[WikiEN-l] Should articles explain pronunciation?

[Ray Saintonge]

Timwi wrote:

> Should Wikipedia articles, in their first paragraph, explain the 
> pronunciation of the word that is the article title?
>
> I have removed those on the grounds that Wikipedia is not a 
> dictionary, but I've been reverted with the argument that a 
> pronunciation guide doesn't turn an article into a dictionary definition.
>
> My reasoning behind not wanting the pronunciations is that logically, 
> articles should describe the concept behind a word (e.g. the planet 
> Uranus) and not the word itself ("Uranus", which could be referring to 
> a planet, a deity, or even a film). Also, what makes the pronunciation 
> of Uranus more mention-worthy than that of, say, "planet"?

The idea that Wikipedia is not a dictionary does not prevent dictionary 
data from being included in an article along with the other information. 
 It is meant to prevent articles from being *only* dictionary data. 
 Pronunciation is not part of the definition, but it is dictionary data.  

"Uranus" is actually a good example of a name where pronunciation 
*should* be discussed, given the obvious pun that is involved with the 
name.  In general, the pronunciations should be kept.

Ec