Talk:Marsh

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 25 January 2021 and 10 May 2021. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Hgadai. Peer reviewers: Newport0982.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 03:28, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Poitevin &c.
Please note the circularity of the identification of Marais Poitevin as the origins of Poitous and Poitiers. From whence derives Poitievin? I think from the Payettis (Paetuses) of ancient Patavium, who were associates of the Herodian lords of Vienne, whose religious conflicts with Rome still plague us. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.94.149.2 (talk) 21:53, 27 March 2003 (UTC)

Pic too large?
The pic is too big for text flowing to work - should either center by itself, or make smaller, say 300px across. IMHO smaller is better, but I'll defer to others. Stan 23:53, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)


 * I posted it large to show the detail, but there is the larger image. Mashman has also brought this up with me and he already reduced it some, It works for me, but I have a high res 1024 screen. I have no problem if someone wants to make the screen image smaller, the larger image shows a lot of detail and I would hope that would be preserved as it gives one an idea of the complex environment that a marsh may be. Alex756 03:11, 27 Sep 2003 (UTC)

Spirites (?)
The text currently reads: "Will o' the wisps (aka. Jack-a-lanterns or spirites)." Is this last word a typo for "sprites" (or similar word), or is it bona fide as it appears? The cited page is mute on this point. -- Deborahjay (talk) 04:38, 26 June 2008 (UTC)

Perhaps you could expand the etymology section. Why is marsh sometimes moss ex. solvay moss, store moss? Does the "r" just disappear like search to seek? Or sea"r"ch to suchen or soeken? When did this happen? Did they just have a problem pronouncing the "r" or did they want to differentiate from Maris? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.87.52.102 (talk) 21:16, 17 October 2010 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Marsh. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070928165452/http://www.bcgov.net/bftlib/marshes.htm to http://www.bcgov.net/bftlib/marshes.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 00:22, 19 January 2018 (UTC)

Marsh, Tidal Marsch or Swamp?
Marsh is defined in Wikidata Q62562206 as 'wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species', contraru to the definition of swamp. Marsh, morover, is reserved for lower wetland areas, whereas swamp connects to forested and more elevated riveraine terrains.

This may be in line with American ecological literature. It is, however, in conflict with the common English meaning of marsh as stated in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), under #1 and #2:


 * 1. (a tract of) low-lying land, often flooded in wet weather and usually more or less waterlogged throughout the year;
 * 2. [Agriculture; regional] A low-lying meadow or tract of fertile farming land requiring drainage; a stretch of grazing land near a river or the sea.
 * 3. [Ecology]. An area of more or less permanently waterlogged mineral (rather than peaty) soil and herbaceous (rather than woody) plants.

This may lead to misunderstandings when connecting to other languages as well as to confusion with the wikidata items swamp and tidal marsh (= German: Marschland). In fact, in many instances English marsh(-land), Frenck  marais and German Marsch are refering to 'embanked wetland', 'drained marshes' and 'polders', and not to inundated terrains (#2).

The confusion especially concerns German Sumpf and its Scandinavian derivatives, as well as Dutch moeras (though derived from French marais), which all exclusively mean (water-logged) swamps.

Under [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Swamp#Swamp,_Marsh_or_Forested_Wetland? Talk:Swamp] I proposed some possible solutions to this problem. Otto S. Knottnerus (talk) 23:27, 11 July 2023 (UTC)