User talk:Pirkonka

Northern Sami declension
Hi, I've moved the declension table you created for čáppat to. We usually discourage table wikisyntax on entry pages, and as a template it can be used on any page as needed. Nadando 04:34, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Thank you.

On the topic of declension tables, I've noticed that some languages such as Latin and Romanian have codes defining what type of word it is (or giving the necessary information about the word's declension) that seem to automate the declension table. Am I getting the right idea? If so, how would I program the code for Northern Sámi? I know the information; I just need to get the formatting down to become a constant contributor. Pirkonka 04:41, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * ,, and so on refer to parameters in the template. For example, in  , b and c are the first and second parameters respectively. If you have a specific pattern for declension, you can do something like (stem 1), etc. in the template code to "automate" the declension for any other nouns with that pattern. You'll probably want to create a separate template for each pattern of declension. Nadando 04:49, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Alright, I'm pretty sure I can figure out how to make it work. Just one more thing, though: how do I make templates? Thanks in advance. Pirkonka 04:52, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Just like any other page, but with a title starting with "Template:". Nadando 04:54, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I'll try it out. :) EDIT: Oh, right. How do I merge cells? And, so that I don't bother people with questions, is there any reference guide to formatting that I could use to answer my questions?Pirkonka 04:55, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Hm, I think I'd use colspan (or rowspan) to specify how many cells a header should extend over. Here is a guide to tables. Nadando 05:03, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Okay, I've gotten the hang of basic declension templates. However, Sámi just has to make it difficult by changing a vowel in the word upon being inflected in a certain way. For example, If you look at geađgi, you'll see that I have managed a table. However, the "ea" in some of the forms is supposed to turn into "e". Do you have any idea how to make this automated, or do I just have to do it by hand? (If I have to do it by hand, I probably have to use that basic template again, because there doesn't seem to be any way to expand the template on the editing page.)
 * Sorry I ask so many questions, but I signed up today and I really want to help as much as I can. Pirkonka 05:35, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Use more parameters- you could have as the beginning of the word and  as the end, with any stem-changes specified in the code. Does that work, or am I misunderstanding? Nadando 05:39, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Whereas vowel changes are numerous for every possible ending there can be, they happen to be more or less regular. "ea" changes to "e" in words of certain cases, as does "oa" to "o" in the same cases. So it'd be nice if I could make something like: "x(v)(e)", where x is a random variable (representing the beginning of a word), v is a variable from a set of vowel changes depending on the case of the word and the type of the word it's in, and e is a variable from a set of endings. Inflectional languages are so much work to get automated. Am I making any sense? Maybe all these exact specifications are too much to ask of templates. Pirkonka 05:49, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, depending on how complex you are willing to make a single template, you can use parser functions like #if: (for if / else functionality) or #switch. See Extension:ParserFunctions. Or you could make a different template for each case- based on how many patterns there are you'll have to decide which method to use. Nadando 06:02, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Here's an idea. Somehow I have to encode the vowel changes in the code in the article for that word. So, "x(e), and if x(e) = x(v)(eΔ), then x(vΔ)(eΔ)." I suppose I do have to use /if. Just need to figure out how... Pirkonka 06:23, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
 * ^^^^^That doesn't make much sense. It's more of "If v(e)=true, and y=2,4,6,8,10, 11, 12,14, then vΔ(eΔ)." Where v is initial vowel, e is an ending, y is the value of the box in the table that the ending corresponds to, vΔ is the final vowel, and eΔ is the declined ending. Pirkonka 06:38, 20 November 2010 (UTC)