Talk:Miguel Asín Palacios

Names, foreign and domestic, then and now

Algazel is the Latin name for Al-Ghazali of Iran, which Latin name was extensively used in European learning beginning with the medieval period. The Latin name was adopted by other European languages, including Spanish. Accordingly, unless history is falsified or language conventions ignored, it's use is proper depending on the circumstances. Here, of course, the article is about an author who wrote in Spanish.

It is quite common in all languages to initially use substitutions or approximate pronunciations for foreign words, which then become part of the common vocabulary. Accordingly in English, "Confucius" is still used for the ancient Chinese sage Kong Fuzi, "Charlemagne" is still used for the early-medieval emperor Karl der Grosse, "Florence" is still used for the Italian city of Firenze, and "Egypt" is still used for the country of Misr. For a Chinese or a German or an Italian or an Egyptian to object to such long-standing substitutions or approximations is generally understandable. Yet insistence that English-speakers suddenly break with convention to follow a foreign style is usually considered miss-guided, quixotic or pedantic. Certainly languages change, and learned words change, but past usage is also retained--unless objectionable for an intrinsic reason.

The juxtaposition of multiple styles of names for historical figures or for regions can add cultural depth to a discussion, and show variety in the points of view. "A foolish consistancy is the hobgobblin of little minds," declared Ralph Waldo Emerson. Elfelix (talk) 00:27, 3 October 2011 (UTC)

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Should this be moved to Miguel Asín Y Palacios? Cheers, Gpjt 00:48, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Or, indeed, Miguel Asín y Palacios as per User:Deor's comment here?

(a) The name Miguel Asín Palacios is indeed his Spanish name, that is, the name that was used by him during his lifetime, by the very person who is the subject of this article. His books as published and printed in Spain are written by Miguel Asín Palacios. In English, in French, and in Italian, the same.

(b) It can be conjectured that because in a Latin publication the conjunction "et" (Latin for "and") was placed between his two last names (Asín et Palacios) this Latin construction somehow got (mis)translated into "Y" (Spanish for "and"), but this appears very odd as in Spanish only the small "y" is used in personal names. In Spanish the small "y" in fact is sometimes found between the two last names of a person, but not always; in Asín's case it was definitely not. Elfelix 19:55, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

How come the footnotes do not show up at the bottom of the page? Elfelix 19:55, 15 May 2007 (UTC) Started Wikipedia about two years ago. Elfelix (talk) 04:07, 3 April 2009 (UTC)