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- "A German visits an American …
"A German visits an American in the United States."
Translation:Germano vizitas usonanon en Usono.
29 Comments
If someone being female is relevant to the idea you're trying to convey, then yes, you can use the -in- forms.
You could say that if you specifically meant a "female German" and a "female American". As more languages are striving to become gender neutral we understand the Esperanto word "germano" to mean a German, regardless of sex, just as in English. So if you have translated "German" by "germanino" you have added information, and probably got it marked wrong by our computer.
1586
And yet we insist on viro being a gender-marked form obviating the existence of homino?
- 1586
I had thought I was positing a form that did not exist, since the program has insisted that homo is not gender-marked, while viro and virino are. Does the ludicrous form homino actually exist in Esperanto?
"Homo" means "person". It is one of the most gender-neutral words you'll find in Esperanto - both Adamo and Sofia are "homo".
I am confused. It is supposed to add -an to the Country to make a member. So, Germanio + -an = germaniano, doesn't it? Why Germano instead. Please help!
Germany is an Old World country (Old World = usu. in Europe or Asia), so "Germano estas homo en Germanio."
Can you say "Germanulo vizitas usonanon en Usono." Or would that not work out? I thought -ulo added the meaning ___person to a root
Yes, -ul is the suffix that means "person", but "germano" already means a person. It's like saying "instruistulo" for "teacher" or "homulo" for "person". I'm not sure if it's wrong or just redundant, but I wouldn't use them anyway.
- 1414
Germanulo is a bit of an odd word. It would have to mean "person characterized by Germanness" but somehow not "a german." Germano is the correct word in nearly all contexts.
Ah, I see. Thanks for explaining the finer peculiarities of my awkward word choice :)
Wouldn't it have to be "germaneculo"? I thought "Germanness" had to be "germaneco".
- 1414
PIV defines -ul- as a suffix signifanta individuon, personon, karakterizitan de tio, kion esprimas la rad.
The "rad" (radiko) here is german- - which has to do with germans and things german. How you word this in English doesn't really matter, since it's not a word you'd ever really see.
To take a different example, you can take azeno and get azenulo which means a person who is in some way like a donkey. (i.e. stupid, possibly stubborn.)
No -ec- needed.
Hmm, in Portuguese we have a word that would mean exactly the same as "azenulo" ("burro", the same for "azeno" and "azenulo"). Now it makes sense. Thanks again.
A "person characterized by Germanness" sounds a lot like how one might describe an ethnic German. So why then doesn't Esperanto use «germanulo» for this rather than «germano»?
- 1414
Make sure to read the whole thread.
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As for 'what was he a Jew thinking' and why do we still insist... it sounds to me like you understand how the system works, which is really what I hang around here for -- to help people understand how Esperanto works. "What was he thinking" and questions involving other loaded language aren't really ones I care to add.
But you're right. I overlooked that part of your question. I meant that I'd already explained why "germanulo" is an odd word.
Apparently "la Usono" isn't accepted despite "the" being in the english sentence.
