Disputatio:Planetarium Bibliothecae Alexandrinae

Source?[fontem recensere]

We need to cite some source on this, especially if there are no interwikis. Do we know the name of it in any other language? I can't grasp the grammar of "Planetarium Centrum Scientificum". Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 11:32, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I've found an English article about it now. Apparently it's called "Planetarium Science Center", so I have to admit that our Latin title is neither more nor less obscure than the English ... I notice that the name apud Communia is "Bibliotheca Alexandrina Planetarium", which at least has a clear meaning, and we could Latinize it as "Planetarium Bibliothecae Alexandrinae". But whether anyone else calls it that, I don't know. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 13:21, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I don't like the grammar of Planetarium Centrum Scientificum to...

I've also noticed these two different names. I did not notice its official website (at www.bibalex.org), so now when I am looking in it it calls it "Planetarium Science Center". Even this English name sound illogical, but beside that, in can be "Centri Scientiae Planetarium" in Latin. -- Donatello (disputatio) 14:35, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC).[reply]

No, it can't, not if planetarium here functions as preposed English nouns often do: as an objective genitive; in which case the phrase is likelier to be Planetarii Centrum Scientificum.^[1] That is, if centrum 'the center of a circle' is acceptable for noncircles (as it is when it means 'kernel, knot in wood'). IacobusAmor (disputatio) 18:22, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

But even this sound little strange. So maybe "Planetarium Bibliothecae Alexandrinae"? -- Donatello (disputatio) 14:35, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC).[reply]

If planetarius, -a, -um is an adjective, Planetarium Centrum Scientificum is perfectly grammatical, though it might strictly then mean 'scientific center having something to do with the planets' rather than 'scientific center having something to do with a planetarium'. IacobusAmor (disputatio) 18:22, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, I agree 100%, one could translate our present pagename that way: thus it could' conform with Latin grammar. But the English name can't mean that. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 18:45, 9 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The other languages on the website help us here. The French is "Le Centre des Sciences du Planétarium", and the Arabic is clearest, because of the genders: "markazu (center, masc.) l-qubbati (dome, fem.) l-shamāwiyati (heavenly, fem.) l-ʿilmiyu (scientific, masc.)" = "centrum scientificum tholi caelestis" = "planetarii centrum scientificum". But I think "Planetarium Bibliothecae Alexandrinae" is fine too. Lesgles (disputatio) 22:53, 15 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I'm glad you had a go at the Arabic: I couldn't face it. I must admit it makes the meaning clear. If you feel, for this reason, that "planetarii centrum scientificum" is the best answer, by all means move again. No objection. Andrew Dalby (disputatio) 23:22, 15 Februarii 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Notae[fontem recensere]

↑ For example, a seashore is a 'shore of the sea' (maris litus), not, as the syntax of Centri Scientifici Planetarium would have it, a sea of the shore (litoris mare).

[1] For example, a seashore is a 'shore of the sea' (maris litus), not, as the syntax of Centri Scientifici Planetarium would have it, a sea of the shore (litoris mare).

[1]