🌐 Build language infrastructure

[tatianamac]

Overview

As we gain more definitions and more translations, I'd like to create a template for new languages.

To accomplish that, I see the following steps needed (which I imagine, there are more I'm missing):

• Create clear folder structure for each language. To maintain neutrality, the current English definitions should be ported into en_GB or equivalent.
• Determine which core site elements will need to be translated for a new language (such as core pages (e.g., about), definition templates, site core architecture (e.g., navigation).
• Interlink related terms (e.g., fr_FR capacitisme should be linked to en_GB ableism) in a way that is independently changed from the full site being in a specific language.

Considerations

• Each language should maintain several core "Self-Defined" properties (for example, how the dictionary is spoken about should be maintained relatively consistently.
• Each language may have terms that are not relevant or apply in other languages.
• While English is the primary bias of the dictionary (due to the creator and settler colonialism), other languages should be given autonomy and equal baring when operated.

See #96 for more nuance.

[dasilvacontin]

@ovlb I agree with the notion that there are folders for each language, but not each word. As each word isn't 1:1, I'd prefer to find another way to interlink words, as I think that the word slugs should be in their language (for example, ableism in French is capacitisme. If we tried to maintain one overarching word folder, it would undoubtedly inherit the English bias there. This way also allows for each word to be independent of English.

Hmm, it sounds like it could be useful to be able to define groups of words that are equivalent across languages. Like, to have this "knowledge" file that groups words that are equivalent across languages.

That way, if there's already a group of 5 words that are equivalent, and you want to add a new one (e.g. the Korean version for that word), you would only need to add the word to the pertinent group in that knowledge file. Compared to adding a new link in 5 different documents, which is harder to maintain.

[tatianamac]

@dasilvacontin I agree. I'm worried about how a couple of things:

1. maintain autonomy within each languages
2. decentralise any one language (i.e., not everything should be anchored in English) as some terms will exist in some language subsets and not others.

Questions
How do we create these groupings without selecting a "base" language?
What considerations should we have for when we have the entire site in another language?