"Wikipedia" and "the Foundation" sounds right to me. When in doubt, if it sounds right, it probably is. German grammar, I can't help you... Dieser Benutzer *hat keine Deutschkenntnisse<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:User_de> *.
On Sat, Jun 27, 2009 at 1:16 PM, Ziko van Dijk <[email protected]>wrote: > When I look into Duden Die Grammatik, this authoritative reference > work about German grammar says that proper names (Angela, Berlin, > Christmas) don't get an article: "Hamburg liegt an der Elbe." But it > mentions many exceptions, like for rivers who actually do get an > article (such as "die Elbe"). An article you use also for institutions > ("die UNO") and works ("der Wallenstein", "das Ave Verum"). > So what is "Wikipedia", an institution, a work, a proper name? In > German texts I find a lot of inconsequences, sometimes in one sentence > there is "die Wikipedia" an then again "Wikipedia". I believed that > that has to do with the context: "I am registered at Wikipedia" > (institution), and "I have written something in the Wikipedia" (work). > But this does not fit with my actual findings. Then I thought that > "Wikipedia" without article is an anglicism, but it seems not to be > that easy, too. > What else do we compare (the) Wikipedia with, except for other > encyclopedias? A web site like Google? A social movement like > Greenpeace? > And how about "Wikimedia"? In a short corpus I studied the reporter > said "Wikimedia e.V." in German, although I say "die Wikimedia". In > English, is it "the Wikimedia"? "The Foundation"? "The Wikimedia > Foundation"? > Kind regards, > your confused > Ziko > > > 2009/6/27 Thomas Dalton <[email protected]>: > > 2009/6/27 Michael Snow <[email protected]>: > >> Ziko van Dijk wrote: > >>> Hello, > >>> Could someone explain to me why "Wikipedia" is without definite > >>> article? In English you say "the Britannica", so why not "the > >>> Wikipedia"? I am wondering that also in German Wikipedians and > >>> non-Wikipedians tend to drop the article, although we say "der > >>> Brockhaus". > >>> > >> Actually, singular proper nouns commonly do not take the definite > >> article in English. I would not say "the Britannica" anymore than I > >> would say "the Wikipedia" (or, as noted, "the Encarta"). This particular > >> case may indicate a difference between British and American English > >> here, I'm guessing from the other comments. > >> > >> There are some situations where you would use the definite article for > >> singular proper nouns, such as with some geographical names, or when the > >> name is actually a combination of common and proper nouns. Thus, I might > >> refer to "the Encyclopedia Britannica" because it's "the encyclopedia" > >> and "Britannica" identifies which encyclopedia I mean. > > > > I agree with you, and I speak British English. I would say "the > > Encyclopaedia Britannica" (NB. the middle word has two a's. As > > suggested by the final word, it is (originally) a British thing, so > > takes the British spelling, which has two a's [or an "æ" if you want > > to be pedantic].). I would, however, say "Britannica" not "the > > Britannica". > > > > _______________________________________________ > > foundation-l mailing list > > [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > > > > > > -- > Ziko van Dijk > NL-Silvolde > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
