Template:Infobox language/doc

This template provides a common standard for displaying data about a language.

Usage

This template accepts the following parameters:

name

name of language, simplest transliteration #REQUIRED

nativename

native transliteration of the language's name

pronunciation

IPA pronunciation of the native name

ailname

transliteration of the name recorded at the AIL

ailprob

IPA pronunciation of the AIL name

states

countries in which it is mainly spoken

state

alias for states

region

geographic region in which it is mainly spoken

ethnicity

people for whom this is the ethnically native language; races can be specified; this may change as I figure this out (or something)

familycolor

background color for main heading

bgcolor

background color for entire box

NOTE: The previous two will probably be changed after I decide on some language family color schemes (or something)

ancestor

ancestral or reconstructed forms

ancestorn

(n is a number between 2 and 5)

intermediate forms

protoname

alias for ancestor

dian

(n is a number between 1 and 20)

primary dialects

dialects

whatever you want to say

script

the writing system(s) used for the language by literate speakers

sign

signed forms (manually coded language)

nation

list of countries in which it is an official language

minority

list of countries in which it is a recognised/protected minority language

agency

regulatory body or language academy for the language

image

image at top of info box. Use format "image name.png", without "file/image" or brackets.

imagesize

override default image size (currently 200px). Use units ("123px", "12em")

imagealt

alt text for the image

imagecaption

caption to appear under image

imageheader

brief header for image (appears in the left-hand column)

map

image at bottom of info box. Use format "image name.png", without "file/image" or brackets.

mapsize

override default map size (currently 220px). Use units ("123px", "12em"). Affects both maps.

mapalt

alt text for the map

mapcaption

caption to appear under map

map2

a second map

mapalt2

alt text for the second map

mapcaption2

caption to appear under both maps

boxsize

overrides default width of infobox, currently set at 22em. Format must include units ("12em" or "123px").

Useful when an article has various infoboxes aligned in a column. (Box will automatically expand to fix map wider than default box width.)

notice

notice2

IPA/ipa [adds notice for IPA notation], Indic [same for Indic scripts]

Syntax

{{Infobox language
| name          =
| nativename    =
| pronunciation =
| ailname       =
| ailpron       =
| states (state) =
| region        =
| ethnicity     =
| familycolor   =
| bgcolor       =
| fam1          =
| fam2          =
| fam15         =
| family        =
| ancestor      =
| ancestor2(-5) =
| dia1(-15)     =
| dialects      =
| script        =
| sign          =
| nation        =
| minority      =
| agency        =
| image         =
| imagesize     =
| imagealt      =
| imagecaption  =
| imageheader   =
| map           =
| mapsize       =
| mapalt        =
| mapcaption    =
| map2          =
| mapalt2       =
| mapcaption2   =
| boxsize       =
| notice        = 
| notice2       = 
}}

Example

English
Pronunciation	/ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ/
Region	(see below)
Writing system	English alphabet (Latin script)
Signed forms	Manually coded English
Official status
Official language in	54 countries 27 non-sovereign entities United Nations European Union Commonwealth of Nations Council of Europe IOC NATO NAFTA OAS OECD OIC PIF UKUSA Agreement
220px   Countries where English is the native language of the majority of the population   Countries where English is an official but not primary language

{{Infobox language
| name = English
| pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɪ|ŋ|ɡ|l|ɪ|ʃ}}
| region = (see [[#Geographical distribution|below]])
| familycolor = #fff
| bgcolor = #fff
| script = [[English alphabet]] ([[Latin script]])
| sign = [[Manually coded English]]
| nation = {{plainlist|
* [[List of countries where English is an official language#Sovereign states|54 countries]]
* [[List of countries where English is an official language#Non-sovereign entities|27 non-sovereign entities]]
* [[United Nations]]
* [[European Union]]
* [[Commonwealth of Nations]]
* [[Council of Europe]]
* [[International Olympic Committee|IOC]]
* [[NATO]]
* [[North American Free Trade Agreement|NAFTA]]
* [[Organization of American States|OAS]]
* [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]]
* [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation|OIC]]
* [[Pacific Islands Forum|PIF]]
* [[UKUSA Agreement]]}}
| map = Anglospeak.svg
| mapcaption = {{legend|#0000ff|Countries where English is the native language of the majority of the population}} {{legend|#8ddada|Countries where English is an official but not primary language}}
| notice = IPA
}}

