On Thu, Sep 27, 2018 at 12:35 PM, Marc Gemis <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > 5) All of the above have additional complications when dealing with > multi-lingual communities. > > As a Flemish person, I rather have the name of the street pronounced > in Dutch in Brussels than in the 2 languages as is now the case. This > is probably one of the complications. > Also complicated by the fact that different multi-lingual communities appear to handle things differently on the ground. Wales is officially bilingual Welsh/English. Historically, much signage was in English only, but as the Welsh language movement gained strength bilingual signage has been phased in and, in some recent cases, Welsh-only signage has appeared. It seems to depend largely upon how locals refer to something. Currently it is common to see bilingual signage. Often confusingly designed. Road traffic signage, where each destination appears on its own line, has the Welsh and English on separate lines with no difference in vertical spacing from the other destinations. So you cannot easily tell if "St Dogmaels" and "Llandudoch" are two different destinations or two names for the same destination. Street names tend to be a little less confusing, with (usually) each name on its own line, so "Heol Napier" with "Napier Street" below it. But shops often do it differently. More words on a sign mean paying the signwriter more money. So they often take advantage of the different word order in Welsh and English. Instead of "Davies Butcher" and "Cigydd Davies" you'll see "Cigydd Davies Butcher" (often the "Davies" would be larger or bolder or differentiated in some other way). As an English speaker who knows about this, I'd be happy if the map showed "Davies Butcher" to me. But tourists who understand neither language well may not be aware that "Davies Butcher" on the map is not a different thing from "Cigydd Davies Butcher" on the sign. For all they know, "Cigydd Davies Butcher" is different to "Davies Butcher." And, let's face it, tourists need maps more than locals do. Which is why I think "paint the label" is the right thing to do at the local level, even if I would prefer just the English name for the places I already know well and my next-door neighbour would prefer only the Welsh name. -- Paul
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