Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2012 March 13

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March 13

Pahawh Hmong script help

What is the Pahawh Hmong script seen in this page for Jonas V. Vangay/Vang Na/Na Vaj?

And for Shong Lue Yang (Soob Lwj Yaj), Gnia Yee Yang (Nyiaj Yig Yaj), and Chia Koua Vang (Txiaj Kuam Vaj) (Page 1) - and Mitt Moua (Miv Muas), the associate translator (Page 3)

Thanks WhisperToMe (talk) 00:31, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

This script is not yet part of Unicode (looks like it's in the pipeline) so someone would have to use an image to show this here.--Cam (talk) 00:48, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Ok. I'll see if I can find somebody who knows how to make images of them. WhisperToMe (talk) 17:09, 17 March 2012 (UTC)

Currently famous people that use pseudonyms that mononyms and who are not musicians?

I am writing a paper for English about popular people that use pseudonyms, and it seems to me that the only really well known people that use pseudonyms are musicians like Sting, Ke$ha, Madonna, Lady Gaga, etc. I am wondering, are there any currently popular people in the arts, like authors, actors, artists, etc. that use pseudonyms, or is using a pseudonym only acceptable for musicians and no one else? --99.118.2.20 (talk) 04:17, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Here's a list of mostly American celebrities with their real/stage names: [1]. A common thread seems to be that it's good to have an English name to make it in American society. Obviously, porn actors also have stage names. You might also look into pen names for authors. John Le Carré is one. Common reasons are: being a woman (think of J. K Rowling, who uses her initials, though not a pseudonym); writing adult novels; writing on controversial topics. For a list, see Category:Pseudonymous writers. 96.46.204.126 (talk) 04:35, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

J K Rowling uses her initial (singular) plus another letter (K) that was never part of her name. Her full legal name is Joanne Rowling. So, it can be argued that "J K Rowling" is indeed a pseudonym, or at least a pseudo-pseudonym.  :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 07:51, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Russell Smith (novelist) wrote a pornographic novel under the pen name Diane Savage. The reason was he was trying to write from a woman's point of view. He thought female readers would be put off if they knew it was a man writing. 96.46.204.126 (talk) 04:46, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

I meant mononymous, not pseudonymous. Sorry for the confusion. --99.118.2.20 (talk) 05:10, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

So, somebody who uses a single name, which isn't there own name, and who isn't a musician ? ("Madonna" is the real first name of Madonna Louise Ciccone, BTW). There's the 1960's model Twiggy, for one. I imagine there are many fake wrestlers with a single name, perhaps with "The" in front. Here's a list of wrestler names with many single names included: [2]. And if we allow "The", we must, unfortunately, include The Situation. StuRat (talk) 05:23, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Topol and Bidisha are two that spring to mind; more may come to me later. But if you're really looking just for mononyms, why is Lady Gaga in your list? Henry^Flower 05:33, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

But, of course, "Topol" is Chaim Topol's real last name and "Bidisha" is Bidisha Bandyopadhyay's real first name. StuRat (talk) 05:36, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

But if we're counting Madonna, surely they're in too? Mononymous_person#In_the_West has a few more examples. Henry^Flower 05:44, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

See also List of one-word stage names. Some Brazilian soccer players like Pelé and Ronaldo are quite famous. 96.46.204.126 (talk) 06:27, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Twiggy, Pelé and Ronaldo fail the artist test.
Sleigh (talk) 07:02, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Teller's full legal name is Teller.--Shirt58 (talk) 07:33, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Banksy. Ghmyrtle (talk) 07:42, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Didn't the OP clarify that he's interested in mononyms? He withdrew the requirement for them to be pseudonymous as well. It seems to me that Madonna, Topol abnd Bidisha all fit the bill. -- Jack of Oz ^{[your turn]} 07:57, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

I've changed the section header to try to reflect what the OP was really trying to ask. And I'm assuming he's not talking about folks who are referred to in tabloids by their first names just for stylistic reasons (i.e. as if the reader knows them personally). ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 09:40, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Just for the record, I hate it when tabloids refer to celebrities just by their first name, on the assumption that readers are familiar enough with them. Whenever that happens, I think to myself "Contrary to what you tabloid writers would believe, not every Finn devotes their entire life to keeping up with all the celebrities in Finland have recently been up to." It's becoming all too frequent when I read a newspaper headline such as "Minna did such and such! See the pictures!" and I have to wonder "Minna f*cking who?". JIP | Talk 20:50, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

