Language Cooking [micro-learning #1]: Finnish, Russian, Turkish, (Mandarin) Chinese, Korean, Indonesian

[SGP]

Yes I agree that the -i isn't really needed, and that it can be omitted.
The example sentence I provided was based on something I learned,
so I used its very same pattern, but with a different fruit.

And as for "buah"... Before saying anything about it, I'd really like to point out (even if it probably wouldn't be necessary) that nothing I write is meant like arguing and so on. It is only meant to be maybe a little discussion about certain matters related to certain languages.

Again, it is very true that "buah" means fruit. But what if it had more than one meaning, and we only would have known one up to now?

You could look it up at Kamus Bahasa Indonesia, for example (http://kamusbahasaindonesia.org/buah).

"[n] (1) bagian tumbuhan yg berasal dr bunga atau putik (biasanya berbiji): pohon mangga itu banyak -- nya;
(2) kata penggolong bermacam-macam benda: dua -- kapal; se -- negeri; dua -- rencana;
(3) pokok; bahan: -- percakapan;
(4) hasil: -- jerih payahnya kini dapat dinikmati oleh keturunannya"

Especially (2) could be of interest.

[Deinonysus]

Yes I agree that the -i isn't really needed, and that it can be omitted.
The example sentence I provided was based on something I learned,
so I used its very same pattern, but with a different fruit.

And as for "buah"... Before saying anything about it, I'd really like to point out (even if it probably wouldn't be necessary) that nothing I write is meant like arguing and so on. It is only meant to be maybe a little discussion about certain matters related to certain languages.

Again, it is very true that "buah" means fruit. But what if it had more than one meaning, and we only would have known one up to now?

You could look it up at Kamus Bahasa Indonesia, for example (http://kamusbahasaindonesia.org/buah).

"[n] (1) bagian tumbuhan yg berasal dr bunga atau putik (biasanya berbiji): pohon mangga itu banyak -- nya;
(2) kata penggolong bermacam-macam benda: dua -- kapal; se -- negeri; dua -- rencana;
(3) pokok; bahan: -- percakapan;
(4) hasil: -- jerih payahnya kini dapat dinikmati oleh keturunannya"

Especially (2) could be of interest.

I didn't take what you wrote as argument, and I also hope that my tone wasn't too argumentative since that was not my intention.

My level of Indonesian is not high enough to completely understand that definition, but going by Google translate, it seems to agree with a secondary entry on Wiktionary:
1. Classifier for anything generally concretely big and having volume, as well as abstract things.

So, I stand corrected, "buah" does have a second meaning as a classifier for certain non-fruit objects.

Dua buat kapal: Two ships, or literally two "fruits" of ships
Sebuat negeri: One country, or literally one "fruit" of countries.
Dua buat rencana: One plan, or literally two "fruits" of plans.

This is probably analogous to English counters like "ears of corn". You're not saying that they're literally ears, that's just how you say it.

From what I remember from my Japanese classes long ago, Japanese has a fairly complex system of counters (for example, "hon" for something shaped like a scroll). Now I wonder how extensive Bahasa Indonesia's counter system is.

[SGP]

No, didn't perceive you as argumentative at all. It's just that "that SGP", as I sometimes choose to call myself , simply wants to do what he can to avoid a possible misunderstanding. For that reason only I pointed out that nothing that I write is meant that way.

As for the Japanese way of counting things... yes... it is a bit more difficult than the one of other languages. But it is still much easier than Keigo... the Japanese point of view related to politeness. Some might even go as far as calling the different levels of Keigo several languages inside Japanese. Because the word choice greatly differs.

And returning to Indonesian once again... I really like that simplicity that is found in several parts of it.

[SGP]

Finnish: An introduction to cases (possibly the first out of several introductions to the Suomi cases)

talo: a house, the house

talossa: in a house, in the house

taloissa: in (some or many) houses, in the houses

päivä: today

annos: dish (as in: a meal)

päivän annos: a dish of today, the dish of today, today's dish

maito: milk

kanssa: with

maiton kanssa: with milk

sinua (in combination with "varten" added after it): For you. "you" on its own, as a subject, is sinä.


Of course, this is by no means a complete list of Finnish cases.

And I intentionally decided to not even call them by name this time.

[SGP]

Mandarin Chinese:



天 [天] tiān: sky

木 [木] mù: wood

瀑布 [瀑布] pùbù: waterfall

墙 [牆] qiáng: wall

仓鼠 [倉鼠] cāngshǔ: hamster

[SGP]

Russian:



молоко́ [plural only]: milk

хло́пья [plural only]: flakes

хло́пья сне́га: [plural only] snow flakes

кукуру́зный: an adjective meaning corn (maize). It is a part of the following expression.

кукуру́зные хло́пья [plural only]: cornflakes

[SGP]

Russian:
о́блако N: cloud

дождь M: rain

Дождь прошёл: the rain has stopped

ко́шка F: cat

ры́ба F: fish

здесь: here

мно́го: much, a great number [of], ...

Здесь во́дится мно́го ры́бы: There are many fishes here.

[SGP]

Russian:

магази́н M: shop

бума́га F: paper

кни́га F: book

тост M: toast

ба́шня F: tower

[SGP]

Korean:
해양 haeyang: sea

하늘 haneul: sky

색 saek: color

하늘색 haneulsaek: sky blue

오렌지 orenji: orange (the fruit)

[SGP]

Korean:
토끼 tokki: rabbit

당근 danggeun: carrot

음식 eumsik: food

민속 음식 minsok eumsik: ethnic food

망치 mangchi: hammer