Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2014 December 7
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December 7
[edit]Correct populations of Armenian cities
[edit]This question may need the attention of someone who is familiar with administrative divisions in Armenia or who can read Armenian. Several of the English-language Wikipedia articles on Armenian cities use a 2011 Armenian census fact sheet [1] (p. 20) from the National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia for their population figure, citing de jure populations of 1,121,900 for Yerevan, 146,100 for Gyumri, 105,000 for Vanadzor, 57,600 for Vagharshapat, etc. However, the Statistical Service's website also has a 2011 census summary table (English version [2]) and (Armenian version [3]) that looks more authoritative to me. It states the following de jure populations from the 2011 census: 1,060,138 for "Yerevan community", 121,976 for "Gyumri city", 86,199 for "Vanadzor city", and 46,540 for "Vagharshapat". These figures are all lower than the figures in the fact sheet. I do not know whether there are some differences in how the administrative districts are defined between the two sources. Can anyone shed some light on which figures best represent the de jure populations of Armenian cities for the purpose of editing Wikipedia articles? Thank you. Ketone16 (talk) 00:25, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
Shang Dynasty cowrie shells
[edit]Did the Shang Dynasty's use of cowrie shells as currency translate culturally into later unrelated practices or cultural sayings of subsequent dynasties? --KAVEBEAR (talk) 09:43, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- The main impact is in the script. The radical bèi (trad 貝, simp 贝), meaning cowrie shell, turns up in characters for all sorts of words relating to currency and trade (買 mǎi buy; 賣 mài sell etc) and on its own can mean currency. Fiddlersmouth (talk) 23:19, 11 December 2014 (UTC)
A setting of the Nunc Dimittis
[edit](Sorry if I'm posting this to the wrong sub-page, but this is the one for 'Religion' (and classical music?)).
I've been trying to identify a setting of the Nunc Dimittis that I recall having sung at school. I think we used to sing the settings by Walmisley in D minor, and by Stanford in B flat. But there was also a setting, that I don't think was a variant of either of those, that opened with a very long initial "Lord", on one note, held over four 'pulses' of the organ (four bars? four half-bars? don't know).
Can anyone suggest an identification? Jheald (talk) 09:47, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- A search on IMSLP gives 127 results, so if you can be bothered to plough your way through those you might find it. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 12:36, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- (edit conflict) We have an article; List of English settings of Magnificats and Nunc dimittis (you don't get one without the other!) and as you can see, there are an awful lot of them, and whoever wrote it only got as far as "E". Another list is here. Alansplodge (talk) 12:47, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
'All in one article' sought
[edit]Question asked and answered - this is not a forum [citation needed]. AndyTheGrump (talk) 10:49, 10 December 2014 (UTC) |
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The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it. |
Hello, I would like to know if there is an article that provides information such as Polytheism, Monotheism, Monism, Atheism, Deism, Pantheism and so on, all in one information for to learn. -- (Russell.mo (talk) 14:06, 7 December 2014 (UTC))
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Mirror Writing - Da Vinci
[edit]Is there a theory as to why or how Da Vinci wrote in mirror writing? I am right-handed, and after breaking my arm several years ago and having it in a sling and some sort of wired contraption for physiotherapy for six months, I found out by accident that it was extremely easy to do mirror writing with my left hand (though very difficult to write 'normally'). KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 19:37, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- I've seen such a theory but I'm not able to give you at this time any source as unfortunately I can't recall where I read this. The theory was essentially that it was because (1) he was left-handed and (2) he tried to avoid making it too easy for people to casually be able to decipher what he wrote, even though of course this would have been a very easy obstacle to overcome for someone who really wanted to pry into his papers. The two reasons sort of combined together. Contact Basemetal here 20:02, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- Regarding Leonardo's left-handedness you can take a look at this. If you have the patience to read through that long article you'll find several theories from his near contemporaries as to why he wrote the way he did. And I'm sure if you Google "Leonardo left-handed" etc. you'll get enough hits and theories to last you for a while. Contact Basemetal here 20:09, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- The following article while not directly relevant to your question deals with Leonardo's handedness and whether he might not have been born right-handed and only become left-handed in his early childhood. Contact Basemetal here 20:41, 7 December 2014 (UTC)
- How would reading/writing mirror kanji/hanzi compare in terms of difficulty? And how hard is it for left hand users to learn to write regular kanji/hanzi? The character stroke order seems to be all wrong for the left hand. Contact Basemetal here 14:19, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- Interesting of you to ask that, as it was in fact when writing a letter in Chinese, that I found I was suddenly writing in mirror image. I checked in the mirror and found it was exactly the same as if I had done it with my right hand (non-mirror). As for writing normally with the left hand for a left-handed person, I doubt that the stroke order would matter much, as the Latin alphabet, or in fact any alphabet also has a certain stroke order, which may or may not depend on the person (who has been writing for all his/her life and is therefore used to it). KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 14:31, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- Why were you writing with your left hand? Did you become a left hand user after that accident? Contact Basemetal here 15:02, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- I was writing with me left hand because I couldn't use my right hand for six months. I can still write with my left hand, but choose not to. I type most of the time now, anyway. KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 16:09, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- Oh. So you finding you were suddenly writing Chinese in mirror image with your left hand happened a long time ago!? Not recently!? Contact Basemetal here 20:28, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- It was 18 years ago. KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 07:17, 12 December 2014 (UTC)
- Oh. So you finding you were suddenly writing Chinese in mirror image with your left hand happened a long time ago!? Not recently!? Contact Basemetal here 20:28, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- I was writing with me left hand because I couldn't use my right hand for six months. I can still write with my left hand, but choose not to. I type most of the time now, anyway. KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 16:09, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- Why were you writing with your left hand? Did you become a left hand user after that accident? Contact Basemetal here 15:02, 8 December 2014 (UTC)
- Interesting of you to ask that, as it was in fact when writing a letter in Chinese, that I found I was suddenly writing in mirror image. I checked in the mirror and found it was exactly the same as if I had done it with my right hand (non-mirror). As for writing normally with the left hand for a left-handed person, I doubt that the stroke order would matter much, as the Latin alphabet, or in fact any alphabet also has a certain stroke order, which may or may not depend on the person (who has been writing for all his/her life and is therefore used to it). KägeTorä - (影虎) (Chin Wag) 14:31, 8 December 2014 (UTC)