11.1740, Sum: The "@" Sign
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LINGUIST List: Vol-11-1740. Mon Aug 14 2000. ISSN: 1068-4875.
Subject: 11.1740, Sum: The "@" Sign
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1)
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 05:12:30 +0800
From: karchung <karchung at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
Subject: The "@" Sign
-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2000 05:12:30 +0800
From: karchung <karchung at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
Subject: The "@" Sign
For Query: Linguist 11.1734
Finally, the @ summary! So sorry it's taken so long, but I hope
you will find it worth the wait. I sure had fun with this. The creativity
that blossomed (one Turkish source calls @ a 'rose') from one little @ is
breathtaking.
Data came in for the following 37 languages: Afrikaans, Arabic,
Cantonese, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Farsi,
Finnish, French, Frisian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic,
Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Mandarin Chinese,
Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak,
Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Thai, and Turkish. There is an
expectedly heavy bias in this mix toward languages of Europe (26 of the 37
languages) and other more technologically advanced regions. The response
from the Netherlands was positively overwhelming!
In one case, Tamil, the question definitely seemed to influence
the data - members of the Tamil list are *still* talking about the best
term to use for @!
A broad spectrum of metaphors, some very concrete and others
relatively abstract, is used to describe @, ranging from animals and body
parts (e.g. Chinese 'little mouse', Danish 'elephant's trunk', Dutch
'monkey's tail', French, Hebrew, Italian, Korean 'snail', Hungarian
'worm/maggot', Russian 'little dog', Swedish 'cat's foot', Arabic, German,
Turkish, 'ear') to food (e.g. Hebrew 'strudel', Swedish 'cinnamon bun',
Czech/Slovak 'collared herring/rollmop') to letters of an alphabet (e.g.
Norwegian 'curled alpha', Tamil _du_; and the more abstract French,
Italian, Russian 'commercial "a"', Serbian 'crazy "a"'); some are direct
borrowings (e.g. Icelandic, Cantonese) or translations (e.g. Romanian,
Greek) of the English 'at'; and there are a few variants of the Spanish
weight measure _arroba_, (e.g. Catalan _arrova_/_rova_, French _arobase_).
There are interesting patterns of influence, sometimes within a
language family or subfamily, sometimes within a geographical area, and
sometimes from dominant cultures (the English 'at' turns up in several
disparate languages).
Much more could be said, but I will let those interested figure
it out for themselves from the data!
Karen Steffen Chung
National Taiwan University
karchung at ccms.ntu.edu.tw
Many, many thanks to the 105 (!) individuals who contributed to this project:
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz <axast2+ at pitt.edu>
Amira Agameya <aagameya at auc-acs.eun.eg>
Lotfi Ben Ahmed <e441 at ugru.uaeu.ac.ae>
Maria Cristina F S Altman <altman at usp.br>
Pascale Amozig <pascale at tovna.co.il>
Gisle Andersen <gisle.andersen at eng.uib.no>
Malte Andreasson <fredrika at oden.se>
Cheryl AndristPlourde <c-andrist at nwu.edu>
Tareef Attar <ax436 at freenet.carleton.ca>
Cyril Belica <belica at ids-mannheim.de>
Unni Berland <Unni.Berland at eng.uib.no>
Jose Eugenio Borao <borao at cc.ntu.edu.tw>
Piero Bottari <bottari at mbox.vol.it>
Paula Bouffard <d211744 at er.uqam.ca>
E. Wayles Browne <ewb2 at cornell.edu>
HUseyin Canbolat <huseyic at ces.clemson.edu>
Lisa J. Conathan <lisa.j.conathan at dartmouth.edu>
Louise Cornelis <louise.cornelis at let.ruu.nl>
Peter De Bie <debie at novell.com>
Bart Diels <b.diels at student.kun.nl>
Jean-Louis Duchet <duchet at univ-poitiers.fr>
Alex Eulenberg <aeulenbe at indiana.edu>
James L. Fidelholtz <jfidel at siu.cen.buap.mx>
Frederik Fouvry <fouvry at essex.ac.uk>
Karthi Gesu <kgesu at usm.my>
Sean Golden <iuts0 at cc.uab.es>
Sandra Golstein <sandra at tovna.co.il>
Anthony Green <green at ippo.uniba.it>
Hartmut Haberland <hartmut at ruc.dk>
Soren Harder <sharder at ling.hum.aau.dk>
Pierre Igot <igot at zeus.newedge.net>
Leonid Iomdin <uc611ac at sunmail.lrz-muenchen.de>
Hegedu:s Ire'n <ihegedus at btk.jpte.hu>
Przemyslaw Jablonski <u212386 at vm.uci.kun.nl>
Peter Jaumann <pjaumann at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
Herman Kappen <hkappen at pi.net>
Birgit Kellner <kellner at hws.ipc.hiroshima-u.ac.jp>
Alexander King <aking at virginia.edu>
Petur Knutsson <peturk at rhi.hi.is>
Olaf N. Koeneman <Olaf.N.Koeneman at let.ruu.nl>
Koh <kohh at pc.jaring.my>
Jacek Koronacki <korona at ipipan.waw.pl>
Jacek Kostyrko <ifjk at vms.acad2.alaska.edu>
Ernst F. Kotze <afaefk at upe.ac.za>
Mette Kreutzmann <mette at sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
Esther Kuntjara <estherk at peter.petra.ac.id>
Johanna Laakso <johanna.laakso at Helsinki.fi>
Lucie Langlois <langlois at balzac.sti.uottawa.ca>
Peter A. Lazar <lapid at osiris.elte.hu>
Chungmin Lee <clee at plaza.snu.ac.kr>
Lee-yong Tan <leeyong at cog.psy.cuhk.hk>
Judith Levi <jlevi at casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
Jan Lindstrom <jklindst at polva.helsinki.fi>
Angelika Mayer Loo <anlo at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
Lu Bingfu <bingfu at chaph.usc.edu>
Eva Madry <emadry at ibm.net>
Ruta Marcinkeviciene <ruta.marcinkeviciene at vdu.lt>
Anna Matamala Ripoll <annamat at intercom.es>
Steve Matthews <matthews at hkucc.hku.hk>
Michalis Milapides <milapides at olymp.ccf.auth.gr>
Igor Milosavlevich <igor at sedal.usyd.edu.au>
Ali Mohammadi <mohamada at net1cs.modares.ac.ir>
Virginia Motapanyane <mota at admin1.unbsj.ca>
Folke A. Nettelblad <Folke.Nettelblad at uadm.uu.se>
Markus Nussbaumer <mnussbau at ds.unizh.ch>
Jan Odijk <odijkje at natlab.research.philips.com>
Erik Oltmans <oltmans at cs.utwente.nl>
Tassos Panopoulos <tassospa at netor.gr>
Jaan Penjam <jaan at greta.cs.ioc.ee>
Christian Heyde Petersen <chp at language.ou.dk>
Homme Piest <piest at pobox.leidenuniv.nl>
Wilfried Pieters <wilfried.pieters at ping.be>
Amara Prasithrathsint <amarapra at chulkn.car.chula.ac.th>
Ole Ravnholt <ravnholt at hum.auc.dk>
Alexandr Rosen <alexandr.rosen at ff.cuni.cz>
Dina Rosenfeld <denro at netvision.net.il>
Rosental Mikhal <rosen2 at hum.huji.ac.il>
Anne Ruh <ruh.am at pg.com>
