Disputatio Formulae:Sectiones et provinciae Belgicae
Names of the language communities[fontem recensere]
It might be simpler and clearer to stay with the linguistic adjectives that we have adopted as a de facto standard on Vicipaedia. We use "Francicus" and "Germanicus" as adjectives applying to the countries, "Francia" and "Germania". We use "Francogallicus" and "Theodiscus" as adjectives applying to the languages, "lingua Francogallica" and "lingua Theodisca". (Editors sometimes forget these usages, and in general it doesn't matter, but when distinguishing between language name, ethnonym and country name, maybe it does matter.)
If I understand the names of these Belgian communities correctly, they relate principally to language. So I would suggest calling them "Communitas Francogallica" and "Communitas Theodisca". I don't see any reason to add "-phona" to the latter, because the adjective applies only to language anyway. But tell me if I've misunderstood! Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 20:55, 20 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- The issue is that each of them had their own special reason to do otherwise than the others: The Flemings had their own strong brand and went for "Flemish"; the French-speakers in the 1970ies (when the names were established) were very Francophile and basically wanted to see themselves as part of the great French nation/people, so they went for "French" (they have changed since then, hence Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, but that hasn't affected the official name). The German-speakers on the other hand wanted to insist that they were Belgian and not German, hence "German-speaking". I see no other way to stay true to all that but to make it close to the vernaculars (and in particular with -phona for the German-speakers and without it for the French-speakers). I see your point of "Theodiscus" relating to language anyhow, but I doubt that that expresses it clearly enough for their sensitivities (Just call them "German" if you want to start a big row - it works each and every time!) Of course, one can still hesitate between Francica and Francogallica, I basically preferred it shorter, but even there, given the history of it, "Francica" seems pretty adequate to me (PS: The predecessor entities were still the Dutch Cultural Community, French Cultural Community and German Cultural Community; you have to understand each name in comparison with the former one). Sigur (disputatio) 21:55, 20 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- Both terms make me slightly uncomfortable, particularly "Theodiscophona" because it is (or seems to be) an invented half-Greek half-medieval-Latin word! But thanks for explaining, and I accept the political complications of choosing anything else. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 08:45, 21 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- Of course, if you have strong feelings about "Theodiscophona", something along the lines of "Communitas Sermonis Theodisci" would pass the political-sensitivity test. But I would find that a bit cumbersome. Sigur (disputatio) 08:58, 21 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- Let's see if anyone else comments. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:23, 21 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- Of course, if you have strong feelings about "Theodiscophona", something along the lines of "Communitas Sermonis Theodisci" would pass the political-sensitivity test. But I would find that a bit cumbersome. Sigur (disputatio) 08:58, 21 Maii 2019 (UTC)
- Both terms make me slightly uncomfortable, particularly "Theodiscophona" because it is (or seems to be) an invented half-Greek half-medieval-Latin word! But thanks for explaining, and I accept the political complications of choosing anything else. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 08:45, 21 Maii 2019 (UTC)