Sep 17, 2004 17:57
20 yrs ago
English term
Least is most, so keep it simple!
Native in: English 
Works in: German to English, English
Luxembourg, Romania
English
Art/Literary
Linguistics
I was taught at school, and have assumed ever since, that these two names were spelled (UKE):
Luxemburg,
Rumania.
I've also checked it on a modern (expensive) road atlas and a 1920's World Gazeteer which was a standard reference in the days of paper.
I am now told I'm wrong and in the case of Luxemthingy, way out of date.
Anyone like to offer an opinion? (I mean re. the spelling, not my age).
Thank you.
Luxemburg,
Rumania.
I've also checked it on a modern (expensive) road atlas and a 1920's World Gazeteer which was a standard reference in the days of paper.
I am now told I'm wrong and in the case of Luxemthingy, way out of date.
Anyone like to offer an opinion? (I mean re. the spelling, not my age).
Thank you.
Responses
+1
2 hrs
Richard Benham
France
France
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
France
When quality counts
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
64
Selected
What about Roumania?
There are three spellings for Romania: Romania, Rumania and Roumania.
For Luxembourg, the Anglophone spelling has been, as long as I can remember, Luxembourg. Luxemburg is, as has already been pointed out, the Germanic version. (The suffix is Germanic, and so you might think this a good argument in favour of Luxemburg, but our forms in English generally seem to follow the French names pretty closely.)
Even in France, Rosa Luxemburg is spelt Luxemburg.
The French spell their word for Romania "Roumanie", but the corresponding English version, "Roumania", is rare.
I'd go with "Romania", as it seems to be most common, and the place got its name as a former Roman colony.
Oh, and I wasn't too pleased about only getting 2 points for my efforts on plurals of abbreviations. I mean, I put TWO dirty jokes in.... Care for a caber-thumping duel?
For Luxembourg, the Anglophone spelling has been, as long as I can remember, Luxembourg. Luxemburg is, as has already been pointed out, the Germanic version. (The suffix is Germanic, and so you might think this a good argument in favour of Luxemburg, but our forms in English generally seem to follow the French names pretty closely.)
Even in France, Rosa Luxemburg is spelt Luxemburg.
The French spell their word for Romania "Roumanie", but the corresponding English version, "Roumania", is rare.
I'd go with "Romania", as it seems to be most common, and the place got its name as a former Roman colony.
Oh, and I wasn't too pleased about only getting 2 points for my efforts on plurals of abbreviations. I mean, I put TWO dirty jokes in.... Care for a caber-thumping duel?
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Happy now?"
+5
3 mins
Michael Powers (PhD)
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United States
US Court Cert. 1980 Ph.D. 1981
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, Portuguese to English, English to Spanish, and 2 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
136
Mmore than one spelling - see explanation below
Merriam-Webster Dictionary 11th edition
Main Entry:Lux£em£bourg
Variant:or Lux£em£burg \*l*k-s*m-*b*rg, *l*k-s*m-*b*rk\
Function:geographical name
1 province SE Belgium capital Arlon area 1706 square miles (4418 square kilometers), population 232,813
2 country W Europe between Belgium, France, & Germany; a grand duchy area 999 square miles (2597 square kilometers), population 392,000
3 city, its capital population 75,377
–Lux£em£bourg£er or Lux£em£burg£er \-*b*r-g*r, -*b*r- \ noun
–Lux£em£bourg£i£an or Lux£em£burg£i£an \*l*k-s*m-*b*r-g*-*n, *l*k-s*m-*b*r- \ adjective
Main Entry:Ro£ma£nia
Pronunciation:r*-*m*-n*-*, r*-, -ny*
Variant:or Ru£ma£nia \r*-\
Function:geographical name
country SE Europe bordering on Black Sea capital Bucharest area 91,699 square miles (237,500 square kilometers), population 22,789,000
Mike :)
Main Entry:Lux£em£bourg
Variant:or Lux£em£burg \*l*k-s*m-*b*rg, *l*k-s*m-*b*rk\
Function:geographical name
1 province SE Belgium capital Arlon area 1706 square miles (4418 square kilometers), population 232,813
2 country W Europe between Belgium, France, & Germany; a grand duchy area 999 square miles (2597 square kilometers), population 392,000
3 city, its capital population 75,377
–Lux£em£bourg£er or Lux£em£burg£er \-*b*r-g*r, -*b*r- \ noun
–Lux£em£bourg£i£an or Lux£em£burg£i£an \*l*k-s*m-*b*r-g*-*n, *l*k-s*m-*b*r- \ adjective
Main Entry:Ro£ma£nia
Pronunciation:r*-*m*-n*-*, r*-, -ny*
Variant:or Ru£ma£nia \r*-\
Function:geographical name
country SE Europe bordering on Black Sea capital Bucharest area 91,699 square miles (237,500 square kilometers), population 22,789,000
Mike :)
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Martine Brault
: Three official languages - on official papers French and Letzebuerger are used, thus Luxembourg and Luxemburg http://www.gouvernement.lu/tout_savoir/population_langues/si...
