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Great Mysteries of our Time #93: SOLVED!

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    Great Mysteries of our Time #93: SOLVED!

    It's spelt "Gathafi"

    #2
    Originally posted by NickFitz View Post
    It's spelt "Gathafi"
    Surely thats a mere transliteration issue given that Arabic doesn't use the the Latin alphabet? Dabbling in Russian as I do, I see those all the time, Cyrillic translit differences. Like I've seen the Russian vowel 'ы' transliterated as 'i' or 'y' and the consonant 'ж' as 'zh' or 'z' or 'j'.

    There are different translit systems that attempt to transliterate non-English sounds into Latin equivalents, but they don't really work that well, as in the example above, the Russian vowel 'ы' - to me I hear more as a slight 'wee' or 'wi' but any native Russian speaker would deny there's a 'w' sound in it at all.

    Also cos of translit issues you wouldn't know for example that the Russian Christian names 'Boris' and 'Oleg' are actually pronounced 'Ba-REES' and 'Al-YEK' respectively. Translit can't cope with that sort of thing which I'm sure goes on in Arabic too.

    Interesting topic!
    Last edited by stek; 25 August 2011, 12:35.

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      #3
      No, that is his Welsh cousin.
      Just saying like.

      where there's chaos, there's cash !

      I could agree with you, but then we would both be wrong!

      Lowering the tone since 1963

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by stek View Post
        Surely thats a mere transliteration issue given that Arabic doesn't use the the Latin alphabet? Dabbling in Russian as I do, I see those all the time, Cyrillic translit differences. Like I've seen the Russian vowel 'ы' transliterated as 'i' or 'y' and the consonant 'ж' as 'zh' or 'z' or 'j'.

        There are different translit systems that attempt to transliterate non-English sounds into Latin equivalents, but they don't really work that well, as in the example above, the Russian vowel 'ы' - to me I hear more as a slight 'wee' or 'wi' but any native Russian speaker would deny there's a 'w' sound in it at all.

        Also cos of translit issues you wouldn't know for example that the Russian Christian names 'Boris' and 'Oleg' are actually pronounced 'Ba-REES' and 'Al-YEK' respectively. Translit can't cope with that sort of thing which I'm sure goes on in Arabic too.

        Interesting topic!
        You can get a "near W" with "Уо"
        "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

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          #5
          He's prefer it was spelled "BulletProof".

          HTH

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Paddy View Post
            You can get a "near W" with "Уо"
            Not really! In Russian a 'yo' is 'ё' - Russian for 'we' is 'Мы' which to me as a native English speaker sounds like 'mwee' or maybe a quick 'mooee'..

            Ahh, now I see why u did! a 'u-ee' - hmm yes, I like it!! Cheers!!

            Like a 'ю-и'?

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              #7
              Originally posted by NickFitz View Post
              It's spelt "Gathafi"

              مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي

              Comment


                #8
                That says "ifahtaG"
                "A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices," George Orwell

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by zeitghost
                  I thought it was spelled "Wanted: Dead or Alive, but preferably Dead".
                  It actually says...

                  "Tonight, Gaddafi he sleeps with the fishes..."
                  Last edited by Churchill; 26 August 2011, 08:59.

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