Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2017 December 8

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December 8

Items in a list

In a list of items, such as a bulleted list of beliefs, or a list of expected behaviour of individuals (the actual content doesn't matter), what is the optimal list size for ensuring maximum impact? I'm particularly interested in lists that are displayed on posters. I vaguely remember reading years ago that it's six, as it has no middle entry to concentrate on visually, and is short enough to recall; but some definitive references from some experts would be appreciated. I've tried to Google this, but without great success. Bazza (talk) 11:34, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

See The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two. 82.13.208.70 (talk) 11:52, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

The Answer Is Four.

μηδείς (talk) 22:13, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Maybe, but who is Number Two? Akld guy (talk) 02:53, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Vehicle registration plates of Tunisia

What is the sign over "sin"? Is it "sukun"? Why is it there?--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 13:35, 8 December 2017 (UTC)

Where are you seeing "sin" in that article? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:20, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Bugs, you do realize that he's talking about the Arabic letter? It's like asking why is there an acute over the iota in my signature, even though my screen name is not iota. μηδείς (talk) 00:53, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

I forget sometimes that I'm on the English Wikipedia. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:46, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

And perhaps you also forget that you're on the Language Desk. —Tamfang (talk) 00:21, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

And as a user, I have the right to ask the OP to explain what he's talking about, without having to learn Arabic. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:35, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

I can't imagine what else it would be other than a sukun, even though it is surely unnecessary there. If you click through the "World License Plates" site on that article, there is one example with no squiggle over the sin. Adam Bishop (talk) 01:51, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

Thanks, I just wanted to be sure. Can it be a shorthand for "-iyyah"? If it is the "sukun" (I'm sure it is), then they must have written it to avoid confusion, like on the plates of Oman they write "dammah" to avoid confusion with Amman. But I see no word with which it can be confused (except for the verb "to make Tunisian", but unlikely people may think about this verb when they see a vehicle plate).--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 11:40, 9 December 2017 (UTC)

While it does indeed look like a sukun, it may be something else entirely; cf. a similar diacritic over the sin in an older Tunisian banknote, in the word tūnisī, where a sukun wouldn't at all be appropriate. Even earlier banknotes had (among many other redundant diacritics) a diacritic over the sin of tūnisī which was identical in shape to the one used in the license plates, but couldn't possibly be sukun (as a totally different-looking sukun is used both in bank and in markazī). --194.213.3.4 (talk) 07:34, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

A bit of further research suggests that this diacritic is most likely an ‘alāmatu-l-ihmāl, indicating that the sin is indeed a sin, and not a shin whose writer forgot to dot it. See [1], and a Google Book linked there, for further info. One more reference for these ‘alāmāt is p. 57 here. Please feel encouraged to extend Arabic diacritics#I‘jām (phonetic distinctions of consonants) with a description of ‘alāmātu-l-ihmāl, citing these references. --194.213.3.4 (talk) 08:04, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

Thank you, you've been a great help, I'll add this to the article later.--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 12:10, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

Would anyone really be confused between "Tunis" and "Tunish"? Is it meant to be strictly ornamental, rather than a proper diacritical mark? Adam Bishop (talk) 13:39, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

It's as ornamental as the diaeresis in België is; no one would confuse it with *Belgie, but it's the official spelling of the country's name. --132.67.169.222 (talk) 14:29, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

@Любослов Езыкин: What's the verb for "to make Tunisian"? Is it a Form II-style verb from a root t-n-s? In that case neither its citation form تنس "he Tunisianized" nor any of its conjugated forms would be homographous with تونس, the country's name. --Theurgist (talk) 21:01, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

The verb is tawnasa, so the root must be t-w-n-s (see Wehr's dictionary).--Lüboslóv Yęzýkin (talk) 22:04, 10 December 2017 (UTC)