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| URL | http://arz.wikipedia.org/ |
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of site | Internet encyclopedia project |
| Registration | Optional |
| Available language(s) | Egyptian Arabic (Articles are written mainly using the Arabic alphabet but a few are written using the Latin alphabet)[1] |
| Owner | Wikimedia Foundation |
The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia (Egyptian Arabic: ويكيبيديا مصرى Wīkībīdyā Maṣrī) is the Egyptian Arabic version of Wikipedia, a free, open-content encyclopaedia. This Wikipedia primarily acts as an alternative to the Arabic Wikipedia in favour of speakers of the Egyptian dialect.[2]
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The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia was proposed on March 30, 2008 and started as a developing project on April 2, 2008 in the Wikimedia Incubator.
The proposal was accepted in July 2008 and the announcement was made on the first day of Wikimania 2008 in Alexandria.[3] On November 24, 2008, the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia became an official Wikipedia, and the Incubator articles were transferred to the new domain.
The origin of the proposal for the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia is based on the active interest of Egyptian Wikipedians in contributing articles, especially on the Arabic Wikipedia,[4] as they constitute large group of the serious contributors in that Wikipedia.[2]
The idea behind the creation of the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia is to have an encyclopaedia that is written in the language that Egyptians use in their everyday lives [5]. It is hoped this will be much easier for Egyptians to read and encourage more Egyptians to contribute to Wikipedia.[2]
The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia currently has over 5000 articles, and continues to grow rapidly. The growing community of the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia are currently developing an Egyptian Arabic Wiktionary as well.
The Egyptian variant of Wikipedia was controversially received; supporters pointed to the number of Wikipedias written in regional languages and argued that Egyptian Arabic was a widely spoken variant of Arabic, while opponents perceived the creation of the Egyptian language Wikipedia as an attack on the Arabic Wikipedia and argued that Standard Arabic was the standard language for media and the use of a regional language version was anachronistic.[2] [5] .[6]
The Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia has been subject to controversy from the start, causing arguments between supporter and opponents.[7] There has been lengthy discussions before the approval of the proposal, there was also discussions on other websites apart from meta.wikimedia.[8][9][10][11] This also was based on the difference between a language and a dialect.[12]. This is a result of diglossia in Egypt, where the written language is different to the language used daily[13], which is not frequently written, although a certain amount of literature (particularly plays and poetry) exists written in Masry in Egypt.[14]
The proposal has been supported by many users and gained the approval of the language committee on Wikimedia. The wiki has regular contributors, which has led to an increase in the number of articles.
Opposition to this version of Wikipedia has been strong during the proposal stage, after the start of the Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia opposition continued,[15] including campaigns on Facebook.[16][17] These campaigns encourage users to vandalize Egyptian Wikipedia. The main point the opposition focus on is that Egyptian Arabic is not a language,[18][19] suggesting that the effort should be directed to development of Arabic Wikipedia.[20] The effectiveness of these campaigns remains to be seen as the wikipedia articles are still being developed and number of users is increasing.
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  | In Egypt, Wikipedia is more than hobby - The New York Times > Log In |
| | Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia at the incubator - Wp/arz - Wikimedia Incubator |
| | Wikinews - Wikimania 2008 opens at Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt - Wikinews, the free news source |
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Egyptian Arabic Wikipedia