Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 March 1

= March 1 =

Arabic help
Hi! The document http://www.revereps.mec.edu/handbooks/arabic/RHS_Handbook_2012_Ar.pdf has the Arabic name for "Revere High School" - What is it? Then http://www.revereps.mec.edu/handbooks/arabic/AR%20Handbook%20MDL%202012.doc and http://www.revereps.mec.edu/handbooks/arabic/AR%20Handbook%20ELM%202012.doc have the Arabic name for "Revere Public Schools" - What is the Arabic name used in those documents?

Thanks, WhisperToMe (talk) 02:50, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * In the first document, the name of the high school is not present in Arabic on the front page, but is in the first line of page 2 as "thanawiya refir", in the singular (I can't give you the Arabic caracters though, but it's the two words just after "2012-2011"). The name does not appear on the front page of the second document (I didn't go through the whole thing as it's quite long). Same goes for the third document. They seem not to have translated the name of the school and that of the various authors/board members and simply left them in English. --Xuxl (talk) 10:30, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * The two Word documents have "المدارس العمومية لرفير", which is at least "public schools in Revere". The Arabic letters for "Revere High School" are "الثانوية رفير". Adam Bishop (talk) 11:42, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Thank you very much, guys! WhisperToMe (talk) 16:06, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Understanding written Japanese
Hi, to what extent can the average modern Japanese person make any sense of writing like this or this? 86.160.82.245 (talk) 03:21, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * The first image is an example of cursive script, which I think is mostly unreadable to the average Japanese person. In the second image the name on the right (Murasaki Shikibu) is pretty easy to read. The rest appears to use hentaigana and might be borderline readable, or not (I can't make any sense of it). -- BenRG (talk) 01:32, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Yiddish seal
Can anyone make sense of the inscription on this seal?

http://i39.tinypic.com/zx1ggh.jpg http://i40.tinypic.com/121wsjr.jpg

--68.111.200.188 (talk) 03:57, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * I think it says: "סיני בכהר"ר תנחום זצ"ל" (I'm guessing at the last two characters) Ratzd&#39;mishukribo (talk) 04:27, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh, and it's Hebrew, not Yiddish. Ratzd&#39;mishukribo (talk) 04:28, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Does it mean anything? --68.111.200.188 (talk) 07:02, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * I can't really make out the image, but assuming the transcription is correct, סיני can mean either "Chinese" or "Sinai", and תנחומים is "condolences, consolations"... AnonMoos (talk) 10:02, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It probably reads כבוד דר תנחום יצ"ו His Honour Dr Tanhum, may God protect and preserve him
 * יצ"ו means ישמרהו צוּרוֹ ויחיהו I think it is an invocation used after living person's name 84.228.58.221 (talk) 14:08, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * It's undoubtedly Hebrew. I read it: סיני, בכהר"ר תנחום יצ"ו (being an acronym of: סיני, בן כבוד הרב רבי תנחום. ישמרהו צורו, ויחייהו), i.e. "Sinai, the son of His Honor Rabbi Tanhum. May - his Rock (=God) - preserve (=protect) him, and keep him alive".
 * If you could add more details about the seal (e.g. date and likewise), this would be helpful, e.g. for identifying this "Rabbi Tanhum" (because "Tanhum" is a well-known proper name since the fourth century and on).

77.126.225.63 (talk) 23:10, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Thank you all very much.


