Template:Cleanup lang
 | This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used. |
| Language templates |
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| Language names (ISO 639) |
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| Interwiki links |
| Foreign-language text |
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| Other |
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Usage
This template is intended primarily for:
- Articles with a high quantity of non-English text that has not been marked up with any language templates or codes.
- Articles with unidentified non-English text.
This includes:
- Foreign languages written using the Latin alphabet
- Foreign languages written using non-Latin alphabet scripts
- International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions
- Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) text
The addition of language templates on Wikipedia improves Wikipedia's accessibility. In adding language templates, visually-impaired readers who utilise screenreader technology will be able to hear words pronounced in the correct language, instead of them being pronounced phonetically in English.
Place {{Cleanup lang|article|date=May 2025}} on articles where non-English text is used, but has not been marked up.
If a section in an article does not use any language templates, place {{Cleanup lang|section|date=May 2025}} there.
If you know the ISO language code for the non-English text that needs formatting, you can add this to the cleanup template under the parameter |iso=. The ISO code should be present in the infobox of the language's article; for example, Latin is la, and Manx language is gv.
The basic language templates used on Wikipedia are:
- {{lang}} for foreign languages in their native script – this may be Latin alphabet or non-Latin alphabet text
- {{transliteration}} for foreign languages transliterated into the Latin alphabet – i.e., the romanisations of foreign-language words not ordinarily written in the Latin alphabet
- {{IPA}} for IPA transcriptions
- {{PIE}} for Proto-Indo-European language content
Wikipedia also has a number of language-specific multilingual support templates, such as {{nihongo}} and {{lang-zh}}, which feature parameters specific to those languages, such as parameters for different transliteration styles.
This cleanup template automatically adds articles to Category:Pages with non-English text lacking appropriate markup, or a dated subcategory thereof.
When not to use
- If there is not much foreign-language content that needs marking up within an article; instead of a cleanup tag: if you know the language of the text, just add the appropriate language template to this text with the correct code.
- For the names of people and places: though the
|italic=parameter exists in both {{lang}} and {{transliteration}}, and can be set to |italic=no, it is unnecessary to add language templates for the names of people and places. - For loanwords to English: language templates are intended to improve Wikipedia's accessibility, but common loanwords to English are pronounced just fine by screenreaders. If you are unsure if something is a loanword, searching for it on the Merriam-Webster online dictionary should tell you whether it is a loanword to English or not; if it has an entry, it is likely to be a loanword.
This tag is intended to identify pages that need to specify the language of non-English content using {{lang}}, per MOS:FORITA.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month and year | date | The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically.
| Line | suggested |
| ISO code | iso | The specific ISO 639 code to be used | String | suggested |
| Section? | 1 | Put 'section' if affected area is a section
| String | optional |