Talk:λύουσι

From RFC

What does the "(v)" part mean? --Connel MacKenzie 23:44, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

Hmmm, seems to be for the invalid redirect pointing to it. --Connel MacKenzie 23:56, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

The (ν) is a nu which is sometimes on the end of this form, and sometimes not. I don't remember exactly what determines it, but if memory serves correctly (which it often doesn't) it depends on whether the following word begins with a vowel, similar to "a" and "an" in English. Should this be explained in the article? And if so, what would be the appropriate format? As for the redirect, I can't figure out why it doesn't function properly. I had to move it, because somehow the original page which I created had some invisible character at the beginning. I don't know if moving a redirect nullifies it or something. Any ideas on this problem would be greatly appreciated. If there are any further qualms about this page, please list them and I'd be more than happy to rectify them. Thanks. Cerealkiller13 07:08, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Oh. So the other form should be listed as an inflection (and wikified) and a separate entry (not a redirect) must exist for each then, right? --Connel MacKenzie 18:27, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Yes, a final -n (-ν) can be added or dropped to make phrases more pronounceable As Cerealkiller notes, the -n is usual before vowels, and it may or may not appear before a k or at the end of a sentence. It’s a lot like our a/an, but less rigid. The final -n is technically part of the ending, but Greek (like Dutch and to a lesser extent the Scandinavian and other Germanic languages) shows a marked tendency to drop it in speech, and this is sometimes reflected in the writing. In this case, it’s the -n of the 3rd-person plural verb, which correlates with Spanish -an, -en, (hablan, comen, dicen, viven). Since the meaning is the same, perhaps it’s just an "Alternative spelling". How did we do it with a/an? —Stephen 20:20, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Looking at a/an, it seems as though most of the information is on an, with a being largely reserved for info on the letter a (as opposed to the word a). However, there is a decent section on usage between the two forms on a. In my opinion, it would be better to have all the info in one place, either place. Thus, I would prefer to have one page for both forms (λύουσι and λύουσιν), because they are two forms of the same word. Maybe it would help if it was made clearer on the page what the distinction is, and what the usage rules are. Sadly, I don't have time to research this today, but I can tomorrow. This is something that should be decided as a sort of policy, because there are a number of instances of this in Ancient Greek, for example: λύωσι, as well as a number of other forms of λύω which I haven't created separate entries for, not to mention all the other verbs. Also, does anyone know why the redirect is not working? Cerealkiller13 21:44, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Which redirect do you mean? I haven’t noticed any problems with redirects. —Stephen 22:27, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

λύουσιν, it's supposed to redirect to λύουσι. Cerealkiller13 06:25, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

No, it's not. They are supposed to be separate entries. This is a dictionary - the thing we distinguish is spelling! That is as bad as suggesting that color be "merged" with colour, or that a be "merged" with an. We do not do that. Each and every word that is a word merits its own entry. --Connel MacKenzie 15:05, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Um, I would argue that for highly inflected languages, like Greek or Latin, it will be preferrable to select a lemma form for each word, with the alternate spellings indicating that they are alternate spellings, and to note the conditions under which the alternate spelling is likely to appear. Consider: will Wiktionary have entries for words like shoulda, cain't, and wanna? These are back-spellings from common spoken forms, and that is what we're talking about in the Greek. The analogy to a/an and color/colour is not quite correct. --EncycloPetey 19:36, 5 September 2006 (UTC)