On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 2:12 PM, Milos Rancic <millosh(a)gmail.com> wrote:
There are two separate issues in relation to standard
language
creation: ethnic/political-based and language-based. Inside of the
first group are South Slavic standards based on Neo-Shtokavian dialect
(Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, Montenegrin), two Norwegian standard
languages, two Belorussian standards, Romanian-Moldovan case and,
possibly, some number of other cases. Inside of the second are the
most of the cases all over the world: from around 800 not standardized
languages of Papua New Guinea to languages of Europe which have never
a possibility to get the status of "a language". Inside of the second
group are Arabian languages.
Our responsibility for the languages of the first group is to find the
best solution for the new project. Sometimes it is possible to make a
conversion engine between standards, sometimes it is not, but it is
reasonable not to create a new project, but to leave both (close)
standards to be written at one. But, if both options are not possible,
our responsibility is to give them a separate project.
What our responsibility in such cases is not -- is to help to those
people in forming of the new standard. Wikipedia and other Wikimedia
projects are about education, not about nation formation. While it is
possible to see some exceptions (including already existing projects),
I would be very strict here: (1) no ISO code -- no Wikipedia; (2)
conversion engine is possible -- new languages will be at the existing
projects; etc.
However, I don't think that it is not our responsibility in relation
to the second group of languages. In comparison with all relevant
international institutions which deal with languages -- Wikimedian
community is the most relevant. There are a few organizations which
are willing to help in standardization of some language, but I don't
know for anyone which is willing to do that if it is not about
translation of the Bible (if anyone knows for such organization
without such agenda, please let me know!). Wikimedian community grew
up enough to deal with such things.
So, even if it needs extra efforts, I think that we should do it.
Because, if we are not doing that, no one would would do.
And one more addition here: If it is possible to make a conversion
engine in the second group, it should be done that way. Our primary
goal is to spread education at the most efficient way, not to build
ethnic identities.