Quote Marks in Hebrew?
Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 3:43 pm
I'm working on a printing job in Hebrew, which I know a little about but am far from fluent. Recalling that Mellel is the standard for working in Hebrew on the Mac, I'm hoping somebody here might be able to clarify an issue for me.
The job is a translation, including a quotation. The Hebrew translation delivered placed the quotation within typewriter-style "straight" quote marks ("—"). In English such ASCII quote marks are never used in printed material, thus a common chore for typesetters is replacing such quote marks in manuscripts with traditional typographical "curly" quote marks (“—”). (See Butterick's Typography: "…straight quotes are one of the most grievous and inept typographic errors.")
I didn't want to have straight quotes in the book, so, knowing that there is much variety in quote conventions in different languages, I did some research, primarily in Wikipedia, which also led me to a Hebrew Academy webpage, which I ran through Google Translate. (It had information about how to use quote marks, but nothing about which type is "standard".) There seems to be some confusion about quote marks in Hebrew, but it looks like there are three possible formats, shown here in the Times New Roman font I'm using in the book:
#1 (with typewriter-style quotes), even if customary in modern Hebrew, looks crude and amateurish, especially in a traditional-style typeface like Times New Roman. I still don't know what is most common in Israel, where this book is most likely to be read, but #2 (with the first quote mark at the baseline) might be a little arcane, old-fashioned. So I settled on #3 (with both typographical quotes at the top of the line), which Wikipedia says is "standard".
However, the translator disagreed: "…the first version of the three [with straight quotes] is the only one that is appropriate for modern Hebrew." Hmm. This spurred me to further research: What is customary usage in modern Hebrew?
I don't have any Hebrew books, so I looked at some Hebrew newspaper websites, and found that most do use straight quote marks with sans-serif fonts (mostly Open Sans Hebrew), which looks okay. A few did have typographical quotes with sans-serif fonts. None had traditional serif-style Hebrew fonts, and I didn't know where else to look, so I couldn't see if straight quotes are also used with typefaces like Times New Roman.
I surmise that the common use of straight quotes even in formal contexts like newspapers is a result of the Hebrew computer keyboard being patterned after the original Hebrew typewriter keyboard, which like the English typewriter had only that type of quote mark. Since the development of computer typesetting, in English the "smart quotes" feature in most word processors automatically enters the correct "curly" (typographical) quote marks when the straight (a.k.a. "dumb") quote key is pressed; but I gather "smart quotes" is not a common function in Hebrew computing. (Wikipedia says MS Word doesn't do smart quotes for Hebrew.)
So apparently everybody in the Hebrew world is still accustomed to typewriter quotes even in formal publishing (where they would not be used in a Latin-script language). They do look okay with spare sans-serif typefaces such as Open Sans, but I find them rather ugly with a traditional serif-style typeface. (And apparently at least some Hebrew typographers do prefer typographical quotes with sans-serif typefaces, as in two newspapers I saw.) Typographical quote marks have been added as options in the Hebrew keyboard (at least in the Hebrew–PC one as well as the two others in MacOS, where I am working), but I doubt many users know about them. Perhaps those in the graphic arts field do, and use them where appropriate, as with serif-style fonts where they look much better?
Can anybody clarify this issue for me? Is the typewriter-style straight quote mark in common use in Hebrew, not just in informal settings (as in English) as well as with sans-serif fonts on the Web (not as in English), but also as a "standard" in quality Hebrew printed matter with traditional serif-type fonts (e.g. New Peninim, Frank Rühl, as well as Times New Roman)? It really goes against the grain to use "dumb" quote marks in such a context, but I guess I must if it's what Hebrew readers really expect to see.
Thank you,
Andrew Main
Santa Fe, N.M., U.S.A.
The job is a translation, including a quotation. The Hebrew translation delivered placed the quotation within typewriter-style "straight" quote marks ("—"). In English such ASCII quote marks are never used in printed material, thus a common chore for typesetters is replacing such quote marks in manuscripts with traditional typographical "curly" quote marks (“—”). (See Butterick's Typography: "…straight quotes are one of the most grievous and inept typographic errors.")
I didn't want to have straight quotes in the book, so, knowing that there is much variety in quote conventions in different languages, I did some research, primarily in Wikipedia, which also led me to a Hebrew Academy webpage, which I ran through Google Translate. (It had information about how to use quote marks, but nothing about which type is "standard".) There seems to be some confusion about quote marks in Hebrew, but it looks like there are three possible formats, shown here in the Times New Roman font I'm using in the book:
#1 (with typewriter-style quotes), even if customary in modern Hebrew, looks crude and amateurish, especially in a traditional-style typeface like Times New Roman. I still don't know what is most common in Israel, where this book is most likely to be read, but #2 (with the first quote mark at the baseline) might be a little arcane, old-fashioned. So I settled on #3 (with both typographical quotes at the top of the line), which Wikipedia says is "standard".
However, the translator disagreed: "…the first version of the three [with straight quotes] is the only one that is appropriate for modern Hebrew." Hmm. This spurred me to further research: What is customary usage in modern Hebrew?
I don't have any Hebrew books, so I looked at some Hebrew newspaper websites, and found that most do use straight quote marks with sans-serif fonts (mostly Open Sans Hebrew), which looks okay. A few did have typographical quotes with sans-serif fonts. None had traditional serif-style Hebrew fonts, and I didn't know where else to look, so I couldn't see if straight quotes are also used with typefaces like Times New Roman.
I surmise that the common use of straight quotes even in formal contexts like newspapers is a result of the Hebrew computer keyboard being patterned after the original Hebrew typewriter keyboard, which like the English typewriter had only that type of quote mark. Since the development of computer typesetting, in English the "smart quotes" feature in most word processors automatically enters the correct "curly" (typographical) quote marks when the straight (a.k.a. "dumb") quote key is pressed; but I gather "smart quotes" is not a common function in Hebrew computing. (Wikipedia says MS Word doesn't do smart quotes for Hebrew.)
So apparently everybody in the Hebrew world is still accustomed to typewriter quotes even in formal publishing (where they would not be used in a Latin-script language). They do look okay with spare sans-serif typefaces such as Open Sans, but I find them rather ugly with a traditional serif-style typeface. (And apparently at least some Hebrew typographers do prefer typographical quotes with sans-serif typefaces, as in two newspapers I saw.) Typographical quote marks have been added as options in the Hebrew keyboard (at least in the Hebrew–PC one as well as the two others in MacOS, where I am working), but I doubt many users know about them. Perhaps those in the graphic arts field do, and use them where appropriate, as with serif-style fonts where they look much better?
Can anybody clarify this issue for me? Is the typewriter-style straight quote mark in common use in Hebrew, not just in informal settings (as in English) as well as with sans-serif fonts on the Web (not as in English), but also as a "standard" in quality Hebrew printed matter with traditional serif-type fonts (e.g. New Peninim, Frank Rühl, as well as Times New Roman)? It really goes against the grain to use "dumb" quote marks in such a context, but I guess I must if it's what Hebrew readers really expect to see.
Thank you,
Andrew Main
Santa Fe, N.M., U.S.A.