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

[Anthere]

Hello Felix

Out of curiosity, do we know how many editors would currently actively 
work on the cantonese langage ?

Ant

Felix Wan a écrit:
> 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