Multiple delimited names in the name tag

[Minh_Nguyen (Minh Nguyễn)]

@aighes

So far name is considered as one string to be displayed.

This is true with respect to openstreetmap-carto but not true with respect to a variety of other data consumers:

Slash-separated Native American names

This is the United States subcategory, and the place in question is in the U.S. There’s no global standard for a particular delimiter in place names – far from it. In the case of Derry/Londonderry, mappers have had to add a semicolon-delimited alt_name just so Nominatim will find it by both names. I disagree with the implication that replacing the semicolon with another delimiter or truncating the result at the semicolon is a blue-sky idea. To the contrary, styles based on the Mapbox Streets…

@aighes

Not sure whether it’s a good idea to define one character now with special meaning, as there might be valid names containing a “;”

There is a long-documented ;; escape sequence for this very rare case. But a name that legitimately contains a slash is very common in place names and POI names. For example, there is a large real estate agency chain named “RE/MAX”. What is the escape sequence for a slash or dash? Any spelling that omits the slash is a misspelling. But neither “Bruxelles - Brussel” nor “Bruxelles / Brussel” is more correct than the other in the real world.

File:REMAXOffice7.jpg

@aighes

Instead I think it would be technical better to teach the renderer not to use always name, but the name:<default_language> or name:<default_language_#1> - name:<default_language_#2> or any other preferred way.

I agree to some extent. This is what we’ve implemented in Americana. However, it’s also useful to show the local-language name(s) alongside the user’s preferred name. This is a common practice in American maps of the world (although transliteration is more common than the local writing system in that context).