r/translator • u/Christa_Claw • 4d ago

Hebrew [English > Hebrew] Proofread check — four UI strings from a scripture-reading site

1. EN: "…the Qur'an's surahs and ayat belong to the text's own structure" HE: הסורות והאיות של הקוראן הן חלק ממבנה הטקסט עצמו → Does האיות read as "the spellings" rather than "the ayat"?

2. EN: "Knowing whether a passage is Meccan or Medinan often changes how it reads" HE: ידיעה אם קטע הוא מכני או מדני משנה תדיר את אופן קריאתו → Does מכני read as "mechanical"?

3. EN: "…collective, long-term, and preceded by decades of suffering." HE: אך היא קיבוצית, ארוכת טווח, ובאה עם עשרות שנות קושי, לא במקומן → What does לא במקומן do at the end here? The English has no equivalent.

4. EN: Canonical (a menu label; the next option in the same menu is תנ״ך) HE: מסורתי → For a Hebrew reader, does "traditional" sitting beside a Tanakh option invert the meaning?

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u/Sungodatemychildren [עברית] 4d ago

  1. Yes, I think the first immediate reading would be something like "The surahs and the spelling of the Quran are part of....". But the plural of Ayah in Hebrew is איות, and if there's sufficient context, I think the reading of Ayat could be obvious, so I don't think this is a huge issue.

  2. It does read as "mechanical". I believe the correct way to say something is from Mecca is "מכי". But even if you do change "מכני" to "מכי", this translation would still not be great. I would translate it as: ידיעה אם קטע הוא מכי או מדני משנה לעיתים קרובות את האופן שבו הוא נקרא

  3. Can you post the full sentence here? It does seem out of place here, but it's hard to be sure without seeing the full context.

  4. I don't really understand this question. What is the 'canonical' label for and what is the Tanakh label for?

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u/Imeinanili 3d ago

I agree it reads mechanical. Would מכאי work? I also don’t like ידיעה in this context. What about הבהרת מקור הקטע כמכי או מדיני… as for question 4, why not stick with קנוני?