Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia

Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia

URL	arz.wikipedia.org
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Internet encyclopedia project
Registration	Optional
Available language(s)	Egyptian Arabic (Articles are written mainly using the Arabic alphabet but a few are written using the Latin alphabet)[1]
Owner	Wikimedia Foundation

The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia (Egyptian Arabic: ويكيبيديا مصرى [we̝kɪˈbedjæ ˈmɑsˤri, wɪkɪˈpɪdjæ], ‹wykybydya mṣry›) is the Egyptian Arabic version of Wikipedia, a free, open-content encyclopaedia. This Wikipedia primarily acts as an alternative to the Arabic Wikipedia in favour of speakers of the Egyptian dialect.^[2][3]

History

The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia was proposed on 30 March 2008 and started as a developing project on 2 April 2008 in the Wikimedia Incubator.

The proposal was accepted in July 2008 and the announcement was made on the first day of Wikimania 2008 in Alexandria.^[4] On 24 November 2008, the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia became an official Wikipedia, and the Incubator articles were transferred to the new domain.

Origin

The origin of the proposal for the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia is based on the active interest of Egyptian Wikipedians in contributing articles, especially on the Arabic Wikipedia,^[5] as they constitute large group of the serious contributors in that Wikipedia.^[2]

The idea behind the creation of the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia is to have an encyclopaedia that is written in the language that Egyptians use in their everyday lives.^[6] It is hoped this will be much easier for Egyptians to read and encourage more Egyptians to contribute to Wikipedia.^[2]

Development

The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia currently has over 8000 articles, and continues to grow rapidly. The growing community of the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia are currently developing an Egyptian Arabic Wiktionary as well.

Reaction

The Egyptian variant of Wikipedia was controversially received; supporters pointed to the number of Wikipedias written in regional languages and argued that Egyptian Arabic was a widely spoken variant of Arabic, while opponents perceived the creation of the Egyptian language Wikipedia as an attack on the Arabic Wikipedia and argued that Standard Arabic was the standard language for media, and the use of a regional language version was anachronistic.^[2][4][6][7]

The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia has been subject to controversy from the start, causing arguments between supporter and opponents.^[8] There has been lengthy discussions before the approval of the proposal, there was also discussions on other websites apart from meta.wikimedia.^{[9][10][11][12]} This also was based on the difference between a language and a dialect.^[13] This is a result of diglossia in Egypt, where the written language is different to the language used daily,^[14] which is not frequently written, although a certain amount of literature (particularly plays and poetry) exists written in Masry in Egypt.^[15][16][17]

Support

The proposal has been supported by many users and gained the approval of the language committee on Wikimedia. The wiki has regular contributors, which has led to an increase in the number of articles.

Opposition

Opposition to this version of Wikipedia has been strong during the proposal stage; opposition continued after the project officially launched^[18][19] including campaigns on Facebook.^{[20][21] [22]} These campaigns encouraged users to vandalize the Egyptian Wikipedia. The main point which the opposition focuses on is that Egyptian Arabic is not a language,^[23][24] suggesting that the effort should be directed to development of Arabic Wikipedia.^[25] The effectiveness of these campaigns remains to be seen, as the Wikipedia articles are still being developed and number of users is increasing.

See also

Scots Wikipedia a wikipedia written in a variant of English spoken in southern Scotland and Northern England.

References

1. ^ Wikipedia Masry rules of writing
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Samir, Amira (December 2009). "Le masri est-il contre l’arabe ? [Is Masri contrary to Arabic?]" (in French). Al-Ahram Hebdo. http://hebdo.ahram.org.eg/arab/ahram/2009/12/23/doss2.htm. Retrieved 13 March 2010. 
3. ^ Union Catholique Internationale de la Presse - Liban (UCIPLIBAN)
4. ^ ^{a b} (In French) Lesdebate, Syndrome identitaire, Le masri langue Wikipedienne
5. ^ Cohen, Noam (21 July 2008). "In Egypt, Wikipedia is more than hobby". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/21/business/link21.php. Retrieved 14 December 2008. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Mennasat
7. ^ Middle Esat online
8. ^ "جدل بين مدونين مصريين حول ويكيبيديا المصرية [Debate between the Egyptian bloggers on the Egyptian Wikipedia]" (in Arabic). Shorouk News. 24 January 2009. http://www.shorouknews.com/contentdata.aspx?id=508. Retrieved 12 March 2010. 
9. ^ Answers.yahoo:Egyptians:What do you think of this??(Egyptian Wikipedia)?
10. ^ intelligentdesigns.net
11. ^ globalvoicesonline.org: Egypt: Egyptian Dialect Wikipedia
12. ^ egyptsguy.blogspot.com
13. ^ "Approval of a Wikipedia in Egyptian Arabic (Masry) ignites debate over the difference between a language and a dialect". Page F30. 11 June 2009. http://www.pagef30.com/2009/06/approval-of-wikipedia-in-egyptian.html. Retrieved 13 March 2010. 
14. ^ Abed, Shukri B. (2006). Focus on Contemporary Arabic (Conversations with Native Speakers). Yale University Press. ISBN 0300109482. 
15. ^ Language helpers
16. ^ الوكالة العربية للأخبار العلميةarabsn.net
17. ^ Almubasher.net
18. ^ Moheet.com
19. ^ المصريون
20. ^ Campaign to destroy Wikipedia masri
21. ^ Campaign to erase Egyptian language from wikipedia
22. ^ We Demand to Delete Wikipedia Masri (Ar)
23. ^ pagesperso.univ-brest.fr: Why you should boycott the Egyptian Wikipedia
24. ^ drhaisook.wordpress.com: Wikipedia in Masri? No, Thanks!
25. ^ omraneya.net

External links

• (Egyptian Spoken Arabic) Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia
• (Egyptian Spoken Arabic) Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia mobile version (not fully supported)
• Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia at the incubator
• Proposal for Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia at Meta
• The Incubation of the Egyptian Arabic Wiktionary