Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< March 26 | << Feb | March | Apr >> | March 28 > |
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. |
I had a few Chinese friends over for dinner a few days ago and was confused by the phrase "zha (3rd tone) xi (1st)" and "zha (3rd) nn (?)" in Mandarin. Apparently they mean to pee and to poo, respectively, but I'm of Chinese descent and have never heard them before. They're from Hangzhou, if that helps- maybe it's a from a dialect?
Thanks in advance, 27.32.104.185 ( talk) 06:04, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, Palaceguard- is it possible to get the Chinese characters? I'm interested in what the individual words are. 27.32.104.185 ( talk) 08:45, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
It's a word in the news a lot lately, so we need to get the pronunciation right. The article Fukushima, Fukushima currently gives the pronunciation as [ɸɯˈkɯɕima], but that doesn't jibe with WP:IPA for Japanese, which doesn't use the symbol ɯ and doesn't use the stress mark. Could someone who genuinely knows please bring the transcription in the article into line with the conventions given at WP:IPA for Japanese? Thanks. Pais ( talk) 13:37, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
At http://www.seattleschools.org/area/bfc/lao/Lao%20Services.htm
Can someone tell what the Lao name is for Seattle Public Schools? The commons at is at Commons:Category:Seattle Public Schools
Thanks WhisperToMe ( talk) 14:09, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
I have recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak with a number of different French speakers. My French is okay, and their English is by and large excellent. I have noticed however, on numerous occasions with at least three different people, that the word "normally" seems to convey a different sense than what I understand that word to mean. Examples: "Normally we turn it [one time assignment] in tomorrow." or [in regards to a one-time meeting] "I will bring normally three people." Is there a meaning to the French word "normalement" that would lead to this usage in English? It seems to be a very common and recurring thing. Thanks! Falconus p t c 18:34, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
I have been having a discussion with a user called "Aaron" at stackexchange/english (arising out of my answer to a particular question). At one point he startled me by asserting "'That' is never a relative pronoun." I challenged him, and he offered this online textbook, which I see does argue the case: even in relative clauses, "that" is a complementiser not a RP, but a rule ensures that at least one of "that" and the RP gets deleted.
I can see the theoretical value of the argument, but introspectively it just seems wrong to me. I can't believe it hasn't been challenged and discussed back and forth. Can anybody point me to such a discussion? -- ColinFine ( talk) 22:55, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
How many different spellings of this dictator's name are presently used in the world, in the English language press (with cites, please)? Is there a "standard?" Why does this name have more variant transliterations to English than the name of "The Prophet?" which range from "Mohammed" to "Muhammad" to "Mahomet?" By comparison, from some Asian languages to English there are only 2 or 3 different versions, but this dictator has over 30, by some reports. Mainstream US news media, even, use many different spellings. Edison ( talk) 23:07, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
A few days ago, a quiz was posted on the trivia site Sporcle inviting the user to try to name as many (actual) spellings of his name as possible. Kansan ( talk) 16:17, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
(Value judgement alert): the NYT's and the Economist's "Qaddafi" is, IMO, a fine compromise between a hardcore philological transcription of standard Arabic and the actual abilities of the typesetters. The majority choice "Gaddafi" sux. While fully recognizing the right of Libyans to pronounce standard Arabic q as [g], Arabic is still officially considered a single language and ought to be transliterated in a unified way regardless of dialect. The best basis would be the existing standard phonological system, which includes the phoneme /q/ as separate from /g/. Taking all the local pronunciations into account would just result in chaos. It's a bit like "transliterating" the same English language name as "Tom" or "Tahm", "Richud" or "Richurd" depending on whether the person is from Britain or America. US president Jimmy Carder, the PM of the UK Mahgret Thatchah and so on.-- 91.148.159.4 ( talk)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< March 26 | << Feb | March | Apr >> | March 28 > |
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. |
I had a few Chinese friends over for dinner a few days ago and was confused by the phrase "zha (3rd tone) xi (1st)" and "zha (3rd) nn (?)" in Mandarin. Apparently they mean to pee and to poo, respectively, but I'm of Chinese descent and have never heard them before. They're from Hangzhou, if that helps- maybe it's a from a dialect?
Thanks in advance, 27.32.104.185 ( talk) 06:04, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, Palaceguard- is it possible to get the Chinese characters? I'm interested in what the individual words are. 27.32.104.185 ( talk) 08:45, 28 March 2011 (UTC)
It's a word in the news a lot lately, so we need to get the pronunciation right. The article Fukushima, Fukushima currently gives the pronunciation as [ɸɯˈkɯɕima], but that doesn't jibe with WP:IPA for Japanese, which doesn't use the symbol ɯ and doesn't use the stress mark. Could someone who genuinely knows please bring the transcription in the article into line with the conventions given at WP:IPA for Japanese? Thanks. Pais ( talk) 13:37, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
At http://www.seattleschools.org/area/bfc/lao/Lao%20Services.htm
Can someone tell what the Lao name is for Seattle Public Schools? The commons at is at Commons:Category:Seattle Public Schools
Thanks WhisperToMe ( talk) 14:09, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
I have recently had the wonderful opportunity to speak with a number of different French speakers. My French is okay, and their English is by and large excellent. I have noticed however, on numerous occasions with at least three different people, that the word "normally" seems to convey a different sense than what I understand that word to mean. Examples: "Normally we turn it [one time assignment] in tomorrow." or [in regards to a one-time meeting] "I will bring normally three people." Is there a meaning to the French word "normalement" that would lead to this usage in English? It seems to be a very common and recurring thing. Thanks! Falconus p t c 18:34, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
I have been having a discussion with a user called "Aaron" at stackexchange/english (arising out of my answer to a particular question). At one point he startled me by asserting "'That' is never a relative pronoun." I challenged him, and he offered this online textbook, which I see does argue the case: even in relative clauses, "that" is a complementiser not a RP, but a rule ensures that at least one of "that" and the RP gets deleted.
I can see the theoretical value of the argument, but introspectively it just seems wrong to me. I can't believe it hasn't been challenged and discussed back and forth. Can anybody point me to such a discussion? -- ColinFine ( talk) 22:55, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
How many different spellings of this dictator's name are presently used in the world, in the English language press (with cites, please)? Is there a "standard?" Why does this name have more variant transliterations to English than the name of "The Prophet?" which range from "Mohammed" to "Muhammad" to "Mahomet?" By comparison, from some Asian languages to English there are only 2 or 3 different versions, but this dictator has over 30, by some reports. Mainstream US news media, even, use many different spellings. Edison ( talk) 23:07, 27 March 2011 (UTC)
A few days ago, a quiz was posted on the trivia site Sporcle inviting the user to try to name as many (actual) spellings of his name as possible. Kansan ( talk) 16:17, 30 March 2011 (UTC)
(Value judgement alert): the NYT's and the Economist's "Qaddafi" is, IMO, a fine compromise between a hardcore philological transcription of standard Arabic and the actual abilities of the typesetters. The majority choice "Gaddafi" sux. While fully recognizing the right of Libyans to pronounce standard Arabic q as [g], Arabic is still officially considered a single language and ought to be transliterated in a unified way regardless of dialect. The best basis would be the existing standard phonological system, which includes the phoneme /q/ as separate from /g/. Taking all the local pronunciations into account would just result in chaos. It's a bit like "transliterating" the same English language name as "Tom" or "Tahm", "Richud" or "Richurd" depending on whether the person is from Britain or America. US president Jimmy Carder, the PM of the UK Mahgret Thatchah and so on.-- 91.148.159.4 ( talk)