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Tuesday, April 23, 2019

on appalling graphs and the deceiving power of words

these 4 fields with their graphs


1. LANGUAGE.




The United States of SentimentCertain words more precisely communicate positive and negative feelings.Interestingly, very bad edges out words like abysmal and dreadful as the most conclusively negative phrase for those survey respondents based in the United States.Effective Words:
 U.K. EditionThe version of the survey conducted in the United Kingdom reveals interesting differences in how words are perceived.

The U.S. results showed less agreement on words that weren’t on the extreme ends of the sentiment spectrum.

In both regions, the word average was nearly dead-center on the graph and had the highest percentage of people agreeing on its score.
DeRose collection of emotion words






2.  Economy.

                                       Our World at one shot


  •  the top four economies combined account for over 50% of the world economy.
  • The latest estimate from the World Bank puts global GDP at roughly $80 trillion in nominal terms for 2017.






Today’s chart from HowMuch.net uses this data to show all major economies in a visualization called a Voronoi diagram -here  the video 1980-2016






3.  Housing.  

 The Places Where It’s Hardest to Afford a Home


According to the 2019 International Housing Affordability Survey by Demographia, six out of the 15 least affordable housing markets are in Australia and New Zealand, five are in the United States. 
  • The least affordable housing market is Hong Kong. 
  • Here, the median house price is almost 21 times as high as the median annual gross household income. 
  • Overall, New Zealand was the least affordable country in the study, which looked at the U.S., Canada, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, followed by Australia.



4.  State of women in business.

 see 6 graps here


TASK. Pick up ONE and deal with it in a wr composition


 HINT: Read the  2015 article from the link here 

  • Prepare a language bank for your WR task

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

names: Shah, regina, rook, 8 comyn people; schachorum ludo -ajedrez -chess


The name of the items of the game got adapted to the new lands were it was played: 
  • Persia, Islamic kingdoms, Hebrew medieval wise people and Christian Europeans.
  • alterumque nomen mediaevale quod habetur esse quasi terminus technicus ludi. In enumeratione quae sequitur, nomen purius litteris fortibus scribitur; nomen technicum, litteris fortibus et italicis. Cuique lusori sunt:
  • rex, sive scaccus
  • regina (vel virgo, vel amazon, vel domina), sive dama (unde damicus ludus), vel fercia
  • turres, vel elephantes, sive rochi
  • episcopi (vel satellites, vel signiferi, vel cursores, vel sagittiferi), sive alfīni
  • pedites, vel pedini, sive pedones

Rumi's poem dedicated to Shams (circa 1500=)
The Persians took from the Indians the essentials of the game -- the six different figures, the board with sixty-four squares -- and rebaptized the pieces with Persian names. This new nomenclature was to have enduring significance far beyond the East, for shah, the Persian word for "king," ultimately served as the name of the game in several European languages by way of the Latin scacchus: scacchi in Italian, Schach in German, échecs in French, and chess in English, among others.
Even in this “known” history, Yalom can deliver a surprise:
The Persian term shah mat, used in this episode, eventually came down to us as “check mate,” which literally means “the king was dumbfounded” or “exhausted,” though it is often translated as “the king died.”
some of the chess pieces took on Arabic names (al-fil for elephant, baidak for pawn, and firzan, fri or ferz for the general or vizier) while others retained their Persian labels (shah for king, rukh for rook, asp for horse).

In Europe some of the pieces gradually got new names:
  • Fers: "queen", because it starts beside the King.
  • Aufin: "bishop", because its two points looked like a bishop's mitre; In French fou; and others. Its Latin name alfinus was reinterpreted many ways

Retrieved from the excellent Carol Hamill's webpage :
Recreating Medieval Chess:  from schachorum ludo to the queen’s chess

The game spread throughout Europe in the 9th century. The earliest written European accounts are written in Latin, making reference to schachis (chessmen) with various spellings or to schachorum ludo (the game of chessmen). One word of caution, the Romans did not play chess. Their game of ludus latrunculorum is not related to chess and the Latin term schachi can refer to various game pieces including those for draughts and backgammon. 
The modern game (called the new chess or the queen’s chess) belongs to the period after 1500 CE.

E = Einsiedelnpoem    CB = Carmina Burana

Table # 2   Comparitive nomenclature within Europe



Medieval Latin

scacchi
scaccarium

various spellings
French


eschès
echecs
Middle English


cheschess
German


schach
Italian


scacchi
scacco


rex
roy
kynge
könig

re




ferzia
femina, regina conjunx CB
then: regina (E)
fierge fierce
dame(1500)
fers   (Chaucer)
quene(Caxton)
dame
regina




alfinus, alphinus
alphicus (leper)
alfiere( standard-bearer)
aificus (‘horned head’) CB
comes, curvus(count or aged one) (E)
Vida’s poem (1547) use of terms for archer
alfin, aufyn(OF)
fou (fool)
alphyn(Caxton)
wise man sitting in chair holding a bo
läufer (runner)
standard-bearer



