[Lingtyp] Why cite non-Latin-script literature ONLY in Latin script?

[Sebastian Nordhoff]

On 3/31/20 9:10 AM, Joo, Ian wrote:
> Dear all,
> 
> I would like to ask a question to everybody:
> 
> When citing literature written in non-Latin script, why do some editors 
> require it to be cited ONLY in Latin script?

Hi Ian,
could you give examples of editors/publishers who require this?
Best wishes
Sebastian

> 
> For example, this is how I would cite a Chinese book, when writing an 
> article in English:
> 
> Xùliàn旭练Lǐ李./Láiyǔ yánjiū/倈语硏究. Zhōngguó xīn fāxiàn yǔyán yánjiū 
> cóngshū中国新发现语言研究丛书. Zhōngyāng mínzú dàxué chūbǎnshè中央民族大 
> 学出版社, Běijīng北京
> 
> As you can see, in both the original script (Chinese) and Latin script. 
> But some editors require it to be:
> 
> Xùliàn Lǐ. /Láiyǔ yánjiū/. Zhōngguó xīn fāxiàn yǔyán yánjiū cóngshū. 
> Zhōngyāng mínzú dàxué chūbǎnshè, Běijīng.
> 
> But why would we not write the original script and ONLY write in Latin 
> script?
> 
> The point of citing literature is to enable the reader to go find and 
> consult it themself.
> 
> But when the author’s name is written as /Xùliàn Lǐ/, I have no idea how 
> that would be written in Chinese, thus making it more difficult to find 
> the literature when needed.
> 
> So what is the logical purpose of requiring the article to be cited ONLY 
> in Latin script?
> 
> The only logical reason I can think of is that it saves some space – ca. 
> one line per citation. But is that a good enough reason to make things 
> harder for those actually wanting to find and read the cited work?
> 
> I would like to hear your opinion on this matter.
> 
> (I’m asking this question on Lingtyp mailing list, because our subfield 
> makes it necessary for some of us to make extensive use of 
> non-Latin-script literature.)
> 
>  From Daejeon,
> 
> Ian
> 
> 
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