[Wikipedia-l] Re: Proper foreign names

[sgilbert at nbnet.nb.ca]

> From: "Stevertigo" <stevertigo at attbi.com>
> Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 22:42:36 -0700
>
> This may sound offlandish - but I want to throw support behind the idea =
> of
> spelling proper names in close accord to their actual names' =
> pronunciation.
> The English spelling/pronunciation "Prague" would redirect to "Praha" - =
> the
> actual name of the place. This is not something that should simply be =
> left
> to stand along English lines.

<snip>

> All that said, I'd just like to see Prague redirect to "Praha" -(etc)  =
> let
> "Prague" be recorded as a depricated way of naming the capital city of
> Czechlosovakia.  Proper names, at least we can all agree - belong to the
> denzens of those cities, and not to people elsewhere.  Why depricated?
> Because I play go, chat, etc, with people from Czechlosovakia (for =
> example)
> . Not something that was a reality as little as a decade ago.

I'm not entirely unsympathetic to this issue, but I believe that this 
suggestion is misguided. Proper names have been translated from 
their original language into others long before English came on the 
scene. Trying to establish a "proper" way to write and say a name 
would be next to impossible, and not very desireable. It also 
assumes that each place is inhabited by people who speak a 
single language and use the same names universally. What is be 
the "proper" name of "Africa"? Will Canadian places use English or 
French names? Will Korea become Hanguk (used in the South) or 
Chosen (used in the North)?

In English, the capital of the Czech Republic is Prague. This is a 
translation of the name. As you point out, there is some 
momentum in the English to use translations that more closely 
approximate the pronunciation in the dominant language of the 
area. However, language evolves naturally. Wikipedia can declare 
"Prague" deprecated, but it wouldn't make a bit of difference to the 
rest of the English speaking world, and it would make the project 
look silly.

 - Stephen G.
-------
Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia
http://www.wikipedia.org