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Why does Le Monde refer to the Middle East as le Proche-Orient? Shouldn't it be le Moyen-Orient? -- 70.244.234.128 ( talk) 02:59, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
70.244.234.128 -- In English, the use of the term "Near East" has been somewhat declining over the long term (since after WW2), while French usage of the analogous terms may of course be completely different... AnonMoos ( talk) 07:31, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
It can be noted that the area is called Middle East (or more correctly, 'the most middleast East', ash-sharq al-awsat) in Arabic. The area is generally called West Asia in South Asia. -- Soman ( talk) 17:32, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
The etymology given by the French WP can help. You can read also how Le Monde makes the difference between the two. — AldoSyrt ( talk) 06:36, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
Interesting, the conclusion would seem to be that as America emerged as a superpower, the terminology that made sense from an American perspective simply displaced the older one that made sense from a European perspective (after all, the Middle East is in no way "near" from an American point of view). The Germans seem to continue to distinguish Naher Osten and Mittlerer Osten along the old lines, although in recent years their journalists, too, have been parroting the terms now dominant in the Anglosphere ( [1]). The Russians normally use the "Near East" to this day ( [2]). Interestingly, English-language academia still speaks of the "Ancient Near East" in a historical context, not of the "Ancient Middle East".-- 91.148.159.4 ( talk) 19:30, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
An editor has just altered Occam's razor to change "a heuristic..." to "an heuristic...". I guess it depends on how one pronounces heuristic, or does it? "a heuristic..." seems right to me. Thoughts? HiLo48 ( talk) 04:09, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
The first screening of a film is called its premiere. When one performs a musical work publicly for the first time, one is said to premiere it. Intransitively, a film or play or a musical or a symphony is said to premiere on a certain date in a certain place. These terms all borrow a feminine French adjective and turn it into a noun or a verb.
But a first performance itself can also be called the premier performance. That's the masculine version of the same French adjective.
Why the inconsistency?
When a play or musical is successful in its initial production, other theatre companies will produce that show. A very successful show may be produced hundreds or even thousands of times.
On occasion a new production is billed as "a revival".
I wonder what the difference is between "another production" and "a revival". Is the term revival just a marketing ploy or is there something more?
Thanks, Wanderer57 ( talk) 14:57, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
I was recently using the website " Translation Party", which translates phrases back and forth between English and Japanese to produce humorous results. When I entered the phrase "It's a weird game and you can tell just by the cartridge. It's one of those weird baby blue cartridges so right away you can tell that it's a big piece of fucking shit." (a quote from the Angry Video Game Nerd) into the translator, the result it produced contained the word "Gunihatawagotonohotondoha". I have thus far been unable to find any information about this word. Does anyone know what it means and/or how it could have gotten into the translation?-- 99.251.211.17 ( talk) 15:55, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
Hi I'm looking for a monolingual french dictionary suitable for an intermediate learner, available online and preferably not too expensive. I've come across Le Robert Micro de Poche from the bookdepository, at a reasonable price, but can anyone who uses anything in the Petit Robert series please tell me if they are any good, or if they have an alternative recommendation. Thanks, It's been emotional ( talk) 17:21, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
Thanks to you both for the advice and links, It's been emotional ( talk) 08:54, 7 April 2011 (UTC)
What language, from a purely phonetic standpoint, is easiest to write poetry in? I would like the ease at which rhymes can be made to be considered before things such as lexical breadth, syllables and meter, etc (but if possible these should also be considered). Thanks. 72.128.95.0 ( talk) 23:36, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< April 2 | << Mar | April | May >> | April 4 > |
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. |
Why does Le Monde refer to the Middle East as le Proche-Orient? Shouldn't it be le Moyen-Orient? -- 70.244.234.128 ( talk) 02:59, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
70.244.234.128 -- In English, the use of the term "Near East" has been somewhat declining over the long term (since after WW2), while French usage of the analogous terms may of course be completely different... AnonMoos ( talk) 07:31, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
It can be noted that the area is called Middle East (or more correctly, 'the most middleast East', ash-sharq al-awsat) in Arabic. The area is generally called West Asia in South Asia. -- Soman ( talk) 17:32, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
The etymology given by the French WP can help. You can read also how Le Monde makes the difference between the two. — AldoSyrt ( talk) 06:36, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
Interesting, the conclusion would seem to be that as America emerged as a superpower, the terminology that made sense from an American perspective simply displaced the older one that made sense from a European perspective (after all, the Middle East is in no way "near" from an American point of view). The Germans seem to continue to distinguish Naher Osten and Mittlerer Osten along the old lines, although in recent years their journalists, too, have been parroting the terms now dominant in the Anglosphere ( [1]). The Russians normally use the "Near East" to this day ( [2]). Interestingly, English-language academia still speaks of the "Ancient Near East" in a historical context, not of the "Ancient Middle East".-- 91.148.159.4 ( talk) 19:30, 4 April 2011 (UTC)
An editor has just altered Occam's razor to change "a heuristic..." to "an heuristic...". I guess it depends on how one pronounces heuristic, or does it? "a heuristic..." seems right to me. Thoughts? HiLo48 ( talk) 04:09, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
The first screening of a film is called its premiere. When one performs a musical work publicly for the first time, one is said to premiere it. Intransitively, a film or play or a musical or a symphony is said to premiere on a certain date in a certain place. These terms all borrow a feminine French adjective and turn it into a noun or a verb.
But a first performance itself can also be called the premier performance. That's the masculine version of the same French adjective.
Why the inconsistency?
When a play or musical is successful in its initial production, other theatre companies will produce that show. A very successful show may be produced hundreds or even thousands of times.
On occasion a new production is billed as "a revival".
I wonder what the difference is between "another production" and "a revival". Is the term revival just a marketing ploy or is there something more?
Thanks, Wanderer57 ( talk) 14:57, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
I was recently using the website " Translation Party", which translates phrases back and forth between English and Japanese to produce humorous results. When I entered the phrase "It's a weird game and you can tell just by the cartridge. It's one of those weird baby blue cartridges so right away you can tell that it's a big piece of fucking shit." (a quote from the Angry Video Game Nerd) into the translator, the result it produced contained the word "Gunihatawagotonohotondoha". I have thus far been unable to find any information about this word. Does anyone know what it means and/or how it could have gotten into the translation?-- 99.251.211.17 ( talk) 15:55, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
Hi I'm looking for a monolingual french dictionary suitable for an intermediate learner, available online and preferably not too expensive. I've come across Le Robert Micro de Poche from the bookdepository, at a reasonable price, but can anyone who uses anything in the Petit Robert series please tell me if they are any good, or if they have an alternative recommendation. Thanks, It's been emotional ( talk) 17:21, 3 April 2011 (UTC)
Thanks to you both for the advice and links, It's been emotional ( talk) 08:54, 7 April 2011 (UTC)
What language, from a purely phonetic standpoint, is easiest to write poetry in? I would like the ease at which rhymes can be made to be considered before things such as lexical breadth, syllables and meter, etc (but if possible these should also be considered). Thanks. 72.128.95.0 ( talk) 23:36, 3 April 2011 (UTC)