"Bovinoj ne trinkas lakton."

Translation:Cows do not drink milk.

June 18, 2015

62 Comments
This discussion is locked.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PabloStanfield

Çu vi havas lakton?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dkeseg

Ne! Bovidoj trinkas lakton.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PaCa826187

Are they not a subset of 'bovino'?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dkeseg

No, they are a subset of "bovo." The -ido suffix means "offspring."


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PaCa826187

Yeah, a bit of malglico at work there, sorry. I meant that calves are a subset of cattle as a species. I used bovino because of the English tendency to refer to the species by the name of the adult female (and because I was confusing the Esperanto feminine infix -in- with the Latinate suffix -īnus, denoting a relation). Stupid mistake sorry but my point was some bovinoj do drink milk as some bovinoj are bovidinoj.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Nastassia.V

Why is it "bovidino" and not "bovinido"?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/TheRealFlenuan

What the—cows don't drink milk? That's gotta be one of the most retarded things I've ever read. Why do you think they produce milk in the first place?! OMFG, people…


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/WordFitlySpoken

"Grown up" cows don't, and I take that to be the meaning of the sentence. Calves do, though. "Bovidoj trinkas lakton" = Calves drink milk.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/TheRealFlenuan

Why would "cows" only refer to adult cows?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/kvinfojoj

That's just how it is in English, they're not called cows until they're adult and have had offspring. "An adult female that has had a calf (or two, depending on regional usage) is a cow. A young female before she has had a calf of her own and is under three years of age is called a heifer." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle http://www.clovermeadowsbeef.com/cow-heifer-steer-bull/


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/metaglot

Is "bovo" in esperanto exclusive to "bovido"?


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Niewand

I agree with the idea of your statement, but the use of the word retarded was uncalled for and inappropriate.


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/dzeran

Yep! Not in america! People take all the milk for themselves >:[


https://www.duolingo.com/profile/teukkam

Yep, technically not even calves drink milk, their milk is given to the humans while they are fed with formula.


[deactivated user]

    Ĉiaj mamuloj trinkas lakton!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/VoxSilentum

    bovinoj trinkas lakton!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/CliffJonesJr

    Nur bovidoj trinkas lakton.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/VoxSilentum

    La tre soifa bovino trinkas lakton.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN

    Well, "Bovinidoj trinkas lakton!"

    Did I say that right? I am trying to say "Calves drink milk!"

    OOOPPS! I found it. It should be: "Bovidoj trinkas lakton!"

    http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16967/16967-h/16967-h.htm#letterC


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/waynewatts2

    Nur bovidoj devus trinki lakton.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/PaCa826187

    Are bovino and Cow not umbrella terms that don't specify the maturity of the animal?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Grokford

    This sentence is very funny for some reason


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/salivanto

    When you laughed at this sentence, did milk come out of your nose?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/LeFlamel

    I've always been confused as to why Zamenhof had to distinguish between trinki and drinki, when even in English this is one of those things that's understood


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN

    "to drink" in English is used for both, we don't have a special word for drinking alcohol. Perhaps the expression: "I don't drink." (meaning alcohol) didn't make sense to him coming from another language, so he added a word just for drinking alcohol.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Siavel

    From what I gather, Drinki is not just used for drinking alcohol, but also used for drinking to excess, which could be used for any liquid including water.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/salivanto

    drinki = to drink too much alcohol.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AS_

    Is "Bovine" not a perfectly valid word in English


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/flaviomargarito

    Indeed. I think bovine is better here. Is about the same that in Esperanto


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/laVeturigisto

    It seems to me that "bovine" is more of an attribute word, while "cow" and "bull" are words for the animal itself. There is no gender neutral word for the animal in English.

    One could say "bovine milk", using "bovine" as an attribute of "milk", but I think the only way to translate "bovo" into English as a gender neutral word would be "bovine animal", which while seeming technically correct and understandable, would be horrendously irregular and clunky.

    While I guess one could say "a bovine" or "bovines" when referring to non gender specific cows and / or bulls, I don't generally find that in practice.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/wilavg

    But that would be bovo, not bovino


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/TobyBartels

    Yes, but it translates ‘bovo’, not ‘bovino’.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Friesk

    Would "does" work here? Non-native asking. I get a little confused at times.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/AtalinaDove

    No. does (does not or doesn't in this sentence) is for singular third person (he, she, it), and this is plural (we, they), therefore it would be 'do' and in this sentence do not or don't).


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/FaizalZahid

    This probably comes from this riddle:

    Say "silk" five times. Now spell "silk." What do cows drink?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Davgwynne

    They (adult cows) also drink milk when given it. However, normally they wouldn't have access to it. Perhaps the sentence ought to be: Bovinoj kutime ne trinkas lakton.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN

    I suppose they would trust the farmer and drink milk in the trough if there was no water, but can you imagine the cows all trying to drink milk from each other? No access? Probably the cows wouldn't let each other. Hey, that milk is for my calf!

    What if the calf has died for some reason.... No way! Just eat your grass or hay and drink that water over there! Have you ever seen any grown cows try?

    They don't drink milk (or do they? see below) and maybe that is because their mothers weaned them off of it. Maybe if you bring them a bucket of milk, they might? They might be lactose intolerant now, having done without milk all this time. The bacteria that helps us digest milk dies off if we have no dairy products for a long time. I wonder if that happens to cows also?

    Or is there an adult cow out there whose mother never stopped giving it milk?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Davgwynne

    In one of the James Herriot vet books he mentions an example where an adult bull is still suckling. To those of you who speak American English, a vet, in the UK is a doctor for animals.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/tu.8zPhLD72zzoZN

    Very funny, we use the word vet also. I probably have the book you mentioned, which is why I mentioned the adult possibility at the end, but a bull is not a cow in my mind. A bull is perhaps a bit more tenacious and forceful and is probably harder to wean.

    I do defer to your example though!


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JacobStewa16

    So, without the "-id-" it always means an adult?


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Kivolamuzikisto

    No, "-ido" indicates the offspring or "young" (bovido = calf), but without "-id-" the root (bovo) just means an individual of the species with no indication as to age or sex.

    https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/bovo


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Chuchuliette

    errr... They do drink milk


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Imthebestlearner

    His voice has become as if he is scared like [gasp] Bovinoj ne trinkas lakton.


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JHarrisRitchie

    "This message was brought to you by the dairy industry"


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/HuckleSmothered

    Everyone simmer down about cows and milk. This is a course on Esperanto, not animal husbandry. The sentences they give us don't need to be true or even make logical sense. They just need to teach us the vocabulary and grammar of the language.

    You people are gonna lose your minds if Duolingo adds the sentence, "La bovino manĝas infanojn por matenmanĝo."


    https://www.duolingo.com/profile/LamukSelka

    Sed ili produktas multan lakton, kaj ripozas longan tempon.


    [deactivated user]

      Got real close to the mic for that one


      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/Revilo_N

      Bovinoj produktas lakton por siaj bovidoj!


      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/JustinGumblePuff

      Not "Ne trinki"? I geuss the statement is present-tense.


      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/RhettRatt

      ni bovinoj ŝatas muĝi...


      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/2n1c0l4s3

      Would a female cow be called a bovinino?


      https://www.duolingo.com/profile/salivanto

      What's a female cow? Isn't that just a cow?

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