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Language desk
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December 29

Name for throat sensation

What is the name for that tingling sensation you get in your throat that feels like it's breaking, when you move your head down a little bit and you can feel a bubble coming through? Bennett Chronister (talk) 01:38, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Since no one else has yet answered, I would suspect that, like me, people here are not familiar with such a sensation. However, a bubble coming up through your throat would be a burp.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 11:29, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Arktika

According to various websites (this being a random example), the name of the Soviet/Russian icebreaker Arktika (Russian Арктика) derives from a Nenets word meaning "End of the Earth". I always assumed, fairly naturally, that "Arktika" came from the same origin as the English "Arctic", i.e. Greek Arktos. Can anyone explain this Nenets origin theory? Surely the similarity between "Arktika" and "Arctic" can't be a coincidence? 81.159.104.222 (talk) 13:45, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I agree that Arktika sounds too much like arctic (and cognates in various languages) to be a coincidence. It could be a play on words, meaning different things in two languages, but more likely is that someone confused the name of the ship Yamal with the name of its class Arktika, because the name Yamal means "end of the earth" in Nenets (according to Wikipedia), which is quite a suitable name for the Yamal Peninsula, which gave the ship its name. - Lindert (talk) 14:15, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Aha, very well spotted. That sounds like a good theory. 81.159.104.222 (talk) 14:37, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

As I can judge from a Nenets-Russian dictionary Nenets has no native words beginning with A. And yes, ya "land", mal "edge".--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 17:07, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Самоучитель ненецкого языка (Teach Yourself Nenets) by A.V. Almazova (1961) says that only those letters may be word-initial: в, е, ё, и, л, м, н, ӈ, п, с, т, х, ю, я, and that an initial [йи-] is represented orthographically as ‹и›. One can conclude that native Nenets words may not begin with any vowel at all, with the letters е, ё, и, ю, я representing combinations of [й] and a vowel. --Theurgist (talk) 22:45, 1 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

CSFN

What does the acronym "CSFN" stand for, in regard to the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth? Does anyone have a source, rather than an educated guess or conjecture? I have searched the Internet and cannot seem to find what the letters actually stand for. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 15:55, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I know other Wikipedias aren't considered reliable sources for Wikipedia articles, but German Wikipedia's article says it stands for Congregatio Sororum Sacrae Familiae de Nazareth. This source leaves out the Sororum and uses a Nazaret rather than de Nazareth. Aɴɢʀ (talk) 16:36, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. So, is it correct to assume that, in English, this is "Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth"? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 16:59, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's right. Aɴɢʀ (talk) 17:35, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Great. Thanks so much. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 00:38, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

For anyone interested: I contacted a Sister of this order, with my above question. She replied: The initials "CSFN" after the name of a Sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth are for the Latin: "Congregatio Sacra Familia de Nazareth." The Latin is official for our congregation initials, of course, but usually, we use the language of the country in which we are located for otherwise official purposes: for instance, in the United States we are known as the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Thanks. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 01:47, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the assistance, above. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 17:37, 4 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Implicit You

Is there a term for the implicit you found in the English language; and is (for example) "Just say no." — considered a proper sentence? ~Thanks, Eric:71.20.250.51 (talk) 19:50, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I don't believe that there is a specific term, other than "implied subject" or "understood subject". And, yes, that is considered a proper sentence. Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 21:49, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

With regard to your specific example, see Imperative mood#English. Deor (talk) 22:08, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that's it. ~Thanks again, ~Eric:71.20.250.51 (talk) 22:14, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Missing explanation of one "blissymbol" in article

In the excellent article on Blissymbols there is no explanation for one symbol. In the example section all the symbols and markings are noted except the elongated, backward [s]. It is found just after the heart. What does that add to the sentence?

This is fascinating stuff and the NPR item about it today was what got me started.

Many thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jah1000 (talk • contribs) 22:39, 29 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

If you're referring to → —from the Blissymbol article: ...represents the expression "world language", which was a first tentative name for Blissymbols.sorry - (I'll make a minor edit to clarify) ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 23:00, 29 December 2013 (UTC) -- I didn't fully understand your question at first. You're right, it explains the heart and the caret but not the backward [S]. If nobody here knows, your best bet might be to post on the article's talk page (Talk:Blissymbols. However, that page hasn't had a response since 25 July 2011. ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 03:04, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This page confirms that all three elements represent "want". According to The fundamental rules of Blissymbolics, the "backward s" symbol equals "fire" (p.13) and acts here as a specifier (p.11). So the Bliss-word for "to want" is: "feel" (the classifier) plus "fire" (the specifier) with the "verb" indicator (p.17). Alansplodge (talk) 16:05, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I have added that to the Blissymbols article, but I'm not sure how to reference it - there are no other refs in that section. Alansplodge (talk) 16:21, 30 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Now done - comments welcome at Talk:Blissymbols (first section). Alansplodge (talk) 18:31, 1 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Resolved