This template is used to tag non-English text whose language isn't evident.
Why is this tag here?
Non-English words should be tagged with {{lang}} (for languages shown in their native writing system) or {{transliteration}} (for transliterations into the Latin alphabet). This is useful for a variety of reasons.
In this case, an editor (probably a participant in the moss spell check project) attempted to tag this word or phrase, but could not identify the language.
How can I fix it?
If you aren't sure of the language being used, you can:
- Leave the tag as-is.
- Ask on the article's talk page.
- Ask the editor who added that word to the article in the first place.
- Find someone who speaks a language this might be. To help narrow down the possibilities, try:
- Ask at Wikipedia:Reference desk/Language.
If you are certain of the language being used:
- Find the 2- or 3-letter ISO 639 language code. You can go to the Wikipedia article on the language in question, or see the advice and links to lists at Template:Lang.
- Tag it:
- For languages that are being presented in their native writing system (for example, any language that uses the Latin alphabet, like French; or Japanese written in kanji and kana) apply the {{lang}} tag like this:
{{lang|fr|Je suis française.}}- (The language code for French is "fr".)
{{lang|ja|日本}}- (The language code for Japanese is "ja".)
- For transliterations, see the instructions at {{transliteration}}; generally it works something like this:
{{Transliteration|ru|russkij}}- The language code for Russian is "ru" and russkij is a transliteration of русский.
- These tags automatically apply italics, so you can usually remove any existing markup that's trying to do that.
- For languages that are being presented in their native writing system (for example, any language that uses the Latin alphabet, like French; or Japanese written in kanji and kana) apply the {{lang}} tag like this:
- Remove the {{which lang}} tag.
Thanks for your help!
Usage
{{Which lang|date=September 2025}}{{Which lang|date=September 2025|reason=Your explanation here}}
Place the tag, with any optional parameters, immediately after the word or phrase in question. This template should not be substituted ({{subst:}}). For example:
...known as haats,{{which lang|reason=Indian sub-continent dialect?|date=September 2025}} are fairly common throughout the region
looks like this:
- ...known as haats,[what language is this?] are fairly common throughout the region
Parameters
All parameters are optional, and date will be added by a bot if missing.
- date=MONTH YEAR
- reason=toolip text
Categorization
Adding this template will put articles under Category:Articles with unidentified words.
TemplateData
TemplateData for Which lang
This template is used to tag non-English text whose language isn't evident.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month and year | date | Provides the month and year of the clarification request, e.g. 'January 2013', but not 'jan13'
| String | suggested |
| Explanation | reason | If needed, used to explain why the language of the text is unclear, or offer your best guess at what language it is. | String | optional |
