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In some dictionaries, "idealogy" is listed as a varient of "ideology." Does anyone know if this is British usage, or where it comes from? Would "idealogy" be kosher for use on Wikipedia? Would "ideology" be prefered? My instinct says to prefer "ideology" if for no other reason than to avoid having others constantly changing it due to a preceived typographical error. — vijay ( Talk) 01:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
"Idealogy" is probably based on the spelling of the word "idea" (but that's not how ancient Greek compounding happened to work, so technically it's considered incorrect...). AnonMoos 19:11, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
So, why does English use the pronoun "she" to refer to inanimate objects? Tito xd( ?!?) 01:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
There are detailed discussions in some of the larger early 20th-century grammars (i.e. Jespersen) etc. Other than in a few special cases, it's mostly an antiquated literary affectation by now -- and it has little to do with the grammatical gender found in languages such as French, Spanish, German etc. AnonMoos 03:12, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
There are some British dialects where 'he' is often used to denote an inanimate object, certainly Hampshire where I am from. FreeMorpheme 13:24, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
hey everyone. does anyone know what the poem "I like to see it lap the miles" by Emily Dickinson is about. i know it's about a train with the metaphor of a horse, but does anyone know anything beyond that. thanks!
-anon.
I've been thinking about prefixes and suffixes lately for some reason, and this particular word has eluded me. You know how the suffix "-iphile" is used to indicate that someone has a love for something (like a "bibliophile," or a person who has a love for books)? What is the word for someone who has a love for teaching? I was under the impression that "-ped" was the proper prefix for something like this ("pedagogue," "pedantic") but that doesn't work for obvious reasons. :) Thanks! -- pie4all88 13:49, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
My expertise is in Greek, not in English word-formation, but I'm dubious about all these suggestions & about the likelihood of success with this approach. You can find a word with active teaching connotations (say, paideusis, or maybe didache), but as soon as it's compounded with -philia, I think you're implying "love of teaching [performed by someone else]." Philomathy is the only English word with -phil- that really seems to mean "love of DOING X" (none of the -philias is close). Even in this case, the word implies love of something external to the lover, and expressions relating "teaching" to a person tend to drift in this direction, referring to someone else's teaching, which is effectively passive not active (Herodotus says someone speaks ek didaches, "as a result of instruction [by someone else]" = "as instructed"). (Perhaps also "philology" originally meant love of engaging in discourse, but no one seems to understand it that way now; as a Sanskrit professor whose seminars proceeded at a glacial pace once announced, "Philology is the love of a word!" Anyway, I find it hard to cram the didask- stem into this pattern: philodidaxy? philodidachy? If you really need a vaguely Greekish words, these at least seem less to mean the opposite of what's intended.) FWIW, originally didaktikos has the idea of "skilled at teaching" and could certainly characterize a person. Wareh 20:42, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
Can anyone translate this for me please.
"Hasta la vicroire siempre mi amigo!" Ken 15:02, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
OK thanks. Ken 15:18, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Of the three words 'sofa', 'couch' and 'settee', which would be considered middle class and which working class in the UK? -- Auximines 17:53, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
In a Brazilian dialect that vocalizes syllable-final /l/ to [w], what happens to word-final /l/ followed by a vowel? In a phrase like "Brasil é um pais...", would the /l/ of "Brasil" still be pronounced as [w], or would it be [l]? -- Lazar Taxon 20:36, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
While writing a letter the other day, I started thinking: what does the closing phrase "yours," (which I'm guessing is a shortened and perhaps more informal version of "your truly," or "yours sincerely,") actually mean? It seems a very strange thing to write when I think about it, in a way implying either ownership or devotion... but since I'm not an English native speaker, I was hoping someone might be able to help me....? — Quantum Eleven 21:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
What is the difference between dramatic qualities as opposed to theatrical qualities in the context of me attempting to analyse the last scene of "The Winter's Tale"? I cannot remember for the life of me and I'm getting all mixed up in my answer and my notes are due in tomorrow :S Thanks! Farosdaughter 22:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< December 11 | << Nov | December | Jan >> | December 13 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
