2009/6/27 Ziko van Dijk <zvandijk(a)googlemail.com>om>:
Hello,
Could someone explain to me why "Wikipedia" is without definite
article? In English you say "the Britannica", so why not "the
Wikipedia"? I am wondering that also in German Wikipedians and
non-Wikipedians tend to drop the article, although we say "der
Brockhaus".
We do indeed say "I looked it up in the Encyclopedia Britannica", but
we also say "I looked it up in Encarta" or "I looked it up in
Whitaker's". Whether or not something gets an initial article is a bit
erratic, on the whole...
(Perhaps Britannica gets it because "Encyclopedia" is a common word -
we'd feel silly with the sentence "I looked it up in Encyclopedia
Britannica", because "I looked it up in encyclopedia" would itself be
wrong)
For what it's worth, I've noticed that "the Wikipedia" is becoming
more common, but more among third parties than among people associated
with the project.
--
- Andrew Gray
andrew.gray(a)dunelm.org.uk