[Wikipedia-l] Re: Quenya language request, and Chinese Wikipedia again

[Felix Wan]

On Fri, February 11, 2005 9:41 am, Andre Engels said:
> As far as I understand, the current Wikipedia is supposed to be a
> _Chinese_ one, not a _Mandarin_ one.
>
> Andre Engels
>
>> Further argument against: there is no natural reason why someone whose
>> interest is captured by a Cantonese wikipedia should be forced to work
>> on a Mandarin one first.

Long story...

Suggested readings:
[[en:Chinese language]]
[[en:Chinese written language]]
[[en:Vernacular Chinese]]
[[en:Cantonese (linguistics)]]

In short, "standard written Chinese" has always been based on the Mandarin
vernacular.  Now there is a request to set up an encyclopedia based on the
Cantonese vernacular.  Although the latter has no official status, it has
a de facto writing system popular among Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong,
and is gaining popularity in Guangdong.

It is not possible to mix Cantonese and Mandarin writing in zh: like
American and British English in en: because those two regional speeches
of China do not enjoy equal status.  Written Cantonese will be considered
as substandard and corrected to conform with the vocabulary and grammar
of Mandarin, which some people call "standard and proper Chinese".

Even though I support the creation of a Cantonese Wikipedia, I will oppose
writing Cantonese in zh: for the obvious pragmatic reason: every literate
Cantonese speaker can read written Mandarin (standard Chinese), but the
reverse is not true.  Unfair, but that is the fact of life.

My primary concern is that everyone here understand the facts before
making the decision.  We live in a real world.  We may deny Cantonese
Wikipedia due to political, public relation, or pragmatic reasons, but
let's be honest and state the reason.  If we pretend that it is just
because the two writing systems are the same, people will come again and
again to demonstrate that they are different.

Felix Wan