Talk:vicuna

In Dutch we don't have ñ. So we transcribe the sound as nj. This is how it was indicated on the name plate in the zoo. Polyglot 18:04 Apr 14, 2003 (UTC)

It's true Dutch doesn't have the ñ in non-foreign words. But in words which have a foreign origin the ñ is sometimes allowed to stay (especially in words with a Spanish origin). This is the case with vicuña. The "Van Dale Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal" has vicuña and not vicunja (I'd rather believe a respected dictionary than a name plate in a zoo...). There is at least one other example of the ñ being allowed in Dutch: cañon (although it can also be written as canyon). I'm sure there are more examples, but I'm not able to think of any right now. D.D.

While I was in the zoo taking pictures, I thought: how convenient, the names of the animals are there in four languages. So I took pictures of the name plates as well and started entering them here. I already spotted a few other errors in them. I am glad you are catching the rest of them. Sorry it´s giving you quite a lot of work, apparently. I didn´t use Van Dale to verify everything, since it says here somewhere we are not really supposed to use dictionaries. (and also because I don´t have it...)

Should I use a _ when words translate into expressions (bathroom: salle de bains or salle_de_bains)?

Of course, I also want all of this to be correct information and I don´t mind you changing entries. Thanks for the corrections and the info. Polyglot 00:20 Apr 15, 2003 (UTC)

No worries, that's also part of Wiktionary -- you write something and I correct; I write something and you correct.

About the use of dictionaries. Well, I use them. Not to copy definitions, but to check on spelling, meaning, etc. When I'm not sure about a word, that's my first reaction, also outside Wiktionary.

About multiple words in an entry. I think you can write them without the "_" between them. That's how I do it anyway.

D.D.