From: Kenneth Whistler (kenw@sybase.com)
Date: Wed Dec 19 2007 - 14:16:04 CST
Mark,
> The goal for CLDR is to use the most customary, recognizable terms for
> whatever the language in question. You can file a bug on the CLDR site
> presenting evidence that CE and BCE are more commonly used and understood
> than AD and BC.
I think this frames Ed's point incorrectly. It isn't that there
is one set of terms, and that the "most customary, recognizable"
English translation of those terms is "AD" and "BC".
There really are two *competing* sets of terms for Gregorian
eras, with different intents, a slight difference in technical
sense, and vastly different connotations. And both sets of
terms may have distinct translations (and distinct local patterns
of usage).
Rather than try to continue the pointless, endless, and fruitless
battle over whether CE/BCE should supplant all AD/BC usage in
English in yet another technical context in CLDR, the more
neutral and translationally more accurate way forward would
be to recognize *two* sets of terms needing translation for
Gregorian eras:
Term set one: AD/BC
Term set two: CE/BCE
It is quite likely that you will find corresponding parallel
translations in many languages, and the same kind of
cultural wars regarding which should be used in what contexts.
Example:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/ceintro.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Era
>
> That does not, of course, prevent a spirited discussion on this list or
> (perhaps more appropriately, cldr-users@unicode.org).
Of course.
--Ken
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Wed Dec 19 2007 - 14:17:44 CST