Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2009 October 17

= October 17 =

Looking for translation
Dear Wikipedians:

Google is giving suboptimal translation for the following very short Japanese passage, I'm wondering if someone would be kind enough to translate it for me, I need to figure out how to use this piece of ornamental wood for the aquarium:

ご使用前に必ずアク抜きをして下さい.

アク抜きの方法

A:大きめの容器に水を張り,流木を2-4週間つけてぉく.

B:早く使いたい場合は,灯油の空缶や大きめのナバで流木を煮る.

この方法は火を使いますので,火の取り扱い·ヤケド等には,充分注意して行なっください.

Thank you soooooooo much!

70.31.159.242 (talk) 02:02, 17 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Remove lye before use without fail. [I'm not sure what is the best word for ja:灰汁 (アク) in this case although "lye" is the first one in my dictionary.]
 * Ways to remove lye:
 * A: Fill a largish container with water. Soak the driftwood in it for 2 to 4 weeks
 * B: If you would like to use it earlier, boil the driftwood in an empty kerosene can or a largish pan [ナベ, not ナバ]. As this method use fire, please be careful in handling of fire not to burn your skin.
 * --Sushiya (talk) 02:43, 17 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Going by this site (under "Curing Driftwood"), I'm going to guess that it's タンニン (tannin), not lye. Indeterminate (talk) 08:45, 18 October 2009 (UTC)

Caesarion = Little Caesar?
Hello. I'm not sure if I should ask this here on in Humanities, because I don't know if it's more a matter of history than of language. I don't understand why Caesarion is considered to mean "Little Caesar". How does the suffix -ion make it "little"? For what I could find, the greek -ion was latinized as -ium, but -ium (at least in modern times) is used for either things that are bigger in scope (like auditor > auditorium) or to name chemical elements. Also, I imagine it's got nothing to do with the Latin suffix -ion, which is used to make words into nouns (both in Latin and modern languages). So, could anyone explain to me why Caesarion is considered to have meant "Little Caesar"? (If it's simply because of historical reasons, I guess I'd need to go over to Humanities to find out more.) Thanks in advance, Kreachure (talk) 14:31, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * In Ancient Greek, -ion was a diminutive suffix, like -ito in Spanish. So Greek Kaisarion would be the same as Cesarito in Spanish. +Angr 19:09, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * I guess you're right, but I had a hard time finding a source for what you say. It seems it would be one of the most rare forms of a diminutive in Ancient Greek, so that's why I guess I couldn't find it. Thanks. Kreachure (talk) 20:10, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
 * The first one listed at that link is -ι-, and that's presumably what this is: the diminutive -ι- with the neuter nominative singular ending -ον. (Likewise in Spanish, you could say that the diminutive suffix is -it-, to which the masculine ending -o or the feminine ending -a is added.) +Angr 21:12, 17 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Except that in the article, the spelling is 'Καισαρίων' and not 'Καισαρίον'. I was going to answer the same as Angr, but the spelling in the article made me think twice. --KageTora - SPQW - (影虎) (talk) 22:38, 17 October 2009 (UTC)