Talk:Manipuri phrasebook

"It is one of the 22 official languages in India."

My understanding was that India only had two official languages at the national level (Hindi and English), but rather all the jurisdictions of India had their own official languages. Am I mistook that it's an official language at the national level of India, or is it just me who misread that? --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 10:56, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

@SHB2000: Hello! We have two options, 2 official languages or 22 official languages, but no national language. There's a big language issue in India. Hindi is the most spoken but English and Hindi are given equal importance. Besides, out of 500+ native languages and 500+ non-native languages, together 1000+ languages spoken in India, only 22 are recognised by the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Manipuri (Meitei) is one of those 22. If we are to say only 2 official languages, then these are only Hindi and English. But if we say 22, it means those 22 Scheduled languages of Indian Constitution. Remaining others are regional but not official. Non Hindi speakers want to say 22 official languages to include their shares too. This is the case of Indian languages. Haoreima (talk) 11:02, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Indian Constitution permits anyone to speak in any of these 22 languages in the Indian Parliament. So, of course, it's official in national level. Haoreima (talk) 11:04, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

That makes sense. The Wikipedia article about the national language issue seems to be very confusing, so I was a bit confused on that. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 11:05, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

Dynamic map

@Haoreima:, if I may ask, what is the regionmap for? I presume it's to highlight the regions of where the language is spoken, but wouldn't a static map (like the one used on Malay phrasebook) be more useful (but centred on NE India)? If there's none, I'll try and make one. --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 05:22, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

@SHB2000: Yes, you are right. It's about the place where the language is spoken. The Malay phrasebook type of map isn't available for Meitei language. Thank you for offering help. Please include Assam (especially districts of "Southern Assam" alias "Barak Valley"), Tripura and Manipur, Bangladesh (the 4 districts are Sylhet, Mouluvibazar, Habigonj, Sunamgonj), Myanmar (the region is Kabaw Valley)(the last one is too small & I don't know if it's own independent map available or not). --Haoreima (talk) 09:18, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm afraid my Inkscape skills aren't that great yet to do individual regions of Bangladesh, but I'll see what I can do. I'll update you in a few days time re the map. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 09:22, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

@SHB2000: All the 4 districts including Sylhet district are the parts of "Sylhet Division". Like Indian states, Sylhet division is a state of Bangladesh. If the "Sylhet Division" (which automatically includes the "Sylhet district" and the remaining 3 districts) is included, then the problem is solved. :-)Haoreima (talk) 09:22, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

If this portion is included, then it's all included!

That map is useful and would make it way easier. Thanks for the map, Haoreima :-) --SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta) 09:28, 23 December 2022 (UTC)

Too much for a travel guide?

Meitei language varieties was recently redirected here; see its talk page for the discussion. Much text was also merged.

However I wrote in that discussion "most of the content would fit better in an encyclopedia article. All the phrasebook needs is a short summary, a sentence or two". I think far too much text has been added here. If it were up to me (which it clearly isn't since I neither speak the language nor know the region), I'd start by deleting the entire Manipuri_phrasebook#Distinctive_variations section, then look at how to cut the introductory overview drastically.

Other opinions? Pashley (talk) 16:02, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

@Pashley Please give me some time. I will reduce it further but please don't delete the entire section. I found similar sections, including additional grammar based sections, in different phrasebooks, like those of Spanish, Chinese, Italian, etc. :-) Haoreima (talk) 17:27, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

Please understand that the phrasebooks are intended as practical tools. Of course, a little background can make the reading more entertaining or help in grasping the other content, but I find the current explanations too encyclopaedic in tone. For one, the etymologies don't seem helpful to me. I also wonder whether words such as "constitution", "examination", "ocean" and "sea" are needed by a traveller who is at the phrasebook level. If there is some pattern one can get from the list, I think that pattern should be explained explicitly,

Perhaps one could have a short paragraph on the linguistically pure and syncretised varieties and leave the variant words to the list of phrases.

–LPfi (talk) 19:05, 4 November 2023 (UTC)

I have no intention of deleting the section unless discussion here reaches the conclusion that it should be done. I've given my opinion, but it would need a consensus before such a drastic change would be made. Pashley (talk) 20:42, 4 November 2023 (UTC)