Hi team 👋
First of all, thank you for building Docs
— it’s a fantastic open-source alternative to Notion / Google Docs, and
we really appreciate the strong i18n support already in place 🙏
I’d like to respectfully propose explicitly distinguishing Simplified Chinese (zh-Hans) and Traditional Chinese (zh-Hant) as separate locales.
Why this matters
Although both scripts share the same linguistic roots, the vocabulary, phrasing, and tone differ significantly, much like European languages that are closely related but not interchangeable. A few analogies that might help:
Analogy | Explanation
-- | --
Portuguese (Portugal) vs Portuguese (Brazil) | Same language family, but UI wording, idioms, and formality levels differ greatly
French (France) vs French (Canada / Belgium) | Users expect localized wording instead of a “generic French”
German (Germany) vs Austrian / Swiss German | Regional standards matter for official/public sector usage
Similarly:
Simplified Chinese is mainly used in Mainland China, Singapore, and Malaysia
Traditional Chinese is mainly used in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau
In practice, many terms are not just script differences, but different words entirely.
Using a single zhlocale often leads to awkward or even incorrect UI text for one audience.
Why this fits Docs
Since Docs is already:
Used by public organizations and governments
Focused on clear, accurate documentation
Supporting multiple languages via i18n
…it makes sense to treat Chinese variants with the same granularity as other major language families.
Why this matters
zhlocale often leads to awkward or even incorrect UI text for one audience.Why this fits Docs