Talk:Jek Bridge

Title

I've moved the article from Steelworker's Bridge to Jek Bridge (Jekarski most). Jek - die Ecke in German, means a hill (sl: brdo).[1][2] Other names are used for it: Jeklarski most[3], Jekavski most[4], Razorčev most[5] (a nearby inn was called "Pri Razorcu"). Would it be preferable to move the article to some other title (Hill Bridge, Razorec Bridge)? --Eleassar ^{my talk} 22:24, 5 January 2012 (UTC)

This opens up the interesting issue of etymology in anglicization. Non-etymological cases like Zmajski most → Dragon Bridge are easy, transparent, and natural. However, it's best to avoid etymological information in anglicization because native speakers themselves don't have access to this information and the results (although historically correct) end up being opaque and non-intuitive. For example, Dobrepolje means 'oak field' ('good field') and Polhov Gradec probably has no direct connection with a dormouse (Slovenian polh).[6]

I recommend simply dropping the derivational suffix (in this case -ski) and using the resulting root; for example, Logarska dolina → Logar Valley (not Swampy Meadow Valley). Other non-transparent examples (with an apparent root extracted) include Jauntal → Jaun Valley (not Juenna Valley) and Kucja dolina → Kucja Valley (not Hill Valley or Blind Valley).

So in this case I'd agree with Jekarski most → Jek Bridge (based on na Jeku). Another reasonable possibility would be Jekar Bridge (if -ar- is not considered derivational morphology). It's OK for it to be non-transparent, just like Jaun, Kucja, and Log. The article should also include an etymological note (like the articles cited above): "The name of the bridge is derived from German Ecke 'hill'." If citing the other forms, I'd put them in non-bold and do this with them: Jeklarski most 'Jeklar Bridge' (this is a beautiful example of folk etymology), Jekavski most 'Jek Bridge', Razorčev most 'Razorec Bridge'.

Incidentally, the form jek itself is also linguistically interesting because of the prothetic j- (cf. Slovenian jezero 'thousand' < Hungarian ezer, Slovenian jesih 'vinegar' < German Essig, etc.); the root Ecke is often seen as Egg in toponyms (e.g., Egg, Pressegger See, Eggforst, Neupriesenegg, etc.). Doremo (talk) 05:40, 6 January 2012 (UTC)