Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2023 August 12

= August 12 =

Translation of a message in a bottle
The file File:Message d'une bouteille à la mer - Île Tromelin © Lauren Ransan - 2013- 2013.jpg shows a message in a bottle that made its way to a small island in the Indian Ocean. Is it in Japanese? Probably something written by a child? What would be a translation in English or in French? -- Asclepias (talk) 13:01, 12 August 2023 (UTC)


 * It's in Chinese, but I can't make out the handwriting apart from a few words here and there. Folly Mox (talk) 13:05, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Which says more about me than the handwriting, for clarity. Folly Mox (talk) 13:06, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Ok I zoomed in a lot more, and while I still can't make out all of the words, I think the intended recipient is some kind of spiritual protector, because the message is along the lines of "Protect me and my family. Keep us in good health. Allow our hearts to align with our intentions. Bless us with good fortune and happiness." Folly Mox (talk) 13:16, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Thank you. :) -- Asclepias (talk) 13:36, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Oops, sorry, I just see that the file description already has a translation. -- Asclepias (talk) 13:15, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Haha they did a better job than I did. Folly Mox (talk) 13:18, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * It seems to me that you did a good job in rendering accurately the meaning. According to the French translation, the message is addressed to the sea goddess Mazu, which makes sense. -- Asclepias (talk) 13:30, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Oh that's what 馬組 meant! I recognised the forms of those characters but couldn't put meaning to them. Folly Mox (talk) 13:38, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I wonder why the salutation begins in English: "Dear ..."? Is that common? Deor (talk) 14:23, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I guess it would depend on area or speaker. I thought about Hong Kong, but maybe the text is more Mandarin than Cantonese... 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 10:50, 13 August 2023 (UTC)

As for the original Chinese, it reads:

Dear 海神马祖：

保佑我和我的家人身体健康，顺心如意，幸福快乐.

爱您的小石头， [a couple of characters I'm not sure about, maybe it's a name; they're also not translated in the file description]

谢谢海神 马祖

Double sharp (talk) 04:06, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

No, not quadlogy
If a chronological set of three related things is a trilogy, what would the same for four things be called? "Quartet" doesn't seem right to me, but I could be mistaken. -- 136.54.106.120 (talk) 19:46, 12 August 2023 (UTC)


 * Its quadrilogy Ioe bidome (talk) 19:46, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * It's a tetralogy ("quadrilogy" is mentioned there, but it is a Latin-Greek hybrid abomination...). --Wrongfilter (talk) 19:52, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * But see The Alexandria Quartet. DuncanHill (talk) 20:20, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Or The Quandary Phase -- Verbarson talkedits 20:29, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * I don't get it: what are we supposed to see there? The word wikt:quandary has nothing to do with the number four. And it is not clear to me whether the "quartet" is meant to be a synonym for tetralogy or whether it refers to something in the story. Do you agree that "tetralogy" is the accepted term for a set of four related works? --Wrongfilter (talk) 20:37, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * From the first sentence of the article linked by Verbarson, "The Tertiary Phase, Quandary Phase, Quintessential Phase and Hexagonal Phase are respectively the third, fourth, fifth and sixth series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series" – so certainly an example of the word to refer to the 4th work in a series, but a whimsical and probably unique one. And as the article linked by by Duncan Hill shows, "Quartet" has been used to refer to a series of four novels, by a widely respected literary author (and is nothing to do with the internal narrative): I suspect others have followed that example (and I think "Quintet" has been used for five such books), though I can't think of any off hand. However, tetralogy is the most commonly used word in my experience. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 22:05, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * There's a good chance that Douglas Adams was being satirical. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:32, 13 August 2023 (UTC)
 * That almost goes without saying, as his humour always had a mildly satirical edge, in writing or in conversation (I knew him slightly), though that is not untypical of British conversation in general. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 51.198.140.169 (talk) 05:06, 14 August 2023 (UTC)
 * ► I'll go with tetralogy; at least it's an actual word.  Thanks, EAF  (aka:136.54.106.120 (talk) 20:42, 12 August 2023 (UTC))


 * Back in the late 1970s I remember a friend of mine expressing his utter devastation. The story goes that, between 1971 and 1976 he had assiduously acquired each book of Spike Milligan's autobiographical trilogy as soon as it was published. He finally rested contentedly, knowing he had the complete set of first editions. Life was sweet and good.
 * Then in 1978, to his horror, he discovered that a Milligan book called Mussolini: His Part in My Downfall was in the book stores. This was subtitled "The fourth part of his increasingly misnamed trilogy". Where could this madness ever end?, my friend wondered. The "trilogy" eventually reached seven volumes. With each release, my friend became increasingly bitter, sad and disillusioned. That's what irresponsible word play can do to a man. Beware. --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  22:58, 12 August 2023 (UTC)
 * Hilarious storytelling, Jack of Oz! :D Your poor friend...70.67.193.176 (talk) 15:40, 14 August 2023 (UTC)