Talk:Village
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[edit] American villages?
The term village seems to have a purely legal connotation in the USA. Is it fair to say (and worth saying) small town is the vernacular term in the US (and Australia?) for what in Britain (and Europe generally?) would be commonly called a village? Joestynes 08:48, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
- Well, it's not quite so easy. "Village" is a specific type of political entity in many states (I'm really not sure about how many though). In some states "town" is also a specific type of political entity. In most (perhaps all) states, city is also a political entity. However, in informal speech, a person could use any of the terms in ways that do not necessarily correspond with the official political status. For instance, any place that is relatively densely populated might be referred to as a city or a town by someone living in a nearby rural area (as in "I'm going into the city/into town to buy some groceries.") This can be confusing because the actual political status does not strictly correspond to population--while relative population density is more likely to affect which term is used in informal speech. There are villages that are an order of magnitude larger than the smallest cities--and they may be referred to informally as cities. The political status generally refers to the specific powers of municipal government that it is empowered to exercise. In general, cities have the greatest authority to act independently. Villages have a lesser degree of independent authority and often share some responsibility with other local governmental entities (such as the county or township). But back to your question, in my experience, people might use "small town" to describe where they live to someone not familiar with the area. Amongst people familiar with the area, they be more likely to just say "town" (as in the "going into town" example above)--specifying "small town" in that context would sound decidedly odd. To be honest, I've not heard anyone use "village" in a context other than when refering to a specific village, as in "the Village of Homer"--and this usually in a newspaper or formal speech. In informal speech, people would likely simply refer to "Homer". OK, drawing my rambling to a close now--I'd have to say that "town" is the most commonly used generic reference to populated areas outside of densely populated urban areas. "City" is also often used generically to refer to more densely populated areas--but either can be used interchangeably in many contexts. I've not heard "village" used generically in this way--but I've lived my entire life in the U.S. midwest and usage may differ in other regions of the U.S. older ≠ wiser 13:41, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Distinguishing English and Welsh Towns from villages
I had always thought that in England and Wales (possibly also Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, although I am not sure about these as they are under separate national or legal systems) a town was different to a village as it had a charter (hence why so many villages ecist that are bigger than towns). They may also have been historically distinguished by having a market as mentioned, but can anyone clarify the need, or not, for a town to have a charter in England & Wales?
[edit] Incorrect usage
I stand by my addition of "but it is considered incorrect and misleading". If a state has municiplaities designated as villages, it is just plain wrong to apply the terminology to any areas that are not officially villages. In New York, for example, we have the term "hamlets", to describe village-like communities (i.e., sections of towns) that do not have their own government.
As to Wikipedia being descriptivist rather than presriptivist, I think it is important that while we describe how language is used, it is also imporatnat that we point out how it is misused and abused (or shall we start declaring that nucyoolar is a proper pronunciation just because there are a lot of misguided people who use it).
Nelson Ricardo 14:14, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
- There's a difference between formal and informal usage. If someone says they're going to run into the village to get some milk, when there is no "official" village there--are you going to go "tsk, tsk, that is considered incorrect and misleading"? I'd hope not. The point is that state legislatures do not have the authority to dictate language usage. They can decide what terms describe incorporated municipalities in that state, but that is not a bar from anyone else using the terms in ways that may not precisely comport with the state legislature's usage. As for "nucyoolar", I think a good dictionary would include some indication that that pronunciation is used by some. For example, check out [1]. In any case, perhaps we can include some additional note here about how such usage may be confusing in states where there are incorporated villages, without a chiding tone. older≠wiser 14:54, Dec 13, 2004 (UTC)
[edit] North Carolina and Florida legal meanings?
