Plural forms forms for Turkmen

Thank you for your reply.

You can transtale and use launchpad.

see: https://translations.edge.launchpad.net/ubuntu/gutsy/+lang/tk

I was unable to find plural-form information for this language. You may need to ask around in other communities; if you speak Turkmen it will probably be easier to find the information.

The plural form for Turkmen is suffix -lar/-ler. For example
alma (apple) - almalar (apples)
depder (notebook) - depderler (notebooks)
ol (he/she) - olar (they) *** one (L) is dropped

We don't need to know what the plural forms look like, but we do need to know how many forms there are, and exactly what numbers they're used for. This so that string pairs like "there is 1 file" / "there are X files" can be translated correctly for any number of files.

English has two forms: the singular, which is used for 1 object; and the plural which is used for 0 objects or >1 objects. Some languages have those two forms plus a third form for exactly 2 objects. Many languages use just a single form.

So apparently Turkmen has 2 forms for singular and plural, just like English. Does it use the singular or the plural for zero ("0 file" or "0 files")? Are there any other forms (e.g. 11 or 101) that use the singular?

Ok. Thanks for explanation Jeroen :).
Hmm.. I'm currently in Turkey. I know one Professor of Turkmen Language here. I think I can get help from him. But there is one problem, he is not strong in computers. So, I think I can contact him when extremely needed.
Yes, Turkmen language has 2 forms. And also we use singular when there is countable. For example, we say 'X kitap' instead of 'X kitaplar' (X here any value, 'X books' in english). But when there is no count we use plural form. For example 'stoldaky kitaplar' (books on table) and 'stoldaky kitap' (book on table).
Also Jeroen I'd like to ask how can I create keyboard layout for Turkmen language. Windows Vista/7 have turkmen keyboard layout, but there is one problem, they are not usable. For many years in Turkmenistan we pathed Hungarian keyboard layout and used it as Turkmen. So, I think we can make better layout on *nix oses.

If there is no X, that is a separate case and it won't matter for this. The only question now is: for which values of X do you say "X kitap" and for which values do you say "X kitaplar"?

The keyboard layout sounds like a great initiative, but I don't know anything about how to do that. The best thing to do there, I think, is to approach the Ubuntu team. Try filing a question under ubuntu, and maybe pinging Arne Goetje about it.

We use only "X kitap", our language and grammar is very close to Turkish but with several exceptions.

About Keyboard layout, thanks for advice Jeroen, I'll open a question in Ubuntu team.

So you say "X kitap" when X == 1, but also when X == 2 etc?

Exactly :). For, X >= 0 we say 'X Kitap'. Also we use 'ýok' as no. For example 'no books', 'kitap ýok'.

But will it be okay to say "0 kitap"? Or does it absolutely have to be "kitap yók" when X == 0?

Yes, yes it is OK (X>=0). It is used 'kitap yók' when we need show it without 0, just a special case.

Thanks! That leaves us with the simplest plural information possible (just like most Asian languages I'm aware of, in fact): just a single form. Nice and easy. :)

I've updated our language information: https://translations.launchpad.net/+languages/tk

You are welcome :). So, how also can I help?

The first thing to do would be to join, or set up, a Turkmen translation team for the Launchpad or Ubuntu translation groups!

See documentation at https://help.launchpad.net/Translations/

Hmm, will try to contact with students here to organize in a group. Thank you very much!