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<H1><FONT SIZE=+4>A Brief Guide for Editors and Translators of English <I>Sefarim</I></FONT></H1>
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<FONT FACE="Arial"><H2>Introduction</H2><DIR>
</FONT><P>Recent years have seen increasing numbers of publishing projects which make traditional Jewish material available to English readers. This web-page is meant to supplement the many guides, style-sheets, and handbooks that have been written for writers-in-general with something brief that addresses problems and issues that are unique to English <I>Sefarim</I>.</P></DIR>
<H2><A NAME ="topics">
<B>Topics Covered</B></A></H2>
<DIR><A HREF = "#General">General suggestions</A>
<P><A HREF = "#Suggested">Suggested transliteration rules</A>
<P><A HREF = "#format">Format for quoting a verse
with translation</A>
<P><A HREF = "#problems">Wording problems common to
English <I>sefarim</I></A>
<P><A HREF = "#wordy">Wordy expressions common to
English <I>sefarim</I></A>
<P><A HREF = "#other">Other wording issues</A>
<P><A HREF = "#closing">Closing general suggestion</A>
<P><A HREF = "#About">About the author</A></DIR>
<H2><A NAME = "General">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">General suggestions</FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">1. Hebrew font should be avoided, if possible.
Why exclude some readers from comfortable use of an English <I>sefer</I>?</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">2. Quote only translations of verses, without quoting
them first in Hebrew if the idea is simply to cite the scriptural source
of a law or concept.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">3. Do not use an English <I>sefer </I>to teach terminology.
Use Hebrew when the term is very familiar and the translation might create
ambiguity or loss of precision. Thus, a reader is more likely to recognize
"<I>Rosh Chodesh</I>" than "New Moon Day," but "soul" is a perfectly reasonable
word to use for "<I>neshamah</I>," if all that is meant is the soul.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">4. Use English titles for books of <I>Tanach</I>.
Some people recognize "<I>Bereishis</I>," but not "<I>Mishlei</I>."</FONT></DIR>
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<H2><A Name = "Suggested">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Suggested transliteration rules</FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">1. Words with a final <I>hei</I> are spelled with
a final "h."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">2. "Ei"(the vowel-sound in "weight") is used for
<I>tzeirei</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">3. "Ai" is used for the vowel sound in the word "tide."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">4. An apostrophe is used bewteen consecutive vowel
sounds, as in "<I>mo'eid</I>."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">5. An "e" is used for a vocalized <I>sheva</I>, e.g.
"<I>bemeizid</I>," not "<I>b'meizid</I>."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">6. "A" is used for <I>kametz</I>. Exception to rule
6: <I>Shabbos</I></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">7. "O" is used for <I>cholem</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">8. "I" is used for <I>chirik</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">9. "F" is preferred to "ph."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">10. Doubling of consonants should be avoided.</FONT>
<FONT FACE="Arial">Exceptions
to rule 10: <I>challah</I>, <I>Shabbos</I></FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">11. "S" is used for <I>saf</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">12. "Ch" is used for <I>chaf</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">13. Hebrew or Yiddish words should be in italics.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">14. Do not capitalize Hebrew words in transliteration
without a specific reason to do so (e.g. proper names, at the beginning
of a sentence, etc.).</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">15. Do not capitalize words in constructions, e.g.
<I>ba'al habayis</I>, not <I>ba'al haBayis</I>. An alternative policy could be to make exceptions for proper nouns, e.g. <I>leYa'akov</I>.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">16. Form plurals of feminine words as follows: <I>challos</I>,
not <I>challahs</I>.</FONT>
<BR>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Note, the above system follows the <I>Ashkenazi</I>
accent. It can be used for the <I>Sefardi </I>accent by replacing the "s"
for "<I>saf</I>" with a "t" for "<I>taf</I>." This is an over-simplification
for both accents. <I>Kametz</I> and <I>patach</I>, for instance, are both
simply assumed to be types of "a" sounds, but it is sensible to keep things
simple.</FONT> <FONT FACE="Arial">Moreover, whatever is gained by distinguishing
between <I>kametz </I>and <I>patach</I> is lost, I think, in potentially
misleading spellings. "<I>Berachah</I>" is, thus, preferable to "<I>brocho</I>"
because it does not imply that the word rhymes with "pogo."</FONT></DIR>
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<H2><A NAME = "format">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Format for quoting a verse with translation</FONT></B></A></H2>
<H3>
<IMG SRC="Image2.gif" HEIGHT=12 WIDTH=12><B><FONT FACE="Arial">With citation
at end:</FONT></B></H3>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">"<I>Bereishis bara Elokim eis hashamayim ve'eis
ha'aretz</I>"--"In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth"
(Genesis 1:1).</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Note: In the middle of a sentence a word or phrase
