Requests for comment/Start allowing ancient languages/Archived proposals

Original proposal

• Make all Ancient languages eligible for a Wiki
• Judge their performance on the activity and content on the Wiki

Compromise Proposal Option One

Define criteria to exclude unused or barely used languages

This approach provides criteria which would allow language communities to show whether they are productive.

Definition of ancient or historic language

1. For Wikimedia projects' purposes, an ancient or historic language is one which
   1. Was used historically and has an extant corpus of works;
   2. Is typically acquired by formal learning;
   3. Has typically been standardised, often over a long period of time, eg by grammar rules developed and documented while the language was in common usage, that no longer change;
   4. May or may not not be used in modern linguistic domains, such as: trade; education; academic discourse; music; poetry; religious discourse; etc.

Qualification of an ancient or historic language for a Wiki project

The same basic eligibility criteria should apply in a similar but somewhat stricter manner than artificial languages, recognising that acquisition is likely to be harder than is typical for constructed languages, but also that acquisition may be more common and resources more developed; and also that practical usage is likely to be lower than for many contemporary natively-acquired languages.

Therefore we propose that:

1. Wikis are allowed in ancient or historical languages despite having no native speakers, subject the conditions below.
2. Wikisource and Wikiquote are exempt from conditions, as their mission is to collect and curate rather than create, although these should be on a wiki for the most widely used form of the language, when possible. Where possible, such languages should be bundled with the modern equivalent Wikisource project (such as Old English with English), though that is not required.
3. Other Wikis are allowed only where the ancient or historical language exists in a widely accepted standardised form; additionally there must be well-established methods of extension of the language to modern topic areas;
4. Where lines between language eras and types, through character sets or other issues, are difficult to determine, the needs of the modern language community must be paramount;
5. There must be evidence of a significant potential readership and evidence of a significant body of competent potential contributors; for instance at least thousands of people trained in writing the language, and availability of courses or training which aim at fluent compositional or oral usage;
6. There should be a significant historical corpus and usage for modern authors to draw upon, for instance, a large volume of extant texts or a large volume of recordings, sufficient to understand the idiom as well as the grammar of the language; whether generated as an auxiliary language, domain specific language or a native language;
7. The language must have a reasonable degree of contemporary usage as determined by discussion, which must extend beyond academic study of the language. (Some recognition criteria include, but are not limited to: independently proved number of speakers or writers, use as an auxiliary or domain-specific language outside of online communities created solely for the purpose, usage outside of Wikimedia, publication of works in the language for general sale, publication of academic papers in the language.)
8. For a Wikipedia project, the proposal must show how it intends to develop specialised or deeper content and in which areas, in order to help meet Wikipedia's goal of being a "comprehensive written compendium that contains information on all branches of knowledge". These should relate to those areas where the larget language can show a particularly high level of productivity, or has been the dominant or exclusive medium for the original area of activity to be documented. There should also be a policy to liase with other relevant wikis to ensure that some of this knowledge flows back into other Wikipedia projects as is appropriate.
9. As Wikipedia's mission is to "benefit readers" by "providing an encyclopedia" and Wikimedia's mission is to "disseminate [educational material] effectively", the Wiki project should have a policy in place that shows what avenues it intends to use to promote itself and develop its readership, for instance through schools, universities or religious communities that have knowledge of the language.

Compromise Proposal Option Two

Add exceptions to the existing language

Amend the Language proposal policy to include the sentence in italics:

Ancient or historical languages
Only Wikisource wikis in ancient or historical languages are accepted, because resources in such languages continue to be important to the world, even in the absence of native, living speakers of those languages. Where possible, such languages should be bundled with the modern equivalent Wikisource project (such as Old English with English), though that is not required. For the purposes of this policy, Latin, Koine Greek, Classical Chinese and Sanskrit are treated as exceptions. Due to their long and continuing traditions of second-language, non-native production, and their cultural significance, communities are allowed to apply for new Wikis in these languages.