Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2014 February 3

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.

February 3

looking for a literary term

It's French or Latin, and refers to a piece of writing that is mentioned just in passing, but is sometimes the whole point of the story, at least for the writer - I think Nabokov is someone who did it a lot.

Thanks Adambrowne666 (talk) 03:15, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Not MacGuffin is it? --Jayron32 03:33, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

No, thanks for the answer though. The meaning is quite different, as the Maguffin propels the plot, whereas these things are asides; an example is the barber in Lolita who talks about his ten-years dead son as though he's still alive. Adambrowne666 (talk) 05:21, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Literary foreshadowing seems similar, but is not "French or Latin". (Except perhaps in its etymology?) -But I know what you mean: something at the beginning that serves as an (allegorical?) microcosm of the story. Have you tried: Literary technique?  ~E:71.20.250.51 (talk) 19:57, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Not foreshadowing, as this has nothing to do with the plot; it's a digression, an authorial indulgence, which a skilful writer can get away with, as it has to be done v carefully. Will check out that page though, thanks Adambrowne666 (talk) 21:39, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Agh! No wonder no one could find it - it's not a literary but a legal term I was looking for! - Obiter dictum - sorry everyone! I think it can still be used to refer to a literary technique, though?? Adambrowne666 (talk) 22:41, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I've not seen it used outside a legal context, but suppose it might be used metaphorically. — SMUconlaw (talk) 11:13, 6 February 2014 (UTC)

Is it harder for a native Chinese speaker to master Korean and Japanese...

...than for a native English speaker to master Spanish and French? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.14.244.110 (talk) 15:29, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

I do not know the answer to the question you are asking, because I do not know how easy it is to learn Japanese. I am going to answer another question, just in case it was implied. As spoken, Chinese and Japanese are not by far as similar to each other as English is to Spanish and French. English, Spanish and French are in the same indo-european family, and all with similar references to boot. DanielDemaret (talk) 15:53, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

The problems learning Japanese and Korean are mainly a lack of common alphabet and basic vocabulary. English is written in the same alphabet as French and Spanish and has a huge vocabulary in common with them. Otherwise, the two Eastern languages have relatively simple grammars and not very difficult sound systems. French is a bit harder to learn to pronounce well than either. This is my subjective opinion having studied eight languages formally, and being very familiar with the mechanics of Japanese and Korean. μηδείς (talk) 16:30, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Chinese is often said to have a "simple grammar," but having studied it for several years, I disagree vehemently. It is true that Chinese has little to nothing in the way of verb conjugation or noun declension, our usual criteria for grammatical complexity, but the language is highly idiomatic, and makes use of verb aspect and sentence structures that are not at all intuitive for a person whose native language is European. Because Korean and Japanese do not share a known common "parent language" with Chinese (whereas Indo-European languages do share a parent and common deep structures), I would expect Korean and Japanese to be harder for a Chinese-speaker to learn than French or Spanish are for English speakers. Marco polo (talk) 21:41, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, I read the question wrong, so my answer's a bit off point, but I agree fully w/MP. μηδείς (talk) 01:14, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

German word for disorientation of false motion

I'm trying to find a particular German word that means something like "a false feeling that you are moving when you are not", for example when the train next to yours starts moving and you feel as if you have started moving instead, or vice versa. Ring any bells? I hope this isn't just a rumor. 8) Thanks! -- Beland (talk) 18:18, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Well, one German word with that meaning is Vektion, which is basically the same as the English word for the phenomenon, vection (see our article Illusions of self-motion#Vection). I don't know whether there is any other German word that denotes the feeling. Deor (talk) 19:08, 3 February 2014 (UTC)

Might a word that means vertigo be helpful? μηδείς (talk) 01:15, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Also, a general German word for an illusion of motion, including but not limited to the sort of illusion cited by the OP, is Bewegungstäuschung. Deor (talk) 18:08, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

Playing with Ernst Mach's title Grundlinien der Lehre von den Bewegungsempfindungen (1875), words like Eigenbewegungsempfindung (self-motion-feeling) or Eigenbewegungstäuschung (self-motion-deception) come to mind. --Pp.paul.4 (talk) 18:57, 4 February 2014 (UTC)

That's the word! Thanks, that was going to bother me for a while. 8) -- Beland (talk) 14:58, 6 February 2014 (UTC)