 | Thisguideline documents an English Wikipedianaming convention. Editors should generally follow it, thoughexceptions may apply.Substantive edits to this pageshould reflect consensus. |
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Articles onlanguage varieties (i.e. languages, dialects or sociolects) can be titled with the bare name of the variety where this is unambiguous (e.g.Bokmål) or where it is unquestionably theprimary topic for the name (e.g.Arabic,Kannada,Serbo-Croatian). In other cases, where the language is not theprimary topic, a natural disambiguator like "... language" is preferred (e.g.French language).
Programming languages should be disambiguated with the suffix "(programming language)" if the name is not sufficiently unambiguous. For example,VBScript does not need clarification, whilePython (programming language) does.
In the examples above, we would place a redirect toArabic atArabic language and verify thatFrench language is listed on theFrench disambiguation page. Similarly, we would place a redirect toVBScript atVBScript (programming language) andVBScript programming language.This will accommodate writers using alternative and older naming conventions. If theISO 639-3 code for the language appears under a different header atEthnologue, either a different spelling or a different name altogether, make that a redirect as well. Similarly, if the spelling or name changes between editions ofEthnologue, all should have redirects. Country specification is placed between parentheses, and 'language' added, so ISOKom (Cameroon) should have at least a redirect atKom language (Cameroon): this is the default format used by several lists of languages and ISO codes. If more than one ISO code or name has been assigned, as is common whenEthnologue treats as separate languages those considered to be dialects of a single language by reliable sources, or when spurious codes/names are retired, place redirects under these as well.
| Tswana | |
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| Person | Motswana |
| People | Batswana |
| Language | Setswana |
| Country | Botswana |
Where a common name exists in English for both a people and their language, it is most often the case that neither is theprimary topic. A title based on that term, with explicit disambiguation, is preferred for both articles, as withChinese people andChinese language. This is especially so when borrowed native forms involve different prefixes or are otherwise not transparently related, as withTswana people andTswana language, with redirects placed atBatswana andSetswana, respectively. If an English plural form (distinct from the singular name) exists, it may be used for the article about the people, as atRussians with a redirect fromRussian people. If noprimary topic exists, a disambiguation page containing links to both articles (and other ambiguous articles) should be created at the base name, as withEnglish orTagalog.
The template{{Infobox ethnonym}} may be used to list the various native forms, as at right forTswana.
Language families and groups of languages are pluralized, thusSino-Tibetan languages. Normally, a redirect from the singular to the plural title is appropriate, as atSino-Tibetan language, but in some cases this would be incorrect: CompareKalenjin languages (the family) andKalenjin language (a specific Kalenjin language), where the phrase "aKalenjin language" requires the plural form in the link:a [[Kalenjin languages|Kalenjin language]].X languages is preferred overX language family because it leaves the actual nature of the grouping (genetic, geographic, or otherwise) an open question, which saves us from nit-picking about the article title in the case of controversial families, or whether the article covers a 'branch', 'group', 'subfamily', etc.
The choice of "language" or "dialect" should follow themost common usage in relevantreliable sources. The term "variety" is neutral, and the fact that a particular source uses this term cannot be used to help decide between "language" or "dialect" (i.e. the fact that the term used is "variety" rather than "language" does not imply it is not a language, or vice versa).
When referring tostandard varieties thatrequire disambiguation, the term "language" is generally used as a disambiguator, per common usage, even if these varieties are considered part of the same language from a linguistic perspective, as for exampleSerbian language andCroatian language alongsideSerbo-Croatian.
The termdialect should only be used for distinct but mutually intelligible varieties of a language, such as theSuzhou dialect ofWu Chinese, orBukusu dialect (Luhya). For local differences in pronunciation,accent is preferred. Varieties can be titled either using the bare name (provided they are the primary topic), or by prepending a modifier to the name of the parent language, as atStandard German andAfrican-American English. This is useful when there is disagreement as to whether a variety is an accent or a dialect, as atEstuary English, or a dialect or a separate language, as atEgyptian Arabic andMandarin Chinese, or whether it constitutes a single dialect or several, as atSouthern American English.