[Foundation-l] Wikipedia Logo - errors

Sat Jun 16 16:54:23 UTC 2007

Come on Mark, do you really want to teach Japanese people how they should
read their syllabary? :-)

You are ja-3 and I am ja-1, so I don't think I have anything to teach you;
probably you disregarded a few facts. The top left strike of this sign
starts right at the horizontal strike level and is straight. If it's
supposed to be a "ku", I have never seen such a poor font as it makes it
completely indistinguishable from a classical wa in italic type.

To be a "ku", it should have the top left strike curved and start above the
corner of the horizontal one. Each font decides its balance between those:
in general, the higher it starts, the less curved it is. Some very thick
fonts make it start at the horizontal line level, but they make it very
curved. Without this, it would be too difficult to distinguish a ku from a
wa...
See reference 3 (sorry, it's the first website using lots of different fonts
and styles that has popped into my mind :-) )  for some examples using
italics or not, bold or not, or play with notepad and some unicode fonts.

If I am wrong, I would gladly welcome any serious example (ie. not
handwritten or made as a play on word) that breaks this rule to improve my
personal knowledge of the Japanese language.

Actually, I am pretty sure the author wanted to put a 'u', so as to make
"Wi"(kipedia, like we have 'W' in latin script). And "u" is just a strike
added on top of "wa". Actually, I only had a quick look to the logo in the
past and did not notice the typo; I had, it seems, automatically corrected
it and have always thought about it as "wi".

Anyway, being a bad ku or an italic wa with a normal small i, it is just
crap.
But no matter the respect I have for Japanese people, I have to agree with
Alison that it might be a little expensive to correct a typo if we consider
the fact that the Foundation try to not protect every name of Wikipedia
everywhere because of cost... Personally, I don't pay much attention to this
logo so maybe I don't realize really well if it is worth it for Japanese or
not. I don't know the real cost either.

Dewa mata ne,
Jerome (Eden2004)

References:
1: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Wikipedia-logo.png
2: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#Table_of_katakana
3: http://jump.shueisha.co.jp/home.html (11th box in the center left stack:
wan piisu in italic type; under the main banner: PWJ topikkusu written in
italic bold type; same place, more on the right: chekku written in italic
type)

2007/6/15, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com>:
>
> That's most definitely "ku". If it is wa, that is a very strangely written
> wa.
>
> On 15/06/07, Aphaia <aphaia at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On 6/15/07, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > It is actually Japanese, it is "kwi".
> >
> > Honestly now you prove you are not of literacy in Japanese ... (not a
> > criticism, but a fact) .  It is "Wa" + (little) "i" in fact and this
> > combination has never happened in the Japanese orthography, at least
> > since the invention of kata-kana in the early Heian era (9th C).
> >
> > >
> > > Although not used in any actual words, the fact that it is genuine
> > > letters is not possible to negate.
> > >
> > > In fact, it is used in Okinawan dialect/language with some frequency.
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> > > On 14/06/07, Aphaia <aphaia at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > Honestly Japanese community doesn't take the strange letter as
> > > > Japanese, but "something trying to be similar" and asked at least
> once
> > > > Nohat to change it with the correct genuine one(s) based on
> consensus
> > > > but rejected he had no interest to make a such change by request (he
> > > > said he had no enough time to handle it).
> > > >
> > > > It is already a FAQ "what represents the funny character?" on VP and
> > > > community consensus is it is not a Japanese letter, but some just
> > > > weird figures, there are also some figures which can never be letter
> > > > used on this globe, ever. I know Japanese community is not happy
> with
> > > > those two letters, and some takes it a sign WMF has no interest
> toward
> > > > Japanese projects and its culture.
> > > >
> > > > Personal I have no strong opinion on that issue, though I admit it
> is
> > > > hardly to be considered a thoughtful design, rather a typical
> > > > misrepresenting other cultures of Westerners (personally I love this
> > > > kind, since it makes me  ... smile at least).
> > > >
> > > > Just for your information.
> > > >
> > > > On 6/15/07, Peter Halasz <email at pengo.org> wrote:
> > > > > > Usually, no response means nobody cares, not "it got lost in the
> > > > > > tubes, please post again until people tell you to stop."
> > > > >
> > > > > There's no need to be rude. I appreciate that you don't want to
> see
> > > > > your photoshopping work repeated, but if I followed your logic
> then I
> > > > > would have expected no response to the Creative Commons 3.0mention
> > > > > here (22 replies, though no definitive ruling *cough*). But
> perhaps
> > > > > you're correct that English speakers are happy to have poorly
> formed
> > > > > Devanagari and a Japanese typo on the logo.
> > > > >
> > > > > Peter Halasz.
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > > foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > > > > http://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > KIZU Naoko
> > > >   Wikiquote: http://wikiquote.org
> > > >   * habent enim emolumentum in labore suo *
> > > >
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> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > Refije dirije lanmè yo paske nou posede pwòp bato.
> > >
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> >
> >
> > --
> > KIZU Naoko
> >   Wikiquote: http://wikiquote.org
> >   * habent enim emolumentum in labore suo *
> >
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>
> --
> Refije dirije lanmè yo paske nou posede pwòp bato.
>
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