Deborah D. Kela Ruuskanen <druuskan at cc.helsinki.fi>
Lisa Seitz <elisabeth.seitz at uni-tuebingen.de>
Danko Sipka <sipkadan at hum.amu.edu.pl>
Nigel Smith <smithrn at lamp.ac.uk>
Eva Stro"m <eva.strom at wineasy.se>
Peter Szigetvari <szigetva at osiris.elte.hu>
As Halil Teletas <ash at sebb.bel.alcatel.be>
Bruno Tersago <Bruno.Tersago at ccl.kuleuven.ac.be>
Theriault Alain <theriaal at ere.umontreal.ca>
Craig Thiersch <c.l.thiersch at kub.nl>
Serge Thion <thion at msh-paris.fr>
Yishai Tobin <yishai at bgumail.bgu.ac.il>
Carolina Turrini <tov1356 at comune.bologna.it>
Vassilis Vagios <vvagios at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
0ystein Alexander Vangsnes <vangsnes at foli.uib.no>
Theo Vennemann <tvn at cis.uni-muenchen.de>
John Verhaar <101457.3114 at compuserve.com>
Maurice Vliegen <vliegen at mede@taalk>
Peansiri Vongvipanond <artfpvv at chulkn.car.chula.ac.th>
Gerry Wanders <G.Wanders at let.uva.nl>
Soeren Wichmann <soeren at cphling.dk>
Jeroen Wiedenhof <jmwied at rullet.leidenuniv.nl>
Shuly Wintner <shuly at cs.technion.ac.il>, <shuly at techunix.bitnet>
Henk Wolf <wolf at fa.knaw.nl>
Adam Zachary Wyner <mswyner at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il>
Eric Zee <ctlzee at cityu.edu.hk>
Paul Kingsbury <kingsbur at unagi.cis.upenn.edu>
AFRIKAANS
** In Afrikaans, some e-mailers have started using the term "aapstert" (=
monkey's tail), which is also a term used jokingly to address children who
have done something stupid.
Ernst F. Kotze <afaefk at upe.ac.za>
ARABIC
** I do not know what the @ is called in Arabic, but I call it informally
"othon", which means ear or formally "3alamat 3Inda".
Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz <axast2+ at pitt.edu>
** From Egypt: I have asked a few people, mainly typists, what the @ sign
is called in Arabic, and to my surprise I found out that it does not exist
on manual Arabic keyboards. It is only found on dual--English and Arabic--
keyboards of electronic and word processor keyboards.
Most of the people I asked did not even notice it was on the
keyboard, and therefore did not have a name for it. Only two people had a
name for it. The first used the English translation of 'at' and called it
'fi'. The second called it 'a', thinking that it is some kind of sign
referring to the letter 'a'.
Amira Agameya <aagameya at auc-acs.eun.eg>
** From the United Arab Emirates: Email has been around for two years in
the institution where I work. We often use the word "at" for the @ symbol
because our e-mail addresses are all in English codes.
Lotfi Ben Ahmed <e441 at ugru.uaeu.ac.ae>
** I think it's called 'at', just like in English.
Tareef Attar <ax436 at freenet.carleton.ca>
CANTONESE
** Thanks for your query on the local pronunciation of "@". As you may
have found out by now, the answer is not terribly interesting but
typically Hong Kong: they pronounce it "at". I'll let you know if I find
any alternatives.
Steve Matthews <matthews at hkucc.hku.hk>
** Interestingly we have not yet come up with a term in Cantonese for "@".
We refer to it as the way it is pronounced in English as many loan words
in Cantonese. This goes for a computer mouse too - a vernacular Cantonese
equivalent[lou Sy] has never been used. It is simply referred to as [mao
Si]. This I think has to do with the speech habits of the HK speakers who
are accustomed to code mixing. I may want to suggest to the Linguistic
Society of Hong Kong to refer to "@" as [lou Sy fu hou] parallelling the
way you call it in Taiwan.
Eric Zee <ctlzee at cityu.edu.hk>
** I got your email inquiry regarding what the symbol "@" was called in
Cantonese. I will be happy to help you out, but to be honest, I am not a
native speaker of Cantonese, either, although I do speak the dialect
fairly well. Lao3 Shu3 Hao4 in Cantonese would be /lou//hsu//ngan/.
Lee-yong Tan <leeyong at cog.psy.cuhk.hk>
CATALAN
** In Catalan there is a little bit of confusion about this term. Most
people call it "arrova" or "rova" (the two "a" are pronounced like
cupbOArd or mothEr; the "rr" is rolled; and the "v" is pronounced like a
soft English "b") because this symbol corresponds to a unit of measure.
Maybe it is because ot the influence of Spanish. I actually work in a
newspaper and we use the term "arrova". However, I was quite surprised to
know that the linguists of one of the main Catalan radio stations suggest
speakers should say "at".
Anna Matamala Ripoll <annamat at intercom.es>
CZECH and SLOVAK
** In Slovak, the '@' sign is called _zavinac_, 'rollmops'. (The second
_a_ has a grave accent. The _c_ has a hacek accent.)
I first heard this usage some 15 years ago. Since I am not
familiar with any standard pronunciation transcription scheme, I'll give
you an English approximation:
z as z in zoom
a as o in mother
v as v in view
i as i in hit
n as n in net
a+grave as a in past
c+hacek as ch in check
The initial '_za_' is stressed.
Cyril Belica <belica at ids-mannheim.de>
** In Czech, the @ sign is colloquially called zavin\'a\v{c} (LaTeX
diacritics), according to my Czech-English dictionary `collared herring',
`rollmop'. The spelling is more or less phonetic, with the accented "a"
long, the "c" with caron as "ch" in "chocolate" and the stress on the
first syllable.
From a second communication: The Czech colloquial term for
`commercial at' (the official term is just a calque of the English one)
is spelled "zavinac", with an acute accent (') on the second "a" and a
hacek (a little "v") on the top of "c".
Alexandr Rosen <alexandr.rosen at ff.cuni.cz>
DANISH
** In Danish, 'grisehale' 'pig's tail' is occasionally heard, but the
received reading is 'snabel-a', i.e. 'trunk a', that is 'an a with an
elephant's trunk attached'. That's a nice one, isn't it? I have also heard
the expression 'master space' which seems to go back to some arcane
terminology of some operating system for some vintage IBM mainframe
computer.
Hartmut Haberland <hartmut at ruc.dk>
** In Danish the @-character is called: 'snabel-a'; "(elephants) trunk-a".
Soren Harder <sharder at ling.hum.aau.dk>
** In Danish, the @ is called and spelled: "snabel a". A "snabel" means
the trunk of an elephant, and the "a" is just the letter a. I'm not sure
how to explain the pronunciation, but it is close to English except for
the "a" which is both shorter and flatter and it doesn't have the
diphthong sound /ai/. I have probably known the term for about 10-12
years. (I am Danish though currently studying in Germany.)