set off by a dash must be followed by a dash. In a longer version of the
above sentence, the closing dash would follow the parenthetical citation.</FONT></DIR>
<H3>
<IMG SRC="Image2.gif" HEIGHT=12 WIDTH=12><B><FONT FACE="Arial">With citation
at beginning:</FONT></B></H3>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">At the beginning of the Torah (Genesis 1:1), it
is written, "<I>Bereishit</I> . . . ."</FONT></DIR>
<H3>
<IMG SRC="Image2.gif" HEIGHT=12 WIDTH=12><B><FONT FACE="Arial">With footnote:</FONT></B></H3>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">"<I>Bereishis bara Elokim eis hashamayim ve'eis ha'aretz</I>"--"In the beginning G-d created the heaven and the earth."<SUP>1</SUP></FONT>
<BR>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">Note: Place the raised number <I>after</I> the quotation whenever possible, after all punctuation except a dash. If the verse and the translation are both complete sentences, each starts with a capital
letter. Quotation marks are used with Hebrew as well as English.</FONT>
<BR> </DIR>
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<H2><A NAME = "problems">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Wording problems common to English <I>sefarim</I></FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR><FONT FACE="Arial">1. Adverbial elements too early in sentences. Instead
of "I am bringing you on Friday a present," write "I am bringing you a
present on Friday."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">2. Awkward "of," especially for possessives. Instead
of "They were afraid of the anger of the King," write "They feared the
King's anger."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">3. Incorrect use of "being that" for "since."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">4. Incorrect use of "by" to mean "in reference to"
or "in the case of."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">5. Awkward attempts to reproduce Hebrew verb-placement.
Instead of "There occurred mishaps," write "Mishaps occurred."</FONT> <FONT FACE="Arial">Instead
of "'Position,' what is implied?" write "What is implied by 'position'?"</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">6. Over-literal translation. "I like ice cream" is
better than "Ice cream has found favor in my eyes." This is an extreme
example; semi-acceptable literal translations that can be replaced with
more effective phrasing are often hard to root out.</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">7. Incorrect use of "should" for commands or exhortations.
Instead of "You <I>should</I> rejoice before the L-rd, Your G-d," write
"You <I>shall </I>rejoice."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">8. Unnecessary extra conjunctive word. Example: "Since
these activities are not common at night, <B>therefore</B> the Sages did
not make a decree concerning them."</FONT>
<P><FONT FACE="Arial">9. Faulty future-in-the past tense. Write, "He told
his student he <I>would</I><B> </B>give him the answer in an hour," not
"he <I>will</I>."</FONT></DIR>
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<H2><A NAME = "wordy">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Wordy expressions common to English <I>sefarim</I></FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR>1. Instead of "each and every," write "each" or "every."
<P>2. Instead of "is of the opinion that," write "rules" or "states" etc.
<P>3. Instead of "the fact that he arrived," write "his arrival."
<P>4. Instead of "it is incumbent upon us to," write "we must."
</DIR>
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<H2><A NAME = "other">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Other wording issues</FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR>1. Use the present tense to quote authorities. Write "the Rambam states,"not
"the Rambam stated."
<P>2. Although it makes a certain sense to use the past tense to describe
a halachic situation in which one has just performed a problematic action
and needs to know what to do, English has an overriding preference for
the present in such cases. Write "If he nevertheless forgets, he does not
have to repeat," not "If he nevertheless forgot . . . . "
<P>3. The traditional follow-up pronoun for "one" is also "one." This is
can be awkward, however, and it leads to sentences like the following:
"When one is in doubt, one should consult a competent rabbinic authority."
A good way to avoid this problem is to use "a person . . . he." Some reference
books also now seem to be allowing the traditionally incorrect "one . .
. he," but let your ear be your guide here: This last expedient should
be avoided when it simply sounds wrong.</DIR>
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<H2><A NAME = "closing">
<B><FONT FACE="Arial">Closing general suggestion</FONT></B></A></H2>
<DIR>See any good writing handbook to review general strategies for avoiding
wordiness and making sentences concise. A good online resource is <A HREF = "http://owl.english.purdue.edu/"> Purdue University's Online Writing Lab.</A></DIR>
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<P><A NAME = "About"><B>About the author: </B></A>Binyomin Kaplan has a Ph.D. in English from
Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. He has edited or translated a number
of English <I>sefarim</I> and has also worked on other types of writing
projects. To comment on this webpage or to inquire about hiring Dr. Kaplan
to edit your manuscript, e-mail him at <A HREF="mailto:binyomin@gs.net">binyomin@gs.net</A>.
<P><FONT SIZE=-2>Copyright <FONT FACE="Symbol">ã 1998 </FONT>by
Binyomin Kaplan</FONT>
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