Help:Adding and removing languages

The English Wiktionary seeks to provide the English definition(s) of every word in every independent language. Like all Wikimedia Foundation wikis, it is a work in progress.

The name, alternative names, and code of every language that Wiktionary is set to include are listed in Wiktionary:List of languages. Names and codes are chosen according to the system explained in Wiktionary:Languages.

If a lect is not listed in the list of languages, it may be considered a dialect of another language and included under that language's header; if this is the case, the ‘merger’ of the lects will be recorded on Wiktionary:Language treatment.

Alternatively, it may just be that none of Wiktionary's volunteer editors have gotten around to the lect yet. If this is the case, make a post in the BP suggesting that it be included.

If you have questions, ask people at the Information desk.

Adding a lect

To add a language to Wiktionary:

1. First determine the most common distinct English name it goes by, then assign it a code, according to the system explained in Wiktionary:Languages.
2. After that, an entry for it to the appropriate data module / subpage of Module:languages must be added.
3. If the language being added (as a full language) was previously considered a dialect of another language, update Wiktionary:Language treatment to note the split.
4. Create categories and entries as needed, mirroring the format of other languages' entries and categories as much as appropriate.

Make sure that the community agrees on the process.

De-recognizing a lect

If you think a lect which Wiktionary covers is not an independent language but only a dialect of another language which should be covered under the latter's headers and categories, or if you think a lect should be de-recognized for some other reason (e.g. because it is spurious):

1. Make a post in a community forum such as WT:RFM or the BP.
2. If the community agrees that the language should be de-recognized, update Wiktionary:Language treatment.
3. Update/Eliminate as many uses of the language's name and code as you can find: look through the language's categories, update the entries in them and delete the categories themselves; search the site for instances of the language's name to find entries in translations tables; search a database dump if you know how.
4. Remove the language from Module:languages, then watch Category:Pages with module errors to find and update any entries that still use the language's code.

Merging lects

Merging lects proceeds similarly to de-recognizing lects: find and update all instances of the former name(s) and code(s) that are to be updated.

If there is nowhere more appropriate to archive a discussion about adding, removing or merging lect(s), archive the discussions to Wiktionary talk:Language treatment/Discussions.