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This is a Wiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. Specifically it is a policy think tank, working to develop a formal policy. |
Policies: CFI - EL - BLOCK - REDIR - BOTS - QUOTE - DELETE - NPOV - AXX |
(based on Wiktionary:Entry layout explained)
Note 1: This guide is intended to provide guidelines both for creating Latin entries on English Wiktionary as well as for adding Latin translations to English words. The main guidelines for creating any entry on English Wiktionary is set forth in Wiktionary:Entry layout explained; this page is an addition to that page, not a replacement.
Note 2: If a change occurs in the basic wiktionary template (currently at Wiktionary:Entry layout explained) that affects Latin entries, then that change should be reflected here.
Throughout history, Latin has been written in a variety of scripts and writing systems due to its influence across Europe. However, only entries in the Latin script are currently accepted in Wiktionary; words may be attested with quotes from other scripts, but the pagetitle itself must be in the Latin script.
Liguratures such as æ and oe only appear post-Classical Latin. When attested, these entries should use {{alternative form of}}
or {{alternative spelling of}}
to point to the non-ligatured spelling.
The distinction between I and J only appears post-Classical Latin. When attested, entries for forms using the J should use {{alternative form of}}
or {{alternative spelling of}}
to point to the non-J spelling.
In Latin, the letter written as V in ancient times represented either a vowel or a consonant depending on its position and the word. The vowel sound and the consonant sound had distinct pronunciations and different metrical treatment in poetry.
A modern typographical convention is to use the letter V only for the consonant sound, and only when it is the first sound in a syllable. The letter U is used for the vowel sound, and for the consonant sound in the combinations QU, GU and SU (as in quis, sanguis, and suadeo). Generally speaking, English textbooks and dictionaries always write U this way and the majority of reprints of classical texts adapt them and show U too. The use of V for the vowel in new works is usually a consciously classical style or appearance, and that includes for example inscriptions on new monuments and the like.
Since the vast majority of modern dictionaries, textbooks, and texts distinguish between U and V in printed forms, Wiktionary will adhere to the same distinction.
Distinguishing V and U allows us to keep separate terms that are pronounced differently but would be spelled the same if the distinction were not made, e.g. the bisyllabic word servit ("he (she, it) serves") /'ser.wit/ vs. the trisyllabic word seruit ("he (she, it) has sown") /'se.ru.it/.
Most Latin dictionaries and textbooks use macrons (such as ?, ?, ?, ?, ?) in the headwords for entries. While these forms are traditional for reference works and useful to students, macrons do not appear in written Latin or in reproductions of literature and texts. Some older dictionaries and textbooks make use of breves (such as ? or ?), but these marks are not used in most textbooks nor in reproductions of literature. They appear in only a few modern dictionaries. Additionally, typing macrons or breves is difficult in many browsers and systems. Their use would make it difficult for users to search for words. For these reasons, the page name for Latin entries should not contain diacritical marks. However, macrons should be used within the body of pages. (see below)
It is conventional for printed Latin dictionaries to mark vowels that are pronounced long by placing a macron (a short horizontal bar, as in ? or ?) over such vowels in the headword. Such marks never appeared in written Latin, but are useful guides to pronunciation and are standard forms in textbooks. On Wiktionary, macrons should never be used in the names of entries, so the word l?ber would appear on the page liber. However, within the text of the page, macrons should be used wherever appropriate. For example:
==Latin== ===Adjective=== {{la-adj|l?ber}} # [[free]]
In this example, the forms that would normally appear in the headers of a printed dictionary appear in the line immediately following the part of speech header. Notice that the (masculine) form matching the entry page is not linked, and so only needs to have the macron.
Macrons should also be used on a page when linking to a Latin word entry from an Etymology, from a set of Translations, from Related terms, and from similar sections.
Some older dictionaries and textbooks make use of breves (such as ? or ?), but these marks are not used in most textbooks nor in reproductions of literature. They appear in only a few modern dictionaries. The purpose of including breves was to note the vowels whose pronunciation is short. However, if the long vowels are marked, it is unnecessary to mark the short ones since any unmarked vowel will be short. On Wiktionary, breves should not be used either in the names of pages for Latin words, nor in any of the text associated with Latin entries.
Note that Romanian, a language derived from Latin, does make use of breves, and for that language breves should be used as appropriate.
The inclusion or exclusion of attested forms featuring trema, such as onomatopoeïa, is yet to be clarified. See e.g. Talk:onomatopoeïa, after WT:RFD#onomatopoeïa gets archived, for a discussion.
The inclusion or exclusion of attested forms featuring circumflex, such as duûm, is yet to be clarified. See e.g. Talk:duûm, after WT:RFD#duûm gets archived, for a discussion.
For nouns, the lemma is usually the nominative singular; for adjectives, it is the masculine nominative singular; and for verbs, it is the first-person singular present active indicative (first principal part). The template {{inflection of}}
identifies the lemma form and particular inflected form of the entry.
Latin verbs are lemmatised in the first-person singular present active indicative, but verbs in English are lemmatised in the infinitive. Since definitions are written in English, there is a discrepancy between the lemma forms in the two languages. The principle that is applied is "translate lemmas with lemmas": When giving a definition for a Latin verb lemma, give the definition using the English infinitive, preceded with to, as is the norm for English definitions.
