Kategoriebespreking:Nedersettings in Wallonië

Should Afrikaans adopt the Dutch, French or native names of the towns and cities in Wallonia, Flanders and Northern France? Obviously I would expect Flanders should reflect Dutch naming, and the same with Nederland, but I'm slightly confused with Wallonia-Nord-pas-de-Calais? Has this discussion already taken place? --Bezuidenhout (kontak) 19:00, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

There are Afrikaans names for most of these places (usually identical to the Dutch names). Wêreldspektrum, for instance, uses Luik instead of Liege, Bergen instead of Mons, Doornik instead of Tournai and so on. There are a number of cities, however, where Afrikaans (and Dutch) use a French name, like La Louvière and Charleroi. Anrie (kontak) 19:40, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

And where can I find the actual list/names and their names in Afrikaans? --Bezuidenhout (kontak) 19:42, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, not a dictionary. Encyclopedic article names and texts must reflect actual native place names as they are given on street signs, with the exception of major cities like Brussels and Liège where we can expect that the Afrikaans or Dutch name is in common usage. Otherwise, non-native names should be restricted to redirects or the Wikiwoordeboek. Other Wikipedia projects adhere to similar policies. --Voyageur (kontak) 21:19, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

Really? See: fy:Utert_(stêd) fr:Bois-le-Duc. Both Utrecht and 's-Hertogenbosch are monolingual Dutch cities. Jcwf (kontak) 22:45, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

But then what do we class as 'Native'? The majority of the population? The largest economic group? The largest historic group? Even if so, is that by religion? language? skin colour? And if we should use native names, then why do hundreds of communes in france, belgium and the Netherlands have different names for towns? How does one class a 'major city'? More than 100,000 people? Common human sense? --Bezuidenhout (kontak) 21:30, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

It always depends on what is relevant to the case. In Belgium and the Netherlands, it is common usage to translate Dutch and French place names. But this does not apply to non-Dutch and non-French speakers outside of these two countries. We must respect that Flanders and Wallonia are monolingual, the same applies to France. Thus place names in Wallonia will preferably be listed under their French names, Flemish cities under their Dutch names, with redirects for non-native names. --Voyageur (kontak) 21:44, 26 Junie 2009 (UTC)

You are quite wrong, Voyageur. We must always use the Afrikaans name if available, this is prescribed not only by our own title guidelines, but also by the Taalakademie (the official body responsible for regulating and standardising Afrikaans). Anrie (kontak) 07:23, 27 Junie 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Anrie. I prefer to have one or the other, not a mix. But mostly I think that we should use the afrikaans name for general pride (although not the aim of wikipedia) but simply just to announce that afrikaans does have some names for towns, if we use other town names, then it leads to the 'death' of the foreign names of a town, which is vital for it's history and culture. The title name of an article is extremely relevant to what people percieve what the town is called in that language. I can guess that Afrikaans people who visit belgium would prefer to use the Dutch/Flemish names for towns for easy pronounciation. --Bezuidenhout (kontak) 08:03, 27 Junie 2009 (UTC)

Of course, it is very important to respect people who do not respect you. Maybe the best thing is to abolish Afrikaans and Dutch altogether. They are such impolite languages with all these gutterals. Jcwf (kontak) 15:04, 29 Junie 2009 (UTC)