- The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was keep. (non-admin closure) CTJF83 02:44, 31 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Free variation (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)
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Article should be deleted WP:Neologism. Wikipedia is not a dictionary or a slang, jargon or usage guide. Securel (talk) 21:19, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep: "Free variation" is, as far as I can see, a technical term in linguistics. Googling it brings up numerous dictionary and encyclopedic references, as well as lectures and general articles on linguistics: ([1], [2], [3]). Like open source or dilation, it needs to be defined in a specific context, as the words themselves have multiple meanings, so that it can be used with clarity in other linguistic settings. Bielle (talk) 21:45, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep, established scholarly term. --Lambiam 12:33, 25 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Note: This debate has been included in the list of Language-related deletion discussions. -- • Gene93k (talk) 01:30, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep. This is a technical term in linguistics, as the cited source attests. Cnilep (talk) 05:23, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep, well established term of linguistics. It's most certainly not a neologism; I don't know who coined it and when, but according to a quote on this page, Charles F. Hockett used the term as long ago as 1942, so it's at least 70 years old. I'll try to hunt down some more sources. —Angr (talk) 21:00, 26 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- Keep. This is riduculous. It is a basic term that one would encounter in every probably introduction to linguistic theory. With respect to the dictionary complaint, there is plenty to say about it. For example, inter-speaker versus intra-speaker variation. Does free variation really exist given what sociolinguists have found? Do speakers control variation? – ishwar (speak) 04:09, 29 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
- The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.