User:Mzajac/Regional language vs regional topics

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This is a think-tank draft for making a distinction between regional language and geographic context. A basic description of the problem and main discussion should remain at Wiktionary:Beer parlour archive/2008/May#Regional language vs regional topicsMichael Z. 2008-05-15 00:31 z

Tagging[edit]

  1. Regional English and other languages will continue to be indicated on individual senses with regional context templates.
    • The general-purpose {{context}} will continue to be used for ad hoc regionalisms.
    • Regional tags in other places will continue to be applied with {{a}}, {{audio}}, {{qualifier}}, etc.
  2. Geographic context will be indicated by a new set of context templates: {{in North America}}, {{in the USA}}, {{in the Canadian Prairies}}, {{in Wales}}.
    • A general-purpose {{geographic}} template will collect ad hoc regions.

Appearance[edit]

  • The new geographic context templates should be clearly distinguishable from regional language templates. Proposals:
    Letterspaced small caps: in the UK
    Italic serif font: in Canada
    square brackets: [in New Zealand]

Categories[edit]

The regional language and geographic context tags should have mostly separate category trees, intersecting where it is logical. Here are some possible paths through the tree:

Documentation[edit]

  • Templates and categories should have names and text content which makes their nature clear (e.g. {{Canadian English}} vs {{in Canada}}.
    • Should regional language templates always include a clear attributive? UK English, British, US English, Scottish, Canadian English, Manitoban, Manitoba English, but not UK, Britain, US, Scotland, Canada, Manitoba
    • Should geographic context templates always include in ...?
  • Templates and categories should all carry simple documentation on their usage (facilitated with templates?), and clearly link to their counterparts. Example:
    • This regional language template, {{Scottish English}}, is applied to terms or senses as they are used by Scottish speakers. To identify a sense with particular meaning in reference to Scotland by any speaker of English, use {{in Scotland}}. Learn more....