User talk:Benjaminb

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1 Welcome!
2 Pig Latin
3 Category:Texas mountains
4 Image:Quercus stellata.jpg
5 About Koine vs Modern Greek
6 Texas Counties map
7 Help with Translation

[edit] Welcome!

Hello, Benjaminb, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Wikipedia:Ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome! -- Zanimum

[edit] Pig Latin

Hey, I started the Template:User pig thing, but I don't mind if you do whatever you want on the templates. I think that having it split up is the right thing to do; however, I'll admit that the whole thing is kind of a joke, so feel free to do whatever you want. (Whatever you do/don't do, please keep the Template:User_pig-0, as there does need to be one for those who don't speak Pig Latin.) Oh-ay, and-ay elcomew-ay to-ay ikipediaw-ay. Matt Yeager 00:26, 19 October 2005 (UTC)

Hi Matt, thanks for the note. I think I'll leave it just like it is (keeping the changes I made on Template:User pig), so I'll keep all the others, including Template:User pig-0. Also, I think I'll try putting a link to it on the Wikipedia:Babel page, we'll see if anyone deletes it. Did you ever try putting it on there? Avehay ayay eatgray ayday. –Benjamin (talk) 23:19, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Aha! I see you a'r'dy put it on there. Anksthay Attmay. –Benjamin (talk) 23:23, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Since there's links to all the Pig Latin templates on the Wikipedia:Babel page, I'm going to go ahead and redo the others too, to make them more aesthetically pleasing. –Benjamin (talk) 16:22, 21 October 2005 (UTC)

Hey, thanks for the help. (Oh, and by the way--when someone sends you a message and you reply to that, you usually want to respond on that person's talk page, so that they'll easily see your response.) Gain-ay... ank-thay uo-yay. Matt Yeager 01:42, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Category:Texas mountains

Hi Benjaminb. I am recommending the new Category:Texas mountains for deletion. The existing category, Category:Mountains of Texas follows the naming conventions of Wikipedia:WikiProject Mountains, so there is no need for your redirect. The other categories named "State mountains" need to be renamed. Mike Dillon 01:37, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Quercus stellata.jpg

Hi Benjamin - nice pic you added at Post oak, but I'm not convinced it is that species (compare e.g. [1]), I suspect from the very irregular leaf shape it may be a hybrid (possibly between Post oak and Texas live oak). - MPF 00:53, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Hi Ben - thanks for the note; being deciduous doesn't necessarily rule out an evergreen oak as one parent, though it does make it rather less likely. The reason I'm thinking it is a hybrid is the mixture of slightly lobed leaves, leaves with lobes on one side but not the other, etc; this sort of "split personality" is more frequent in hybrids (I've seen it happen in other known-parentage hybrid oaks). Another hybrid option is with Chinkapin oak (Quercus muhlenbergii, which is mapped as being in your area of Texas). Have a go at pushing it through this oak identification key at Flora of North America and see where it comes out. I gave it a go from the photo, but couldn't get a definite answer as some questions need a magnifying glass to look at hairs on the underside of the leaves! - MPF 18:59, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] About Koine vs Modern Greek

You asked me:

Can most speakers of Modern Greek understand Koine Greek, and if so, how different are the two dialects?

First, let me say this. By Koine, most people mean the Greek found in Greek texts (by non-atticizing authors) from around 300 BC to around 300AD. Now, that's six centuries during which Greek was undergoing major rapid changes in phonology, lexicon and syntax.

So we need to be a bit careful when we compare Modern Greek to texts from that period. I believe that 95% of Greeks understand around 90% of any text of the New Testament or LXX Koine.

On the other hand, maybe there is around 75% mutual intelligibility between modern Greek and the early hellenistic texts (hellenistic philosophers like Epicurus, Epictetos etc.).

Most of the modern features of the language where already starting to take place in Koine Greek: a) Disapearance of the dual number; b) Reduced use of infinitival and participial phrase constructions (Modern Greek has no infinitives and a small number of participles per verb) c) Phasing out of the perfect tense (Modern Greek reinvented a new one using the auxiliary verb έχω). d) Phasing out of the optative mood (no longer exists in Modern Greek)

Yes I'd say that gospel koine is for Greeks as Shakespear is for native speakers of English. Maybe, attic greek (4th - 5th century BC) compares best with Chaucer's English (you need more training to understand it). Homeric Greek (7th-8th Century BC) is a harder nut to crack for the untrained native speaker of Greek, but still easier than, say, Beowulf is to the native speaker of English.

So it seems that Greek has changed less in 28 centuries than English has in 10. This is because in Greek, there was always a "proper" way of writing and talking (=the old way) and literacy was more widespread. So there was a lot of conservatism and resistance to change.

I hope this helps.Yannos 05:04, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Texas Counties map

I saw your request on WP:Maps/Requested maps for a blank map showing the counties of Texas. I whipped up an Texas counties blank map.png using the colour scheme you mentioned. I hope this helps with your articles. --NormanEinstein 21:26, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help with Translation

Hi, my name is Ricardo Ramírez, I'm from Colombia and I'm working in the article of Cúcuta. Can you help me to translate it from the Spanish Wikipedia?