Question about Mathematics from Zamiatin.

[Sasha Spektor]

I don't think that he was mixed up.  He was an engineer, as some of you
mentioned and obviously knew what's what in math more than any of us,
Slavists.  I think here we have a clear case of the aesthetic law
triumphing over the mathematical ones.  Helena Goscilo's interpretation
seems correct to me -- in the context of the novel "irrational" is a very
important concept, "imaginary" is not.  The novel, to paraphrase Nabokov,
was written for normal people, not for mathematicians.


On Sat, Dec 7, 2013 at 1:59 PM, E Wayles Browne <ewb2 at cornell.edu> wrote:

>
> Right. And then a complex number (kompleksnoe chislo) is what you get when
> you add a normal sort of positive or negative number (technical term: a
> real number) to so-and-so many imaginary units (mnimix edinic).
> An irrational number (irracional'noe chislo) is a real number, nothing
> imaginary about it, but it's one that you can't express as a fraction (as a
> whole number divided by another whole number).
> Really it's all the same terminology in both languages, and Zamiatin was
> mixed up--or maybe he just liked the connotations of the word irrational.
> --
> Wayles Browne, Prof. of Linguistics
> Department of Linguistics
> Morrill Hall 220, Cornell University
> Ithaca, New York 14853, U.S.A.
>
> tel. 607-255-0712 (o), 607-273-3009 (h)
> fax 607-255-2044 (write FOR W. BROWNE)
> e-mail ewb2 at cornell.edu
>
> ________________________________________
> From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list <
> SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU> on behalf of Belousova, Vera <belousov at OHIO.EDU>
> Sent: Saturday, December 7, 2013 2:34 PM
> To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Question about Mathematics from Zamiatin.
>
> 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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