Language desk
< October 23	<< Sep \| October \| Nov >>	October 25 >

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.

October 24[edit]

Languages[edit]

I would like to know in which language 'Precious One' and 'My good Friend'would sound good in? Latin? French? Spanish? Irish? Scottish? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 210.7.1.145 (talk) 02:10, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well, in Latin, "precious one" is carus (masculine) or cara (feminine), and "my good friend" is meus amicus bonus (masculine) or mea amica bona (feminine). Note that in direct address (the vocative case), carus becomes care and meus amicus bonus becomes mi amice bone. See Latin spelling and pronunciation for pronunciation. Do those "sound good"? I couldn't say. —Keenan Pepper 03:25, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, in Spanish they're caro/cara and mi buen amigo/mi buena amiga. (Google tells me these forms are much more common than those with the alternate word order.) —Keenan Pepper 03:30, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In Russian, precious (for people) would be дорогой (male; pronounced "dah-ra-GOY"), дорогая (female; pronounced "dah-ra-GA-ya"), and there are also various diminutive forms ("da-RO-zhen-ka", etc). In German, "treasure" is Schatz, and a common term of endearment is "Schatzi". -- JackofOz 04:33, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

You could also use милый (milyy) (feminine милая milaya) in Russian. Both work, though. Macnas 10:09, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It is a matter of taste, what sounds good in which languages. You can say 'precioso/preciosa' in Spanish, but it sounds like you're talking to a child. In (Mandarin) Chinese, you can say 好朋友 hao pengyou [IPA[xaw pʰɤŋjow]] for good friend. In Shanghai, it's pronounced 'hou bang-yiw' [IPA[hoʊ baŋjiw]]. In French, Latin carus/cara is 'cher' (as in 'Ma cherie', my precious/darling), and 'my good friend' is 'mon bon ami' (man) or 'ma bonne amie' (woman). Disclaimer - I'm not a native speaker of either of these languages. Steewi 06:04, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To add to Keenan's post, the feminine vocative is the same as the nominative (mea amica bona). You could probably also use superlative adjectives for this phrase, "amicissimus/amicissima" ("my friendliest [person]", or, which for some reason jumps out at me as more likely, "dilectissimus/dilectissima" ("my most beloved/favourite"). Adam Bishop 17:02, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In Irish you can say mo croídh, which means "my heart". Corvus cornix 21:36, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

word meaning[edit]

what it the word for: forgetting the word you what to use.216.143.55.122 04:10, 24 October 2007 (UTC)jessnickmad[reply]

Well, there's logamnesia, but I think that usually means a medical condition of difficulty remembering words in general. If there's a better word for this, I forget it... =P —Keenan Pepper 04:27, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Whenever my sister has difficulty remembering a noun (which is usually the part of speech affected, at least in her case), she claims to have "Nounsheimer's". —An gr 05:05, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I just had it. Damn. Don't you hate that? Ummmm.... Aha! No, that's not it. It's right there. Uhhhhh....lethologica! --Milkbreath 02:08, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

A more general loss of the ability to use language is aphasia. StuRat 00:13, 30 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

free online pronoucation guide[edit]

is there a website where i can type a word and it will teach me how to pronouce it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.126.19.150 (talk) 09:15, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Any good dictionary should have pronunciation, such as http://www.dictionary.com for example. You'll probably benefit from an acquaintance with IPA. Algebraist 10:24, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sound Words[edit]

What is the corect English term for sound words? 196.41.15.83 11:42, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Onomatopoeia Bendono 12:30, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Uh-oh, uh-huh, etc.[edit]

Looking for some sort of (hopefully comprehensive) reference on such utterances as uh-oh, uh-huh, nuh-uh, ionno, etc. in English (and other languages?) and how the intonation of these words is significant to the point that they can be understood by their intonation alone (mhm, mm'mm, etc.). Also, is there any explanation for this tendency, or evidence of it occurring similarly or differently in other languages? --Deshi no Shi 19:22, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

For lists, Wiktionary has English interjections and Interjections by language. Communicating with your mouth full, is one common situation where you might wish to focus on your spoken language's prosody and use a humming intonation. This can be more complex than the two hummed syllables in "mhm". See also Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã: Another Look at the Design Features of Human Language. Aside from yell speech and musical speech, the author also distinguishes hum speech in Pirahã language. Its function can be disguise, privacy, intimacy, talking when mouth is full, and "child language acquisition relation". Here's a discussion on English language "prosody-only utterances".---Sluzzelin talk 06:11, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

In Western culture too, or so I think, there are even prosodic signals that don't refer to one specific phrase. One example is the descending minor third ("sol-mi". In German music language, it's sometimes named the "calling third" or "cuckoo's third"). It can be used to get someone's attention, by whistling, or also by humming when your mouth is full, for instance. Or, to give another example, a four tone sequence, the first three tones being equal, the last being a glissando ending a fifth higher ("do do do ~sol"), can be used to indicate a question with your mouth full. Let's say you're having brunch with guests, and someone indicates they would like you to pass something. If you're not sure, you could point to a likely candidate (the pepper mill) and go "hm hm hm ~^hmm?". ---Sluzzelin talk 08:10, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Becoming an Interpreter for the UN.[edit]

What are the qualifications for becoming an interpreter for the United Nations? Are there specific languages one must know (like, the official languages) or just a certain amount of languages? Any interpreters reading this--- is it worth it?! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.234.5.135 (talk) 23:44, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

As I understand it, you should have a very high level of competence (i.e. completely fluent) in at least two languages, one of which is a working language of the UN (English, Spanish, Arabic, French, Russian, Mandarin, German?), and a high level of competence using political and current affairs vocabulary. You would be required to interpret in real time with a high degree of accuracy, as a misinterpreted word can make a lot of difference. It would be somewhat of a high stress position, as are most interpreting jobs, but it would be paid well. The Interpreter (movie) was thought to be somewhat representative of how the UN works, when the action of the plot is removed (not to be taken completely seriously). Steewi 00:49, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Sidenote: German is not a UN official language. The movie is The Interpreter.--K.C. Tang 01:28, 25 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]