But reviving a language does fulfill the mission as it brings the sum of all knowledge to everyone. Also, lawyers generally don't read Chumash. :D

----- Original Message ---- From: "daniwo59@aol.com" daniwo59@aol.com To: foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 4:08:37 PM Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Allow new wikis in extinct languages?

In a message dated 3/29/2008 5:10:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time, pathoschild@gmail.com writes:

But that is my opinion. What do you think; should wikis be allowed in every extinct language?

To help me think about this question, I pulled out my handy dandy "Manual of Akkadian" (David Marcus University Press of America, 1978) to see if I could translate anything on the Main Page. Unless there is some news report of Babylonian (Iraqi) troops from Nineveh (Mosul) attacking Ur (Basra) with iron-clad mules (tanks), it would be pretty much impossible, even if you can type in cuneiform. Certain languages simply don't have the ability to relay modern ideas, which is, essentially, what an encyclopedia should cover. If you had to make up words for virtually every concept that did not exist in the Fertile Crescent in 2000 BC, it would either not be an encyclopedia or not be Akkadian.

Danny

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