విక్షనరీ:Guide to 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, add an entry for it to Module:languages and, as long as language templates remain in use, create a template the title of which is the language's code and the contents of which mirror the contents of the other language templates.
3. Next, as long as Template:langrev remains in use, create a subpage of that template the title of which is the name of the language (e.g. Template:langrev/German) and the contents of which are the language code (de).
4. 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.
5. Create categories and entries as needed, mirroring the format of other languages' entries and categories as much as appropriate.

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 too vague):

1. Make a post in a community forum such as Wiktionary:Requests for mergers or the BP.
2. If the community agrees that the language should be de-recognized, update Wiktionary:Language treatment to note the merger, or to note that the lect/code has been excluded for another reason.
3. Change the languages' Template:langrev subpages by putting the new code into them.
4. 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 know how.
5. Remove the language from Module:languages, then watch Category:Pages with script errors to find and update any entries that still use the language's code.