[Foundation-l] Klassical Chinese

[Tim Starling]

Ting Chen wrote:
> Tim Starling wrote:
>> Ting Chen wrote:
>>   
>>> Hi folks,
>>>
>>> since its creation I wondered why this happend. Why is there a classical 
>>> chinese Wikipedia? This language has no native speakers and is not used 
>>> by any relitious or official institution as official language.
>>>     
>> Because at the time it was created, we had not yet given GerardM and his
>> team of rules lawyers the power to decide all wiki creation issues. There
>> was a sentiment that we as a community should make our own decisions on
>> language issues, rather than to delegate it to some standards body who
>> might not have similar interests at heart. And some people held the
>> opinion that while language study and preservation is not our core
>> mission, it'd be nice if it happened anyway, especially if there is no
>> significant cost to the organisation.
>>
> I totally agree with you on the issue of language conservation. Actually 
> I had even thought about the possibility to use our wiki to do such 
> things. I had read quite some articles for example on Scientific 
> American about the problems of language conservation that the 
> researchers are facing. And I think that wiki can be a technical way for 
> them.
> 
> But the classic chinese is another case. Classic chinese is a dead 
> language, and to write about the modern Olympic games with such a 
> language is simply original research. It has nothing to do with language 
> conservation.

Surely a pedagogical study of Classical Chinese is more relevant to our
educational mission than Wikiquote's enormous sitcom dialogue collection,
or Wikipedia's in-universe sci-fi/fantasy character studies.

"No original research" should be considered a project policy, not a
Foundation policy. Original research is an immensely valuable activity,
and Wikimedia should not be opposed to it on principle.

-- Tim Starling