Talk:gesinjoro
Latest comment: 5 years ago by Mx. Granger
@Mx. Granger, when I look at BGC, I see some quite old uses of this word. Is this not a neologism, or are they using it differently? —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 03:00, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- Hmm, are you seeing singular or plural uses? Plural gesinjoroj/gesinjorojn is old, going back to Zamenhof. Singular gesinjoro/gesinjoron is newer and I think still nonstandard. I did a quick search and found two old uses of the singular. One seems like it must be a typo (I think the plural was intended). Not sure about the other – probably also a typo, but I can't see enough of the context to be certain. My understanding is that in Esperanto as Zamenhof wrote it, ge- was only used with plural nouns. —Granger (talk · contribs) 03:25, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- I did not recognise either of those examples as typos, but I will bow to your judgement. —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 03:30, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- To explain my reasoning a little: the first one is talking about a couple who are referred to as Mr and Mrs Majer, so if it's not a typo, then the book is going out of its way to be ambiguous and confusing for no apparent reason (unlikely, especially in a textbook for Esperanto learners), and doing it with a word that no one else was using at the time. In the second one, the speaker seems to be talking to a person or people who are standing in front of them, so presumably the speaker can figure out their genders. It's possible the second quote could be some kind of generic example rather than a specific conversation (I can't see enough of the context to tell), but if the "gesinjoro" was intentional that would still mean the author was using the word in a way that would be unknown and opaque to readers at the time. More likely the speaker is addressing a couple and the printer left out a "j". —Granger (talk · contribs) 03:53, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- Sorry, I think that perhaps my terseness made you think I was using recognise in our sense #3, whereas I was using it in sense #1. I didn't doubt you at all. —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 04:05, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- No worries, I just figured it wouldn't hurt to explain my thinking regardless, in case you (or others) were curious. —Granger (talk · contribs) 04:10, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- Sorry, I think that perhaps my terseness made you think I was using recognise in our sense #3, whereas I was using it in sense #1. I didn't doubt you at all. —Μετάknowledgediscuss/deeds 04:05, 19 March 2019 (UTC)
- To explain my reasoning a little: the first one is talking about a couple who are referred to as Mr and Mrs Majer, so if it's not a typo, then the book is going out of its way to be ambiguous and confusing for no apparent reason (unlikely, especially in a textbook for Esperanto learners), and doing it with a word that no one else was using at the time. In the second one, the speaker seems to be talking to a person or people who are standing in front of them, so presumably the speaker can figure out their genders. It's possible the second quote could be some kind of generic example rather than a specific conversation (I can't see enough of the context to tell), but if the "gesinjoro" was intentional that would still mean the author was using the word in a way that would be unknown and opaque to readers at the time. More likely the speaker is addressing a couple and the printer left out a "j". —Granger (talk · contribs) 03:53, 19 March 2019 (UTC)