Talk:Handball Federation of Kosovo

Requested move to Kosovo Handball Federation
Kosova Handball Federation → Kosovo Handball Federation — thus moving from the Albanian-language form Kosova (used by the federation in its official web-site) to Kosovo, the form commonly used in the English language.


 * This new title would follow Wikipedia's naming conventions policy & its associated guidelines on using English & naming conflicts (see policies & guidelines below).
 * As can be seen in the examples of usage below, "Kosovo Handball Federation" is used by international organizations, while the use of "Kosova Handball Federation" is mostly restricted to Albanian ones. This case is not exceptional: see about the current usage of Albanian forms below.
 * The new title would also be consistent with the article on Kosovo and those on other institutions and organizations of Kosovo.

Best regards, Ev 16:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Survey

 * Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with  or  , then sign your comment with  . Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's naming conventions.


 * Support as nominator. - Ev 16:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Strongly oppose. This article is not about politics. The Federation is named the Kosova Handball Federation, and is recognized as such by the Balkan and European  Handball Federations. We can't just invent new names to "follow conventions". Kosova Handball Federation is the official (and widely recogized as being official) name and by convention it should be used. --Thewanderer 18:41, 16 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Actually, of those links from the Balkan & European Federations, half are in English and the other half in their original languages (except for the Ukrainian one, which is in German :-) I don't know what criteria have been used to choose the names for those inconsistent web-pages, but it doesn't seem to be "official English names".
 * On the other hand, the publications of the European Federation appear to use "Kosovo Handball Federation":, page 2.
 * Finally, the examples of usage below don't show the "Kosova" form as "widely recogized as being official", but quite the opposite: apparently only Albanian organizations use it. - Best regards, Ev 19:13, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Examples of usage
Using "Kosovo Handball Federation":


 * European Handball Federation:, page 2.
 * NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR): KFOR Chronicle March 2005: "Handball Matches Serve up improved Relations".
 * BETA News Agency (Belgrade-based Serbian news agency): "We do not fear games with Serbian clubs, says Kosovo Handball Federation", July 27, 2005.

Using "Handball Federation of Kosovo":


 * United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Press Office:, Priština, May 9, 2007, page 2.


 * Republic of Cyprus, Ministry of Interior, Press and Information Office (PIO): Turkish Press and Other Media, April 18, 2003: "The puppet regime continues its efforts to gain recognition through the sports".

Using "Kosova Handball Federation":


 * The federation's official web-site & bulletins (, 08.05.2007).
 * KosovaLive (Priština-based news agency): "Kosova might join International Handball Federation", Priština, October 24, 2006. (The agency uses Albanian forms: "Kosova" for Kosovo, "Prishtina" for Priština, etc.)

Using "Handball Federation of Kosova":


 * Radio Television of Kosovo (RTK):, Priština, 2005, page 30. (The report uses Albanian forms: "Kosova" for Kosovo, "Prishtina" for Priština, "Tetova" for Tetovo, "Gjilan" for Gnjilane, etc.)

Best regards, Ev 16:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Policies & guidelines
The change would bring the article in line with our current naming conventions policy and its associated guidelines:


 * Naming conventions policy: "Generally, article naming should prefer what the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, [...] while at the same time making linking to those articles easy and second nature."


 * The form "Kosovo Handball Federation" is more commonly used in English (see the examples of usage), as is the form "Kosovo" for the province. Thus, it is what most English-speakers would naturally use, write and search for.


 * Guideline on using English: "If a native spelling uses different letters than the most common English spelling (eg, Wien [or Kosova] vs. Vienna [or Kosovo]), only use the native spelling as an article title if it is more commonly used in English than the anglicized form." "If you are talking about a [sports organization], use the most commonly used English version of the name for the article, as you would find it in other encyclopedias and reference works. This makes it easy to find, and easy to compare information with other sources."


 * Naming conflict guideline: "Commonly used English translations of self-identifying terms are usually preferred per Naming conventions (use English) guideline."


 * I stress the mention of commonly used English translation, usually preferred per WP:UE, instead of references to "the English translation used by the institution itself".


 * This federation's Albanian name is "Federata e Hendbollit te Kosovës". The federation itself uses the English translation "Kosova Handball Federation", as do many institutions and organizations from Kosovo that use Albanian forms as their own self-identifying English-language names, despite the fact that most English-language reliable sources tend to use the Serbo-Croatian forms (see current usage of Albanian forms below).


 * As can be seen in the examples of usage above, the commonly used English translation is "Kosovo Handball Federation", for the simple reason that in English the province is commonly known as "Kosovo".

Best regards, Ev 16:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Current usage of Albanian forms
At least since the 1999 Kosovo War it is common for many (most ?) institutions & organizations from Kosovo to use in their English-language publications Albanian-language names & forms, instead of the Serbo-Croatian ones commonly used in the English language.

This includes how Kosovo's cities choose to name themselves in the English-language versions of their official web pages:

Or take a look a the list of "Municipalities of Kosovo" at Kosovo's Government Portal in English: only Malisevo uses a non-Albanian name.
 * Priština's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Prishtina " in English.
 * Dragaš's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Dragash " in English.
 * Đakovica's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Gjakova " in English.
 * Gnjilane's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Gjilan " in English.
 * Kačanik's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Kaçanik " in English.
 * Lipljan's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Lipjan " in English.
 * Orahovac's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Rahovec " in English.
 * Peć's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Peja " in English.
 * Podujevo's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Podujeva " in English.
 * Srbica's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Skenderaj " in English.
 * Štimlje's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Shtime " in English.
 * Uroševac's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Ferizaj " in English.
 * Vitina's official web-page uses the Albanian form "Viti " in English.

Other organizations do the same, using the Albanian form "Kosova" instead of "Kosovo":
 * The Alliance for a New Kosovo's official web-page uses "New Kosova Alliance " in English.
 * The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo own publications use "Alliance for the Future of Kosova" in English (if necessary, I could ask other user to name adequate sources).
 * The Democratic League of Kosovo's official web-page uses "Democratic League of Kosova " in English.
 * The Green Party of Kosovo's official web-page uses "Green Party of Kosova " in English.
 * The Football Federation of Kosovo's official web-page uses "Football Federation of Kosova " in English.

These are clear examples of how those institutions and organizations identify themselves in English using the Albanian names, while the Serbo-Croatian forms remain common English usage. Of course, the latter are the ones the majority of English speakers would most easily recognize, and thus are the ones currently used in the article titles of the English Wikipedia.

At the moment, this article on the Handball Federation is an exception in using the Albanian form "Kosova" instead of the commonly used English form "Kosovo".

Wikipedia should merely reflect common English usage, instead of actively advocating for the adoption of the Albanian forms. In the future usages may change, the English language may drop the Serbo-Croatian forms and adopt the Albanian ones, or create entirely new names. If/when that happens, Wikipedia articles should mirror that shift, not before. - Best regards, Ev 16:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Discussion

 * Any additional comments: