Revision as of 00:43, 3 February 2020 editScsbot (talk | contribs)Bots239,933 edits edited by robot: archiving January 26← Previous edit | Revision as of 06:05, 3 February 2020 edit undo96.8.24.95 (talk) →Pronunciation of ʻokina: Is this IPA right?Next edit → | ||
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::::::::: Then you're only half the man I thought you were. :) -- ] </sup></span>]] 22:05, 30 January 2020 (UTC) | ::::::::: Then you're only half the man I thought you were. :) -- ] </sup></span>]] 22:05, 30 January 2020 (UTC) | ||
:::::<small>"It's not by a elk." —] (]) 03:14, 2 February 2020 (UTC)</small> | :::::<small>"It's not by a elk." —] (]) 03:14, 2 February 2020 (UTC)</small> | ||
::: I realized on reflection that there's a manifold confluence of threads that's too interesting not to mention (at least from my possibly slightly idiosyncratic view of interestingness). | ::: I realized on reflection that there's a manifold confluence of threads that's too interesting not to mention (at least from my possibly slightly idiosyncratic view of interestingness). | ||
::: The section above talks about the Eagles, which I would almost certainly render as /ðʌˈʔiːglz/ because using the /ðiː/ pronunciation would blend into the first syllable of "Eagles". | ::: The section above talks about the Eagles, which I would almost certainly render as /ðʌˈʔiːglz/ because using the /ðiː/ pronunciation would blend into the first syllable of "Eagles". | ||
::: But I was also going to give an example in German, suggesting that if you know German you should try to pronounce ''der Adler'', which has a glottal stop before the A. | ::: But I was also going to give an example in German, suggesting that if you know German you should try to pronounce ''der Adler'', which has a glottal stop before the A. | ||
::: I ''think'' it's a pure coincidence that ''Adler'' means "eagle". --] (]) 06:35, 30 January 2020 (UTC) | ::: I ''think'' it's a pure coincidence that ''Adler'' means "eagle". --] (]) 06:35, 30 January 2020 (UTC) | ||
:::Bit late, but thanks for the answer! In IPA, would {{IPA-en|ʔoʊˈkinɑ|}} be right? I’ve added it to the article, so please correct it there if needed. Thanks! —] (]) 06:05, 3 February 2020 (UTC) | |||
== Von der Leyen and Eliot == | == Von der Leyen and Eliot == |
Revision as of 06:05, 3 February 2020
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January 27
Is there a term for excluding "The" when alphabetically indexing things?
For example, say I had an A-Z List of Books that ignored "The" at the start of their titles for how to alphabetize them, so The End would be under E and The Stand would be under S, but I had another list of movies where the T section was huge because The Shining and The Matrix and so on were all under T.
It's pretty common to exclude "The" like this, but there is a word or term for doing so, that you could describe the first list as being?--occono (talk) 12:25, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
- There is not, as far as I am aware or can find with a search online, any specific word or phrase beyond the ones you have already used, to describe this concept. --Jayron32 13:19, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
- Here is a short but precisely written paper about the matter. It doesn't use any particular term. From this, I infer that if one wants to write about this, one doesn't have to trouble to think of (or dream up) technical terms for it. -- Hoary (talk) 13:41, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
In morphological analysis (not the same as collation, of course), the term for ignoring stuff at the beginning to get to the essential part of the word is "prefix stemming"... AnonMoos (talk) 23:40, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
"The", "a" and "an" are generally placed among stop words. (There are exceptions: if there weren't, "The The" would evaporate.) So if you were really intent on an impressive/soporific way of expressing the idea, perhaps something like "implementing a stop word function". -- Hoary (talk) 00:55, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
lugbara
Which language do lugbara people in Uganda speak? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 41.210.146.200 (talk) 21:09, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
- Presumably most of them speak the Lugbara language; a number may be bilingual or multilingual in one or more of the other Languages of Uganda (including English). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.239.195} 90.205.58.107 (talk) 22:34, 27 January 2020 (UTC)
January 28
Sophomore
How come so many people use this word simply to mean second?? Are there any similar words used to mean third, fourth, and so on?? Georgia guy (talk) 12:33, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- See Sophomore, from the first sentence of the article "is a student in the second year of study at high school or college." By analogy, the word sophomore is often applied to other second efforts, such as a professional athlete's second season in the pros, or a band's second album, etc. I am not aware of any special terms applied similarly to any other situation for "third", "fourth" etc. (that is, there is no special word for a band's third album) --Jayron32 13:07, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- But why do people use such a fancy word when "second" is more obvious?? Georgia guy (talk) 13:17, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Because sometimes people like to use fancy words. The use of synonyms in English is a way to add variety and texture to language. --Jayron32 13:26, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Why do you (User:Georgia guy) use two question marks when one is sufficient? --Khajidha (talk) 13:37, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- I just think it's interesting. Georgia guy (talk) 13:55, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Adding varietyness and texturing. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:38, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- If you want 'fancy', students in successive years at the university I attended were called Bejants, Semis, Tertians and Magistrands, and had a somewhat unusual dress code. That's what 6 centuries of tradition can land you with. (And don't mention the raisins!) {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.205.58.107 (talk) 17:08, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Please get a Misplaced Pages user name so that we'll know all your edits are the same person. Georgia guy (talk) 17:32, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- There's no rule requiring registration, and "poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195" has never run afoul of any rules that I can recall. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:36, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Also, unlike many IP users, TPFKA 87.etc uses a consistent identity. They've been here for years, and always identifies themselves as the same person. Get off their back, GG. They did nothing wrong, and there's no reason you should be bothering them. --Jayron32 19:56, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- I apologize. Sometimes we have to "think outside the box" with how problems with Misplaced Pages can be resolved. Georgia guy (talk) 20:04, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Unregistered users are not a problem that needs to be resolved. --Jayron32 20:06, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- I apologize. Sometimes we have to "think outside the box" with how problems with Misplaced Pages can be resolved. Georgia guy (talk) 20:04, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Also, unlike many IP users, TPFKA 87.etc uses a consistent identity. They've been here for years, and always identifies themselves as the same person. Get off their back, GG. They did nothing wrong, and there's no reason you should be bothering them. --Jayron32 19:56, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- There's no rule requiring registration, and "poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195" has never run afoul of any rules that I can recall. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:36, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- Just for comparison, at the university I went to, undergrads were called first-year, second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students. "Freshmen" or "frosh" was used as well for first-years, but unofficially. And at the high school I went to, there were grade 9, grade 10, grade 11, year 4, and year 5 students. (Well, not all of those simultaneously. They changed the numbering the after I finished grade 11.) --142.112.159.101 (talk) 02:14, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Please get a Misplaced Pages user name so that we'll know all your edits are the same person. Georgia guy (talk) 17:32, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- I just think it's interesting. Georgia guy (talk) 13:55, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- My school career went from Sub A to Sub B to Standard 1 through Standard 9 and the 12th years is called Matric and us scholars were matriculants. Also my Kimberley Boys' High School as the teacher wear robes, by choice. Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 09:41, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- But why do people use such a fancy word when "second" is more obvious?? Georgia guy (talk) 13:17, 28 January 2020 (UTC)
- It seems that the word is mainly used with this meaning in combinations like "sophomore album" or "sophomore book" for artists who had a successful launch of their first creations, naturally leading people to ask if these would turn out to be one-hit wonders. Publishing their second one proves they are not early dropouts. There appear to be more semantic undertones than carried by just "second". For the rest, language evolves by occasional innovations plus people copying what they hear from others. Fads come and go, and a few changes stick, in languages as well as in other cultural manifestations. Why some things spread while others don't, and why some fall out of fashion when they do, is not generally well understood. --Lambiam 08:58, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- That theory sounds groovy. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 13:09, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- When I was in the UK in the early 1980s, the word "sophomore" was considered an American word (not generally used by UK students to refer to themselves), and it originated as a kind of joke (it means "wise fool" in Greek). Nevertheless, Misplaced Pages has an article on sophomore slump... AnonMoos (talk) 21:10, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Sort of off-topic, but at least it's about the same word: My mother went to a two-year college in the South (transferred to a four-year one later on, and eventually got her Master's). I remember seeing the yearbook from the two-year college. They essentially "multiplied the class name by two": First-year students were "sophomores"; second-year were "seniors". Curious whether anyone else is familiar with this usage. --Trovatore (talk) 21:31, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
January 29
Biographies of parents with both living and deceased children
If a parent has both living children and deceased children, what is the most tactful way to convey that information in a sentence or two? I ask after looking at the personal life section of Joe Bryant (Kobe's father). Various editors have been changing the wording, but nothing looks right to me. Zagalejo^^^ 03:34, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- At the moment it reads "In 1975, Bryant married Pam Cox, sister of former NBA player Chubby Cox. Bryant's son, Kobe, won five NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. Bryant also has two daughters, Sharia and Shaya. Through his wife Pam, he is the uncle of professional basketball player John Cox IV. On January 26, 2020, Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash, along with Bryant's 13-year-old grand-daughter Gianna and seven others."
- Looks good to me. Factual and straightforward. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 03:52, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
Omitting articles in English text
Way back in the late 1980s, when I got my first Transformers toys, I noticed that the instruction manuals used a form of English that was completely new to me at the time. For example, an instruction manual might say:
- Fold front part of car apart to form arms. Pull back part of car back to form legs. Stand robot.
The way I had learned English, it would have to have been:
- Fold the front part of the car apart to form the arms. Pull the back part of the car back to form the legs. Stand the robot.
Of course I understood everything, but I didn't know English could be written this way. Is there a name for this form of English? And why were the manuals written in this way? Is it used elsewhere? JIP | Talk 13:31, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I'd guess that various manufacturers wanted to provide instructions in a variety of languages yet do so in limited space. (I remember multilingual instructions for exposing films, all on a single piece of paper that would fit in the box.) So there would have been a motive for this kind of "telegraphese". It became commoner, people got used to it, it then became expected. NB this is mere guesswork. -- Hoary (talk) 13:41, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Except that the instruction manuals for Transformers toys in the US at the time were written in this variant of English and no other languages. This form of writing is very common in instructions and similar forms of writing. --Khajidha (talk) 14:32, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- This "elliptical style" (as the style manual Words into Type calls it) is also common in recipes, usage in which may predate usage in such manufacturers' instructions. The style manual I mentioned has this to say: "Instructions are sometimes written in an elliptical style, omitting articles. Consistency should be observed, omitting all or none." Deor (talk) 14:35, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- That style has been around for a long time, presumably to cut down on wordiness. "Insert tab A into slot B." That kind of thing. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 14:46, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- This "elliptical style" (as the style manual Words into Type calls it) is also common in recipes, usage in which may predate usage in such manufacturers' instructions. The style manual I mentioned has this to say: "Instructions are sometimes written in an elliptical style, omitting articles. Consistency should be observed, omitting all or none." Deor (talk) 14:35, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Except that the instruction manuals for Transformers toys in the US at the time were written in this variant of English and no other languages. This form of writing is very common in instructions and similar forms of writing. --Khajidha (talk) 14:32, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- We have articles on Headlinese and Telegram style… AnonMoos (talk)
I remember begging my Dad for a transformer and after months of pleading, one Saturday morning he agreed and took me into town and bought an AC/DC electricity transformer. I was not amused. lol Anton 81.131.40.58 (talk) 14:50, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
The phantom The
Is there a word to cover the action of adding a "The" to the start of a name or title that shouldn't have one? e.g referring to Eurythmics as The Eurythmics - X201 (talk) 14:08, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Not really, but it's an example of hypercorrection. --Viennese Waltz 14:19, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) It's called "usual English grammar". The normal rules of English grammar allow for the use of the definite article "the" before plural nouns, especially in situations when dealing with the plural as a specific, designated grouping. Referring to the band as "the Eurythmics" is not incorrect in any way, and mirrors the usage of the word "the" in numerous other similar contexts. Consider "the dogs are barking" meaning "There's a specific group of dogs (where both of us know which dogs they are) that are barking", which is different from "Dogs are barking" which means "Some unidentified group of dogs (where none of us really knows which ones they are) are barking". In the case of "the Eurythmics", the use of the definite article is more natural and how people would normally speak, because, when we say "The Eurythmics are playing a concert" we're referring to a specific grouping, "Eurythmics are playing a concert" feels like it could be any random Eurythmics and not a specific set of them; yes, we can after the fact take the time to analyze the statement and realize what is meant, but in the case of making language as natural and understandable to our listeners/readers, "the Eurythmics" in that context does not feel marked in the way that leaving off the definite article does. So, to answer your question directly, again, the use of "the" before the word "Eurythmics" goes by the name "standard English grammar." --Jayron32 14:26, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I must say, I've never come across any random Eurythmics. Articles in band names can be a bit of an oddity. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:50, 29 January 2020 (UTC) p.s. I've always thought Annie Lennox had a great voice.
- (ec) I don't think your (Jayron32's) informative answer exactly answers the question. X201 carefully wrote "The" (with an uppercase "T"), twice, so asking specifically about the word being part of the title. I don't think I'd say "The Dire Straits", "The Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark", or "The Sparks, so I think the answer is more complex. Bazza (talk) 14:53, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- You hit the nail on the head Bazza. I was trying to think of other groups or TV shows as examples, but my mind came up blank. - X201 (talk) 16:56, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Yes, quite. RP/BBC English has often been ridiculed for adding an unwanted The, e.g. The Pink Floyd. Martinevans123 (talk) 14:59, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- You are wrong. In their early days they were known as The Pink Floyd. --Viennese Waltz 15:05, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I certainly wasn't claiming they were never called that. Only that the BBC failed to drop the The when it became unfashionable. Partly why I chose that as an example! Martinevans123 (talk) 15:12, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- You are wrong. In their early days they were known as The Pink Floyd. --Viennese Waltz 15:05, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I've only seen such added "The"s (capitalized) at the beginnings of sentences (or fragments). I've never noticed such in running text, "I saw the Eurythmics last night", yes, "I saw The Eurythmics last night", no. --Khajidha (talk) 15:02, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- At least they're consistent. The Beatles were most often "The Beatles", but on some of their albums they were only "Beatles". ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 15:12, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- "The Beatles" vs "the Beatles" has been a long running saga at MoS. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:13, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- That's of minor concern, such subtle differences in orthography have little effect on the understandability of the language. The greater concern is that, among the "article is not a part of the name" crowd, there is an ardent subset who also removes any article, without regard to capitalization, from the text, so we get such monstrosities as "I bought an album by Beatles last week" or "Have you heard a new song by Beatles". There's numerous examples of such things all over Misplaced Pages. --Jayron32 15:22, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- A waste of money. Most of them are now dead, allegedly. Although they were more popular than the Jesus. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:52, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- That's of minor concern, such subtle differences in orthography have little effect on the understandability of the language. The greater concern is that, among the "article is not a part of the name" crowd, there is an ardent subset who also removes any article, without regard to capitalization, from the text, so we get such monstrosities as "I bought an album by Beatles last week" or "Have you heard a new song by Beatles". There's numerous examples of such things all over Misplaced Pages. --Jayron32 15:22, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I've only seen such added "The"s (capitalized) at the beginnings of sentences (or fragments). I've never noticed such in running text, "I saw the Eurythmics last night", yes, "I saw The Eurythmics last night", no. --Khajidha (talk) 15:02, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- I will note that, in the specific example given, it is blatantly clear that the current Misplaced Pages article titled Eurythmics is using incorrect grammar. When we check ngrams, here, we see that comparing the phrase "by Eurythmics" vs. "by the Eurythmics" there are literally no examples from the corpus of the former usage (the "the"less one). this one using "to the Eurythmics vs. "to Eurythmics" also shows similar results. We can probably debate and allow for a variance of opinion as to whether the use of "the" should be capitalized or not, but omitting the definite article altogether is simply unknown in the English corpus, so the Misplaced Pages article pretending that is the proper way to write is utter bullshit. --Jayron32 17:34, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- That pedantic plague appears to have begun 15 years ago, by an editor who bailed in 2007. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:56, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Interesting. One of the things I've "learned" from Misplaced Pages is that Eagles (band) should not be referred to as "the Eagles". If that's wrong, I'd like to know.
By the way, if re-run Jayron's query for "by Eagles" vs "by the Eagles"], I find a substantial preference for "by Eagles". But my guess is that if you looked into those occurrences, you would find that a lot of them were talking about the bird rather than the band. No obvious, easy way of checking that comes to mind. --Trovatore (talk) 21:08, 29 January 2020 (UTC)- You can turn off the default case-insensitivity and re-re-run the query. The result is interestingly different. --Lambiam 07:46, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I did that, actually. Considered mentioning it, but the results, while suggestive, are not really definitive, and it seemed like too much work to report on. --Trovatore (talk) 08:01, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Here is a search comparing "song by Eagles" and "song by the Eagles"; that should hypothetically eliminate much of the noise from the bird portion of the searches. Once again, the "the-less" version is essentially unknown. While the proper name of the band is "Eagles", that still does not override normal English grammar when using the word in a sentence. --Jayron32 13:19, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Ok Jayron, nice one, just try and chill thy article beans. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:30, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man. Deor (talk) 13:42, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- This aggression will not stand, man! --Jayron32 14:42, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- You're a Cowboys fan? ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 13:50, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- No, just wants the rug back. It really brought the room together, you know? --Trovatore (talk) 20:22, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man. Deor (talk) 13:42, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Ok Jayron, nice one, just try and chill thy article beans. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:30, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Here is a search comparing "song by Eagles" and "song by the Eagles"; that should hypothetically eliminate much of the noise from the bird portion of the searches. Once again, the "the-less" version is essentially unknown. While the proper name of the band is "Eagles", that still does not override normal English grammar when using the word in a sentence. --Jayron32 13:19, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I did that, actually. Considered mentioning it, but the results, while suggestive, are not really definitive, and it seemed like too much work to report on. --Trovatore (talk) 08:01, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- You can turn off the default case-insensitivity and re-re-run the query. The result is interestingly different. --Lambiam 07:46, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Interesting. One of the things I've "learned" from Misplaced Pages is that Eagles (band) should not be referred to as "the Eagles". If that's wrong, I'd like to know.
- That pedantic plague appears to have begun 15 years ago, by an editor who bailed in 2007. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 17:56, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
Pronunciation of ʻokina
The ʻokina marks a glottal stop in words like Hawaiʻi. How do you pronounce the name of the punctuation mark itself? (I've also asked at Talk:ʻOkina, but no responses so far.) Thanks. —151.132.206.250 (talk) 19:13, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- According to wikt:okina, it is oh-KEE-nah. Jmar67 (talk) 20:04, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- In English? Or in Hawaiian? I would guess that the Hawaiian name would be pronounced with an initial glottal stop. However, that isn't a sound that English uses at the beginnings of words. --Khajidha (talk) 20:06, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- It is, when an utterance starts with a vowel. If you say "ʻokina is the Hawaiian character representing a glottal stop", it shoud come out about right. After "the" I'd say it's 50–50. I find that if I start a sentence with "the ʻokina", it seems to depend on whether I pronounce "the" as /ðʌ/ (in which case I want to use the glottal stop) or /ðiː/ (in which case I don't). --Trovatore (talk) 20:50, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- The younger generation should have no problem. They now routinely spout atrocities like "Thə interesting thing is that thə answer is 'ə apple', not 'ə orange'". -- Jack of Oz 00:18, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Maybe this is some Oz trend that hasn't made it here yet? But beyond that I'm not sure what the complaint is in the first place. I use /ðʌ/ and /ðiː/ fairly interchangeably, with /ðiː/ being maybe just a touch more formal. --Trovatore (talk) 06:27, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Oh, I just noticed that you meant "a apple" instead of "an apple". I don't say that, of course. But Mr Bumble probably would have, so it's not all that new. --Trovatore (talk) 06:29, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Not only that. When you say "the answer", is it elided to "thee-y-answer" or is there a glottal stop as per my example? -- Jack of Oz 07:31, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I use both forms interchangeably. --Trovatore (talk) 07:38, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Then you're only half the man I thought you were. :) -- Jack of Oz 22:05, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I use both forms interchangeably. --Trovatore (talk) 07:38, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Not only that. When you say "the answer", is it elided to "thee-y-answer" or is there a glottal stop as per my example? -- Jack of Oz 07:31, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Oh, I just noticed that you meant "a apple" instead of "an apple". I don't say that, of course. But Mr Bumble probably would have, so it's not all that new. --Trovatore (talk) 06:29, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- "It's not by a elk." —Tamfang (talk) 03:14, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
- I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Maybe this is some Oz trend that hasn't made it here yet? But beyond that I'm not sure what the complaint is in the first place. I use /ðʌ/ and /ðiː/ fairly interchangeably, with /ðiː/ being maybe just a touch more formal. --Trovatore (talk) 06:27, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- The younger generation should have no problem. They now routinely spout atrocities like "Thə interesting thing is that thə answer is 'ə apple', not 'ə orange'". -- Jack of Oz 00:18, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- I realized on reflection that there's a manifold confluence of threads that's too interesting not to mention (at least from my possibly slightly idiosyncratic view of interestingness).
- The section above talks about the Eagles, which I would almost certainly render as /ðʌˈʔiːglz/ because using the /ðiː/ pronunciation would blend into the first syllable of "Eagles".
- But I was also going to give an example in German, suggesting that if you know German you should try to pronounce der Adler, which has a glottal stop before the A.
- I think it's a pure coincidence that Adler means "eagle". --Trovatore (talk) 06:35, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Bit late, but thanks for the answer! In IPA, would /ʔoʊˈkinɑ/ be right? I’ve added it to the article, so please correct it there if needed. Thanks! —96.8.24.95 (talk) 06:05, 3 February 2020 (UTC)
- It is, when an utterance starts with a vowel. If you say "ʻokina is the Hawaiian character representing a glottal stop", it shoud come out about right. After "the" I'd say it's 50–50. I find that if I start a sentence with "the ʻokina", it seems to depend on whether I pronounce "the" as /ðʌ/ (in which case I want to use the glottal stop) or /ðiː/ (in which case I don't). --Trovatore (talk) 20:50, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- In English? Or in Hawaiian? I would guess that the Hawaiian name would be pronounced with an initial glottal stop. However, that isn't a sound that English uses at the beginnings of words. --Khajidha (talk) 20:06, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
Von der Leyen and Eliot
Ursula von der Leyen tells UK "Only in the agony of parting do we look into the depth of love": . But where and when did pre-Brexit novelist and poet George Eliot ever write this? (It's also a popular quote for funerals, it seems). 81.153.151.61 (talk) 22:29, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- What do you mean by also for funerals? ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 23:11, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- In chapter 44 of Felix Holt, the Radical, she wrote "And 'tis a strange truth that only in the agony of parting we look into the depths of love." ---Sluzzelin talk 23:19, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- (edit conflict)One of my favorite authors. The quote is from Felix Holt, the Radical, published in 1866. You'll find it on page 377 here: .--William Thweatt 23:22, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
English pronunciation of qaf and kaf
How can anglophones distinguish the names of these 2 Arabic letters?? Georgia guy (talk) 23:23, 29 January 2020 (UTC)
- Qoph#Arabic_qaf discusses how to pronounce "qaf". Do you see anything about an Arabic letter in Kaf? <-Baseball Bugs carrots-> 00:51, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Our article on kaf is at Kaph#Arabic kaf--William Thweatt 01:44, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
Georgia_guy -- This Arabic letter has an extremely wide range of realizations in different modern Arabic dialects (part of the reason why there are so many Latin-alphabet spellings of "Gaddafi"); some of these are similar to sounds found in English, some not. In early medieval Arabic, it was usually a voiceless uvular stop. It comes from a sound which was probably a velar ejective stop in early Semitic. Some sounds written by Semitic alphabets (Hebrew, Arabic etc.) are so alien to the English sound system that there's not much point in trying to pronounce them in English, such as the letter Ayn/Ayin E+/e+, which originally represents a voiced pharyngeal consonant. AnonMoos (talk) 21:13, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- But how about distinguishing their names?? Both names would have the same English pronunciation, similar to the first syllable of the word "coffin". Georgia guy (talk) 22:36, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- For many speakers, the position of the tongue in making /q/ and /k/ affects the sound of the following /a/. After /k/ it sounds closer to (like the "a" in English "cat" or "calf"). After /q/ it has a sound closer to your "coffin" example. Find youtube videos by native speakers trying to explain the Arabic alphabet and listen to their pronunciations of the letter names. For example: or . I don't know how common these pronunciations are and they may be exaggerating for effect, but my Beginning Arabic teacher, many many years ago, pronounced them that way too.--William Thweatt 01:24, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- Part of the problem for some English speakers is that many dialects (especially in the US outside of the Northeast) have undergone the Father/Bother merger and as such, may not recognize the two different vowel sounds as unique. --Jayron32 14:11, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- For many speakers, the position of the tongue in making /q/ and /k/ affects the sound of the following /a/. After /k/ it sounds closer to (like the "a" in English "cat" or "calf"). After /q/ it has a sound closer to your "coffin" example. Find youtube videos by native speakers trying to explain the Arabic alphabet and listen to their pronunciations of the letter names. For example: or . I don't know how common these pronunciations are and they may be exaggerating for effect, but my Beginning Arabic teacher, many many years ago, pronounced them that way too.--William Thweatt 01:24, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- WilliamThweatt -- the Classical Arabic term for fronting or raising of an "a" vowel (often inhibited by an adjacent emphatic or guttural consonant) is Imala. By the way, my favorite Qaf is not the letter, but the mythical mountain which makes an appearance in many of the Arabian Nights tales... -- AnonMoos (talk) 16:38, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
In layman's terms, can one just say "the Arabic letter K" and "the Arabic letter Q"? --Theurgist (talk) 19:39, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
January 30
need help translating Kanji album cover
I want to write an article on this band/album. What does the cover say in English, please? 50.111.33.12 (talk) 08:24, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Here is the text left-to-right in digital form: 海は荒海∙向うは佐渡よ∙すずめ啼け啼け∙もう日はくれた∙みんな呼べ呼べ∙お星さま∙出たぞ. I have separated the original columns by bullets, but it looks like the last two columns together form one sentence. My Japanese is insufficient to translate it. This is what Google translate produces: "The sea is rough seas, the other side is Sado, the sparrows are crying, the sun is gone, everyone can be called, the stars have come out." Sado is a city and an island. Are these the lyrics of a song on the album? --Lambiam 21:23, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- It says nothing in English, other than the word Trio. You're welcome. —Tamfang (talk) 03:18, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
It's a well-known song. There's likely to be a good translation somewhere, but in my own I-really-ought-to-down-one-more-coffee-before-trying-this translation:
The sea is choppy;
Over there is Sado.
Chirp, sparrows!
The sun has set.
Call everyone!
The stars have come out.
In Japan too, sparrows chirp in daylight; so this ingredient is a bit odd. (On the other hand, you might say that it's after dark when they need instructions to chirp.)
Just one note on what Lambiam writes. Sado, aka Sadogashima, is administratively a shi: thus, "Sado-shi". This is conventionally englished as "city" (so Lambiam isn't wrong), but it has only the most tenuous relationship with "city" as the word is used elsewhere. Simply, nobody who isn't already accustomed to the concept of shi would recognize Sado as a city. -- Hoary (talk) 23:19, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
- "Sunayama" (literally sand dune(s)) is the title of the poem, which is by Hakushū Kitahara. Just one half-sentence from the Japanese WP article on the verse: "The record of Sunayama, as set to music by Shinpei Nakayama, sold 150,000 between 1945 and 1960". -- Hoary (talk) 00:04, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
Klingon and Kazakh
How do you say toothbrush in Klingon and Kazakh?68.129.97.180 (talk) 18:08, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Тіс щеткасы is the Kazakh word. --Jayron32 18:51, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- In Klingon it's Ho' teywI' according to the Klingon Language Institute. Adam Bishop (talk) 19:34, 30 January 2020 (UTC)
- Klingons use toothbrushes? I would have assumed they'd just swish around some blood wine. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:40, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- It's probably just a borrowing from a conquered species. With all their biological redundancies they probably just regrow the teeth that fall out. 93.136.59.172 (talk) 11:12, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
- Ho' means "tooth" and is in the original 1985 lexicon. tey is not in that lexicon but must be a verb meaning "to brush". -wI' is a verbal suffix that converts a verb meaning "to X" into a noun meaning "one who/which does X", like the English "-er" suffix on "lover", "runner", etc. The Klingon H represents the voiceless velar fricative /x/, and the two ' symbols represent the glottal stop, which is phonemic in Klingon; for example teywI' (a brush) is a different word than tey'wI' (a confider) . CodeTalker (talk) 19:00, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
January 31
Yakut/Sakha (second try)
This is a follow-up to my last request of Jan 12-14, 2020. Sorry I missed your comments, 81.131.40.58 and Theurgist! The phrase I'd like to transliterate/transcribe is "Бырайыак:Көмпүүтэр оонньуулара". I had used an online tranlsator to come up with this, but I would welcome any other attempts. Thank you! -Thibbs (talk) 01:08, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- "Бырайыак:Көмпүүтэр оонньуулара" means "Project:Computer games". A better transliteration of the last word would be "oonnyuulara", note the ннь (geminated form of нь). The other two should be correct. --Theurgist (talk) 03:39, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- Thanks. I'll make that correction. -Thibbs (talk) 15:16, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
Type of speech (actually a type of spelling)
I think there is a Misplaced Pages article on a type of spelling in English which approximates the way of speaking found within certain social groups. The title of the article would be a reference to this method of writing—mostly spelling—that does not follow proper spelling but instead aims to suggest the way a specific group of English speakers might sound. I'm not good with language and grammar and all that stuff but the name of the article sounds like a very formal and academic sort of terminology. Bus stop (talk) 04:20, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- Possibly eye dialect? Rmhermen (talk) 05:20, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
- Yes, that's it. Thank you. Should it be added to the "See also" section of Colloquialism? Bus stop (talk) 05:32, 31 January 2020 (UTC)
February 1
Translation to Krakowiaczek
Does anyone have a translation to Krakowiaczek ?
Krakowiaczek jeden
mial koników siedem.
Pojechal na wojnę,
Zostal mu się jeden.
Krakowianka jedna
miala chlopca z drewna
i dziewczynke z wosku,
wszystko po krakowsku.
Krakowiaczek jeden
Miał koników siedem
Pojechał na wojnę
Został mu się jeden
Siedem lat wojował
Szabli nie wyjmował
Szabla zardzewiała
Wojny nie widziała
Krakowianka jedna
Miała chłopca z drewna
A buciki z wosku
Wszystko po krakowsku
Krakowiaczek ci ja
Krakowskiej natury
Kto mi wejdzie w drogę
Ja na niego z góry
Krakowiaczek ci ja
Któż nie przyzna tego
Siedemdziesiąt kółek
U pasika mego
Krakowiaczek ci ja
Z czerwona czapeczką
Szyta kierezyja
Bucik z podkóweczką
Gra mi wciąż muzyka
A kółka trzepocą
Jak małe księżyce
W blasku się migocą
Krakowiaczek jeden
Miał koników siedem
Pojechał na wojnę
Został mu się jeden
Thanks — Preceding unsigned comment added by Exx8 (talk • contribs) 09:48, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
- Maybe you could ask at Dyskusja:Stanisław Moniuszko? Martinevans123 (talk) 11:51, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
- (posting same reply I posted at the Entertainment Desk) Mama Lisa has one (not sure if all the verses you posted are there, but there are quite a few): Krakowiaczek jeden. ---Sluzzelin talk 14:21, 1 February 2020 (UTC)
- In situations like this, we can also try to summon the helpful assistance of Kpalion, CiaPan or Piotrus. ---Sluzzelin talk 01:01, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
- I've just Googled "krakowiaczek jeden english" and found this translation, which is quite good. It's not literal, but does a pretty good job of preserving both the sense and the rythm of the song. Please let me know, if you're looking for a more literal translation or need help with some specific words.
- One note on the translation linked to above: it renders "krakowiaczek" as "a man from Kraków", but the term actually refers to a member of the Krakowiacy, an ethnic subgroup living in the region around Kraków. In other words, the man and the girl in the song are not citizens of the city of Kraków, but peasants from one of the villages in the Kraków region. — Kpalion 12:59, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
- Also, a fun note: I was born and raised in Kraków and I've never heard more than the first three stanzas of the song. — Kpalion 13:06, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
Original is PD but pl wikisource does not link to any English translation: . However, we can make our own, through I am unsure it would be allowed on wikisource? Any translation is AFAIK subject to its own new copyright.--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 18:19, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
- To be includable, any artistic works must have been published in a medium that includes peer review or editorial controls; this excludes self-publication. --Lambiam 20:51, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
February 2
PSA? What is being said here?
At 3:20 it sounds like he says "if this is like a PSA of what not to do at a crime scene". What is a "PSA"? Or is he saying something else? We have a page PSA. But nothing there seems likely. On second thought maybe it means Public service announcement. Bus stop (talk) 06:56, 2 February 2020 (UTC)
- Yes, I think he means Public Service Announcement. ←Baseball Bugs carrots→ 08:42, 2 February 2020 (UTC)