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1320

Hating on Romanian? Hot take~

1 Like
1321

Isn’t that like, the definition of a Romance language?

2 Likes
1322

For comparison: RP English is E tier, Scottish C.

1323

Yes. Yes, it is.

1324

I’m surprised English got anything higher than F tier, unless E is the lowest you go. :smiley:

There’s a reason Anglish exists instead of InglĂ©s. :wink:

1 Like
1325

I can go very low, the scale is quite fine-grained. If you take two steps back, the Romance languages are just one lump at the very top. There is plenty of space for Danish, Saxon or St. Galler-Rheintal-Swiss German for example.

1326

Fair enough. So what does it take to make F-tier? Japanese?

1327

Hmm, so if British English is E, F would need to be something I don’t really like to hear, but still more than the Swiss dialects from the eastern area. I think I like Japanese more than English, though. But I dont dislike English, I just don’t like it as much as others. Texan English might be a candidate for F.

The lowest tier has got to be one where I would seriously think about saying to that person “please, for the love of gods, stop talking.” And that would be two tiers below those eastern Swiss dialects where I would only jokingly think about saying that.

1328

Damn, the programmers beat us to it!

1 Like
1329

Careful on this subject! You might get accused of being racist!

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1330

Thank you for the warning. I truly love every language and every good-willed user of language. But there are some that I find also very pleasant to listen to, and some less.

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1331

Now that I think of it, in my culture we roast each others dialects all the time and some media make ratings of which is the “sexiest” (the ones from Bern and Grisons). That’s probably not the case elsewhere


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1332

This is the Occitan channel, by the way. What I like in particular are the R’s, the occasional tz, and the [y]-sound. [y]s are something I find attractive, I guess.

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1333

I think we all have impressions that the sounds of various languages give us, some positive, some negative, and I think most people understand that an opinion about a language is not the same as an opinion about the people speaking the language.

2 Likes
1334

Thank you. Or that an opinion about the sound of language is also not the same as an opinion about the possibilities in expression or about the literature and culture of that language.

1 Like
1335

True. And some things about the latter can be close to objective, such as saying that while in English it’s easier to hide the gender of the main character before a reveal by writing in the first person, in Japanese it’s easier to do so by writing in the third person.

2 Likes
1336

Continuing the regnal names series, let’s study English and British kings and queens.

Information sourced from List of English monarchs - Wikipedia

Monarch (I) II III IV V VI VII VIII
Alfred 886-99
Edward 899–924
Ælfweard 924
Æthelstan 924–39
Edmund 939-46 1016
Eadred 946-55
Eadwig 955-69
Edgar 959-75
Edward (Saxon) 975-78 1042-66
Æthelred 978–1016 1
Cnut 1016-35
Harold 1035-40 1066
Harthacnut 1040-42
Norman Conquest
William 1066-87 1087-1100 1689-1702 1830-37
Henry 1100-35 1154-89 1216-72 1399–1419 1419-22 1422-71 2 1485-1509 1509-47
Stephen 1135-54
Richard 1154-89 1377-99 1483-85
John 1199-1216
Edward (Norman) 1272–1307 1307-27 1327-77 1461-83 3 1483 1547-53 1901-10 1936
Mary 1553-58 1689-94
Elizabeth 1558-1603 1952-
James 1603-25 1685-88
Charles 1625-49 1660-85
Interregnum
Anne 1702-14
Act of Union (1707)
George 1714-27 1727-80 1760–1820 1820-30 1910-36 1936-52
Victoria 1837–1901

1 Æthelred was usurped by the Dane Sweyn Forkbeard for a short time in 1013.
2 Henry VI was usurped by Edward IV from 1461 to 1470.
3 Edward IV was usurped by Henry VI from 1470 to 1471.

1337

Time for another go at using Minecraft to practice Latin vocabulary.

Here is a translation of Minecraft blocks from English to Latin, as derived from Block – Official Minecraft Wiki

English Latin
acacia acacia
" " button – boto
" " door – porta
" " fence – sēpēs
" " fence gate – sēpis jānua
" " leaves – folia
" " log – sudis
" " plank – axēs
" " pressure plate – pressa lāmina (?)
" " sapling – arbuscula
" " sign – signum
" " stairs – ascēnsiƍ
" " slab – lāmina
" " trapdoor ??? – “portacunīculus”?
" " wood – māteria
activator rail agēns trāmes (?)
allium allium
amethyst amethystus
" " cluster – acervus
ancient debris fragmina antīqua
andesite “andesītum”
" " wall – mĆ«rus
anvil incƫs
azalea azalea
bamboo bambusa
beetroots bētae
barrel cƫpa
barrier claustra
basalt basaltēs
beacon signale
bedrock fundāmentum
beehive alvus
bee nest apium nīdus
bell campāna (note this is a large bell)
black āter / niger
" " banner – vēxillum
" " bed – lectus
" " candle – candēla
" " carpet – tapēs
" " concrete – concrētum
" " concrete powder – concrētīnum pulvis
" " glazed terracotta – “vitrea terracotta”
" " stained glass – colƍrātus hyalus
" " wool – lāna
" " furnace – fornāx
coal carbo
diamond adamas
emerald smaragdus
gold aurum
iron ferrum
netherite “netherītum”
quartz “quarzeus” (?)
redstone “cruentusaxum”
bone os
bookshelf pēgma
brain coral cerebrīnum corallium
" " fan – flābellum (?)
brewing stand ??? (can’t use tripĆ«s, not a tripod)
bricks laterēs
brown brunneus
" " mushroom – fungus
cactus cactus
cake crustulum
calcite calx
campfire (castrī) ardor
carrots carƍtae
cartography table chartographiae mēnsa
carved pumpkin diatetrus pepo
cauldron aēnum
cave vines cavīnum vītēs
chain vinculum
chest arca


 tired now ~w~

1 Like
1338

Let’s see what the Lexicon Recentis latinitatis has to say about these things


The LRL has otiolum pensile, n. Synonyma: caduca ianua; ianua pensilis; versatile ostiolum.

A brewery, according to the LRL is an ergasterium cervisiae coquendae, a ‘Workshop where beer is cooked’.

How about scriptorium tabularum or scriptorium chartographicum? I don’t know Minecraft, but I suppose this is a table where maps are drawn?

Or boletus. Depens on the species.

LRL: quarzum; silex quarziferus.

LRL: repagulum; obex; saepimentum. Obex seems to be a more general term for anything that makes a way impassable.

According to the LRL, “rails” as in “railway tracks” are binae orbitae.

I don’t like this, but I can’t find anything in the LRL. An electrical switch is an interruptor.

1 Like
1339

Would you say most of these discrepancies are mistranslations proper, or are they justifiable as pragmatic translations in a context where enabling the play of Minecraft in Latin is of greater importance than maintaining the original English meaning?

1 Like