Wikipedia:Peer review/Mayan languages/archive1

Mayan languages

Looking for ideas for any kind of improvements to the layout and information of this article. If you know about Mayan languages what does this page need to explain better? What information lacks? If you don't know about Mayan languages what do you still want to know after having read the page? How about citations? Are sources for different information good enough? How is the style? basically all criticism is welcome and will be taken seriously in trying to improve the article.Maunus 22:03, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Please see automated peer review suggestions here. Thanks, AZ _t 22:32, 30 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I have seen it and will certainly take thee noted steps for improval.Maunus 10:32, 1 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

I haven't read the article yet but at first glance one thing I'd like is a map that's more focused on the area where they're spoken. A tiny green blob on a map of the world isn't very helpful. —An gr 10:20, 1 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion noted. Have you seen the other map also?Maunus 10:32, 1 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

A very good start if anything. I made some tweaks to layout and structure, but there are some issues that could use attention:

The phonology section could use a simplified vowel chart. Avoid standard orthography as is used now unless stating how these map to IPA. Avoid the temptation of bolding individual phonemes. The section also needs to be referenced.
Grammar section needs to be converted to prose. Try to write for a wide audience, so be mindful of jargon here. Link linguistic terms as often as is reasonable. Explain rather obscure terms like "vigesimal" even if their linked. An explanatory sub-clause won't make it harder to read.

I did some of this--200.6.247.89 20:48, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

The section on the ancient Mesoamerican hieroglyphs is really interesting and would really benefit from some pictures. There should also be a few words on how the languages are represented in writing today.
The inclusion of Mayan sign languages is somewhat of a surprise. I don't know if the issue's been discussed at Wikipedia:WikiProject Languages, but I think there are plenty of good arguments for considering sign languages completely separate entities in relation to their spoken counterparts. Either way, I can't recall seeing an article on spoken language(s) include info on sign languages.
{{Maya}} is useful, but it's an eyesore since it's intended to take up the same position as the infobox. Consider making a horizontal variant of it and moving it to the bottom.

Peter ^Isotalo 12:32, 2 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]