Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2023 January 17

= January 17 =

Part of speech-rōmaji correlation
Is it generally true that Japanese verbs, when in base form (with no conjugations applied), tend to end in the Roman letter “u” when written in rōmaji? Is this a reliable way of determining the part of speech of a word? If so, what others exist? If not, what more reliable ways exist? Primal Groudon (talk) 06:49, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The correlation is one way. The lemma form of a Japanese verb always end in u, but not everything whose lemma form ends in u is a verb. —Mahāgaja · talk 08:08, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * For example, saku is rōmaji for four verbs (割く, 裂く, 咲く, 避く) but also three nouns (作, 柵, 策). Likewise, koi is rōmaji for an adjective (濃い), but also three nouns (恋, 鯉, 故意). So there can't be a simple rule based on word endings. --Lambiam 20:58, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The japanese verbs lemmas written with a hiragana always involving the vowel "u" preceded or not by a consonant, so its form may not always be the same (it's in the hiragana "u" series). The first example 割く is a bit confusing at first since く is the syllable "ku" but the lemma's mark is only "-u" and "sak-" the stem of the verb. Examples like this are numerous, it's a consequence of a writing system mixing graphemes representing words (kanjis) and other representing syllables (hiragana and katakana), the latter being used sometimes to represent syllables and grammatical endings at the same time. 176.128.237.169 (talk) 11:40, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

Origin of "Madzhakandila"
Hi, does anyone know the meaning of this word? The South African Madzhakandila Anti-Aircraft Regiment was renamed this in 2019 but I cannot work out what it was named after. Most South African reserve regiments are now named after historic figures, locations or local language names (eg. "Lenong" is Sotho for "Vulture") but I've drawn a blank on this one. I have found some local businesses in South Africa which also use the term - Dumelow (talk) 11:30, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * This article states "“Currently military traditions in SA Army Reserve units reflect only those from the South African Defence Force (SADF) and its predecessor, the Union Defence Force (UDF). The military traditions and history of indigenous African military formations and liberation armies involved in the freedom struggle have yet to be reflected in SA Army Reserve units.”“It was the aim of the name review process to address this omission in a balanced and innovative way.”“A name review steering committee was established to manage the name change process, on a consultative basis, to ensure buy-in from internal and external stakeholders. Extensive research was conducted into South Africa’s military history. The process accommodated regional uniqueness and allowed for acknowledgement of military heroes and past events as well as creating space to accommodate local military history not reflected in the structure of the SA Army.”"
 * So, it seems to be related to local Military or Freedom Fighting traditions. That -dzh- orthography looks particular, I wonder if it might be Xhosa. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:21, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The name Madzhaka is seen here in connection with the former Republic of Venda, and the word nḓila is Tshivenda for "road, path". So perhaps the name is Tshivenda and should be parsed as Madzhaka-ndila. --Lambiam 09:55, 18 January 2023 (UTC)


 * The other three Air Defence Artillery Formation units have all been named after indigenous kings or chiefs involved in resisting colonisation or apartheid, viz; Autshumato, Galeshewe and Sekhukhune. Presumably we are looking a person in the same category. Alansplodge (talk) 15:53, 18 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The Venda people are apparently a relatively small and geographically concentrated ethnic group. I assume that should narrow down the scope of the search (?...) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 22:00, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

What is the meaning/origin of the phrase "I like your cut g"?
Taken literally, it implies one is addressing a person named G who has something called a cut, which the speaker says they like. What could these nouns mean in this context? – MrPersonHumanGuy (talk) 16:00, 17 January 2023 (UTC)


 * See cut sense 22, A haircut, and G sense 11, A gangster; often used to address one's friend. Shells-shells (talk) 16:37, 17 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Possibly also sense 15, The manner or style a garment etc. is fashioned in., but haircut would be more likely, without a context. 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 17:10, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Referring to someone's cut has existed for a long time and was an abbreviation of the phrase "cut of your jib," which was at one point a very common expression. But, without context, it is impossible to know if the speaker is repeating a phrase he heard and doesn't truly understand or if it is a phrase he is making up. Similar to use of "dis" without knowing the origin and making up possible origins. 12.116.29.106 (talk) 18:32, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * I assume the context is this. Shells-shells (talk) 18:51, 17 January 2023 (UTC)
 * In that case, it is using the "haircut" sense of "cut" and the "term of friendship" sense of "G". -- Jayron 32 19:07, 17 January 2023 (UTC)


 * It seems like a modification of "I like the cut of your jib", an old saying beloved of the character Montgomery Burns on The Simpsons... AnonMoos (talk) 19:34, 17 January 2023 (UTC)


 * More info at . 92.31.250.9 (talk) 20:09, 17 January 2023 (UTC)