Add Láadan language to Weblate
Per discussion in webcomics#196 (closed) (approved), webcomics#173 (closed) (approved), and webcomics#60 (closed) (declined), the criteria for yet another conlang (in particular fictlang) translation:
- Community
Smallish but growing. People have been learning the language since it was published in the 80s, but there has been a recent push to rejuvenate it. /r/laadan has been established, there's a Facebook group, and even music with Láadan lyrics: https://meteorictwin.bandcamp.com
- Wikimedia acknowledgement
Article in 18 language editions of the encyclopedia, a wikibook in English to learn it (from a creator who is also planning a zine although a publication date is not set), and a wiktionary appendix (barebones but I hope to improve that soon and have already started to).
- Language licensing situation
Here's an essay from the initial language creator, Suzette Haden Elgin, clarifying her opposition to trying to exert legal control over a language, even a created one: https://laadanlanguage.com/articles/articles-by-suzette/language-be-owned Later modifications of the language to expand scope are carried out with the same ethos (it largely remains true to SHE's language movement and efforts). Therefore, I believe the language can effectively be considered as licensed PD.
This one you didn't ask for but I think it's worthwhile to consider --
- Fit to the spirit of Pepper&Carrot
P&C is humorous, but it's also a drama, and can be very reflective at times. Likewise the language has quite a personal feel, with the simpler vocab often reflecting smaller / more close-to-home, down-to-earth concepts and things; it encourages introspection and clear communication of emotional state, and honesty about how information flows.
- Technical details
The ISO 639-3, IETF language tag, and Linguist list codes all refer to the language as ldn
(and Glottolog as laad1235
), but as far as a two-letter code goes: la
is taken by the existing lovely neo-Latin translation of the comic (it is used for Láadan in the trusty Amberwind dictionary and grammar lessons but since there is no need to restrict it to two letters there, I have sent an email to Amberwind suggesting it be changed to the three-letter code in that context), lá
is way too tongue-in-cheek and normalises the same as the Latin code, ln
is Lingala; so that leaves ld
, which is sometimes used to refer to Ladino / Judeoespañol, but for this the three-letter code lad
is more often used, and P&C does not have a translation for Ladino (or Lingala) yet in any case. I'll leave the final choice to you.
Láadan uses a restricted Latin alphabet and so needs no special font (and I'm not aware of any attempts to adapt it to other scripts either; certainly such an effort would not be in the main stream if it existed).
If my offer to translate P&C into Láadan is acceptable, I would request that a subgroup be added under https://framagit.org/peppercarrot/translators for it as I plan to solicit assistance with the translation (if I have no takers, I'll do it solo, but I think it would benefit from multiple perspectives). By the way, my Framalate profile is https://weblate.framasoft.org/user/hEedanA ('translator' in Láadan).
update: see webcomics#209 (closed)