[OSM-talk] Bilingual street names

[Bruce Cowan]

On Sun, 2007-04-22 at 21:34 +0100, Simon Hewison wrote:
> If you're going to use name:language=placename, then I'd suggest that 
> within Wales, you use name:cy=placename.

Likewise with Scotland, in the Highlands, there are quite a few
bilingual signs being put up as part of the Government's Gaelic drive.

In these cases, I have added name=* for the English name, and name:gd=*
for the (Scottish) Gaelic name.

> There are some places in Wales where nobody uses an English placenames, 
> or there is no English placename, eg. Ystrad Mynach.

No such thing exists here.

> As such, I reckon that you should set the name tag to the Welsh name in 
> areas where the Welsh language has a high concentration of native 
> speakers, and use name:en for the English name in such situations.
> 

The issue with Scotland is that (almost) everyone speaks English as
their first language, the only place where this isn't the case is the
Outer Hebrides.

This makes things tricky, as should name=* be the Gaelic name, or
name:gd=* on these islands?

> Ditto for street names. Many street names are signposted in Welsh only, 
> yet they do have official English translations, eg. Stryd-y-Capel 
> becomes Chapel Street, but it's never signposted as Chapel Street, and 
> most English speakers refer to it as Stryd-y-Capel in their address. In 
> which case, set the name tag to be the Welsh language.

Which sounds more impressive:

1.Craigard Street
2.Rathad na Creige Àirde

Which is a street in Oban (An t-Oban) with a bilingual sign -
http://tinyurl.com/37cdbu

> Since Wales has very little decent Yahoo maps coverage

Same as here, only Edinburgh has coverage.

I realise now this is pointless, very sorry for your time being wasted.
-- 
Bruce Cowan <bruce.cowan at dsl.pipex.com>