Messages: 28
Language: English
ceigered (User's profile) February 26, 2009, 3:32:52 AM
celldee:Thank you all again for your suggestions. I can now translate "electricity pylon" in several different ways esperante, and can make myself understood in German as well as in Australian and American English.
Well, at least South Australian English, I haven't had many conversations about powerlines interstate.I'm assuming Pfosten is a cognate to the English 'post'?
Rogir:I disagree with using pilono in this case, or really in any case. Why use a new root when elektromasto covers the meaning?I'm guessing Pilono would be good when the speaker you are speaking with is unfamiliar with any word resembling 'elektromasto' - for instance, if you said 'Pilono' to me in Esperanto, I'd go 'ah he's talking about a big tower thing that has something to do with electricity', but if you said Elektromasto to me (before I read this here thread) I would have gone 'Electromast? What Sci-fi movie is that from?'
(BTW, anyone noticed that 'scifi' can also have a slightly ironic meaning as an Esperanto compound word?)
mccambjd (User's profile) February 26, 2009, 5:07:22 AM
celldee:Electricity pylons are found much less often in densely populated areas, but they have been associated with health problems...As was mentioned earlier, I'd be more worried about the Cylons...
Rogir (User's profile) February 26, 2009, 10:28:29 AM
I'm guessing Pilono would be good when the speaker you are speaking with is unfamiliar with any word resembling 'elektromasto' - for instance, if you said 'Pilono' to me in Esperanto, I'd go 'ah he's talking about a big tower thing that has something to do with electricity', but if you said Elektromasto to me (before I read this here thread) I would have gone 'Electromast? What Sci-fi movie is that from?'So the use of this root would only help English speakers, so not much use to it then.
Miland (User's profile) February 26, 2009, 11:02:48 AM
Rogir:So the use of this root would only help English speakers, so not much use to it then.Also Germans (judging from El_Nebuloso's message), and maybe others. Maybe we should have a poll about it.
jchthys (User's profile) February 26, 2009, 9:34:13 PM
How about elektroĝirafo, though
When I was little, I called pylons "giraffes", and the name has stuck in our family. Miland (User's profile) February 27, 2009, 8:24:41 AM
ceigered (User's profile) March 1, 2009, 2:38:19 AM
jchthys:How about elektroĝirafo, thoughWhile that is an excellent idea, I fear it may confuse pokémon and digimon loving Esperantists.
Rogir:So the use of this root would only help English speakers, so not much use to it then.Well, there are other languages which a similar root, like Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Greek etc (and more, of course I only had a quick look on Wiktionary under the definition of "a tower like structure used to support high voltage electricity cables"). But as you say, it's really not too useful if the accepted word is something different. Still useful to know though, considering there is quite a mass of potential users of 'pilono' as oppose to 'masto' (just incase).
ceigered (User's profile) March 1, 2009, 2:39:44 AM
mccambjd:As was mentioned earlier, I'd be more worried about the Cylons...Aaaaaaaaaaaaah, I now get it (kinda)