Talk:Lusatian Lake District

Sorbian names in Lusatian Lake District

Swept in from the pub

So I created articles for the Lusatian Lake District and the Central German Lake District those last couple of days and I have a question about the former. As this is historically the area where the w:Sorbian people live/have lived, a lot of places and things officially have a Sorbian name in addition to the German one. Should those be included in the "alt" field or not? Hobbitschuster (talk) 10:54, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

If Sorbian is still spoken in the area, or at the very least has some importance to the local identity/culture, then I would say so. If it's just an historic language with little obvious relevance to the modern Lusatia, then perhaps think twice before adding too much Sorbian, save for maybe a nod to the past. How likely is it that the traveller in this district will come across Sorbian, either by meeting/hearing actual speakers or by seeing signs in the language? Like, are these official names actually used in the public sphere, or are they just noted down in some admin documents somewhere? --ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 11:23, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

The yellow town signs are bilingual where applicable. Some train station signs, too. Sorbian heritage and culture is marketed touristically ("Krabat" being perhaps the best known element of Sorbian culture Germany-wide due to the book and movie). As for actual speakers, that's harder to know, among other reasons because Germany does not have official statistics on that. Hobbitschuster (talk) 11:27, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

That's unfortunate, if somewhat understandable. If the language is used on signs, I'd err on the side of inclusion in the alt field for any relevant listing.--ThunderingTyphoons! (talk) 11:46, 29 November 2020 (UTC)

It's just one of those cultural things... Germany has pretty granular statistics on who is Lutheran, Catholic, Jewish and a handful of adjacent religions, but ask for statistics on "race" or "ethnic identity" and you'll get no reply or uncomfortable evasiveness... In the U.S. it's the other way round... Hobbitschuster (talk) 11:48, 29 November 2020 (UTC)