eques 
(E) and CB
caballarius

chevalier
(knight)
knyght

springer
(leaper)
cavallo


cus
rochus
Vida’s poem (1547) use of terms for elephant with tower
roc
rook (Caxton)
legat 
of the kynge -  
man on horseback
roch
rocco

pedes
(foot soldier)
pion(pawn)
comyn people(Caxton) in 8 categories
bauer




names in Germany: 
Einsiedeln Poem:  Versus de scachis (Verses in Chess) Latin,  written by a German monk in Switzerland, circa 997 CE.     king= rex; queen= regina; bishop= comes count or traveller or  curvus aged one or crooked; knight eques; rook= rochus; pawn= pedes       
Carmina Burana Latin. poem of rhymed couplets circa. 1210The poem indicated that the queen is placed to the right of the king.rex; 3 names here: femina  - name of original piece - &  regina    - name of ‘queened pawn’ & conjunx (Note: the author avoids the problem of a king having two queens(); alficus "horned head"; eques; rochus & pedes.  

 Medieval Chess as played in France and England - a reconstructionThe chequered board would have been likely black and yellow or black and white.The terms used would be in French:     roi (king);  fierce (advisor);  alfin or fou (elephant or fool);  chevalier (knight);  roc (rook) & pion (pawn).      
 

The evolution of the rook – from chariot to castle

The rook was the most powerful piece on the medieval chessboard. The term ‘rukh’ sounds like roka (boat ) used in the Ganges valley and like rukhkh the Arabic term for "the horseman who is commander of the army" In Persian rukh means war chariot. The abstract curved flat piece used by Arab chess players would have left plenty of room for Europeans to decide for themselves, what the rook represents.The European rook took many forms. In the Charlemage chessmen set, (circa 1080) the rook is carved as a chariot with driver and horses. The Lewis chessmen of the mid 1100’s have rooks that resemble soldiers each has a helmet, shield and sword. Alfonso X’s The Book of Games (1283) describes the rook as "made wide and stretched because they resemble the ranks of soldiers". Cessolis (circa 1300) calls them "vicars or envoy’s of the king" (Yalom, p.70). In the Latin poem, Scacchia Ludusof 1537, by Vida, the rooks are described as "warring towers borne upon the backs of elephants" (Parlett p.304) By the mid 16th century the rook is represented by the tower alone, (Hammond p. 107).

A French translation of De ludo scachorum by Jacques de Cessoles (various spellings) was done by Jehan de Vignay in 1380. This French translation was used as the basis of Caxton’s very important English translation discussed later. In French the game was called: eschès, and later échecs.The Latin term scacchi and the term échecs could also be applied to game pieces in general such as in draughts, tables or merels. (Parlett p.300). Caution such be used when reading period documents. Many references that appear to discuss chess could be related to some other game, (this is especially important with reference to Scandinavian sources).The pieces: roy, roi (king); fierce or fierge (advisor), later dame (queen); alfin, aufyn or fol , in modern French fou (fool ); chevalier (knight); roc by 17th c. this became tour (castle) & pion (pawn)
Caxton’s Game and Playe of the Chess: a moral treatise on the duties of life. - first published 1474The bulk of this work is a translation of the French translation (Jehan de Vignay 1380) of the Latin workDe ludo scachorum by Jacques de Cessoles (various spellings) written in Italy. This is the second non-religious book to be printed in the English language (Golombek p. 63) and it was very popular. At one time two hundred codices could be found in the various public libraries of Europe. It includes a description of how each piece ought to appear an how that class of people ought to behave. 
The terms, and descriptions used include:kynge, sitting on chair, clothed in purple "betokens virgyns and damesels"quene, (moves on own colour) sitting on chair clothed in gold with furalphyn (limited elephant-type moves) "betokenyth wise men" (Caxton) sitting on chairnote: that this is note the same as the standard bearer (Cesssolis) or the fol (de Vignay)knyght, gentlemen, sitting on horserook "vicaires and legats of the king" sitting on a horse same description as used in the original by Cessoliscomyn people each pawn is associated with a category of trades people 
1 labourers and workmen 2 smyths 3 notaries, advocates drapers cloth makers 4. merchants money changers 5 physicians apothacaries, 6 tavern keepers 7 guards and "keepers of the city" 8 "ribaulder, disepleyar and currours" - loosely translated as "irregular retainers, and displayers and cursers.
Note that the modern bishop piece called alphyn is described as representing a wise man and the rook represents a legit of the king.

Reassessing Farsi and Persia-Iran


    Oh dear Persia, fatherland of serendipity

Living in the west of the European peninsula, we don't understand geography. Persian culture serves as a bridge linking the East and the West.

For instance, Frankopan's book -his page here

The Silk Roads were no exotic series of connections, but networks that linked continents and oceans together. They were - and still are - the world's central nervous system. This is where empires were won - and where they were lost. As a new era emerges, the patterns of exchange are mirroring those that have criss-crossed Asia for millennia.

