Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2008 October 30

= October 30 =

Translating Articles
Hello, I've recently have become interested in translating Wiki articles into other languages. Normally the English articles are very well cited w/ lots of links to relevant articles. However, I noticed that most of the resources available on the web tend to be written in English, and finding material in other languages can be quite difficult. So my question is, How do I handle references when translating articles? Should I just translate the content w/out refs ? or Should I include them even if their written in English? Are there some Wiki guides to translation? One last thing, is there a way to check the word count on articles (besides copying the text into a word processor)? -- GateKeeperX (talk) 12:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * I'd look for sources in the target language, of course, but if all you find is sources in English, I'd say sources in English are better than no sources at all. I don't know of any other way to count words of readable prose besides copying and pasting into a word processor. —Angr 12:22, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * If you click "search" in the search bar, instead of "go", it will tell you how many words an article has, but I don't know what that counts; I suspect it is everything in the editing box, including all the templates and stuff. Adam Bishop (talk) 15:07, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * There's a tool for assessing an article's readability at http://toolserver.org/~dispenser/view/Readability. Also, User:Dr pda has a script for assessing the prose size of articles.   Gwinva (talk) 21:16, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * During translation mistakes can creep in, so you should always provide the original source if you translate something. You should also aim to provide as much sources in the local language as possible. 0 Mgm|(talk) 23:41, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Ok Thanks for all the help, :) -- GateKeeperX (talk) 00:31, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

MATTHEW HENSON
WERE DID HE DIE
 * Please read the article Matthew Henson. —Angr 15:13, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, I see our article doesn't say. The German article says he died in New York City, but (typically of German Wikipedia) the claim is unsourced, so make of it what you will. —Angr 16:05, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * ANB says he died in New York City, and was buried there before his 1988 reinterrment. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 16:48, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * This says "Location of death: New York City /  Cause of death: Cerebral Hemorrhage /  Remains: Buried, Arlington National Cemetery".  --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 18:19, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Translation from Spanish or Portugeuse
We're pretty sure it's a name of some kind, but any other ideas would be nice.

"trevilla de iturbide olvera"

Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Can-Dutch (talk • contribs)


 * House of Iturbide was the Mexican royal family.  Grsz  Review!  17:47, 30 October 2008 (UTC)


 * All three are semi-common Spanish-language surnames (Trevilla, Iterbide, and Olvera). Many Hispanic cultures are known for complex surname compositions with lots of "y"'s and "de"'s in them.  I would not be surprised if this were merely someone's surname... --Jayron32. talk . contribs  19:32, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

Age [use of hyphens]
Which is correct (or, do you prefer - I imagine there is not one correct answer): "17-year-old" or "17 year old"? Willnz0 (talk) 23:29, 30 October 2008 (UTC)
 * The correct form for the adjective is "17-year-old" (as in "17-year-old student"). It is probably the same for the noun, but I do not have a reference ready.  See:
 * Hyphen, paragraph 5
 * Manual of Style, section 3, point 7
 * -- Wavelength (talk) 00:05, 31 October 2008 (UTC)