Les paraules de les noves tecnologies (1)

Hi ha moltes paraules que utilitzem en el món de la informàtica o de les noves tecnologies que vénen de l’anglès i les seves arrels o significats poden ser curiosos. Si ens parem a pensar un moment, fins i tot, ens podem adonar que sabem més anglès del que ens pensem. Algunes són molt fàcils, d’altres no són tan evidents. Avui repassarem alguns exemples.

Internet és una barreja de inter + net. El prefix inter (del llatí) vol dir “entre”, i net significa “xarxa”. La paraula net, fora del món de les tecnologies, s’utilitza, per exemple, per parlar de la xarxa del tennis, o de la de pescar. (d’aquí xarxa inter(connectada)).

Canviem només el prefix inter per intra i ja tenim intranet, una xarxa de comunicació interna.

Les sigles www representen el World Wide Web.
World wide, vol dir que alguna cosa està estesa per tot el món. Web vol dir, també, xarxa o malla. S’usaria per a parlar de una teranyina, per exemple (per tant, www significa la xarxa d’abast mundial).

Website = web (xarxa) + site (lloc) i ja tenim un lloc a la xarxa.

Email és una abreviació de electronic mail (correu electrònic).

Google és un homòfon sorgit de la paraula googol. Un googol és un número molt gran, un u amb cent zeros darrera. Intenta constatar que al Google podem trobar (gairebé) una infinitat de coses.

Facebook = face (cara) + book (llibre), per tant, llibre de cares. És el terme que usaríem per parlar dels típics llibres a les pel·lícules americanes on surten les fotos dels alumnes.

YouTube = You (tu, vosaltres) + Tube (referent al tubs de raigs catòdics, s’ha usat com a col·loquialisme per referir-se a la televisió – per tant, You Tube = la tele que fas tu).

Encara que la paraula acceptada en català pel Termcat és bloc, en castellà s’ha mantingut la paraula blog igual que en l’anglès. Blog és una contracció de weblog, o sigui web (xarxa) + log. En anglès, un log, en aquest context, és el quadern de bitàcola on el capità d’un vaixell apunta dia rere dia els successos. També és famós en la cultura popular gràcies al programa Star Trek que sempre començava amb les paraules del Capità Kirk, “captain’s log, stardate 51243...”.

Twitter, el servei per poder enviar missatges molt curts (tweets) a una xarxa de contactes també té una arrel interessant. El verb, to twitter, és el que fan els ocells: refilar; o les persones que parlen amb nervis sense dir gairebé res: garlar.
Tweet, és quasi bé el mateix que twitter, encara que es tendeix a utilitzar-la per descriure els sons aïllats dels ocells en comptes d’un so continuat: piular.
El que potser no tenien tan clar els americans que van triar aquest nom pel servei que havien inventat, és que twitter s’assembla molt a la paraula twit, la qual en anglès britànic vol dir “curt de gambals”. Això ha portat a multitud d’acudits o comentaris sarcàstics (els quals no compartim) sobre la utilitat del sistema twitter o del tipus de persona que el fa servir !

Catalans optimistes?

Encara que en anglès és tan correcte dir Just a moment (espera’t un moment), com Just a minute (espera’t un minut), trobo que la segona opció és molt més usual.

A Catalunya sembla que és més normal dir Espera’t un moment.

Potser els catalans són més ràpids que els anglesos, més optimistes, o menys realistes?


Although we can say both Just a moment or Just a minute in English, the latter seems to be more commonly used.

However, in Catalan we usually say Espera’t un moment (wait a moment).

Are the English slower, more pessimistic or, simply, more realistic?

Countable and uncountable nouns (3)

And finally, a few examples of some common mistakes regarding the question of countable/uncountable, or singular/plural, nouns. On the left (in italics), the incorrect sentence; on the right, the correct version.

The news were interesting today. The news was interesting today.

I saw a news about the war. I saw a news item (or, some news) about the war.

The people is happy. The people are happy.

There wasn’t any book. There weren’t any books.

How much apples did you buy? How many apples did you buy?

There was little children at the party. There were few children at the party.

My doctor gave me an advice. My doctor gave me some advice (or, a piece of advice).

He ate too much crisps. He ate too many crisps.

I have too many homeworks. I have too much homework.

Countable and uncountable nouns (2)

Dogs (gossos) are countable in English and Catalan. Rice (arròs) is uncountable in both languages. However, some different or confusing cases include:

PEOPLE – this word is actually the plural of the word person and, hence, is countable. If we think of it in Catalan as "persones", there is no confusion but if we translate it mentally as "gent", we must remember that "la gent" is a singular concept here:

La gent està contenta. The people are happy.

FURNITURE (mobles, mobiliari) – uncountable. If we want to count individual objects in the house we must count ITEMS (or PIECES) OF FURNITURE.

ADVICE (consell) – uncountable. In Catalan, "et dono tres consells". In English, three PIECES OF ADVICE.

NEWS (notícies) – uncountable. Again, either THERE IS SOME NEWS or WE HEARD AN ITEM OF NEWS.

INFORMATION (informació) – uncountable.

GRAPES (raïm) – countable.

Another important point to make regarding this question is the fact that many words in English may be either countable or uncountable depending on the context or meaning. Examples include:
CHOCOLATE (xocolata), uncountable. A CHOCOLATE (un bombó), countable.

COFFEE (cafè), uncountable in general as a powder or liquid. A COFFEE (un cafè) is countable and taken to mean, informally but correctly, a cup of coffee.

PAPER (paper), uncountable. To say “dona’m un paper” we must say “give me a sheet (or piece) of paper”. A PAPER (un diari), countable – an abbreviation of newspaper.

TIME (temps), uncountable. A TIME (un cop, una vegada), countable.

CHICKEN (pollastre, la carn), uncountable. A CHICKEN (un pollastre, l’animal), countable.

I ate too much chicken. There are too many chickens on this farm.

This is a short and simple introduction to the problem - there are many more examples which you may come across when learning or using English. Keep studying!

Countable and uncountable nouns (1)

In English, Catalan and Spanish, we can group nouns into countable nouns and uncountable ones. What do we mean by this? We consider a noun to be countable if you can count it – one dog, two dogs … However, many nouns cannot be counted. For example, we cannot have “two airs” or “two wines”. It is important to see the difference in English as it affects several aspects of the language.

Uncountable nouns only have one, singular, form – always "water", never "waters". Hence, any related verbs must also be singular:

There is water. Water has many properties.

However, countable nouns can use singular or plural forms:

There was a cat and there were two cows.

Also some words we use to define quantities are used with either uncountable nouns or countable ones, but not with both. Examples include much or many, a little or a few. For example:
I didn’t eat much rice or many apples. She has a little money and a few friends.

As a general rule, most nouns which are countable in Catalan are also countable in English, but there are some interesting differences which we shall look at in our next post...