User:Ewr27/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Sherpa language

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I have chosen the Sherpa language wikipedia page to evaluate and elaborate upon for this course because the Nepalese / Tibetan region in the Himalayan mountains are near and dear to my heart. Having travelled to this part of the world and participated in both humanitarian work (building schools in rural Nepal) as well as recreational travel (trekking in the Himalayan mountains) I have become enthralled with the rich culture and scenic geography of this region. I am also motivated to understand more about the Sherpa language because I plan on returning to Nepal to climb mountains and trek. It is not necessary but it is beneficial to understand and be able to speak some Nepalese or Sherpa to communicate with guides and locals. It shows appreciation and respect for the beautiful and sacred land that one has the good fortune of visiting. Additionally, after having looked at the Sherpa wikipedia page, it is rather blank and does not adequately express the history or depth of the language or its people, and it has no mention of it being an endangered language. My goal is to first learn more about the language, and then correct any misinformation on the page, and add any important information that is currently missing from the page.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section:

Sherpa (also Sharpa, Xiaerba, Sherwa) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, mainly by the Sherpa. About 200,000 speakers live in Nepal (2001 census), some 20,000 in Sikkim (1997) and some 800 in Tibetan Autonomous Region (1994). Sherpa is a subject-object-verb (SOV) language. It is written using either the Devanagari or Tibetan script.Content:

While rather short and bare, all of the above information is correct. However, the census data is out of date and could benefit from an update. It is currently listed as 200,000 speakers in the year 2001, but 20 years have elapsed since then and the current numbers have actually diminished since then. According to the endangered language project, approximately 15,000 to 75,000 speakers of the Sherpa language remain worldwide. My goal would be to verify this count and correct it on the page. I also see an opportunity to expand upon the lead section with historical facts, and more specific geographic locations surrounding where exactly the sherpa language is spoken and where it originated. Specifically, the Sherpa language originated in the Khumbu valley of eastern Nepal, near Mount Everest (the tallest mountain in the world) and is spoken by the ethnic population Sherpa, which is not to be confused with the lower case sherpa which is colloquially known as a high altitude porter or guide. Sherpa is a traditionally Buddhist ethnic group.

Tone and Balance:

There is little tone to speak on because the writing is so short and the information so lacking. I would be careful to add historical points without adding opinions or unconfirmed material.

Sources and References:

There are four sources listed:


 * 1) Sherpa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
 * 2) ^ Endangered Languages Project data for Sherpa.
 * 3) ^ Jump up to:a b
 * 4) ^ "Sherpa". Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 August 2019.

The data from the Endangered Languages project needs to be updated, and more information needs to be added.

Organization and Writing Quality:

As mentioned in tone and balance, there is very little writing at all in this page and the quality cannot adequately be expressed. If added to, I would ensure that the quality and organization of any additional writing would be accurate and succinct.

Images and Media:

There are two charts that note the phonology and basic vocabulary of the Sherpa language, and while I am not equipped to add to or edit the Phonology section I can confidently add to and expand the vocabulary section. Specifically, the current vocabulary section mentions the names for the 7 days of the week, but does not mention that these names are actually also used for naming Sherpa new borns. Like other cultures, the names of new borns are based on what day of the week they are born on.

Talk Page Discussion:

There is an active and interested community that works on pages similar to this page. For example, there is a much more informative Nepali page, but information has not made its way to the Sherpa language. There are criticisms on the organization of this page and a few areas of improvements noted by other students that are working on the page as a project.

Overall Impressions:

A good start but there is certainly room for expansion and improvement. I'm excited to research and learn more about the Sherpa language and see what can be added.