How to model places with different boundaries depending on language?

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In Chicago, there are two adjacent neighborhoods referred to by the locals in Polish as Jackowo and Wacławowo[1]. However, the English speakers who make up the majority of the city (as well as probably every other linguistic community here) know this area collectively as “Polish Village”, with no distinction between the two parts. As far as I know, most Chicagoans wouldn’t recognize Jackowo or Wacławowo, and might prefer to just say “South side of Polish Village”, for example, if any clarification is necessary.

I’ve mapped these as three separate nodes for Polish Village, Jackowo and Wacławowo. Since the latter two don’t have English names, and English is assumed to be the default for this area, should name=* be empty? Or should it be the same as name:pl=*? Or is there a better way to do this altogether?

  1. literally “Hyacinth-ville” and “Wenceslaus-ville”, respectively ↩︎

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Neighborhoods can be a fuzzy subject. We aren’t necessarily aiming to have as much coverage in every city as Quattroshapes, which takes an Urban Dictionary–esque approach to recording place names.

Assuming you can square these neighborhoods with the on-the-ground rule, it makes sense to me that an ethnic group, indigenous group, or other community would have more detailed geographical references for the places they live than outsiders would have for them. If English speakers don’t have their own name for the place and don’t even have a reason to refer to the place, then English is as irrelevant for the purpose of tagging the place as it would be for somewhere in rural Poland.

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