Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2013 April 29

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April 29

website helps you with Hebrew and transliteration with it

Is there a website that helps you with reading Hebrew with Roman transliteration?--Donmust90 (talk) 03:27, 29 April 2013 (UTC)Donmust90

"Hebrew alphabet" and "Romanization of Hebrew". Gabbe (talk) 10:26, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

See http://www.dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Linguistics/Languages/Natural/Afro-Asiatic/Hebrew/.

—Wavelength (talk) 03:05, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Somali grammar website with English translation

Is there a website that helps you Somali grammar and pronunciation with English translation?--Donmust90 (talk) 03:29, 29 April 2013 (UTC)Donmust90

"Somali grammar" and "Somali phonology". Gabbe (talk) 10:26, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

See http://mylanguages.org/somali_audio.php.

—Wavelength (talk) 03:05, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Poem

Is a poem read or is it sung?--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 19:08, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

What an interesting question! Poems are read, of course. But are they read in a particular form of voice? My schoolday memories are of teachers reading poetry in a very droll, monotone fashion - poems such as "The Deserted Village" or "The Lady of Shallott". However, I challenge anyone to read "Warning" by Jenny Joseph in a monotone! And as for song lyrics as poetry, who would deny the absolute poetry of a Dylan or a Lennon lyric, or maybe even a Yes song, or even a Kasabian song such as "Processed Beats" (which is poetry in much the same fashion as some of James Joyce's works, or Jack Kerouac's poetry). Sorry for this meandering which hasn't even gone some way towards answering the question. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:50, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

In Ancient Greece Homeric, elegiac, and lyric poems would be sung (hence the words accompanying modern textssongs are called "lyrics"). --Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 21:00, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Our article Sung poetry could use improvement, but it's there all the same. - Karenjc 22:56, 29 April 2013 (UTC)

Just to be clear: when Tammy say "Poems are read, of course", I'm sure she means they're read out loud, not just read silently as one would do with a novel, for example. Reading a poem to oneself would be like reading a music score with no music audible. (It can be done, but you'd probably have a special reason for doing so).

I recently read this: "Poetry is a language in which the sound of words is raised to an importance equal to that of their meaning, and also equal to the importance of grammar and syntax" (Kenneth Koch) -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 00:05, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

• The easiest way to ruin a reading of Shakespeare, much of whose work is a poem in blank verse, is to treat it sing-song. (It is also the best way to parody him, see the funniest 10 minutes ever filmed). The only way to read poetry is with strict regard to the sense, including punctuation, and not allowing the underlying metrical rhythm and the line-endings to determine emphasis. Be aware of the poem, but read the prose. μηδείς (talk) 01:00, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

"Reading a poem to oneself would be like reading a music score with no music audible." Obvioulsy, you don't know about Lord Vetinari. He thought that to play or sing the music was to destroy the purity of the musical experience. Bielle (talk) 01:06, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

He also believed in the principle of "One man - One Vote". He was The Man, and he had The Vote. --Jayron32 04:14, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, he dislikes the sweat and saliva involved in active music making. To each his own, I suppose. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 07:16, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks gentlemen.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 10:52, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Poems can also be recited (from memory). --Nicknack009 (talk) 13:17, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Was bits of history memorized this way then, through poems?--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 17:49, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

See oral history. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:43, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Thanks Tammy.--Christie the puppy lover (talk) 22:08, 30 April 2013 (UTC)