Mette Kreutzmann <mette at sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
** As far as I know there are two ways of referring to @ in Danish; it's
either called _alfa(-tegn)_ which is _alpha(-sign)_ in English, or
_snabel_ which is proboscis/elephant's trunk in English.
I think they are used in 'two different areas': I say alfa-tegn to
people who (I think) are new to e-mailing, but _snabel_ to everybody else.
Christian Heyde Petersen <chp at language.ou.dk>
** In Danish @ is called "snabel-a", which translates as "trunk-a", an
elephant's trunk i.e., not the trunk of a tree.
Ole Ravnholt <ravnholt at hum.auc.dk>
** The sign @ is called _snabel-a_ `trunk a' in Danish. The designation
refers to the likeness of a elephant's trunk combined with the letter a.
Elephants and mice usually don't get mixed up cross-linguistically, so
this case perhaps calls for a paper countering some version of universal
grammar?
Soeren Wichmann <soeren at cphling.dk>
DUTCH
** In Dutch, we call @ `at' (as in English), but also `apestaartje'
`monkey-tail-DIMINUTIVE' (the diminutive is very productive in Dutch, but
it is optional, so `apestaart' works as well). ...
Louise Cornelis <Louise.cornelis at let.ruu.nl>
** In Dutch it is sometimes referred to as "apestaart", which means "tail
of a monkey". I have no idea how frequently this term is used.
Peter De Bie <debie at novell.com>
** In Dutch, the @-symbol is usually referred to as "apestaart" (lit.
"monkey's tail": "ap" (with a long /a/; from: "aap") meaning "monkey",
"staart" meaning "tail", and "e" (a shwa) being a linking morpheme.
I am not sure about the etymology of this word, but I think the
fact that the letter "a" can be recognized in the sign plays a role in the
word's origin: something like "a met staart" ("a with tail") could have
devellopped to "apestaart", which is phonologically close tot it.
I do not know of other ways in Dutch tot refer to this symbol: as
far as I know, "apestaart" is by far the most common name for it, if not
the only one. I think I first heard it being used some eight years ago.
Bart Diels <b.diels at student.kun.nl>
** A nice name for @ in Dutch is "apestaart" (or the diminutive
"apestaartje"), meaning `monkey tail'. It is especially nice that the name
starts with an "a", and looks very much like a monkey tail: it makes it
very mnemonic.
Another is "a-krol" or "a-krul", meaning `a-(with-a-)curl'.
("a" and "aa" are pronounced in both cases like "aa" in the German
"Saar" or "Staat". The "e" is pronounced as a schwa, and the stress in
the first word is on the first syllable. The stress in the second name is
on the second syllable (a rather unusually stressed word). krul is
pronounced /kryl/.)
Frederik Fouvry <fouvry at essex.ac.uk>
** The Dutch have an original and funny name for the "@"sign: it is
referred to as "apestaartje", which means "a monkey's tail". The reason is
obviously to be found in the form of the symbol, and perhaps also because
"apestaartje" also starts with the letter "A".
As far as I know, the Dutch term has existed for quite a long
time, possibly since the symbol appeared on the computer keyboard.
Herman Kappen <hkappen at pi.net>
** In Dutch the at-symbol is usually referred to as "apestaart", meaning
`monkey's tail'.
Olaf N. Koeneman <Olaf.N.Koeneman at let.ruu.nl>
** In Dutch `@' is called `apestaart', i.e. `monkey's tail'
Jan Odijk <odijkje at natlab.research.philips.com>
** In Dutch, "@" is often called "apestaartje", i.e. "little tail of
a monkey".
Erik Oltmans <oltmans at cs.utwente.nl>
** In Dutch it is called "apestaart" ("monkey's tail") or (diminutive)
"apestaartje" ("[little[monkey's tail]]". The first form mostly is used
bare, like when telling somebody your email address: "My address is piest
"apestaart" pobox.leidenuniv.nl". The second form is used on other
occasions; because it's a diminutive it's more fitting than "apestaart"
there (pointing at the sign and saying it's an "apestaart" would more or
less imply it's bigger than usual).
Pronuncation: something like "Ap at stArt", "Ap at stArtj@" (A = long a,
@ = schwa). N.B. I'm not sure whether this names will be used in the
future or not: the Dutch generally don't seem to mind lending some words
from English, and since more and more people are getting acquainted with
the Internet over here the symbol is more and more frequently just called
"at", like in English including English pronuncation <et>). But I'm quite
sure no one would have called it that as far back as 1989: I remember
having had a discussion about it with some friends, and no one of us
seemed able to come up with the official term (whatever it was), we all
called it "apestaartje".
Primary stress falls on the first A: "A'pestaart", "A'pestaartje",
secondary stress on -staar-. Syllables with schwa's are never stressed in
Dutch.
First time I heard someone calling it "at" must have been about 3
or 4 months ago.
Homme Piest <piest at pobox.leidenuniv.nl>
** We call it usually APESTAART (AAP "monkey" + STAART "tail" -> "monkey's
tail"). That's the word I always hear in the Dutch speaking part of
Belgium. In the Netherlands it's the same word I think, eventually in the
diminutive form (APESTAARTJE). In a recent publication about Internet (380
Internet tips & trucs, by HenkEllermann, Amsterdam 1995) I found on page
141 following explanation: the original name was EEN A MET EEN SLINGER
("an a with a swinging" -), but soon it became popularly called
APESTAARTJE or SLINGERAAP (literally "swinging monkey", which is the Dutch
equivalent for "spider monkey"). But I must tell you that I never heard
personally that last word (slingeraap): maybe it's used only in the
Netherlands.
Wilfried Pieters <Wilfried.Pieters at ping.be>
** I think the @-sign is sometimes call a-scroll in English as well.
Anyway: I speak Dutch and we sometimes call it "apestaart" or the
diminutive "apestaartje" which means "monkey's tail". A fine metaphor, I
should say ;-)
Bruno Tersago <Bruno.Tersago at ccl.kuleuven.ac.be>
** Dutch = apestaart (`monkeytail' from aap=monkey, staart=tail).
Craig Thiersch <c.l.thiersch at kub.nl>
** In Dutch I have heard it called _apenstaart_ 'monkey's tail'.
John Verhaar <101457.3114 at compuserve.com>
** In Dutch the symbol @ is called ape_staart 'monkey tail'.
Gerry Wanders <G.Wanders at let.uva.nl>
** The @ sign in Dutch is called: 'apestaart' (monkey's tail).
Maurice Vliegen <vliegen at mede@taalk>
** In Dutch the most common form seems to be _apestaartje_, literally
'little monkey tail' (from _aap_ 'monkey'; _-e-_ attributive; _staart_
'tail'; _-je_ diminutive);
Pronunciation: [``ap at st`aRC@], with [``] = main stress; [@] =
schwa; [`] = secondary stress [R] = dorsovelar aproximant (in formal
speech, this may become a dorsovelar trill or an apico-alveolar trill; in
informal speech, the consonant disappears and the preceding [a] is
lengthened); [C] = palato-alveolar affricate; the other symbols according
to IPA.
There is also the more facetious _apeklootje_, literally 'little
monkey testicle' (cf. vulgar _kloot_ 'testicle'). The pronunciation is
[``ap at kl`oC@].
