Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2007 July 8

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July 8[edit]

Essays[edit]

Hi, it is not right or unacceptable to use subheadings in an essay? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 218.250.142.231 (talk • contribs) 07:21, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

I'd say it depends on the length of the essay. An essay that's only a few hundred words long probably isn't detailed enough to require subheadings. One that's several thousand words long might be. —Angr 08:18, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

80's / 90's childrens book[edit]

I was wondering if anyone remembers childrens book called manilla gorilla or morilla gorilla? I am trying to find a copy and I cant even find reference to this on the internet through any search engine. Does anyone know abou the book I am thinking of?

Thanks Allison —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 124.184.162.38 (talk • contribs) 09:57, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

How about Vanilla Gorilla by William New, ISBN 978-0921870579.--Shantavira|feed me 10:50, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Or a book based on the TV series Magilla Gorilla. --Anonymous, July 8, 2007, 20:44 (UTC).
...of which there are several.[1]  --LambiamTalk 21:31, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

translation[edit]

I have found something written in what looks like greek, apart from a few letter, which somehow aren't. I would like to know what it means, but my attempts at translating it haven't worked. Searching for any of it on wikipedia and wiktionary hasn't helped either. So I have come here to ask how I should go about translating it into english. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.142.87.10 (talk • contribs) 11:25, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Can you upload a scan of it so we can see what it looks like? —Angr 11:43, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
We can't tell without seeing it, but a possibility is Coptic, which uses a Greek alphabet with some extra letters. --ColinFine 23:04, 11 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Latin translation[edit]

Does anybody know what "Vitreo daturus nomina ponto" means? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by KeeganB (talk • contribs) 12:26, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Literally, "about to give names to a glassy sea". It's an allusion to Icarus, said by Horace of anyone trying to imitate Pindar (a modern writer would have said "They'll crash and burn"). —Angr 12:32, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Identify this Asian glyph[edit]

Can someone identify the rightmost glyph in this image? Ideally, I need to know the Unicode codepoint. Thanks a lot! --bdesham ★ 14:21, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's a form of 文 (U+6587). --Ptcamn 14:40, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The exact same glyph appear in the stroke order demonstration found with the Wiktionary entry: 文. Mike Dillon 15:03, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you both for your responses! U+6587 was what I wanted. --bdesham ★ 17:52, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Assistance =[edit]

  1. I am looking for someone to help me with the following languages: Japanese (according to the Wiki scale, I'm on level 3), French (2), Arabic (2), Mandarin (1), Russian (0), Farsi (0), Old English (0), and Aramaic. I am a native in Hebrew, so I can exchange languages.
  2. What does it say in the Greek quotes in Wilde's 'Lotus Leaves' and 'The True Knowldege' (not appearing in Wikisource, for some reason)?
  3. Could someone explain to me more about poetic Japanese, old/middle Japanese, and formal Japanese?

Thank you in advance, 瀬人様 15:19, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

  1. This would be a good place to ask more specific questions.
  2. The epigraph to Wilde's "Lotus Leaves" is Odyssey, Book 4, lines 195-198 (trans. Lattimore: "I find nothing wrong with / crying for a mortal who's died and met his fate. /Indeed, this is the only prize at all for wretched mortals, / to cut one's hair and let tears fall from one's cheeks."). The epigraph to "The True Knowledge" is a fragment from Euripides' lost play Hypsipyle, which may be translated "And it necessarily holds that life is mown down, like a fruitful ear of wheat, and one man goes on being, while another does not."
  3. See Old Japanese, Late Old Japanese. Wareh 16:56, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  1. I'm asking for someone who speaks these languages to make contact with me and converse with me in this language (talking about poetry and literature would be best).
  2. Thank you very much ^^
  3. Thank you :) But I'm looking also for the Japanese used afterwards, primarily at the Edo period. 瀬人様 16:33, 9 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikiversity would be an excellent place to find this sort of help. There's a list of fluent French speakers eager to help new learners over there (at the French Department) already, and a few of us have studied some Old English and could perhaps help with that, as well. The Jade Knight 03:13, 10 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ħ[edit]

How are the Ħs in words like Ħello and Saħħa pronounced? The article on it isn't much help without a decent understanding of language, which I don't have. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 172.142.87.10 (talk • contribs) 15:52, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

You can listen to this sound file to hear it. —Angr 16:02, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If you're referring to the Maltese sound, then it's a voiceless pharyngeal. AnonMoos 08:58, 9 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Paint the town red[edit]

Where does this expression come from please? (I'm not interested in the record of that name). -- SGBailey 18:49, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, Revised Edition by Ivor H. Evans (Cassells, 1981) is not very helpful: "To have a gay, noisy time; to cause some disturbance in town by having a noisy and disorderly spree. A phrase of American origin." (p. 823). Then there is another expert's view: "This colorful term for a wild spree, especially one involving much drinking, probably originated on the frontier. In the nineteenth century the section of town where brothels and saloons were located was known as the 'red light district.' So a group of lusty cowhands out for a night 'on the town' might very well take it into their heads to make the whole town red." (Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988). Google also notes the town in England which is more famous for its Melton Mowbray pork pies as claiming the honour from an actual incident of the town being so painted by the Marquis of Waterford and his rowdy friends in 1837 [2]. In short, no one seems to be quite sure. Bielle 19:12, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks -- SGBailey 19:16, 8 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]
"The allusion is to the kind of unruly behaviour that results in much blood being spilt." See [[3]]. (JosephASpadaro 02:10, 9 July 2007 (UTC))[reply]
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