Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2019 January 20

= January 20 =

Japanese text
Is there anything informative or interesting in the Japanese text on this image: File:Elephant_catching_a_flying_tengu.jpg —2606:A000:1126:28D:7DA4:5755:BC13:D792 (talk) 03:03, 20 January 2019 (UTC) — If the answer is "yes", please explain


 * All I could obtain from this calligraphy was 象 [?] の (top left corner), and 鼻 (mid right corner). The first part is Elephant's and the second is nose, referring to the Tengu's long nose. déhanchements (talk) 21:10, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Okay, thanks —2606:A000:1126:28D:20D1:2886:5F71:22E5 (talk) 01:19, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

The hentaigana's killing me. Top left looks like 象慢の, mid right looks like hana-no. — kwami (talk) 09:25, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

That's not <象>. According to this, the words are a poem (歌) reading,
 * 競れば､長し短し､むつ/づかしや. 我慢の鼻の､をき所なし.
 * Kurabureba, nagai mijikai, muts/zukashiya. Gamanno hanano, okidokoro nai.

The (w)oki has gotta be 置き. So, meaning something like,
 * "If you compete, long or short, it's a problem. With a boast-worthy? nose, there's no place to put it."

— kwami (talk) 11:03, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Thanks, Kwamikagami -- and thanks for adding that info to the file description on commons. —2606:A000:1126:28D:20D1:2886:5F71:22E5 (talk) 16:39, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Sure thing.
 * , do either of you think you could fix up my awkward translation? E.g. it looks like 我慢 didn't mean then quite what it's used for colloquially today. — kwami (talk) 02:05, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

Yours sincerely/faithfully
In British English, how would one end a certificate/confirmation letter? The letter starts with a heading directly followed by what is being certified or confirmed (no "Dear Sir/Madam"). On one hand, the first person to receive the document is obviously known by name since it is about themselves. On the other hand, it is technically addressed to everyone (e.g. an employer) who needs to see the certificate/confirmation. --94.134.89.166 (talk) 05:52, 20 January 2019 (UTC)


 * I'm not a British English speaker. That said, AFAIK - a "To whom it may concern" document - does not need any 'ending'. It just ends, and the author's signature appears directly below the text. However, if you still insist on a valediction, then "Sincerely" is - perfectly acceptable - and almost always a safe option, at least in American English, and I don't think British English is different. HOTmag (talk) 09:30, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The thing is I already have existing documents in German in front of me that don't even have a "To whom it may concern". It just starts with "We hereby confirm...". However, it still ends with a valediction ("Mit freundlichen Grüßen", the standard expression for any formal situation) and the author's signature. I heard that in British English the "sincerely" is always preceeded by "Yours", but I am not sure if it should be "faithfully" instead since there is a difference depending on how the recipient is addressed. --94.134.89.166 (talk) 15:14, 20 January 2019 (UTC)


 * 'If you cannot obtain an individual‟s name and have to start with “Dear Sir”, “Dear Madam” or even “To whom it may concern”, then you should end a letter with “Yours faithfully”'. From: Writing Skills, Oxford Learning Institute - University of Oxford. (hint, I typed "to whom it may concern ending" into Google and this was the first result).  Alansplodge (talk) 16:55, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I misread your comments, but a confirmation letter would usually have a “To whom it may concern” in the UK, whatever the convention in Germany. On a certificate, as HOTmag says above, usually just a signature with a name and title. In the wonderfully archaic certificates issued by Lloyds of London, it says something like "in witness whereof, we do set our hand..." Alansplodge (talk) 17:13, 20 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Proving that good teachers stick with you for life, nigh on 30 years ago my then English language teacher told us all "you cannot be sincere towards somebody you haven't named," so my rule of thumb has always been "Dear Sir/Madam" is faithfully, "Dear Mr X" is sincerely. doktorb wordsdeeds 21:53, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Can you be faithful to someone you don't know? Iapetus (talk) 23:13, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
 * The OP makes it clear in the question that he/she is fully aware of that distinction. The point of the question is that there is no salutation at all in this letter. The OP is asking which is appropriate in that situation, "sincerely" or "faithfully". --Viennese Waltz 08:06, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
 * In my experience, "sincerely" is sometimes used in British English academic or business correspondence with no preceding "Yours"; "faithfully" is not. In this particular situation neither "sincerely" nor "faithfully" seem appropriate for reasons given above: I would expect "Signed: Xxxx Yyyy (Official position)" or something quite similar. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195 90.217.251.247 (talk) 09:33, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

Wikipedia has an article on valediction.--Shantavira|feed me 12:21, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

Saadeddin Arkej or Sadettin Ergeç, Arabic or Turkish
This article includes the statement "Reports in the press about him sometimes do not use the Turkish spelling of his name, but follow Arabic-to-English transliteration, thereby resulting in references to Saadeddin Arkej", what should this article be called? Thanks GrahamHardy (talk) 11:42, 20 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Whatever the majority of English-language sources refer to him as. It's not a language issue at all. --93.173.83.224 (talk) 17:53, 21 January 2019 (UTC)
 * OK leave it with me...GrahamHardy (talk) 20:26, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

It would be nice to have the Arabic alphabet form of his name in the article... AnonMoos (talk) 21:13, 21 January 2019 (UTC)

According to both WP-ar and WP-fa, his name is سعد الدين محمد أمين, with a different surname. — kwami (talk) 10:15, 22 January 2019 (UTC)
 * It seems, from a quick google, that the common naming in Arabic press is سعد الدين اركيج, whilst the full name is سعد الدين محمد أمين اركيج. There are always infinite possibilities of transliteration of Arabic names into Latin script, so unless the Turkish-style spelling is used extensively in English language sources, I'd leave it out. --Soman (talk) 08:24, 26 January 2019 (UTC)