I heard the latter term just once or twice, maybe three years
ago.It does not seem to be very common,but it may have been more succesful
in restricted groups (hackers? computer whizkids? male speakers talking
among themselves?). The expression is not really coarse, just slightly
naughty.
The use of diminutive forms for diacritic signs is widespread in
Dutch. Compare _hekje_ 'little fence' for the # sign (from _hek_'fence')
and _haakjes_ 'little hooks' for the ( and ) signs (from _haak_ 'hook').
Jeroen Wiedenhof <jmwied at rullet.leidenuniv.nl>
** In Dutch it's most often called _apestaartje_ (monkey's tail). I have
also heard _slinger-a'tje_ (little swing a).
Henk Wolf <wolf at fa.knaw.nl>
ENGLISH
** I learned @ in my first office job as a high school student in Chicago,
Illinois in 1962 or 63. It was just called the at sign, and there was no
more whimsy or curiosity about it than there was about $, or =A2, or %.
Michal Brody <brody at mail.utexas.edu>
** I have been told that @ is called "commercial 'A'" in English.
Sean Golden <iuts0 at cc.uab.es>
** Another interesting bit that I just read today (now that's real
_usage_:
In regards 2 boots, there R a couple of places here in Austin where U
can get just @ any boot CD on the man. I haven't been able to buy
much because they're expensive but U might B able 2 call them directly
& place UR order over the phone or via mail. If any1 is interested
e-mail me back and I'll get the info. 4 U. Also I would like 2 get
the MPLS news coverage of any1 who recorded the BIG event. Please
e-mail me back and let me know. I can send you'll a video tape.
Thanks & Peace and B Wild Nidia
Note the "@" in the second line that stands for "about" ! Guess
this thing is continually evolving! :-)
Pierre Igot <igot at zeus.newedge.net>
** I don't know how relevant this is to your inquiry, but I have seen the
@ sign also referred to in English as a 'snail.' This is the usage on the
newsgroup alt.fan.warlord, which seems to be dominated by Australians.
Paul Kingsbury <kingsbur at unagi.cis.upenn.edu>
** In English I don't even say the word "sign", just "my address is
druuskan at cc dot helsinki dot fi (each letter separately except for
helsinki and fi, pronnounced fee).
Deborah D. Kela Ruuskanen <druuskan at cc.helsinki.fi>
ESTONIAN
** In Estonian @ is officially called: kommertsma"rk. a" is Estonian
umlaut a (like in German, but is pronounced rather than German e). This is
the word officially fixed by standard and can be translated as 'commercial
sign'. There are some other slang words used as well, for instance
'komerts-a"tt'.
Jaan Penjam <jaan at greta.cs.ioc.ee>
FARSI
** It is a pleasure to answer your question but I am afraid to let you
know that there is no word in Farsi for @ sign. I consulted some of my
collegues at our computer center but not a single person knew of any word
for the sign in question; We simply pronounce it like 'at sign'.
Ali Mohammadi <mohamada at net1cs.modares.ac.ir>
FINNISH
** As for Finnish: The first time I ever heard about the sign @ was in the
early 1980's, when an acquaintance of mine used it (in an ordinary IBM
typewriter - we didn't have any computers yet in our department) in some
special use (I have forgotten what it was): she taught me to call it
"kissanh=E4nt=E4" (kissa 'cat' + -n [GEN] + h=E4nt=E4 'tail'). Later on, I
have heard other names for it in Finnish, also connected with "cats":
"miau", "miumau" or "miuku" (all onomatopoetic: "meow"; the last one could
be analyzed as containing a "nominifying" (quasi-)suffix -ku). The first
one , I think, even appeared in a kind of a computer manual
(unfortunately, I have forgotten where). (I have also met computer people
who insist on using the English word "at".)
Johanna Laakso <johanna.laakso at helsinki.fi>
** Finnish and Swedish are influenced by each other in bilingual regions
such as Helsinki, so it is no wonder that the [Swedish] cat-metaphor also
exists in Finnish appellations, like "kissanhanta" (the last two a's with
umlaut, pronounced like the vowel in the auxiliary "have", "hanta"
meaning 'tail'), i.e. 'a cat's tail). Other animal refences are recorded
as well: "apinanhanta" (see pron. etc under SWEDISH), i.e. 'a monkey's
tail', or "hiirenhanta" (ibid.), i.e. 'a mouse's tail'.
As some languages make poetry out of the sign, Finnish makes
onomatopoeia out of it! With a reference to the cat, @-sign may be called
"miau" (i.e. 'miaow') or "miukumauku" (appr. the as the former), that is,
an imitation of a cat's meowing.
>>From a second communication:
About the Finnish "miukumauku": perhaps it is more appropriate to
see this as a development from the origininal onomatopoeic expression
"miau". The rest part ("-mauku") resembles the verb for 'meowing', i.e.
"naukua". The whole expression feels like a noun, I think in baby talk a
cat might be called "miukumauku" in a manner rather similar to the English
"bow-wow" for 'dog'. But in both cases, the origins lie in onomatopoeia.
Jan Lindstrom <jklindst at polva.helsinki.fi>
** In Finnish, the sign is called the "miau merkki" (meow merk-key), from
the supposed resemblance to a cat with its tail curled round it - also I
think the alliteration of the "m" contributes. The word for mouse in
Finnish is hiiri, but mouse means mouse i.e. the cursor control, and is so
attached as signifier/signified that mouse cannot be used for anything
else. Another fun thing in internet/computer language is what does the
mouse "say" - there was a big debate in Poland recently when the computer
manuals had to be translated from English: many translators in Poland
refused to have a "mouse" that "said" CLICK! Everyone knows mice SQUEAK,
after all. Anyway, we have a meow mark or meow sign for "at" in Finnish.
My keyboard won't make it, BTW, when using the email software editor. I
have to copy and paste it from somewhere else.
Please post a summary. This is fun: the metaphors being used are
really interesting. I wonder how many computer nerds in Finland have cats
as pets as opposed to dogs....
Deborah D. Kela Ruuskanen <druuskan at cc.helsinki.fi>
** It's called "kissanh=E4nt=E4" in Finnish. I'm not sure if you are
getting my Scandinavian letters so let point out that there should be two
little dots above the last two "a"-letters in the word "kissanhnt".
The meaning of the word is "cat tail".
Miika Vanhapiha <miika.vanhapiha at helsinki.fi>
FRENCH
** As far as I know, in French, the @ sign is called "arobase" (say
"arobass") and sometimes "escargot" (say "escargo"), which means "snail".
Pascale Amozig <pascale at tovna.co.il>
** In French we call the @ "a commercial" (commercial a).
Paula Bouffard <d211744 at er.uqam.ca>
** In French it is referred to as 'arobase'. I have heard it referred to
as such by programmers and computers specialists for the past five years
at least. In English I have always heard it referred to as 'arobase'
(pronounced as if "air o' base"), and some computer firm has used this
word for some software or for the name of the firm, I don't remember
exactly, although I have seen it spelt arobace in that context. The
Oxford English Dictionary has the spanish arroba in its meaning of the
measurement unit for 25 lb. ...
