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September 5 Information
from the article: "the game he is compering is a parody of the "Yes-No Interlude" from Take Your Pick". What is "compering"? Is this a BE-only term? 75.41.110.200 ( talk) 15:14, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- Both your questions are answered here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compere rʨanaɢ ( talk) 15:21, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- ... or in our sister-project Wiktionary. Yes, chiefly British, and sometimes spelt with a grave accent over the first "e". There are some citations at that spelling. Dbfirs 07:49, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
At Talk:Ubuntu (philosophy), I wrote:
-
- What language does this word come from?
- I'm tentatively guessing "u-" is a prefix and any of several other prefixes could be attached to "-buntu" to form related words, as I think happens in most (or all?) Bantu languages. Is this on the right track? What would the possible other prefixes be?
Nobody's answered there yet. (An example of what I have in mind is the words Lesotho, Sesotho, Basotho.) Michael Hardy ( talk) 16:03, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
-
Wiktionary says it is a loanword from the
Zulu and
Xhosa languages.
Looie496 (
talk) 16:11, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- I think u in Bantu languages is the prefix for a general concept, and since Bantu means people, it would very roughly mean "humanism", which does align with the explanation in the article.
Itsmejudith (
talk) 23:17, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- Well, in Swahili "u-" seems to form abstract nouns. However, see Cevlakohn's answer below. Michael Hardy ( talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
- I think u in Bantu languages is the prefix for a general concept, and since Bantu means people, it would very roughly mean "humanism", which does align with the explanation in the article.
Itsmejudith (
talk) 23:17, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- See Noun class#Bantu languages. Roger ( talk) 21:22, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
The prefix in "ubuntu" is ubu-, not u-. The root is "ntu", meaning "human", as seen in abantu (aba-ntu, hence "Bantu", the anarthrous form) meaning "people" and umuntu (Z. umu-ntu, Xh. um-ntu) "person". Cevlakohn ( talk) 04:01, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
- Interesting. Thank you. Michael Hardy ( talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
| Language desk | ||
|---|---|---|
| < September 4 | << Aug | September | Oct >> | September 6 > |
| 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. |
September 5 Information
from the article: "the game he is compering is a parody of the "Yes-No Interlude" from Take Your Pick". What is "compering"? Is this a BE-only term? 75.41.110.200 ( talk) 15:14, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- Both your questions are answered here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compere rʨanaɢ ( talk) 15:21, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- ... or in our sister-project Wiktionary. Yes, chiefly British, and sometimes spelt with a grave accent over the first "e". There are some citations at that spelling. Dbfirs 07:49, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
At Talk:Ubuntu (philosophy), I wrote:
-
- What language does this word come from?
- I'm tentatively guessing "u-" is a prefix and any of several other prefixes could be attached to "-buntu" to form related words, as I think happens in most (or all?) Bantu languages. Is this on the right track? What would the possible other prefixes be?
Nobody's answered there yet. (An example of what I have in mind is the words Lesotho, Sesotho, Basotho.) Michael Hardy ( talk) 16:03, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
-
Wiktionary says it is a loanword from the
Zulu and
Xhosa languages.
Looie496 (
talk) 16:11, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- I think u in Bantu languages is the prefix for a general concept, and since Bantu means people, it would very roughly mean "humanism", which does align with the explanation in the article.
Itsmejudith (
talk) 23:17, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- Well, in Swahili "u-" seems to form abstract nouns. However, see Cevlakohn's answer below. Michael Hardy ( talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
- I think u in Bantu languages is the prefix for a general concept, and since Bantu means people, it would very roughly mean "humanism", which does align with the explanation in the article.
Itsmejudith (
talk) 23:17, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
- See Noun class#Bantu languages. Roger ( talk) 21:22, 6 September 2011 (UTC)
The prefix in "ubuntu" is ubu-, not u-. The root is "ntu", meaning "human", as seen in abantu (aba-ntu, hence "Bantu", the anarthrous form) meaning "people" and umuntu (Z. umu-ntu, Xh. um-ntu) "person". Cevlakohn ( talk) 04:01, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
- Interesting. Thank you. Michael Hardy ( talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)