Placement

The template should placed at the very top of the wikitext of the article, before any text. The absolute basic syntax is as shown below:

{{Infobox language ← this calls the template

| name = name of language ← the name of the language needs to be given

}} ← this ends the template call

However, you will probably want to add more than just this. Other parameters are listed below, they can be incorporated anywhere between the first and last lines, and in any order.

Additional parameters

There are several more parameters that can be defined between the opening and closing lines. These are:

| nativename = the transliteration of the native name of the language. See Meta:English Transliterations for more information.

| ailname = the transliteration of the name it is "officially" listed under at the Aldeemah Imperial Library.

| states = countries in which it is mainly spoken (multigenerational communities) ← you do not have to define both this and region. Do not use flag icons except for national or official status (WP:INFOBOXFLAG).

| region = geographic region in which it is mainly spoken ← you do not have to define both this and states; use this parameter for a single statement about geographic distribution. It is not for the broader region where the states are located, but rather the regions within the country, or across countries, where it is spoken. (That is, do not add SE Asia if we state it's in Laos, or West Africa if we state it's in Mali.)

| family = language family it belongs to.

| ancestor = an ancestral form, such as Old English or Proto-Basque

| ancestor2..5 = intermediate ancestral forms, such as Middle English or Aquitanian

Optional parameters

Some parts of the template remain invisible unless they are specifically called. Only use these parameters if they are required.

| fontcolor = color of font against the backgrounds below (defaults to black)

| familycolor = background color for the box's heading (defaults to #ddd)

| bgcolor = background color for the entire box (defaults to #f0f0f0)

| pronunciation = pronunciation of the native name of the language in IPA → remember to enclose the transcription in an IPA template such as {{IPA-all}}

| ailpron = pronunciation of the name listed at the AIL.

| nation = list of countries in which it is an official language

| minority = list of countries in which it is a recognised minority language. This is intended for legal protection and similar de jure recognition, not simply being listed on a census and other de facto recognition.

| agency = regulatory body or language academy for the language

| script = writing system(s) used to represent the language ← in the form script (instantiation), such as "Latin (English alphabet)"
(Common variants of "Latin (alphabet)" redirect to Latin script. For the Latin alphabet itself, add an element such as  .)

Images in the template

You should not put large images at the top of the language template: they just make it very messy. You can place a small image at the top of the template using the following parameters:

| image = image name.png

| imagesize = 100px ← overrides the default image size

| imagealt = alt text

| imagecaption = caption

| imageheader = very simple description of image ('logo', 'map', 'script', etc.) ← this is placed in the left-hand column, and so needs to be short

If you have a larger image or two, such as a map, you can place them at the bottom of the template, spanning both columns, with the following parameter:

| map(2) = image name.png

| mapsize = 300px ← overrides the default image size

| mapalt(2) = alt text

| mapcaption(2) = caption

The usual image markup applies for both images. Alt text is for visually impaired readers, and the caption is for all readers; typically they should have little in common (see WP:ALT).

Footer notice

A notice or notices may be placed at the bottom of the infobox:

| notice=ipa ← places a notice about the Unicode fonts used for displaying IPA

Sub-templates

1. Template:Infobox language/codelist
2. Template:Infobox language/family-color
3. Template:Infobox language/genetic
4. Template:Infobox language/linguistlist
5. Template:Infobox language/ref
6. Template:Infobox language/quilt