2009/6/27 Ziko van Dijk zvandijk@googlemail.com:
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.