Question about Mathematics from Zamiatin.

Belousova, Vera belousov at OHIO.EDU
Sat Dec 7 19:34:09 UTC 2013


The correct Russian translation for "imaginary number" is "мнимое число". The square root of -1 (or i) is мнимая единица.


________________________________________
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Anthony Anemone [AnemoneA at NEWSCHOOL.EDU]
Sent: Saturday, December 07, 2013 2:27 PM
To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Question about Mathematics from Zamiatin.

Interesting, but then is Zamiatin's usage of иррациональный an error, or a reflection of different usage in Russian at the beginning of the 19th century?

Tony


On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 2:18 PM, Alina Israeli <aisrael at american.edu<mailto:aisrael at american.edu>> wrote:
No, square root of -1, know as i  is called комплéксное число (with a stress on e, unlike the regular use with a stress on o): http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%BF%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BA%D1%81%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B5_%D1%87%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%BE<http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%25D0%259A%25D0%25BE%25D0%25BC%25D0%25BF%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BA%25D1%2581%25D0%25BD%25D0%25BE%25D0%25B5_%25D1%2587%25D0%25B8%25D1%2581%25D0%25BB%25D0%25BE>

On Dec 7, 2013, at 12:46 PM, Anthony Anemone wrote:

Dear colleagues,

I'm puzzled about Zamaitin's usage of иррациональный when referring to the square root of -1.  As far as I understand math terminology in English (not that far!), wouldn't that be an imaginary number?  Perhaps terminology in Russian is different?

Thanks!

Tony
--
Tony Anemone
Associate Professor
The New School
72 Fifth Ave, 702
New York, NY 10011

Alina Israeli
Associate Professor of Russian
WLC, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington DC 20016
(202) 885-2387<tel:%28202%29%20885-2387>  fax (202) 885-1076<tel:%28202%29%20885-1076>
aisrael at american.edu<mailto:aisrael at american.edu>





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--
Tony Anemone
Associate Professor
The New School
72 Fifth Ave, 702
New York, NY 10011

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