Dear fellow list subscribers,
Following on the discussion on the two or even four written and standardised variants of Norwegian, I would like to see how much two language varieties must differ from one another to be apt for a new wikipedia. Don't get me wrong: my intention is NOT to dispute the validity of two coexisting Norwegian wikipedias. Those variants have a long history and tradition of mutual incompatibility. I just think all of us agree that somewhere it has to stop - or should we wish a Texan wikipedia? "e freea cundent engcyclep~e thad annywun can eddit"? - but we might disagree where. Probably you held this discussion many times before, but I am a relative newbe on this list.
Now I would like to pose my question in a casuist way: Could requests for wikipedias in Zeelandic and Town Frisian be granted. Neither is generally considered a seperate language (those some linguists do call them languages), but Zeelandic is a clearly bordered regional language which differs about as much from Dutch proper as Nynorsk from Swedish (as far as I can judge) and is, when spoken, very problematic to be understood for Dutch speakers, while Town Frisian is a mixed language with a 16th century Hollandic vocabulary and Frisian grammar and phonetical principles. Moreover, it goes without saying that these variants (to avoid both the term "language" and "dialect") are not allowed on nl:, being a standardised language.
I don't necessarily support requests for wikipedias in those (thogh I would be willing to contribute), but I would like to know where the community draws the borders.
Thanks for reading this, Wouter
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