As in his case,. my  interest in history beyond our little Europe could not be met by the British curriculum. When exploring the history of Ancient Greece, it seemed obvious the people who most fascinated them were the Persians. 
Then, during my Master in Far East studies at UOC I learnt about the nomads of Asia with a key central role in the spread of languages, faiths and even genes. See this part
2.4. Nou casos per entendre els moviments de poblacions


The rich tradition of Persian language still has dear troves that the fact of using another alphabet and the modern disguise of islamic and poitics let us run away form them.

When you had the chance to read another novel, try women writers from Perssian literature next time. The traditions of everlasting effects of Persian poetry form thousands of years old considered as a heritage of mankind.


Persian language is also fromour same large linguistic family. YES. Them and us.  They came from so diverse paths in culture: 
  • Arabic to Iberian Europe
  • Mughal  English from Indian subcontinent
  • Greek into Europe
  • Turkish through French
  • .......


   12 en castellà
  • ALFIL
  • CASACA
  • CASACA
  • DIVÁN
  • GACETA
  • JAQUE MATE
  • PARCHE
  • PERSIANA
  • SERRALLO
  • TULIPÁN
  • TURBANTE
  • ZANCADA



   21 In English 

AZUR
Middle English (denoting a blue dye): from Old French asur, azur, from medieval Latin azzurum, azolum, from Arabic al ‘the’ + lāzaward (from Persian lāžward ‘lapis lazuli’)


BAZAR
From Persian بازار bāzār (="market")

BEIGE

BURKA
Etymology: Arabic برقع burqu' ("face covering with eye openings") via Russian бурка, probably from бурый buryi dark brown (of a horse), probably of Turkic origin; akin to Turkish bur red like a fox; the Turkic word probably from Persian بر bur reddish brown.[45

CARAVAN
Italian caravana, carovana, from Persian کاروان kāravān. a company of travelers, pilgrims, or merchants on a long journey through desert

CHINA
From Chinese 秦 (referring to the Qin Dynasty), Sanskrit चीन Chinas,and Latin; Modification (influenced by China, the country) of Persian چین Cin (Chinese) porcelain:[Also, Japan and Korea are repeatedly referred as "MaaChin" in old Persian literature that literally means "beyond China".

GAZELLE 
from Old French gazel, from Arabic غَزَال‎ (ḡazāl) from Persian ghazal which means “elegant and quick”

KHAKI 
from Hindustani and Urdu ख़ाकी/خاکی khaki (="made from soil", "dusty" or "of the colour of soil"), from Persian خاک khak (= "soil")

KIOSK 
from کوشک kushk (="palace, portico, pavilion") or Middle Persian gōšak "corner"

LEMON 
into England through France. The Old French word probably came from Italian limone, another step on the route that leads back to the Arabic word ليمون، ليمون laymūn or līmūn, which comes from the Persian word لیمون līmūn.

LILAC
from Pers. لیلک lilak, variant of نیلک nilak "bluish," from नील nil "indigo"

ORANGE (the color) 
It comes from "nāranjy" in Persian that means "colored like nārange" and the tangerine fruit is called nārangy (نارنگی).

PAGODA
via Portuguese pagode, from a corruption of Pers. بت‌کده butkada, from but "idol" + kada"dwelling."

PAJAMA
from Urdu/Hindi पैजामा paajaama, from Persian پايجامه - پا جامه pāë (pāÿ) jāmah, from pAy (="leg") + jAma (="garment"). of, pertaining to, or resembling pajamas

PARADISE 
via French: "paradis" and Latin: "paradisus," from Greek paradeisos(παράδεισος) (=enclosed park"), from the Avestan word pairidaeza(a walled enclosure), which is a compound of pairi- (around), a cognate of the Greek περί peri-, and -diz (to create, make), a cognate of the English dough.

PEACH
a corruption of the Latin word "Persicum." Peaches are called in Latin malum Persicum (Persian apple) prunum persicum (Persian plum), or simply persicum (pl. persici).

SERENDIPITY 
from the Persian fairy tale The Three Princes of Serendip سه شاهزاده‌ى سرانديپ, from Persian Sarandip سرانديپ(="Sri Lanka"),

SITAR
: via Hindi सितार sitar, from Pers. ستار sitar "three-stringed," from sih/she "three" (O.Pers. thri-) + Persian. tar "string". 

SPINACH 
Middle French espinache, espinage, from Old Spanish espinaca, from Arabic يسبناخ, يسفينآخ isbnakh, isfinaakh, from Persian اسپاخ aspanakh

TAMBUR
Etymology: French, drum, from Middle French, from Arabic طنبور tanbur, modification (influenced by tunbur, a lute) of Persian تعبیر tabir

TASSE
tasse, an O.Fr. borrowing from Arabic تصح tassah, from Pers. تشت tasht "cup, saucer".