>>From a second message:
['Arobase'] does not mean anything, in the sense that it is not
derived from anything else by metaphor. It is obviously derived from the
Spanish word, but it is difficult to know why it has a consonant added
(might be derived from the plural of the Spanish word) and although I have
heard it used orally it is not in dictionaries, not even in big ones.
Jean-Louis Duchet <duchet at univ-poitiers.fr>
** My first language is French and some people call it: <a commercial>
("commercial a") even though I have no idea where this comes from. I heard
this for the first time long ago when PCs were first introduced (early
80's, I guess), where it was already used for electronic purposes (even
though I can't exactly remember which).
It is never used in French as it is used by grocers in the
English-speaking world (meaning "at"). The first time I ever saw this sign
was on a computer keyboard.
From a second message: Since you're still working on your summary,
I thought I would mention that I just found out about two more metaphors
for the "@" symbol in French: @ = "a escargot" ("snail a") and @ = "a
enroule'" ("coiled a"). Apparently, the "a escargot" one is even mentioned
in a French-English dictionary somewhere. This comes from the
"france-langue" mailing list, which is currently discussing this issue
(among many others).
Pierre Igot <igot at zeus.newedge.net>
** We [French speakers] call it the "a commercial" (which means the
"business a"). I believe that word's been around for quite some time,
although I would be hard pressed to tell you when I personally heard it
first.
Lucie Langlois <langlois at balzac.sti.uottawa.ca>
** Apparently it is called 'petit escargot' (little snail) in French.
Although I know French, I didn't know this until I read it in a British
computer magazine, _PC Pro_. I have not yet checked its accuracy with
native speakers!
Nigel Smith <smithrn at lamp.ac.uk>
** In French, it is called un "A commercial" or a commercial "a".
Theriault Alain <theriaal at ere.umontreal.ca>
** In French, I learned three or four years ago that @ is an "arobase",
although I believe most people do not know the word (not the sign). No
known meaning or relative. I have heard people calling it a snail
(escargot).
Serge Thion <thion at msh-paris.fr>
FRISIAN
** In Frisian it's usually _apesturtsje_ (monkey's tail). I've also heard
_aapke_ (little monkey).
Henk Wolf <wolf at fa.knaw.nl>
GERMAN
** Re @ in German: _Klammeraffe_, 'spider monkey' (literally, 'clinging
monkey'); and _Ohr_, 'ear'.
Angelika Loo <anlo at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>,
Peter Jaumann <pjaumann at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
** ... a correction: although it is true that German 'Klammer' means
'bracket' (it also can mean 'peg'), 'Klammeraffe' is rather derived from
the verb '[sich] klammern', 'to cling', and means a 'clinging monkey' or
rather 'sapajou' as the dictionary tells me. (The idea is of course that
the monkey uses its curly tail to hang down from trees or the like.)
Hartmut Haberland <hartmut at ruc.dk>
** In your recent posting to LINGUIST, you translated the German
expression for "@", "Klammeraffe", as "bracket-monkey". My modest
native-speaker language-competence, supported by Langenscheidt's
German-English-dictionary, however, would understand "Klammeraffe" rather
as a monkey who likes to cling ("klammern" as a verb, as opposed to
"Klammer" as "brackets"). Langenscheidt gives "spider-monkey" as an
equivalent, and also quotes the idiom "Er ist ein Klammeraffe" ("He is
like a leech"). A "Klammeraffe", thus, is simply somebody (or something)
which tends to stick to other people (or things), and the expression has
decidedly negative connotations. Don'task me why "@" was termed this way.
Birgit Kellner <kellner at hws.ipc.hiroshima-u.ac.jp>
** Ich sage fuer @ meistens "Affenschwanz", und mit mir sagen das hier in
Zuerich noch einige andere. Ich habe aber keine Ahnung, woher das kommt,
ausser dass es mir von der Form her einleuchtet. Moeglicherweise eine
Weiterentwicklung des "Klammeraffen".
(Translation: I say mostly "Affenschwanz" ('monkey's tail') for @,
and some others here in Zurich use this term, too. I have no idea,
however, where it comes from, though it might be because of the shape of
the character. It could possibly be a further development of
'Klammerfaffe'. - KSC)
Markus Nussbaumer <mnussbau at ds.unizh.ch>
** I think that the term "Klammeraffe" is even more poetical than you
thought, getting quite near the Chinese option.
"Affe", of course, means "monkey", but "klammern", a verb, means
"to hold fast" ("Klammer" as a noun does mean "bracket", but I think not
in this context). Now there is a special kind of monkey which moves from
tree to tree using its tail to get hold on the branches (according to the
dictionary, in English this monkey is called "red-faced spider monkey",
which isn't much helpful here). The sign @ *does* look like a monkey's
tail, doesn't it?
Lisa Seitz <elisabeth.seitz at uni-tuebingen.de>
** German Klammer means bracket all right, but in the compound Klammeraffe
(Affe means monkey and is etymologically the same as English ape - a word
of unknown origin, by the way), klammer- is verbal and means to cling on
to, clutch to. Perhaps clingmonkey or clutchmonkey would be a snappy
translation.
From a second communication: A while ago I sent you remarks on
German Klammeraffe. I think I then merely wrote that the literal
translation into English would be something like cling-monkey or
clasp-monkey, considering the meaning of the German verb klammern. What I
did not mention was that Klammeraffe is also a zoological technical term,
designating a branch of the New World capuchin monkeys, to wit the spider
monkeys or ateles.
Theo Vennemann <tvn at cis.uni-muenchen.de>
GREEK
** In reply to your question please note that we, Greeks, use the same
symbol in our e-mail communications because we have to due to the fact
that it has become a convention (see Language and Cultural Imperialism).
However, when translated we use the expression "sto" which means "at".
From a second communication: We use "at" for the symbol @. But if
we need to translate that symbol we will say "sto" if the name of the
network is neuter*, "sto(n) if the name is masculine, and "sti(n)" if
feminine. In Greek articles show gender. Please, note that n is in
parenthesis because its realization depends on the sound that follows.
(*Note from Vassilis Vagios, professor of Classical Greek at NTU
<vvagios at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>: E-mail sservers in Greece have names like
"Ariadne", which is of course feminine.)
Michalis Milapides <milapides at olymp.ccf.auth.gr>
** In Greek - so far as I know - there is no specific word for this sign.
Usually, we use the phrase "the @ sign".
Tassos Panopoulos <tassospa at netor.gr>
HEBREW
** In Hebrew, we use "shablul" (pronounce "shablool"), meaning "snail", or
"Strudel", from the famous roll-shaped small sweet buns. These two terms
are very current and I heard them since I started speaking Hebrew, 4 years
ago.
Pascale Amozig <pascale at tovna.co.il>
Forwarded by Judith Levi:
I have a heard people using the word shtrudel for @ but, as a quite
involved email and cyberspace user, I cannot say it became a generic
term. Most people say "at" in English, others say "you know what" and
still others "chupchik" which is in Yiddish for "peak" or something like
that. ronen
Cheryl AndristPlourde <c-andrist at nwu.edu>
** In Hebrew, @ is called "snail" (shablul).
Sandra Golstein <sandra at tovna.co.il>
** By chance, I stumbled on this issue when speaking in Hebrew with an
Israeli cousin who was just learning to do e-mail.I learned that *she* had
learned to call it "strudel" (pronounced a la Viennese, i.e., shtrudel
[roughly]). (There are, of course, many Israelis whose parents come from
Europe, and so the actual pastry called "shtrudel" is common in Israel.)
