[Wikipedia-l] Latgalian

Dear Angela, Arns, Mark and others, bat-ltg like proposed in Latgalian test wiki http://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Test-wp/ltg would be an ideal code for Latgalian Wikipedia. Like bat-smg is perfect for Samogitian and fiu-vro is currently perfect for Võro. I have long personal contacts with Latgalian language activists and researchers and I know a bit the history of Latgalian. Of course Latgalian is not merely a dialect of Latvian. Latgalian has long history of its own literary language and it has been the second official language of Latvia in 1920-s. Later Latvian nationalist goverment of Ulmanis prohibited any official use of Latgalian. Latvian authorities still refuse to recognize Latgalian as a separate language. But it is exactly the same case as with Võro in Estonia and with Samogitian in Lithuania, and with many other languages which despite it already have their own Wikipedia. Ethnologue (with its location and interests) is too far from us, it just does not know the real situation of regional languages of the Baltic countries. And maibe Latgalian activists have been also a bit modest to inform the World about their language. Actually Latgalian is the only regional or minority language in Latvia that is vital enough to have its own wikipedia, because the other small language of Latvia (Finno- Ugric) Livonian is too small and in fact extinct. Anyway Latgalian can be definitely considered as a language and it deserves and needs its own Wikipedia. See more about Latgalian: http://www.geocities.com/latgalian/ Jüvä Sullõv/Sulev Iva (Võrok from Võro Wikipedia) 17.10.2006 11:24:41, "Mark Williamson" <node.ue(a)gmail.com> kirot':