one spelling is acceptable, opt always for the spelling adopted by Microsoft-approved terminology and the normative dictionaries mentioned above. Use a consistent spelling across products.

Informative references (supplementary, background):

1. An Introduction to Spoken Kashmiri — https://koshur.org/
2. Kashmiri Language — https://www.kashmirilanguage.com/

FAQ¶

What’s the right register for modern Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) translation?¶

Warm, relaxed, crisp and clear. Write short, easy-to-read sentences. Don’t translate literally — split or merge as needed. Be pleasant; ensure explanations are appropriate for target audience and enjoyable to read. Avoid slang; be careful with colloquialism — conversational tone is acceptable but stay professional.

Which form of address should I use in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) translation?¶

For Microsoft privacy content and similar formal/professional contexts, use the formal second-person pronoun ۍہُت. This matches the tone expected for legal-consumer content, official communications, and respectful product copy.

How do Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) abbreviations work?¶

No full stop after abbreviation. Abbreviations remain in singular form — only the context makes them singular or plural. Example: OTP لوصوم ہنَ وگ (singular) vs OTP لوصوم ہنَ ےٚگَ (plural).

What punctuation is specific to Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic)?¶

Use the right-to-left punctuation set: full stop ۔, comma ،, semicolon ؛, question mark ؟. Don’t mix English (.,;?) punctuation into Kashmiri text — it will corrupt the whole right-to-left rendering. Capitalization does not apply (single form per letter).

Which Kashmiri language references should I consult?¶

Shauq Shafi’s Kaesher Lugaat (Dictionary of Kashmiri Language) and Kaishrik Grammer; George Grierson’s A Dictionary of Kashmiri Language; Rev T R Wade’s A Grammar of the Kashmiri Language. When multiple spellings are acceptable, follow Microsoft-approved terminology and the normative dictionaries. Maintain consistent spelling.

How should I handle gender bias in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic)?¶

Use gender-neutral alternatives: ھکول instead of درم ت ارضح, ر سفا سیلوپ instead of ل وو سیلوپ, مٔت instead of ہ سٕ. Avoid compounds with gendered roots like درم/نانزَ. For generic single-person references, use plural pronouns (مٔت, نمِت, مِت) or rewrite to plural subject; refer to roles (مزلٲ مُ فرٲص, ٹ نئلاک, لوو نرپ) or use درف/صخش.

Should I keep English acronyms in Kashmiri translation?¶

Many English acronyms are kept in English due to wide acceptance and usage. No plural ‘s’ is needed; neutral (unmarked) gender is used. On first occurrence, present as Full form (acronym); subsequent uses can use the acronym alone. Nuqta diacritic is NOT used in Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic), only in Devanagari script.

Sources¶

• Microsoft Localization Style Guide for Kashmiri (Perso-Arabic) (PDF)
• Microsoft Globalization Style Guides hub
• Koshur — An Introduction to Spoken Kashmiri
• Kashmiri Language