[Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia English English

[James R. Johnson]

It sounds like you want dialectual words and colloquialisms to form the
basis of your 'English English' wikipedia.

James

-----Original Message-----
From: wikipedia-l-bounces at Wikimedia.org
[mailto:wikipedia-l-bounces at Wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Jack & Naree
Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 6:12 AM
To: node.ue at gmail.com; wikipedia-l at wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia English English

I want American English to have a separate Wikipedia from English English - 
this would mean copying
 I typed it in a hurry at the end of my shift with a view to responding to 
any response, later.
 I've placed a more detailed post on the helpdesk page. I think, however, 
that it's apt that I should go into even more depth here.
 I've asked about English on Wikipedia before and been told that they think 
it's acceptable for English articles to be in a mish-mash of dialects and 
spellings; but having seen the range of ludicrous languages available - 
including variant forms of English: Scots English and Middle English etc... 
I've now decided I must make a request and campaign properly for American 
English to be given a seperate Wikipedia language from (English) English.
 It's simply infuriating and offensive for the misspellings of a dialect of 
English to take precedence over the standard language - I'm sure Spanish, 
French and Portuguese speakers would feel similarly; it's cultural 
imperialism.
 If you have different forms of Chinese Wikipedia (I'm a graduate of Jap & 
Chi so I'm aware of xyz); if you have Wikipedias for dialects and older 
forms of English; if you Wikipedias for countries and languages with far 
smaller populations, economic/political importance and internet presences; 
then the English of the British Isles and Commonwealth - the standard and 
original form of English - simply *has* to be the only form of English that 
can use the term "English" on Wikipedia.
 Some might say that it is "British English", this term is fallacious (even 
if you can find it in a dictionary) no English, British, British Isles or 
even Commonwealth native understands or recognises the term - it is both 
meaningless and fallacious: there are no "British English" speakers in the 
world - there are English (nationality) English (language) speakers, Welsh 
English speakers, Scottish English speakers, Irish English speakers, Cornish

English speakers and so on...
Whereas the term "American English" is not.
When I go to Wikipedia English, and type a search for "colour" I should not 
expect to be redirected to "color" which is a recent spelling of a dialect 
of English that has arisen over the last couple of centuries perhaps - it is

simply *not* *English* it is *American-English*. I'm more than happy for 
American-English speakers to have an American-English wikipedia and have all

their weird and wonderful spellings and vocabulary - and it may well turn 
out to be the biggest wiki; but I don't want to select Wikipedia English and

type in "Aubergine" and get "Eggplant"; "Nappy" and get "Diaper"; or "Tap" 
and get "Faucet", it's simply unacceptable, and against the spirit of 
multilingualism and accuracy that wikipedia is supposed to strive for.
Hence I want to campaign in all seriousness that The English Wikipedia is 
duplicated, and one is called American-English, the other remaining English,

and the task of correcting spelling, vocab and grammar can begin.
 The Campaign for an English Wikipedia is not about Britain (the fourth 
largest economy in the world, a population of about 60m, 55% of whom are 
online), it's also about a whole host of other countries and regions (over a

billion people) that do not use American-English, but use English instead as

a lingua franca (many with complete fluency):
Ireland
India
Pakistan
Bangladesh
Sri lanka
Nepal
Singapore
Malaysia
Brunei
(Hong Kong)
(Canada)
Australia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Ghana
Sierra Leone
parts of Cameroon
Uganda
Kenya
Tanzania
Sudan
Zambia
Zimbabwe
RSA
Lesotho
Namibia
Botswana
Malawi
various island nations in the Caribbean plus Belize and Guyana, Indian Ocean

and Pacific British dependencies all over the planet.
 The term Commonwealth English is therefore also apt, but American-English 
has no right to usurp the title English, from English! Wikipedia should 
reflect this.
 Jack
 York
England
The United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Crown Dependencies & 
Overseas Territories
 On 19/09/05, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com> wrote: 
> 
> Does your e-mail have a point?
> 
> Mark
> 
> On 18/09/05, Jack & Naree <jack.macdaddy at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Wikipedia Anglo-Saxon?! Wikipedia Middle English?!! Wikipedia Scot's
> > English?!!!
> > I want Wikipedia English English!!!
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