Requests for new languages/Wikipedia ǃXóõ

submitted verification final decision

Discuss the creation of this language project on this page. Votes will be ignored when judging the proposal. Please provide arguments or reasons and be prepared to defend them (see the Language proposal policy).

The language committee needs to verify the language is eligible to be approved.

  • Check that the project does not already exist (see list).
  • Obtain an ISO 639 code
  • Ensure the requested language is sufficiently unique that it could not exist on a more general wiki.
  • Ensure that there are a sufficient number of native editors of that language to merit an edition in that language.

    This proposal is on hold:

    On hold, so far no (native) speakers interested in the project. --MF-W 16:29, 6 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  • The community needs to develop an active test project; it must remain active until approval (automated statistics, recent changes). It is generally considered active if the analysis lists at least three active, not-grayed-out editors listed in the sections for the previous few months.
  • The community needs to complete required MediaWiki interface translations in that language (about localization, translatewiki, check completion).
  • The community needs to discuss and complete the settings table below:
What Value Example / Explanation
Proposal
Language code nmn (SILGlottolog) A valid ISO 639-1 or 639-3 language code, like "fr", "de", "nso", ...
Language name ǃXóõ Language name in English
Language name ǃXóõ Language name in your language. This will appear in the language list on Special:Preferences, in the interwiki sidebar on other wikis, ...
Language Wikidata item Q13229 - item has currently the following values: Item about the language at Wikidata. It would normally include the Wikimedia language code, name of the language, etc. Please complete at Wikidata if needed.
Directionality LTR Is the language written from left to right (LTR) or from right to left (RTL)?
Links Links to previous requests, or references to external websites or documents.

Settings
Project name Bikipedi'a "Wikipedia" in your language
Project namespace usually the same as the project name
Project talk namespace "Wikipedia talk" (the discussion namespace of the project namespace)
Enable uploads no Default is "no". Preferably, files should be uploaded to Commons.
If you want, you can enable local file uploading, either by any user ("yes") or by administrators only ("admin").
Notes: (1) This setting can be changed afterwards. The setting can only be "yes" or "admin" at approval if the test creates an Exemption Doctrine Policy (EDP) first. (2) Files on Commons can be used on all Wikis. (3) Uploading fair-use images is not allowed on Commons (more info). (4) Localisation to your language may be insufficient on Commons.
Optional settings
Project logo This needs to be an SVG image (instructions for logo creation).
Default project timezone Africa/Gaborone "Continent/City", e.g. "Europe/Brussels" or "America/Mexico City" (see list of valid timezones)
Additional namespaces For example, a Wikisource would need "Page", "Page talk", "Index", "Index talk", "Author", "Author talk".
Additional settings Anything else that should be set
submit Phabricator task. It will include everything automatically, except additional namespaces/settings. After creating the task, add a link to the comment.

Proposal edit

ǃXóõ is a language of Botswana, and is essentially the last remaining Tuu language (Nǁng, while still technically alive, has 3 remaining native speakers in 2 different cities in South Africa). It would be a shame to lose this unique language, which is already endangered due to its small number of speakers and encroachment by Tswana and Kgalagadi. Additionally, with Botswana rapidly developing, this is the perfect time to create a project for ǃXóõ as more and more Botswanans (including ǃXóõ speakers) gain access to the internet. --SkinOfHooman (talk) 04:18, 6 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion edit

User:SkinOfHooman: Do you speak this language and plan to edit in it? There is not much use in creating a request if there is no editing community. --MF-W 14:00, 6 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@MF-Warburg I'm currently attempting to learn ǃXóõ, and I plan on editing and creating the wiki until it gains an editing community over time. I may even try visiting Botswana and talking to people about the ǃXóõ Wikipedia. --SkinOfHooman (talk) 14:54, 6 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
That's a laudable idea, but for a project to be approved, native speakers need to be interested in it. I am marking this request as "on hold" for this reason. --MF-W 16:29, 6 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I was going to say to SkinOfHooman that they should make an attempt to recruit native speakers of ǃXóõ while on their trip to Botswana so that there is a sizable base of editors that can help facilitate the transition into a full fledged Wikipedia. Rorr404 🗣️ ✍️ 🖼️ 🌐 02:52, 18 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Comment: English Wikipedia calls it Taa as the primary name, and lists ǃXoon and ǃKhong as other names as well. The native name is also given as Taa ǂaan or Tâa ǂâã So which is correct/most common? Dronebogus (talk) 18:08, 13 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose There's no evidence that SkinOfHooman is fluent in this language, or that his proposal has any native speaker support. And while it is true that Africans are coming to the Internet in ever bigger numbers, we have so far been unable to get anyone interested in contributing to a Nama Wikipedia. !Xóõ/Taa being a much smaller language than Nama/Khoekhoe (and seldom written down!), it is very unlikely to draw any native speakers in the near future. Cf. the point I made earlier at Requests for new languages/Wikipedia Juǀ'hoan. Steinbach (formerly Caesarion) 20:58, 14 September 2023 (UTC)[reply]