Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2019 April 3

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April 3

IPA sounds of ei and ai diphthongs

Do the ei and ai diphthongs confuse many anglophones?? I know that the j is the most confusing IPA spelling of a sound, but I want to know how confusing the meanings of ei and ai as IPA sounds is. (This question was brought to my attention by a discussion not too far up on this reference desk.) Georgia guy (talk) 00:24, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

They confuse me, yes. I am not an IPA expert. The IPA for English is described at Help:IPA/English. The confusion stems I think from misinterpreting "ei" and "ai" as English diphthongs, which are pronounced differently in different words (e.g., reign, neither, height, pair, said). So an English speaker doesn't find these diphthongs at all useful as a pronunciation guide. Jmar67 (talk) 01:11, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Yes, when I wrote about /ei/ and /ai/ diphthongs in the above question, I was meaning what they sound like, not how they are written. So /ei/ is an entirely different thing from the "ei" in "neither" and likewise /ai/ is an entirely different thing from the "ai" in "pair". JIP | Talk 10:31, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

(ec) Well, some would argue that English doesn't really have an /ei/ or an /ai/, but rather /eɪ/ and /aɪ/ respectively. That's the convention used in Wikipedia pronunciation guides, anyway. I dunno. They sound more like /ei/ and /ai/ to me, but that doesn't cut much ice with phonologists. --Trovatore (talk) 01:12, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

To me, the confusion stems from words like: "feisty", "heist", "height", and likewise, as opposed to: "faint", "paint", "saint", and likewise. The diphthong in the first set is spelled with "ei" but is denoted as /aɪ/, whereas the diphthong in the second set is spelled with "ai" but is denoted as /eɪ/. Really confusing... HOTmag (talk) 21:47, 6 April 2019 (UTC)

[1] Let's Call the Whole Thing Off. 2A00:23C0:7900:1C00:404:8C3F:2ADA:137D (talk) 18:11, 7 April 2019 (UTC)

Never confuse movement with action

Could you enlighten me on Hemingway's quote:"Never confuse movement with action"? Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 221.221.149.239 (talk) 03:59, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

The full quote might provide additional context: "Don't do what you sincerely don't want to do. Never confuse movement with action." Purportedly, this is from a conversation Hemingway had with Marlene Dietrich relating to her decision as to whether or not to accept a job offer that she didn't really want, but paid well. [2]

Some sources ^[3],[4] attribute this to Benjamin Franklin from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, but I can't find it in the actual book: [5].

At the risk of adding my own opinion (which never happens on the reference desks, right?), "action" suggests progress towards a goal, while "movement" suggests -- not so much. In other words: just because you're moving, doesn't necessarily mean you're going somewhere.—2606:A000:1126:28D:308B:FF55:D083:D699 (talk) 06:30, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Agreed. Perhaps rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic conveys a similar meaning: "To do something pointless or insignificant... that contributes nothing to the solution of a current problem". Alansplodge (talk) 11:33, 5 April 2019 (UTC)

Cervantes

Does the name "Cervantes" (as in Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote) translate to anything in particular? Thanks. 67.164.113.165 (talk) 06:14, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

There's a short, unreferenced paragraph in the article titled Cervantes, Lugo that may give you some leads for your research. --Jayron32 11:02, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Cervantes Meaning: the descendant of Cervano (stag); descendant of Servanto (servant of the Lord). [6] Note that the "de" in the name simply means "of or from" (the town of Cervantes) —2606:A000:1126:28D:308B:FF55:D083:D699 (talk) 15:31, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

Assistance needed with Dutch referencing issue

Can an editor who is fluent in Dutch assist with this Talk page discussion? General Ization ^Talk 15:33, 3 April 2019 (UTC)

It's moved, or gone. [7]. "Rmv trolling. (Kan je Engels lezen? "If you'd just as soon be on your own, please stop posting on my Talk page."

"Kan je Engels lezen" = "Can you read English" in Dutch.

86.20.193.222 (talk) 17:58, 5 April 2019 (UTC)