Re: Signs that prove I have way too much time on my hands.

On Tue, 18 Jul 2000, Danny Wier wrote:

> Slovak:
> Najneskomercionalizovatel'nejšieho
And what does *that* mean? Something commercial, presumably. The
Dutch Hottentot thing is clearly a construct, not meant to ever be
used.

> Longest name of a city or town (Europe):
> Welsh: Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
You spelt it right! :-)

> "Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid
> whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio of the red cave"
> [Note also four consecutive L's]
No, that's two consecutive ll's; it's considered one letter, like
'ch' or Dutch 'ij'.

> Seven vowels in a row:
> Dutch: koeieuier "cow's udder"
Not any more, alas. We have to put a spurious 'n' in: "koeienuier",
making it look as if it means "cows' udder". Very silly, but the
government requires kids to learn it in school. I'm not doing it.

> Nine consonants in a row:
> Dutch: zachtstschrijdend "walking most silently"
Usually written in two words "zachtst schrijdend", even in poetry
(the only place where one would find anything like this). The cluster
is pronounced [xsxr] (and even [xsr] by some people).

(little anecdote: I had an argument with our former choirmistress,
when she still was choirmistress of course, because I insisted on
pronouncing only [fs] in "bruiloftszaal" (hall where a wedding is
held) and she wanted to hear all four separate consonants, which is
almost impossible in Dutch)

> Quadrupled vowels:
> Dutch: zeeeend "sea duck"
With a diaeresis on the third 'e', or in the new spelling: zee-eend.
We're not allowed to have fun with the spelling any more :-(

> Longest palindrome (single word)
> Finnish: saippuakippokukkakivikakkukoppikauppias
I can't beat that with "nepparterreserretrappen" ("fake stairs from
the ground floor to the garden room")

> Longest one-syllable words:
> Romanian: s¸treang "noose, rope"
Dutch: schreeuwt "(he) shouts".

    Irina

--
           Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
irina@valdyas.org (myself)     http://www.valdyas.org/irina/valdyas