What exactly is the legal meaning of "village" in North Carolina and Florida? I see the term used in various articles for places in these states, but I cannot find the definition of it as put forth in those states' laws and/or constitutions. –radiojon 04:38, 2005 July 18 (UTC)
- In Florida, there does not appear to be any legal distinction between a city, town, or village. Under state law, they are all municipalities. It may be that there was a historical distinction and some municipalities have continued to call themselves what they have always been called or perhaps some communities simply want to style themselves as a folksy "village" while other want to go for the glamour of being a city. [2] see Table 9-1
- Looks to be much the same in North Carolina. [3] (large PDF) Municipalities can style themselves as a city, town, or village and all apparently have equal standing under state law, except for some qualification about eligibility to receive gasoline tax allocations. I think California is similar in this regard. All the municipalities are treated equally under the law, but they are free to style their names as they like. older≠wiser 00:31, July 19, 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "Human" settlement?
Do we really need to say "human" settlement?
Anybody have any thoughts on this?
I think it should be included in case an Alien were to be reading it. --Silent Xenocide 03:09, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Pennsylvania
I live in Allegheny County, north of Pittsburgh a bit. I took a car ride with my mother to Slippery Rock, Butler County recently, and right outside of there, there was a legal village, but I can't remember the name of it. All I remember is that it did have the typical municipal marker (white, wide, rectangle, blue writing with the municipality type in small letters [as in "Village of" or "Borough of"], and the name of the community under it in larger blue text). I'd be very curious as to the name of the community and its standing. It is in Butler County, as is Slippery Rock. If I find it, I'll post it, maybe here, and then the author can add it if so desired. --Coryma 21:35, 28 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] derevnya/selo/gorod
There was a formal attribute in Imperial Russia (and before) to divide settlements into these three categories:
- gorod (город, city) must have a cathedral
- selo (село, village) must have a church
- derevnya (деревня, village) have nothing of above
- --jno 12:23, 24 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Country subdivision
from User_talk:Tobias Conradi - Tobias Conradi (Talk) 16:58, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
...why is village categorized as a country subdivision? A village is a settlement, not a subdivision. Or is it considered a subdivision in some countries?—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 16:55, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
- IMO, to be a country subdivision it needs, 1) geographic boundaries, 2) to be legal defined 3) boundaries have to be within one country. Tobias Conradi (Talk) 17:04, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
- See also Summer village Tobias Conradi (Talk) 17:09, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
- These are vital characteristics, but is a "subdivision" by its very own definition not something that subdivides some larger entity? I don't see how villages can subdivide any upper-level unit. Using Russia as an example, districts are divided into selsovets, but selsovets, in turn, are not subdivided into villages. Instead, they group several villages and the territories between them. The total area of a selsovet is always larger than the territories of all its villages combined.—Ëzhiki (Igels Hérissonovich Ïzhakoff-Amursky) • (yo?); 17:17, 20 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Section on Indian villages changed to Pakistan villages, why?
Someone changed the section on the Indian village to Pakistan village and with it most of its contents, as well as an added contents as to what appears to be about Pakistan villages. Also now removed is an image of an Indian village. Will someone please check this. Surely there would be space for both Indian as well as Pakistani villages without having to take over the original? Seems an odd way to go about cooperation in Wikipedia? Dieter Simon 00:02, 12 January 2007 (UTC) Dieter Simon 01:03, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
Have added POV template to section in article. Dieter Simon 01:03, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
Have now re-entered the paragraph about the original article relating to Indian villages which was at some time arbitrarily changed (and probably vandalised) to a Pakistan village para. Please, please, create a proper paragraph for villages in Pakistan separately from the Indian one. As I said before, there is room for both sections, as Wikipedians we don't have to vandalise each other's articles and paragraphs. The image of the original Indian village had disappeared altogether, becaus it obviously had the wrong caption. Hope you will give this some civilised consideration. We are all Wikipedia members, so please co-operation would be a nice thing. Dieter Simon 02:20, 17 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Size
What is the limit on a village in Ireland & U.K.? - Culnacréann 13:10, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
- This is probably a very difficult question to answer. To give you an impression of the complexity of the interpretation of size, see Largest village in England. A similar problem will probably apply to Ireland. I leave it to you make up your own mind after reading the above link. Dieter Simon 23:49, 29 March 2007 (UTC)
