On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 1:18 AM, Mark Williamson <node...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It's more complex than that I think. > > "mo" was deleted from the list of ISO codes relatively recently; when > the Wiki was created it was a valid ISO code. > > > Like I said, it is a complex issue. Also, from what I have heard (and > this may be incorrect), the US Library of Congress deleted the MO code > without consulting with any Moldovan authority which seems > inappropriate. Imagine the outcry if those "experts" were to delete > SR, HR, and BS codes in favor of SH without consulting any local > authority? > > Mark > > Funny you should mention deleting SR, HR, and BS. At Wiktionary this very issue was voted on. An inside group favored the eliminations based on the linguistic argument that the various overlapping dialects (which don't correspond well to national borders) and on the valuable contributions in other areas of the principal admin advocating the elimination. A great deal of nastiness accompanied the vote, which failed due to the participation of new Wiktionary contributors. These contributors have now made sure that they have made 50 edits so as to qualify under proposed new voting qualification rules also under vote. The issue has been somewhat divisive. The point is that it in some cases language is an aspect of national identity. We are very lucky when an international authority (the ISO) makes a decision which we can choose to rely on instead of getting involved in matters generating such anger. There does seem to be a clear trend in some places for wikipedia and wiktionary to become national rather than linguistic in their focus. I have noted the very low influence of Indian English contributors on Wiktionary despite their being one of the largest groups of English speakers and having some distinct vocabulary and distinct grammatical details to their variety of English. The situation contrasts with that for, say, Australia. I wonder whether that is attributable to a similar phenomenon -- Dennis C. During Cynolatry is tolerant so long as the dog is not denied an equal divinity with the deities of other faiths. - Ambrose Bierce http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cynolatry _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l