Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2009 January 29

= January 29 =

Unhyphenated prefixes
I was wondering about words like "non-British" and "anti-American", which these days are just as likely to be spelled without the hyphen ("non British", "anti American"). Some say it's just a question of style, and neither version is either right or wrong. I'm not sure I agree with that. Are "non" and "anti" considered words in their own right in such contexts, or are "non British" and "anti American" regarded as single words, despite the lack of hyphen? How would a computer word-counter treat "non" and "anti"? If "non" and "anti" are words, what parts of speech are they? -- JackofOz (talk) 01:49, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * My Merriam-Webster's gives "anti" as a noun in its own right ('one who is opposed'), then list both hyphenated (anti-American) and nonhyphenated (antiabortion) forms. I haven't seen two-word, hyphenless versions ("anti American").  "Non" is not a word on its own here, save in foreign phrases like non compos mentis.  There are far fewer "no-hyphen" examples ("non-Catholic"); most are, um, nonhyphenated ("noncarcinogenic, nonexant"), although I've seen many of those in print with hyphens.  --- OtherDave (talk) 02:15, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * The practice advocated in U.S. style guides, and reflected in U.S. dictionaries these days, is to write nearly all prefix + word combinations solid—that is, with no hyphen (and definitely no space)—unless the base word is a proper noun or adjective (anti-American, non-British) or the hyphen is necessary to distinguish the word from a homograph (re-creation vs. recreation). There are some other exceptions, as with ex- meaning "former," but that's the general trend. From what I've seen, on Wikipedia and elsewhere, British usage is to hyphenate prefixed words more frequently (non- words, for instance). In any event, I've never run across a style guide that would advocate the anti American and non British examples you cite. Deor (talk) 02:31, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * OK, I get it. "Non British" is simply a spelling error, and should be fixed on sight.  Nothing to do with style.  Thanks for clearing that up.  --  JackofOz (talk) 02:47, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Btw, here are some real-life examples:
 * non British:, , ,
 * non Florida:
 * anti American:
 * un Australian:, . --  JackofOz (talk) 03:07, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Fading from memory, except in reference works, is the House Un-American Activities Committee. --- OtherDave (talk) 11:12, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

I need your help... [writing a letter in Russian, Ukrainian]
I'm planning to write a letter to Varya Akulova, who is known as "The World's Strongest Girl". But she lives in the Ukraine, so I didn't know if she could speak English or not. So, I went to her website and went to the FAQs, and it said that she speaks Russian, Ukrainian, and a little English. Since she speaks only a little English, I need to send an e-mail to her in Ukrainian, so she could understand my e-mail in a language that she knows. I know that translation sites like Altavista or InterTran are not accurate, so I need you to translate what I'm planning to type in the e-mail below to either Ukrainian or Russian.

Here's what I'm planning to type in the e-mail:

"Hello, Varya. My name is Thomas, and I live in the United States of America. When I was seeing Richard Sandrak in his muscular glory, I was amazed and impressed that even kids can take on big professions and become strong too. Now, I like your documentary on My Shocking Story, it was interesting. Now, I like the muscular system. It gives the body it's strength and form along with the skeletal system, and I know that the strongest muscle in the body is the heart. Bodybuilders work their hearts in exercise. So, I'm just asking, since you are very strong, how strong is your heart, what heart rate is it normally at, and how do you work your heart in exercise?"

So, can you translate this text to either Ukrainian or Russian, please? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sirdrink13309622 (talk • contribs) 02:17, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * She probably won't ever read your email herself, so I doubt that it matters too much. Also, I just checked the website and it says to write in English. --Richardrj talkemail 09:28, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

spanish translation
is throw my back out correctly translated as torcerme la espalda?Troyster87 (talk) 05:28, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * See this discussion. -Elmer Clark (talk) 06:36, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Pronunciation [of Marjane Satrapi]
What is the pronunciation of Marjane Satrapi? She's Persian, but I couldn't quite figure out what transcription system is used in her name. — Emil J. 13:36, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 * My best guess based on Persian phonology is . However, Persian phonology also says "Written -ɒn- is nearly always pronounced /-un-/", so maybe the first name is . I'm guessing both words have final stress on the basis of the general rule at Persian phonology, but in some languages proper names follow different stress rules from regular words. I don't know if that's the case in Persian. —Angr 14:56, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Its IPA is mær-dʒʌn sʌt-rʌ-pi. dʒʌn is like the English John, and sʌt-rʌp is the word borrowed in English as satrap. The letter 'e' at the end of her first name is there because she lives and works in France. Her page in WP is here:[]. --Omidinist (talk) 19:31, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. — Emil J. 15:13, 30 January 2009 (UTC)


 * "dʒʌn is like the English John" - in many American accents. Not in any British ones. (That is why we use IPA). --ColinFine (talk) 14:35, 2 February 2009 (UTC)