35 mins
|
|
Thank you, traviata - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
Tehani
1 hr
|
|
Thank you, Tehani - Mike :)
|
|
| agree |
Kristina Thorne
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Lisa Russell
11 hrs
|
| agree |
Milena Sahakian
1 day 2 hrs
|
+2
5 mins
Kim Metzger
Mexico
Mexico
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
Mexico
Committed to Quality and Service
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
187
Luxembourg, Romania
European Commission
Translation Service
English Style Guide
This version of the Translation Service's English Style Guide is dated November 2002.
Luxembourg French spelling for Luxembourg (country and city).
Enlargement to the east. The Commission opinions on the membership applications of ten Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) can be found attached to Agenda 2000 (Bulletin Supplements 6/97 to 15/97). All of the applications have now been accepted. Note that these countries are officially referred to as 'candidate countries'.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/writing/style_guides/e...
Translation Service
English Style Guide
This version of the Translation Service's English Style Guide is dated November 2002.
Luxembourg French spelling for Luxembourg (country and city).
Enlargement to the east. The Commission opinions on the membership applications of ten Central and Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) can be found attached to Agenda 2000 (Bulletin Supplements 6/97 to 15/97). All of the applications have now been accepted. Note that these countries are officially referred to as 'candidate countries'.
http://europa.eu.int/comm/translation/writing/style_guides/e...
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
: Michael's answers might be as correct only on my computer they appeared with a lot of pound signs (£) so it was hard to tell
2 hrs
|
| agree |
humbird
: That what National Geographic says (on both). Like to hear what British colleague say, a country of BBC who is NG's competition in documentary.
3 hrs
|
9 mins
Vladimir Dubisskiy
United States
United States
United States
UNSURPASSABLE EXPERIENCE
Native in: Russian 
, Ukrainian
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English, Ukrainian to English, and 3 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
3
Luxembourg, Romania
some input from a non-native:
It is funny, but i was taught (at school, through 60s, and later, with higher ed, through 70s) that it should read LuxembOUrg and ROmania in English and we learned UKE :-))
It is funny, but i was taught (at school, through 60s, and later, with higher ed, through 70s) that it should read LuxembOUrg and ROmania in English and we learned UKE :-))
1 hr
Tegan Raleigh
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United States
Literature & Scholarship
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: French to English, English, German to English
Related KudoZ points
:
8
Rumania= old school; Luxemburg= Germanic
From what I can see, Rumania is the way that Romania was formerly spelled in English (see below for a website where a few people discuss this)
In the other website I came across, multiple spellings of Luxembourg are given: Luxembourg, Luxemburg, Lëtzebuerg). The home page for Luxembourg spells it with the "ourg"-- but that doesn't exclude the other "burg" from being correct. Just as English speakers don't say "München" but "Munich," there are different ways to say foreign place names. For more or less official usage, I would check the CIA webpages (for American usage, anyways).
For what it's worth, I learned it Luxembourg and Romania.
In the other website I came across, multiple spellings of Luxembourg are given: Luxembourg, Luxemburg, Lëtzebuerg). The home page for Luxembourg spells it with the "ourg"-- but that doesn't exclude the other "burg" from being correct. Just as English speakers don't say "München" but "Munich," there are different ways to say foreign place names. For more or less official usage, I would check the CIA webpages (for American usage, anyways).
For what it's worth, I learned it Luxembourg and Romania.
Reference:
Discussion
Armaat seems to agree with me, but unfortunately didn't put forward an answer.
So, as Richard is somewhat miffed over his points for the other question (which had nowt to do with me), I feel I should give it to him, even though his answer is complete rubbish.
I'm sure no one will mind.