h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Multilinguality of Astronomy - A87827593
Author: Galaxy Babe - eclectic editor - U128652

do let me know if I've missed your particular favourite...

GB

Hey GB, this is a really great entry and I think you presented it well. I know that there are certain areas in medical terminology that are also rather hard --like the different ways of labeling cancers and their stages. I guess oncologists can cope with the former but it certainly is a headache for the laymen. Also there are the messy distinctions in allergies and auto-immune diseases which I think contribute to diagnostic confusion for practitioners as well as patients and carers dealing with them.

Hi Elektra thank you

Yes I tried to cover that in my intro: "As your life has progressed you have probably picked up some Latin from watching gardening programmes or by trying to decipher your medical notes." as I too have been battling medical terminology since caring for my mother and also trying to comprehend the carers' shorthand when they're completing the daily log

I hope I've managed to make my beloved astronomy a bit less complicated in an interesting way

GB

This is an unusual idea for an entry, GB. Well done.

Would this be more interesting if you gave the translations of the Greek and Arabic star names, rather than just listing them? For example, Arcturus means 'Bear Guardian', while 'Procyon' means 'before the Dog'. Altair is the Swooping Eagle and Vega is the Soaring Eagle.

I don't think Canopus should be listed with the Greek star names - it's certainly the name by which the Greeks knew the star, but it's not apparently Greek.

It's somewhat simplistic to say that Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali were taken away from the Scorpion by the 20th Century carve-up of the sky. They were already part of Libra by Ptolemy's day (2nd Century AD?), but I think they might have still been considered to be part of Scorpius as well. The ancients had no problem with overlapping star patterns.

You could throw in a few Latin star names:

Regulus - the little king
Vindemiatrix - the bringer of vintage
Bellatrix - female warrior
Polaris - pole star


You reference to the Romans in Britain is inappropriate. Although the Romans controlled Britain for a few centuries, any effect they might have had on the local language (Welsh) was lost when the country was later invaded by Old English-speaking foreigners.

More important is that Latin became the language of the Church, and as a result was the language of learning. It continued as a common language across Europe in which scholars could discuss ideas right up to the 17th Century.

Thanks Gnomon, I've got all that, although I was interrupted and didn't have time to check my repairs. I don't have time now either, and will be busy most of the day tomorrow, so if I don't respond straight away, it's unavoidable, I'm afraid. Thanks again

GB

This is a wonderful ramble through cosmic etymology - well done!

It's a subject which is as vast as the skies above, so I'll trust that you've picked a fair representation of all the origins.

I'd be interested to know how global some of these references are. Do the Chinese, Russians, Arabs, etc use basically the same identifiers for these objects as we do in the Western world?

Icy

Oh, and I know the title is accurate, but it's a bit of a mouthful. I'd probably have gone for 'The Language of the Night Sky' or something.

But not 'The Language of the Night' as that brings to mind ...

<BB<

In both disciplines, it helps to have the lights off.

I confess this whole article came about because I stumbled across the word "multilinguality" so I'd be loathe to change it.

Icy said: >>Do the Chinese, Russians, Arabs, etc use basically the same identifiers for these objects as we do in the Western world?<<

I'd have to say I don't know, because the only other language I know is French, and Mars means March and the planet Mars to them. I've looked up Jupiter in other languages, the Italian is Giove, which sounds like Jove/King of the gods/Jupiter to me. Do you want me to reference this in the Entry?

GB

No, I don't think you need to change it at all - I was just interested

it just gave me a bit of a headache if you'd said yes please

This looks very good now, GB. Just two more things.

- 'Sirius' doesn't translate as Dog Star. That would be 'Kyon', the other name the Greeks used for this star. The name Sirius appears to mean 'scorcher'.

- It might be worth saying that most of star names are Arabic.

G

got both of those points, thank you Gnomon

GB

Elegant.

I can't wait until they have to name stars in Klingon.

And I like the title.

I had a question: Are there ANY Native American, especially Mayan, influences on any astronomical terms at all?

I would guess that there are very few Mayan influences on astronomy, if any. After all, it was only in the last 20 years or so that they figured out how to read the ancient Mayan language, so there hasn't been much time to affect astronomy, which is a fairly conservative science.

I like that, conservative.

Of course, if the tribes of the Americas had written the astronomy books, they might have come up with a different nomenclauture.

And the 'Milky Way' might have been made of cornmeal...

http://nativeamericanantiquity.blogspot.com/2012/11/native-american-skies-cherokee-what.html

Apparently, one constellation was called 'The Rattlesnake' by the Cherokee.

But you're right, of course. Those languages probably didn't contribute to this bit of mulitlingual astronomy

Maybe in the future, though...

Hi Dmitri

I did find asteroid 11500 Tomaiyowit which was named after the Luiseño (Native American) Earth Mother, and mentioned Quaoar was named after the creator god worshipped by the Tongva, Native American people of California. I wondered why I couldn't find any Mayan influences on astronomy



GB

I think Gnomon's found our answer.

Yea, I read Gnomon's post. That was a retrospective comment by me.