In some dictionaries, "idealogy" is listed as a varient of "ideology." Does anyone know if this is British usage, or where it comes from? Would "idealogy" be kosher for use on Wikipedia? Would "ideology" be prefered? My instinct says to prefer "ideology" if for no other reason than to avoid having others constantly changing it due to a preceived typographical error. — vijay ( Talk) 01:06, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
"Idealogy" is probably based on the spelling of the word "idea" (but that's not how ancient Greek compounding happened to work, so technically it's considered incorrect...). AnonMoos 19:11, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
So, why does English use the pronoun "she" to refer to inanimate objects? Tito xd( ?!?) 01:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
There are detailed discussions in some of the larger early 20th-century grammars (i.e. Jespersen) etc. Other than in a few special cases, it's mostly an antiquated literary affectation by now -- and it has little to do with the grammatical gender found in languages such as French, Spanish, German etc. AnonMoos 03:12, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
There are some British dialects where 'he' is often used to denote an inanimate object, certainly Hampshire where I am from. FreeMorpheme 13:24, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
hey everyone. does anyone know what the poem "I like to see it lap the miles" by Emily Dickinson is about. i know it's about a train with the metaphor of a horse, but does anyone know anything beyond that. thanks!
-anon.
I've been thinking about prefixes and suffixes lately for some reason, and this particular word has eluded me. You know how the suffix "-iphile" is used to indicate that someone has a love for something (like a "bibliophile," or a person who has a love for books)? What is the word for someone who has a love for teaching? I was under the impression that "-ped" was the proper prefix for something like this ("pedagogue," "pedantic") but that doesn't work for obvious reasons. :) Thanks! -- pie4all88 13:49, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
My expertise is in Greek, not in English word-formation, but I'm dubious about all these suggestions & about the likelihood of success with this approach. You can find a word with active teaching connotations (say, paideusis, or maybe didache), but as soon as it's compounded with -philia, I think you're implying "love of teaching [performed by someone else]." Philomathy is the only English word with -phil- that really seems to mean "love of DOING X" (none of the -philias is close). Even in this case, the word implies love of something external to the lover, and expressions relating "teaching" to a person tend to drift in this direction, referring to someone else's teaching, which is effectively passive not active (Herodotus says someone speaks ek didaches, "as a result of instruction [by someone else]" = "as instructed"). (Perhaps also "philology" originally meant love of engaging in discourse, but no one seems to understand it that way now; as a Sanskrit professor whose seminars proceeded at a glacial pace once announced, "Philology is the love of a word!" Anyway, I find it hard to cram the didask- stem into this pattern: philodidaxy? philodidachy? If you really need a vaguely Greekish words, these at least seem less to mean the opposite of what's intended.) FWIW, originally didaktikos has the idea of "skilled at teaching" and could certainly characterize a person. Wareh 20:42, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
Can anyone translate this for me please.
"Hasta la vicroire siempre mi amigo!" Ken 15:02, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
OK thanks. Ken 15:18, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
Of the three words 'sofa', 'couch' and 'settee', which would be considered middle class and which working class in the UK? -- Auximines 17:53, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
In a Brazilian dialect that vocalizes syllable-final /l/ to [w], what happens to word-final /l/ followed by a vowel? In a phrase like "Brasil é um pais...", would the /l/ of "Brasil" still be pronounced as [w], or would it be [l]? -- Lazar Taxon 20:36, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
While writing a letter the other day, I started thinking: what does the closing phrase "yours," (which I'm guessing is a shortened and perhaps more informal version of "your truly," or "yours sincerely,") actually mean? It seems a very strange thing to write when I think about it, in a way implying either ownership or devotion... but since I'm not an English native speaker, I was hoping someone might be able to help me....? — Quantum Eleven 21:34, 12 December 2006 (UTC)
What is the difference between dramatic qualities as opposed to theatrical qualities in the context of me attempting to analyse the last scene of "The Winter's Tale"? I cannot remember for the life of me and I'm getting all mixed up in my answer and my notes are due in tomorrow :S Thanks! Farosdaughter 22:17, 12 December 2006 (UTC)