...
Judith Levi <jlevi at casbah.acns.nwu.edu>
** In Israel we call it 'strudel' because it reminds us of rolled up cake.
Dina Rosenfeld <denro at netvision.net.il>
** In Hebrew we call it Shtrudl, which is the German name of a cake made
from thin dough wrapped around some kind of filling. The word has been in
use by computer programers for years.
Rosental Mikhal <rosen2 at hum.huji.ac.il>
** In colloquial Israeli Hebrew when we give our e-mail addresses we often
refer to @ as a strudel (from the German or Austrian pastry I think
because of its shape) pronounced: SHtrudel.
Yishai Tobin <yishai at bgumail.bgu.ac.il>
** This is certainly not the dictionary definition, but computer
scientists in Israel usually use the term [shtrudl] for the '@' sign. I,
for one, have heard this term at least 10 years ago, and I assume it was
common in the internet users community long before I first heard it.
[shtrudl] is the Hebrew pronunciation of the German 'Strudel' (sp?), which
is a pastry consisting of rolled dough filled with (usually) apples. The
pastry is popular in Israel, in its German name, and I guess the rolled
dough reminds one of the '@'.
Shuly Wintner shuly at cs.technion.ac.il shuly at techunix.bitnet
** In Israel, @ is called "Strudel". As a non-Israeli, non-Hebrew
speaker, I only understood this on an occassion when sitting with a friend
over coffee and strudel, we exchanged e-mail addresses in Hebrew.
Adam Zachary Wyner <mswyner at pluto.mscc.huji.ac.il>
HUNGARIAN
** Hungarian calls the @ sign "kukac" (= worm/maggot).
"Hegedu:s Ire'n" <IHEGEDUS at btk.jpte.hu>
** A Hungarian teacher of our department called it "kukac" ('worm').
Johanna Laakso <johanna.laakso at helsinki.fi>
**...[In Hungarian] @ is kukac ("coo-cots") is 'worm' (the type you expect
to find in an apple). Nobody including grocers and typists had ever heard
about the darned thing before computers came in -- not only has Hungarian
never used it but also, no typewriter has ever had a kukac (the old
machines were based on German models rather).
From a second message: A colleague here says 'maggot' is the word
for the thing. And he's English, which I'm not...
Peter A Lazar <lapid at osiris.elte.hu>
in reality: Lazar A. Peter, in that order
** The @ sign is usually referred to as _kukac_ [kukats] `worm' in
Hungarian. (The [a] is low, back, rounded, very similar to RP's _hot_
sound.)
Peter Szigetvari <szigetva at osiris.elte.hu>
ICELANDIC
** As far as I know we haven't a name yet - we just say "att"
(pronounced [aht])
Petur Knutsson <peturk at rhi.hi.is>
INDONESIAN
** [Re @:] People just pronounce it as : [ /\ ] like the /u/ in the word
'but'.
Esther Kuntjara <estherk at peter.petra.ac.id>
ITALIAN
** In Italian the word for @ I've often heard (I use it myself) is
"chiocciola" pronounced /kjotSola/ where /tS/ stands for a voiceles
palatal affricate (the first consonant of the English word 'church'). The
literal meanin is 'snail; in particular, in Italian there are two words
for 'snail', 'chiocciola' and 'lumaca', the former especially referring to
the shell: the visual relationship with @, then, is straigtforward.
Piero Bottari <bottari at mbox.vol.it>
** In Italian we call it a "chiocciola" which is the Italian for a snail,
which is one of the prettiest images I've heard. (Notice how the shell
spirals round to protect the flesh!).
From a second communication: To complete what I wrote before about
Italian, we also call it the "A commerciale" similar to French. By the
way, if you're not familiar with Italian, chiocciola is pronounced
something like "ki-'o-cho-la" with second-syllable stress and short O
sounds.
Anthony Green <green at ippo.uniba.it>
** [In Italian the term for @ ] is 'chiocciola'.
Carolina Turrini <tov1356 at comune.bologna.it>
JAPANESE
** Indeed, it's been bothering us laymen, who are not familiar with
jargons in accounting or computer. A lot of Japanese do not know what to
call the symbol. I used to say something like "the a with a circle around
it" in Japanese until I started e-mail two years ago. Now I say "atto maak
(='at' mark), the a with a circle around it, you know, it's called atto
maaku." I hear that people in accounting normally call it "atto maaku".
Computer people call it "atto maaku", too. Japanese has a set of letters
called katakana to be used for loan words, and foreign words are used
quite commonly with Japanized pronunciation.
Masayoshi Hirose <hirose at icu.ac.jp>
KOREAN
** Well, I heard many of my Korean folks call it 'dalphaengi' (snail in
Korean). yes, it looks like a snail. But isn't it funny and ironical,
since snail mail is opposed to e-mail in english?
From a second communication: The whole thing is a one morpheme
word meaning 'snail'. Its syllable division is dal-phaeng-i.
Chungmin Lee <clee at plaza.snu.ac.kr>
LITHUANIAN
** This sign has "official" or teminological name in Lithuanian -
comercial et, but people simply call ir an email sign. Some, having mixed
it up with the English abbreviation for the word "and" translate it into
Lithuanian equivalent"ir".
Ruta Marcinkeviciene <Ruta.Marcinkeviciene at vdu.lt>
MANDARIN CHINESE
** In Taiwan Mandarin Chinese, @ is called _xiao3 lao3shu3_ 'little mouse'
or _lao3shu3 hao4_ 'mouse sign'.
Karen Steffen Chung <karchung at ccms.ntu.edu.tw>
** I call @ 'at-hao4' ['"at" sign'] or 'lao3shu3-hao4' ['"mouse" sign'].
Lu Bingfu <bingfu at chaph.usc.edu>
** From Guangzhou: Your question was a puzzler and an eye-opener, as none
of the locals I asked (even the hard core internet ones) ever called it
anything - and in no way did "litttle mouse"et al ring abell with them.
They don't even call it "at". They were as puzzled as I as they had never
given it any thought. One said I guess I call it the "thing over the two".
That's as close as we all got.
Anne Ruh <ruh.am at pg.com>
NORWEGIAN
** In my native language, Norwegian, the sign is often called 'grisehale'
(gris=pig, hale=tail, ie 'pig's tail'). In academic circles, however, the
English term 'at' is widely used.
Gisle Andersen <gisle.andersen at eng.uib.no>
** In Norwegian, the @ is called a "kro/ll-alfa", meaning "curl alpha". I
don't know when I first heard it, it is quite recent though, I think, and
very descriptive.
Unni Berland <Unni.Berland at eng.uib.no>
** Norwegian: 'grisehale' - "pigtail" (i.e. _gris_ + _hale_) or
'kro/llalfa' - "curly alpha" (the letter o/ should be an "o with a slash"
(as in my surname), and corresponds in pronounciation to German o"("Umlaut
o"). Both terms are quite common.
