Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2011 September 5

= September 5 =

Compering?
from the article: "the game he is compering is a parody of the "Yes-No Interlude" from Take Your Pick". What is "compering"? Is this a BE-only term? 75.41.110.200 (talk) 15:14, 5 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Both your questions are answered here: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compere r ʨ anaɢ (talk) 15:21, 5 September 2011 (UTC)


 * ... or in our sister-project | Wiktionary. Yes, chiefly British, and sometimes spelt with a grave accent over the first "e".  There are some citations | at that spelling.    D b f i r s   07:49, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

Ubuntu
At Talk:Ubuntu (philosophy), I wrote:
 * What language does this word come from?
 * I'm tentatively guessing "u-" is a prefix and any of several other prefixes could be attached to "-buntu" to form related words, as I think happens in most (or all?) Bantu languages. Is this on the right track?  What would the possible other prefixes be?
 * I'm tentatively guessing "u-" is a prefix and any of several other prefixes could be attached to "-buntu" to form related words, as I think happens in most (or all?) Bantu languages. Is this on the right track?  What would the possible other prefixes be?
 * I'm tentatively guessing "u-" is a prefix and any of several other prefixes could be attached to "-buntu" to form related words, as I think happens in most (or all?) Bantu languages. Is this on the right track?  What would the possible other prefixes be?

Nobody's answered there yet. (An example of what I have in mind is the words Lesotho, Sesotho, Basotho.) Michael Hardy (talk) 16:03, 5 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Wiktionary says it is a loanword from the Zulu and Xhosa languages. Looie496 (talk) 16:11, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I think u in Bantu languages is the prefix for a general concept, and since Bantu means people, it would very roughly mean "humanism", which does align with the explanation in the article. Itsmejudith (talk) 23:17, 5 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Well, in Swahili "u-" seems to form abstract nouns. However, see Cevlakohn's answer below. Michael Hardy (talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)


 * See Noun class. Roger (talk) 21:22, 6 September 2011 (UTC)

The prefix in "ubuntu" is ubu-, not u-. The root is "ntu", meaning "human", as seen in abantu (aba-ntu, hence "Bantu", the anarthrous form) meaning "people" and umuntu (Z. umu-ntu, Xh. um-ntu) "person". Cevlakohn (talk) 04:01, 8 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Interesting. Thank you. Michael Hardy (talk) 05:39, 9 September 2011 (UTC)