Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Eelam (disambiguation)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was redirect to Eelam with the history underneath as it's unclear whether merging would be necessary or ideal. Star  Mississippi  14:44, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Eelam (disambiguation)

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

A list of generic meanings of a Tamil word does not a disambiguation page make. It appears to have been created in order to resolve a disagreement about the inclusion of this content on Eelam (the actual article about the word). But disambiguation pages are navigational aids, not containers for rejected article content. – Uanfala (talk) 13:50, 19 June 2022 (UTC) Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, North America1000 01:45, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Pings to involved editors:, , . – Uanfala (talk) 13:52, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Disambiguations, Sri Lanka,  and Tamil Nadu. – Uanfala (talk) 13:53, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep - As the nominator states, disambiguation pages are navigational aids. If a reader enters Eelam and doesn't find what they are looking for, they should have another chance to find what they are looking for.  Robert McClenon (talk) 17:18, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * So in your view, an English Wikipedia reader who's looking for content about gold, spurges or alcoholic beverages, will search for that content using the Tamil word eelam? – Uanfala (talk) 17:22, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Merge to Eelam which is about the word "Eelam" already. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 17:43, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Merge to Eelam, as per nom. Dan arndt (talk) 00:21, 20 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete as the page does not serve as disambiguation, but copy of Eelam, and nothing specific for merging. Maybe it could redirect to Eelam. --Ant a nO 04:27, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Procedural comment. If a merge is made then there's no need to preserve the history of the dab page as its content was itself copied from the suggested merge target – the dab was created 16 Nov 2021, with a brief addition two weeks later: the entire content of three sentences was already present in earlier versions of Eelam (see for example the lede's first two sentences plus the last sentence in the "Etymology" section in the version from 12 Nov). – Uanfala (talk) 14:23, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 *  This AfD discussion includes a proposal for merger to Eelam,,, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and a notice of the proposed merger was posted to on June 22. As such, this AfD discussion may need to be extended or relisted to incorporate input from. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kevin McE (talk • contribs) 18:59, 22 June 2022 (UTC)
 *  Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion and clearer consensus.
 * Keep - Yes, Eelam is not an English word. However, it doesn't refer an inconsequential item or something for which there is, and/or can be substituted, by an English term. Eelam may refer to a state/country (Sri Lanka) or the ideological state (Tamil Eelam). Hence, even English speakers will have to use this non English word to describe either of the states. Additionally, Eelam also could mean a lot of other things as already mentioned in the disambiguation page hence a dedicated disambiguation page is justified. @Uanfala questions if an English reader will use the Tamil word Eelam to search for gold, spurges or other things that the word Eelam could mean. Why do we have to assume that an English Wikipedia reader doesn't know Tamil? Or that Tamil speakers don't use English Wikipedia? Additionally, regardless of a reader's ability to speak Tamil, the disambiguation page lets readers know that the word Eelam has other meanings too. So, a dab page doesn't have to serve only those who already know all the possible meanings for the word and search by it; it can also serve those who is interested to find out additional topics a word they know or searching for, can refer to.
 * Pras92 (talk) 18:43, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
 * If the page we're discussing was really a disambiguation page (rather than a fragment of an article), it wouldn't be acceptable for it to have entries for say, the Tamil word for 'gold', see MOS:DABOTHERLANG. That's because disambiguation pages aren't meant to serve as multilingual dictionaries, you can read about some of the reasoning behind that at WP:RLOTE. So far, it appears that the term "Eelam" in English is ambiguous between the geographic term Eelam (which is currently being treated as the primary topic) and the proposed state Tamil Eelam. There's no need for a disambiguation page so far: the primary article has a hatnote to the other one. A disambiguation page will be needed only if there isn't a primary topic. – Uanfala (talk) 20:20, 27 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Delete Since, shortly after making my original comment, I was thinking about the logic behind existence of dab pages: There shouldn't be a Singam dab page listing the movie Singam and a page for Lion, just because Singam is the Tamil word for Lion. This example is what gave me a better understanding on how to take the Tamil Lexicon reference; it may be suited for Wikitionary, but not in Wikipedia. The only actual ambiguity is between Eelam and Tamil Eelam, which is already taken care within their respective pages. Hence, I change my opinion to Delete and my original opinion to Keep was premature. Would like to add that the opinion for deletion doesn't contend the idea of the word Eelam having other definitions as stated in the Lexicon, but that it wouldn't make sense within en.wikipedia.
 * And thanks for your links @Uanfala. They confirmed my second thoughts and yes, this dab needs deletion. Pras92 (talk) 21:42, 27 June 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.