0ystein Alexander Vangsnes <vangsnes at foli.uib.no>
POLISH
** (Translation of a note from Jacek Koronacki <korona at IPIPAN.Waw.PL>) "In
Poland most of the people (scientists) using the Internet call the "@"
sign malpa "monkey". I have no idea why. However some of the people I
spoke to swore that the term ac'ka (acute accent over the c) is familiar,
others that it is ucho s'wini "pig's ear". I have heard both these terms
for the first time [now]. Summing up, in Poland the term is not fixed."
From another message:
Kolezanka z Warszawy mowi na to "malpa". (A Warsaw friend calls it
"monkey.")
Robert A. Rothstein <rar at slavic.umass.edu>
And another:
Ja od wielu lat nazywam ten znak kotkiem. Ze wzgledu na dlugi, podwiniety
ogon. Zaslyszalem to okreslenie od kolegi ok 10 lat temu.
(Mam cztery koty, w tym jeden Manx, czyli bezogoniasty...)
"For many years I have called that sign _kotek_ 'little cat'.
With respect to its long, curled tail. I heard this term from a colleague
about 10 years ago. (I have four cats, including one Manx, i.e. tailless...)"
Jacek Kostyrko <ifjk at vms.acad2.alaska.edu>
And yet another:
>W Krakowie moi koledzy na znak @ mowia - po angielsku 'at'
"In Krakow my colleagues/friends call @ in English, 'at'."
Przemyslaw Jablonski <u212386 at vm.uci.kun.nl>
The above contributions were all forwarded and translated by:
E. Wayles Browne <ewb2 at cornell.edu>
** In Polish they call @:
1.malpa - (with / crossing l letter) - monkey
2.ogon - tail
Eva Madry <emadry at ibm.net>
PORTUGUESE
** In Portuguese, we call the sign _ at _ like in Spanish: "arroba" (I didn't
know it was the same term, by the way).
Maria Cristina F S Altman <altman at usp.br>
ROMANIAN
** The equivalent [of @ in Romanian] is 'la' which means exactly 'at' as
in English.
Virginia Motapanyane <mota at admin1.UnbSJ.CA>
RUSSIAN
** The Russian word that I have heard used for '@' is 'sobachka,' (I can't
get an IPA font to work here, but it's pronounced suh-BAHTCH-kuh) which
means 'little dog' or 'doggie.' It was interesting for me to read that
similar imagery seems to account for the name in Mandarin and German,
naming the symbol after what it looks like (a dog, a mouse, an ear).
I heard this term in St. Petersburg, Russia in September 1995. An
American professor was giving her e-mail address to a Russian colleague
and the Russian speaker supplied the word.
Other Russians I've spoken to since then, who are living here in
the U.S., hadn't heard the term 'sobachka' used to refer to this sign. I
don't know whether that's because the term itself is new, or because it
has only come into common usage with the availability of e-mail (which is
still relatively scarce in Russia).
Bridget Canniff <bridget.canniff at dartmouth.edu>
** In Russian I have heard @ referred to as 'sobachka' 'doggie'. Similar
to the Chinese example...
Lisa J. Conathan <lisa.j.conathan at dartmouth.edu>
** In Russian @ is called /sobachka/ 'doggie' < /sobaka/ 'dog' + /ka/
(dim. suffix)
--Not a native Russian Speaker
Alex Eulenberg <aeulenbe at indiana.edu>
** Here are three variants of the thing in modern Russian:
1) obez'jana ("monkey")
2) pljushka ("kind of round bun")
3) sobaka ("dog")
The pedants tend to call the thing "A kommercheskoe", the
commercial A. This has been known for 5 years or so.
Leonid Iomdin <uc611ac at sunmail.lrz-muenchen.de>
** I was in Kamchatka, Russia last fall, and I learned that they call @ a
"little dog" - _sobachka_, which is "dog" with a diminuative suffix. This
was from a computer professional who grew up in Novosibirsk, but he told
me that this was a general term current all over Russia.
Alexander King <aking at virginia.edu>
SERBIAN
** Vlado Keselj communicates on my request in ST-L mailing-list: >Ja sam
do sada "cuo da ljudi upotrebljavaju slede'ce izraze: majmun, >ludo a i
et. (Ovaj zadnji izraz je direktno (uz na"su fonetiku) usvojen >iz
engleskog.)
I translate it for you: "I have heard until now that people use
the following names: MAJMUN, LUDO A and ET. The last name is directly
taken from English, adapted to our phonetics."
My comment: MAJMUN means "monkey" (the usual Serb word for it;
it's a loan word from Turkish); LUDO A means "crazy a"
Danko Sipka <sipkadan at hum.amu.edu.pl> writes: Ima jos i "majmunsko
a". Ovo s majmunom, odnosno majmuncicem cuo sam I u poljskom i u
njemackom.
This means: it is also called "MAJMUNSKO A" ("monkey-ish a":
MAJMUNSKO is the adjective derived from MAJMUN, "monkey"). This stuff with
the monkey or the little monkey I heard also in Polish and German.
And Igor Milosavlevich <igor at sedal.usyd.edu.AU> adds: >Ja sam cuo
za izraze "majmun" i "majmunski rep".
which means: I heard also the expressions "MAJMUN" and "MAJMUNSKI
REP" (monkey tail).
So there are until now following words in Serbian: majmun:
'monkey', majmunsko a: 'monkey a', majmunski rep, 'monkey tail', ludo a:
'crazy a', et: 'at'
Forwards and translations from:
Wilfried Pieters <Wilfried.Pieters at ping.be>
SLOVENIAN
** I asked also my wife Majda (she is Slovenian) and she told me that the
word in Slovene is "AFNA". She is not computer specialist, and she heard
it just some weeks ago from a Slovene friend residing Belgium, who is
herself working in the field of computerization. She didn't know the
etymology of the word. I suppose it's a loan from German "Affe"
("monkey").
The word AFNA exists also with another meaning in Slovene: "a girl
who likes to dress herself very nicely, with make up and perfume, etc.". I
think, that also in this meaning the word comes from German Affe (such
girl looks like a monkey at the end, because she exagerates).
I think there's no relation between the two meanings of "afna",
besides their common origin. BTW, the word for "monkey" in Slovene is
"opica", which is also derived from Germanic.
Wilfried Pieters <Wilfried.Pieters at ping.be>
SPANISH
** Re @ in Spanish: It's called _arroba_, a 25-pound measure of weight.
Jose' Eugenio Borao <borao at cc.ntu.edu.tw>
** [The Spanish term for @, 'arroba',] comes from Arabic (like most a[l]-
words in Spanish).
James L. Fidelholtz <jfidel at siu.cen.buap.mx>
SWEDISH
** In Swedish, the @ has been given a number of nicknames. The most
wide-spread are the following: apsvans (monkey's tail), kanelbulle
(cinnamon roll), snabel-A (elephant's trunk A), kringla (pretzel).
"Snabel-A" is by far the most common word used.
Malte Andreasson <fredrika at oden.se>
** In Swedish, I have seen the word "kattfot" ("cat-foot") used in a
computer manual (written at our Nordic department, for the users of the
Swedish corpora in Helsinki).