For Latin entries, this section should always use the Inflection header, and never the alternatives Declension or Conjugation. Doing so reduces the number of possible section names, and thus improves accessibility of Latin entries for learners of both Latin and English. It also sidesteps the problem created by participles, which are technically verbs but decline like adjectives.
For entries with irregular inflections, include a short sentence identifying specific irregularities.
Optionally, an introductory message may be included to identify the particular inflection pattern for nouns or adjectives. A list of these may be found at Wiktionary:Latin inflection templates. However, for most regular inflection patterns, this is not necessary. The information is already incorporated into the verb conjugation tables, and may eventually be incorporated into the declension tables as well.
The primary component of the Inflection section is a declension or conjugation table. Most regular patterns have templates, listed in Category:Latin verb inflection-table templates, Category:Latin noun inflection-table templates, Category:Latin adjective inflection-table templates, and others at Category:Latin inflection-table templates. Refer to a template's talk page for instructions and examples of use.
Quotations are an important part of Latin entries. They prove that the word was in existence at some point in time, point to the time periods during which a word sense was active, and hint at usage rules (e.g. does that verb take an accusative or a dative?)
Quotations should not be made up. We strive to document the Latin language, not add to it. Find a quotation that uses any sense and any inflection of the word, and reproduce it in the definition section at the appropriate word sense. Be sure to include a translation into English.
Good sources of quotations are:
Determine the original year of writing for the quote. For example, a book from 1750 reproducing the words of Vitruvius should not be quoted as being from 1750, but rather "prior to 15 B.C.E.". Quotes from Virgil are particularly important to get right, since writers might pepper their works with quotes from Virgil ("as the Poet says..."). Find the original year of writing, attribute the quote to Virgil, find the name of Virgil's work that includes the quote, and whatever section information is necessary to find the quote. The exception, however, is works translated into Latin (for example, from Greek). In this case, indicate the original author, include "tr. by" and the translating author, and use the date of the translation, not of the original work.
If you can link the writer to a page on Wikipedia, do so using [[w:Wikipedia Entry|]]
. If you can link the source to a page on la.wikisource.org, then do so using [[:la:s:Page Name|Name of Work]]
.
If you plan to use the same source over and over, consider writing a template following the pattern in {{RQ:Caesar Bello Gallico}}
. Existing templates for Latin sources can be found at Category:Latin quotation templates.
In the Latin quote, adhere to the following orthographic rules:
This section always appears at level 3 as ===References===. It should conclude the language section, and should never be placed within any subheader. It will include all references for the Latin section as a group.
The template {{R:L&S}}
can be used in this section to identify the reference: Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press). The template will automatically create an external link to the corresponding entry at Perseus, where the source is available on-line.
The current list of reference templates may be found at Category:Reference templates#Translation dictionaries. If you find more references, please don't hesitate to add them.
As a language with limited documentation, Latin entries may qualify for inclusion based merely upon a mentioning in certain sources. A mentioning in one or more of the following sources is sufficient for this minimal-attestation purpose:
{{RQ:Paul.Fest.}}
.This list of acceptable sources may see expansion in the future.
As with definitions, apply the principle of "translate lemmas with lemmas". When giving a link to a Latin verb in an etymology, the Latin verb is given in the lemma for Latin verbs, while the English translation of that verb uses the lemma for English verbs. Thus, a link may be given as sp?r? ("to hope").
On Wiktionary, modern Romance languages use the infinitive form as the lemma, just as most print dictionaries do for those languages. Such infinitive forms derive from the Latin present active infinitive form of the verb (second principal part), but the lemma form for Latin verbs is the first-person singular present active indicative (first principal part). As a result, if linking a French, Italian, or Spanish verb to the corresponding Latin infinitive will link it to a non-lemma that lacks most information a user will seek. Again, the general principle "translate lemmas with lemmas" applies: the etymology should show the lemma form of the language in question, not the form from which the Romance lemma derives. Thus, Latin verbs are linked with the first principal part, regardless of which form the Romance verb comes from.
The Spanish verb infinitive form esperar descends from the Latin present active infinitive form sp?r?re. Nevertheless, the verb esperar ("to hope") as a whole is said to derive from Latin sp?r? ("to hope").
The syntax on the following line will give the output in grey that follows:
From {{der|es|la|sp?r?||hope, expect}}.
Again, each etymology should trace the word back to a lemma form whenever possible.
Sometimes, we know there is a problem, but don't know what to do to correct the problem. If you should find a Latin entry with a problem that you do not know how to correct, there are several ways to approach the situation.
{{attention|la}}
. This template will add the entry to Category:Requests for attention concerning Latin, where another user can then find and correct the problem. It helps if you include comments on the entry's talk page explaining what the problem is or why you think the page needs attention.{{rfc}}
. this is a more general cleanup tag, and it allows the user to include reasons or concerns as an argument in the template. Be sure to also add an entry to WT:RFC concerning the word so that other editors will be made aware of the problem.