That may be an instance of name dropping, when they refer to somebody by their first name, which is supposed to make us think they are good friends. If a gossip columnist does that, there's a good chance this is why. StuRat (talk) 07:59, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

Jordan - Cucumber Mike (talk) 10:21, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Record producers and Sound engineers Flood and Mack go by mononyms. --Shirt58 (talk) 10:57, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Nani. Richard Avery (talk) 12:37, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

In Burma, mononomy is not unusual, so you get people whose full legal names are things like the director Thukha and the actor Zeya. Those two are dead, so they don't fit the "currently popular" criterion, but if you browse through the subcategories of Category:Burmese people you may find others. Angr (talk) 15:26, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Also the case in Indonesia - one example is Yunizar. Ghmyrtle (talk) 16:28, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Depending on how freely you make the distinction, Elizabeth may count, along with other Royals. For example, when William was enrolled at university and in the military, he was styled "William Wales" on official forms which required a double-barreled name, although that's derived from the title "Prince William of Wales" (as he was at the time), rather than any official birth name, or even the family name. (Which is Windsor or Mountbatten-Windsor, depending on how you interpret things.) -- 71.35.120.88 (talk) 16:21, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

The writer Alison Spedding used to use only "Spedding", though that may have changed and she may not qualify as "famous" by your standards. The very recently dead Jean Giraud was generally known by his nom de plume Mœbius, and such a practice has, I think, been not uncommon in the field of fine arts, though I'm not particularly knowledgeable about the contemporary scene, though there is of course Banksy. {The poster non-monomynously formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.78.4 (talk) 19:59, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Ooh, your mention of Mœbius brought Hergé to my mind—surely one of the most famous examples. He may be dead, but the recent film has brought him to prominence again. Deor (talk) 23:51, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Lots of artists like Gotlib and ATom just use their first names. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:30, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

In the field of computing, it's pretty much established that Linus means Linus Torvalds. To a lesser degree, Guido means Guido van Rossum, inventor of the Python programming language. The famous computer scientist Donald Knuth is most often referred to by just his surname Knuth. "K&R" means Brian Kernighan and Dennis Ritchie, the inventors of the C programming language. I think people also use just "Bill" to refer to Bill Gates. And there's that one computer scientist who wrote an article I once read, he was credited as Robby. Just Robby, no other name. I think he was from somewhere in Asia. JIP | Talk 20:43, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

You're stretching it, since none of these folks goes by the mononymn. --Orange Mike | Talk 21:30, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

I wasn't aware that was a requirement, I just thought being known by the monomymn would have sufficed. But still, if this Robby guy's real name is indeed just Robby, then it could be said that he goes by the mononymn, right? Too bad the only thing I know about him is the article I read about a decade ago, and I've already forgotten what it was about. JIP | Talk 21:38, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Cartoonists often use a single nom-de-plume such as Giles. Alansplodge (talk) 21:34, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

english

how i become a good litreture in english — Preceding unsigned comment added by Sonuk0630 (talk • contribs) 11:35, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Read as much as you can – books, newspapers, magazines, and well-established websites on the Internet. — Cheers, JackLee ^–talk– 13:47, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the question means. Perhaps Sonuk0630 could give more detail on what he/she wants. --Colapeninsula (talk) 16:34, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Learning about spellchecking and capitalization would be a good start.--Shantavira|^{feed me} 17:11, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

I assume the question is meant to be "How do I become good (literate) in English ?". StuRat (talk) 06:10, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

If you're not yet able to understand written material, perhaps just watching English movies and TV would help. Talk radio is another option, but there you can't see how people's mouths move when they say words. StuRat (talk) 06:12, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Is German maybe your first language? "To become" is "werden" in German, not "bekommen". If you want to find a good piece of literature, what are you interested in? Falconus^{p t c} 14:20, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

Do crosswords. HiLo48 (talk) 19:06, 15 March 2012 (UTC)