 * Are you certain that בכהר"ר stands for בן כבוד הרב רב "the son of His Honor Rabbi"? I tried googling and it gave me a slightly different interpretation, בכבוד הרב רבי, which seems to mean simply "His Honor Rabbi".--68.111.200.188 (talk) 00:01, 2 March 2012 (UTC)
 * You probably saw this website, but that (single) source - is wrong: Look at the other Google hits, that give clear examples, whose context does not allow any interpretation other than בן כבוד הרב רבי. Additionally, see this source, p. 30, line 11, that gives the correct interpretation (בכהר"ר is shortened ibid. by בכה"ר, but it has the same meaning). Anyways, בכהר"ר is a well-known acronym, whose well-known interpretation is always בן כבוד הרב רבי.
 * If you hold this seal, can you identify the third character in בכהר"ר? Is it really a ה and not a ר? I'm asking, because the photo shows it more like the fourth and fifth characters, i.e like a ר. Additionally, the second character may look also like the first one, i.e. like a ב, so if you hold the original seal, and can add more details about that character, this would be helpful. Additionally, I'm still asking about the seal: Do you have any other details about it? The most important question is the century we're talking about: If we identified the century, this would answer my questions, and would add more details about Rabbi Tanhum. 77.126.225.63 (talk) 23:10, 1 March 2012 (UTC) 08:41, 2 March 2012 (UTC)

Macquarie slang
The Macquarie Dictionary article lists a related publication called Macquarie Australian Slang Dictionary, which I've been trying to buy online. Macquarie's website lists it here. I've tried large Australian online vendors first (although I'm hoping to find it in the UK), including Fishpond, Dymocks, Booktopia, and Bookwork, but none has it. Some do have Macquarie Best Aussie Slang. Is MBAS just a new name for MASD? I'm looking for the book for a lexicophile relative, who already has plenty of British English dictionaries (so there would be too much overlap with the full Macquarie) so I want something that is as august and authoritative as one can reasonably expect. More generally, is there a dictionary of words particular to Australian English - simply calling all such words "slang" seems churlish, and I definitely don't want to end up with an Aussie version of Roger's Profanisaurus. Ta. -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 14:23, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * The two books are not the same, although they are by the same author. The publisher's site lists them separately, here (MDAS) and here (MBAS). The first seems to be the one you are looking for, i.e. a dictionary, whilst the second is a 'book' - with discussion and history of slang as well as a few definitions.
 * Now the problem is that MBAS appears to be in stock (AU$ 12.99), but MDAS (AU$ 19.95) doesn't. I'll keep looking to see if I see it elsewhere, but you may wish to get in touch with Pan McMillan AUS to enquire whether it's simply out of stock or out of print. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 15:02, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Ooh, bingo! I searched using the ISBN number (9781876429522) and found this UK retailer which has a number of copies at a variety of prices. Unfortunately it does seem to a) never have been published in the UK, and b) be out of print, hence these copies are used and coming from the US. I'm not sure how much of a problem that is for you, if you're giving it as a gift. - Cucumber Mike (talk) 15:07, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

Japanese translation needed
I need a quickie translation from Japanese to English. Could someone please translate map references 1-11 and A-F? Raul654 (talk) 17:31, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

I made some progress by comparing the (exceptionally bad) output of Google translate with this:


 * 1 - Reeking Tower
 * 2 - Sinderion's Field Laboratory
 * 3 - Pumping Station (Silent City)?
 * 4 - Hall of Rumination?
 * 5 - Pumping Station / Derelict Pumphouse
 * 6 - Debate hall?
 * 7 - Silent City Catacombs
 * 8 - War Quarters
 * 9 - Farm Overseer's House
 * 10 - Tower of Mzark
 * 11 - Pumping station?
 * A - Mzinchaleft Gatehouse?
 * B - Alftand Cathedral
 * C - Lift of Raldbthar
 * D - Lift of Alftand
 * E - Raldbthar Deep Market
 * F - Lift of Mzinchaleft

I'm not sure about 3, 4, 6, 11, and A. Raul654 (talk) 20:10, 1 March 2012 (UTC)


 * Does this help? So e.g. #3 would be "silent ruin". -- Finlay McWalterჷTalk 20:20, 1 March 2012 (UTC)
 * #3 would be "silent/quiet ruins/relic". #4 and #6 are correct. #11 would be "pumping area/zone" and A would be "Mzinchaleft's Gatehouse". Oda Mari (talk) 09:22, 2 March 2012 (UTC)