Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 May 24

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May 24

Albanian-to-English translation

What is a correct English version of "Hipertension Arterial et Insult hemoragjik et Hemoragjia dextra, et Afazia motore"?
—Wavelength (talk) 17:22, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Not knowing what et means in Albanian, we can start with the easy Greek/Latin words: "arterial hypertension", "hemorrhagic insult", "right hemorrhagia", "motor aphasia". —Tamfang (talk) 18:08, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Ooh, I'd always be wary of making those sorts of assumptions about a language I didn't know, no matter how obvious the words may appear. The French word "idiotisme" has nothing to do with idiocy or idiots - it means "idiom". -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 19:26, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Indeed, although with medical terms (or other terms of art) the assumption is usually safer. Orange Suede Sofa (talk) 19:40, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

"Insult hemoragjik" translates to hemorrhagic stroke. LANTZY^TALK 19:41, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Before posting the original question, I considered "hemorrhagic stroke" and "hemorrhagic shock", but I did not know which one to choose (if it was going to be one of them, and not something else). What is the difference between "hemorrhagic stroke" and "hemorrhagic shock"? How can I be certain that one of them is a correct translation of "Insult hemoragjik"?

—Wavelength (talk) 21:15, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm fairly confident that "insult" means stroke. The "et" is simply the accusative feminine plural ending by the way (should usually be connected directly to the word or at least with a dash). So it's actually "arterial hypertensions", "hemorrhagic strokes" etc. --Terfili (talk) 21:52, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

I'm not so sure it's as specific as "stroke". See Insult#Medical. -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 00:27, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

The document where I found the original passage has "et" as a separate word in three places.

—Wavelength (talk) 03:47, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

After reading the comment about et being a feminine plural accusative ending, I consulted Albanian language#Grammar (version of 21:35, 22 May 2012).

—Wavelength (talk) 15:36, 25 May 2012 (UTC)

Sun Tzu quote

Hey, all! A while ago I read a quote from the Art of War that said something like: By portraying your weakness as your greatest strength you can turn your enemy's greatest strength into his weakness. Does anyone know what the original Chinese is, or can anyone point me to a website that has at least the chapter and number (i.e., a translation)? (I can find it from there). Thanks.24.92.85.35 (talk) 18:16, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

You could check out the Chinese version of Wikisource, they have a text called 孫子兵法. V85 (talk) 19:05, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

I have read through Chapter Six: Weakness and Strength but it doesn't include your quote. Alansplodge (talk) 20:56, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

Well, there are several possible reasons for that. First of all it seems that the quote is given as how the OP remembers it, rather than how it actually was written in the text that the OP actually read. Secondly, we don't know which translation the OP read (and, depending on which translation it is, and how faithful it is to the original Chinese). Lastly, although judging by the content, it would seem to fit into chapter six, it doesn't necessarily come from ch. 6, it could come from one of the other chapters. V85 (talk) 21:12, 26 May 2012 (UTC)

articles

"Obtaining a solution might not be simple task though."

Shouldn't there be an "a" before "simple"? If no, why?

--85.65.26.75 (talk) 20:51, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

Yes, there should be an "a" before "simple". - Lindert (talk) 20:57, 24 May 2012 (UTC)

And there should be a comma before "though" (that's if it's considered OK to have it at the end at all, rather than at the beginning, in which case the comma would follow rather than precede it). -- ♬ Jack of Oz ♬ ^{[your turn]} 23:17, 24 May 2012 (UTC)