Locale
A locale is a specific pairing of a language and a region that together set how content should be presented: spelling, date and number formats, currency, sorting order and local conventions. English in Australia and English in the United States are different locales, even though the language is the same.
How it works
Software identifies a locale with a short code, such as en-AU for Australian English or ar-SA for Arabic in Saudi Arabia. The code drives choices the user never sees as decisions: which spelling to show, how to format a date, which way to lay out the text, how to group digits.
Building for locales in advance, internationalisation, is what lets one product serve many markets. The content is then adapted per locale without changing the underlying code.
How SourceTarget uses it
Where content is built for reuse across markets, SourceTarget works to the specific locale you need, for example Australian English rather than generic English, so spelling, formats and terminology match the audience. The locale is set before work starts.
Locale compared with Language
| Locale | Language | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | A language plus a region and its conventions | The language alone |
| Example | en-AU, en-US and en-GB differ | English is one language |
| Determines | Spelling, formats, currency, conventions | Vocabulary and grammar |