I have been entering releases that are in Pushto/Dari language (I’m told) and use (I’m led to believe) Old Persian scipt.
The release titles and track titles have been transliterated into Latin script at sites that make them available for download. However this transliteration process is highly inexact and many “correct” transliterations can be made of a single track title. (As I understand it.) Example track list image That track list transliterated
Q1. Is it correct that in an ideal MB, an editor, literate in Pushto/Dari, would enter the release titles and track titles in their original script as on the release track list? *
I have been entering the track titles “raw” - that is exactly as I find them transliterated. I cannot enter them in their original script - in that I’m functionally illiterate.
No normalisation of capitalisation has been applied - I have no starting point to apply any track name style guide.
I am still working on these releases and this artist. So things like the track lengths from the example track list image will be applied.
Q2. What do I need to do so that this low quality data does not become mis-understood as high quality data and get treated as such?
Q3. * What is the situation on MB around translations of track titles? If these track titles are ever returned to their original script, the data be very opaque for those not literate in that script.
Q4. Any suggestions, concerns, friends who are literate in Pushto/Dari, applicable guidelines, prior experiences in cross-script editing?
Q1: Obviously someone who understands Farsi would be able to enter the track titles correctly. Just add an annotation explaining that the information is currently sub-optimal. Hopefully MBS-2401 Alternative track lists will be implemented soon. This will allow a release to have multiple track lists for the same track, so titles could be both in the original script and any number of transliterations.
Q2. Add an annotation.
Q3: Right now it would be solved by pseudo-releases. The translated or transliterated release would be marked as a pseudo-release and linked to the original. But since you won’t be able to enter the original release anyway, and alternative track lists are on their way, I wouldn’t go through such lengths right now.
First off, I did some releases in arabic script, not knowing it either, but they were much easier to handle than yours (e.g. CDText, official transliteration on the back or the publishers webpage). So I have nothing but admiration for you.
No surprise there. You may have seen Пётр’s long list of aliases
Transliteration is a harsh mistress^W^W coarse process.
Keep doing, what you are doing, until we get more arab-literate editors!
Use annotations to state the fact. You could lower the release quality as well, although I suspect it is not much worse than your typical “imported from XYZ by a script” release.
Yes, I have some releases in my collection where the tags and filenames are arabic. It’s funny, but not very practical. With pseudo-releases you can just select the version of the release that is right for you. But then you only get the transliterated tags.
Ideally I’d like to have both in the tags, and the option (via a switch, or filename scripts) to select what’s right for the filenames.
I can’t offer much, maybe ask in the doujin music thread as similar concerns may apply for CJK content?
We have more editors able to edit with understanding in those languages.
And more online sources to confirm for others.
I have “met” an editor who reads arabic along my edit/vote path and they are currently active.
Maybe you can ask them: crayonbro.
