Traduction - art 1 activité » Fun with language »
Off topic: Order of cardinal directions in your language
Auteur du fil: Port City
Port City
Port City
Nouvelle-Zélande
japonais vers anglais
+ ...
Oct 19, 2015

Welcome to the Fun with language forum! This forum is part of the Translator playground: a place for translators to have fun, to network, to learn, and to hone their translation or linguistic skills. See the announcement here.

Need a quick break from work? In this forum translators and language professionals can share quotes about translation, tongue twisters and word plays, translation challenges, etc.

All are welcome to participate and to add new items to this and the other areas of the Translator playground; have fun with it! If you need help or would like to propose an addition to the Translator playground, contact site staff through the online support system.



Hi there,

I'm curious about the order of cardinal directions (ex., North, South, East and West) used in different languages.

In Japanese, it's East, West, South and North, while I've seen East, South, West and North (clockwise starting from East) used in Chinese.

What's the order in your language? Thank you for your input in advance.
 
Zohor Ouamara
Zohor Ouamara
Algérie
Local time: 21:32
anglais vers français
+ ...
Order of cardinal directions in algeria Oct 19, 2015

Hi,

In Algeria the order of cardinal directions is East,West, North and South
 
Francisco Vare
Francisco Vare
Pologne
Local time: 22:32
polonais vers espagnol
+ ...
In Spanish... Oct 19, 2015

...we have Norte (N), Sur (S), Este (E) and Oeste (W), N-S-E-W for us.
 
oxygen4u
oxygen4u
Portugal
Local time: 21:32
anglais vers portugais
+ ...
In Portugal Oct 19, 2015

In Portugal we say North, South, East and West.

I had no idea there was a different way of saying this.
 
Barbara Pozzi
Barbara Pozzi  Identity Verified
Italie
Local time: 22:32
allemand vers italien
+ ...
In Italian Oct 19, 2015

... we say North, South, West and East.
 
Port City
Port City
Nouvelle-Zélande
japonais vers anglais
+ ...
AUTEUR DU FIL
Thank you! Oct 20, 2015

Thank you for your input.

It's quite intriguing to see that different languages use a different word order while we all share the same concept. If you know the order in a language not shown thus far, you are welcome to share with us.

Lastly, thank you again to those who have contributed.
 
Dani Karuniawan
Dani Karuniawan  Identity Verified
Indonésie
Local time: 03:32
anglais vers indonésien
+ ...
order of direction Oct 20, 2015

In Indonesia (my area), the order is East, South, West, North.
Why?
Because childhood song taught us in our kindergarten: east, southeast, south, southwest, west, northwest, north, northeast.
 
Christina B.
Christina B.
Suède
Local time: 22:32
français vers allemand
+ ...
not sure if there is a special order in German Oct 20, 2015

Spontaneously I thought of North, South, West, East,

but when I looked it up on the Internet, I found N,E,S,W quite often (=klockwise), many times NSEW and some times NSWE.





[Edited at 2015-10-20 08:26 GMT]
 


Aucun modérateur n'est spécifiquement affecté à ce forum
Pour rapporter des violations des règles du site ou pour obtenir de l'aide, veuillez contacter l'équipe du site »


Order of cardinal directions in your language






Wordfast Pro
Translation Memory Software for Any Platform

Exclusive discount for ProZ.com users! Save over 13% when purchasing Wordfast Pro through ProZ.com. Wordfast is the world's #1 provider of platform-independent Translation Memory software. Consistently ranked the most user-friendly and highest value

Buy now! »
TM-Town
Manage your TMs and Terms ... and boost your translation business

Are you ready for something fresh in the industry? TM-Town is a unique new site for you -- the freelance translator -- to store, manage and share translation memories (TMs) and glossaries...and potentially meet new clients on the basis of your prior work.

More info »