Johanna Laakso <johanna.laakso at Helsinki.fi>
** Here in Helsinki, Finland -- where Swedish is spoken by a minority of
people -- the most usual colloquial appellation is "kattsvans", that is,
'a cat's tail'. For some strange reason, we at our department used to call
the sign first "kattfot", i.e. 'a cat's paw'. But the identification with
a cat seems to have been an important common motivation, as is the mouse
for the Chinese -- a rather intriguing parallel!
There is also another rather wide spread animal metaphor. @ can be
heard called "elefantora" (with umlaut o, pronounced like the vowel in
English "girl"), i.e. 'an elephant's ear'. I do not use this myself but I
have heard it.
I have a feeling that the most common colloquial name of @ in the
Swedish spoken in Sweden is "kanelbulle", i.e. 'cinnamon bun'. This piece
of pastry has a formation that looks a bit like the human ear and, thus,
has a resemblance with the sign.
Jan Lindstrom <jklindst at polva.helsinki.fi>
** In Swedish the sign is most often called "snabel-A" (pronounced
snah-bell-Ah), meaning "trunk-A" (that is the letter A with an elephant's
trunk).
Another, older denomination, mainly used among programmers is
"kanelbulle" (pronounced kunn-ayl-boulle), meaning "cinnamon bun". This is
due to the fact that the typical Swedish cinnamon bun has the form of a
helix.
Folke A. Nettelblad <Folke.Nettelblad at uadm.uu.se>
** I can add the Swedish language to your collection:
Snabel-a
The name recommended by Svenska Spr=E5kn=E4mnden (approx. "The
Swedish Language Board") for this sign in Swedish is "snabel-a". This is
the most common name among users, too, but it has got strong competitors,
follows below. The meaning of "snabel-a" is "trunk a", from the elephant's
trunk. The picture is the letter 'a' that has got a elephant's trunk that
circles around it. A bit humouristic and creative from the beginning, but
has now settled in the Swedish users, becoming more and more serious. I
guess I personally heard the word used 4 or 5 years ago.
Kanelbulle
A strong competitor is, or rather has been, the name 'kanelbulle',
this name too is quite humoristic and creative. The meaning is 'cinnamon
roll', from the most common traditional Swedish pastry, looking like a @
from the top. Personally I think I heard the word also 4 or 5 years ago
for the first time, but only occasionally now.
At-tecken
An attempt to introduce a more strict name for the sign was
'at-tecken', simply meaning 'at sign'. I heard it the first time 2 or 3
years ago, and I still hear it occasionally.
Eva Stro"m <eva.strom at wineasy.se>
TAMIL
** The Tamil character that most resembles @ is called "dugaram" and
pronounced "du"("d" as in donkey and "u" as in pull). As my Anjal does not
function I cannot write it for you here. Perhaps some other good soul can
send you the exact form of "du".
But I am only pointing out similarities, and make no claim that it
is universally recognised that way among Tamil users. But for lack of
other offerings, this would be my contribution.
Karthi Gesu <kgesu at usm.my>
Of: tamil at tamil.net
** Regarding the discussion on @ in Tamil, there are a few suggestions:
1. Il
2. Ku
3. Du
4. KaNini suzhi (pronounce suli)
5. INai vari
6. Vattu
1. Il is equal to "in" and "at" in Tamil. But if we use in e-mail
addresses it shows some kind of misplacement in the address.
2. Ku is very suitable for use in e-mail addresses. But the ku is not a
word. It is a letter only.
3. Du - Regarding this, Prof. Karthigesu has not given any further
details.
4. KaNini suzhi (pronounce suli) - suzhi is a wonderful word in Tamil.
In old times people used to write a letter (sounds u in Uganda) which is
called Pillayar Suzhi. Pillayar is one of Hindu Gods.
5. INai vari - For Internet we coined a word recently ie. INayam which
is much more meaningful than English word Internet. Its meaning not only
connecting computer networks but also the mankind. Tamil word for address
is Mugavari. So the first half of INayam and the other half of Mugavari
forms the word InaiVari which means Internet address. It is O.K for e-mail
address. But not suitable for @ in other usages.
6. Vattu - It means round.
So now we are going to select a word from this list.
Koh <kohh at pc.jaring.my>
Of: tamil at tamil.net
THAI
** I have to admit that as a Thai I don't know how we call the sign @. I
don't remember myself using any name to call it. It is rarely used in
spoken language. Any way I will ask people in some other areas, like
business. I will send you more information if I have some.
Amara Prasithrathsint <amarapra at chulkn.car.chula.ac.th>
** What an interesting topic to pursue. Thai does not have an official
coinage for the sign yet. But there is a nickname, which "?ai tua yUkyU:"
literally meaning "the wiggling worm-like character". The "?ai" is an
equivalent of ?a in Chinese, which is prefixed to a person's name. "Tua"
is character, body, shape. YUkyU: (unrounded back vowel) is a sound
symbol for the crooked way a worm moves.
Occasionally people will borrow the English name of the sign. In
textbooks, the problem is eliminated with the use of the symbol itself.
Peansiri Vongvipanond <artfpvv at chulkn.car.chula.ac.th>
TURKISH
** I don't know any widely accepted Turkish name for it. But I would like
to call it 'gUl'=rose or 'at'=horse. BTW U in gUl denotes the character in
Turkish alphabet which is practically same as u except two dots above it.
It is same as German counterpart which may be denoted 'ue'.
From a second communication:
...No, I haven't heard this, except the German word _ohr_, 'ear" in
your message. _Kulak_ is also possible, but I like the other two more,
esp. _at_, 'horse' which is same as English _at_ in spelling.
HUseyin Canbolat <huseyic at ces.clemson.edu>
** As far as I know we call it "Kulak" which is "Ear" in English. There
may be other names but I use "Kulak" in Turkish for that sign.
From a second communication:
...Personally I heard for the first time "Gul" and "At" for add-sign,
but Turkey is a big country and we are 60 million, and I am not very
surprised to hear different names for it. I do find "Gul" (= Rose)
meaningful but not "At" (= Horse) becasue of the shape of the sign.
As Halil Teletas <ash at sebb.bel.alcatel.be>
THE WEB
** And some interesting information from a Web site, pointed out by Judith
Levi (see HEBREW above) - check it out yourself for more neat stuff:
http://www.ling.nwu.edu/~sburke/stuff/pronunciation-guide.txt
[copied from ftp://ftp.wg.omron.co.jp/pub/unix-faq/docs/pronunciation-guide
on 19 Nov 1995 -- sean at qrd.org]
The Pronunciation Guide
-----------------------
version 2.5
Names derived from UNIX are marked with *, names derived from C are marked
with +, names derived from (Net)Hack are marked with & and names deserving
further explanation are marked with a #. The explanations will be given at
the very end.
...
@ AT SIGN, at, each, vortex, whirl, whirlpool, cyclone, snail, ape (tail),
cat, snable-a#, trunk-a#, rose, cabbage, Mercantile symbol, strudel#,
fetch#, shopkeeper&, human&, commercial-at, monkey (tail)
...
@ snable-a from Danish; may translate as "trunk-a"
@ trunk-a "trunk" = "elephant nose"
@ strudel as in Austrian apple cake
@ fetch from FORTH
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