Timwi wrote:
Should Wikipedia articles, in their first paragraph, explain the pronunciation of the word that is the article title?
I have removed those on the grounds that Wikipedia is not a dictionary, but I've been reverted with the argument that a pronunciation guide doesn't turn an article into a dictionary definition.
My reasoning behind not wanting the pronunciations is that logically, articles should describe the concept behind a word (e.g. the planet Uranus) and not the word itself ("Uranus", which could be referring to a planet, a deity, or even a film). Also, what makes the pronunciation of Uranus more mention-worthy than that of, say, "planet"?
The idea that Wikipedia is not a dictionary does not prevent dictionary data from being included in an article along with the other information. It is meant to prevent articles from being *only* dictionary data. Pronunciation is not part of the definition, but it is dictionary data.
"Uranus" is actually a good example of a name where pronunciation *should* be discussed, given the obvious pun that is involved with the name. In general, the pronunciations should be kept.
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