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Topic: english arimaa terminlogy (Read 3481 times) |
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chessandgo
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english arimaa terminlogy
« on: Feb 15th, 2010, 8:56am » |
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Dear all,
as my book is getting closer and closer to the definitive version, I am currently dealing with terminlogy / language issues. For purely english issues I'm asking questions in the word reference forums, but I still have a few arimaa terminology questions.
- In a position, several traps are contested by both players. Does the expression "Multiple trap contest" correctly convey this idea? [EDIT: Greg and Karl seem to like "Multi-Trap Fight" in the chatroom".
- Silver's camel lies on g6, gold's Horse attacks around b6, and silver decides to move his camel towards b6 in the next moves. The camel is going to move along the 7th file to dodge the enemy Elephant. Is it correct to say that:
Silver camel crosses to the western wing
Silver camel crosses over to the western wing
Silver camel crosses underneath (over?) to the western wing
Silver crosses with his camel (over?) to the western wing
Silver changes wings with his camel
- To denote any piece but not the elephant, is it correct to say: (edit)
a non-elephant piece
- (edit) Silver hostages a gold Horse on a6 with a camel on b6, supported by a horse on a5, and pieces on a7 a8 b7 c7. To denote all these silver pieces that take part in the hostage situation, is it correct to say Silver's hostaging pattern?
Ok, that's about it 
Thanks for any insight!
Jean
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| « Last Edit: Feb 15th, 2010, 9:52am by chessandgo » |
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novacat
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #1 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 10:10am » |
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Hi Jean,
Going from last to first:
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"Silver's hostaging pattern" works if you have told the reader what pieces and position make the hostaging pattern.
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"A non-elephant piece" is correct with the hyphen between non and elephant.
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All are ok except "underneath," but none convey that the camel will stay on the 7th file to avoid the enemy elephant. You will need to add to the sentence to clarify because "over" implies "to the other side" in this case.
For example, "The sliver camel crosses to the western wing while staying north (or "while it stays on the 7th file" or "while keeping away from the opposing elephant")."
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The words "Multiple," "trap" and "contest" are good, but may have to be adjusted and/or rearranged depending on what you are saying. "Multiple trap contest" makes "contest" a noun. Thus, you can say "Both players are in a multiple trap contest." However, if you want to use it as a verb, it must be rearranged.
For example, "Both players contest multiple traps," or "Multiple traps are contested."
I hope this helps,
Daniel
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Fritzlein
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #2 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 10:21am » |
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on Feb 15th, 2010, 8:56am, chessandgo wrote:| [...] my book is getting closer and closer to the definitive version [...] |
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Yay! It will be a happy day for the Arimaa community.
Quote:| For purely english issues I'm asking questions in the word reference forums, but I still have a few arimaa terminology questions. |
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We talked about this in the chat room, but I thought I would summarize here anyway so that people who weren't in on the conversation can read and respond.
Quote:| In a position, several traps are contested by both players. Does the expression "Multiple trap contest" correctly convey this idea? [EDIT: Greg and Karl seem to like "Multi-Trap Fight" in the chatroom". |
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Also we liked "three-corner" and "four-corner" as more specific adjectives. Also I like using "fight" or "battle" as the noun to suggest greater activity. The word "contest" is too passive to convey the idea that you are only talking about the areas of the board where the tactics are sharp. After all, you can have a "beauty contest", but not a "beauty fight". 
Also suggested were "three-front war", "Battle Royale", and "full-board brawl".
Quote:Silver's camel lies on g6, gold's Horse attacks around b6, and silver decides to move his camel towards b6 in the next moves. The camel is going to move along the 7th file to dodge the enemy Elephant. Is it correct to say that:
Silver camel crosses to the western wing
Silver camel crosses over to the western wing
Silver camel crosses underneath (over?) to the western wing
Silver crosses with his camel (over?) to the western wing
Silver changes wings with his camel |
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I found it more natural in my book to refer to what the silver camel is doing rather than what Silver is doing with her camel. (Note also that I capitalized Silver the noun but not silver the adjective; other conventions may vary.) The time when it is more natural to refer to what the person is doing is when more than one piece is involved.
I don't think you can "cross under" without specifying what it is that you pass under. It is more common to "cross over" without saying what it is that you pass over, but I think I have a slight preference for just "cross to" when you want to emphasize the sides rather than the middle.
Indeed, when there is nothing of importance being crossed (e.g. not "cross the river", or "cross The Sahara"), then I would prefer switching sides. So in the above situation, I recommend "The silver camel crosses under the gold elephant", or "The silver camel switches to the western wing," or for brevity, "The silver camel switches sides."
Quote:To denote any piece but not the elephant, is it correct to say:
a non elephant piece |
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Just hypehnate: a non-elephant piece
Quote:| (edit) Silver hostages a gold Horse on a6 with a camel on b6, supported by a horse on a5, and pieces on a7 a8 b7 c7. To denote all these silver pieces that take part in the hostage situation, is it correct to say Silver's hostaging pattern? |
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I would say, "Silver's hostage pattern". It sounds more static, i.e. it is a pattern that holds a hostage, not a pattern that acquires a hostage.
As more Arimaa books come out, you can bet that I will be paying close attention to how other authors express themselves. Developing our language will always slightly lag the development of our strategic conceptions, so writing about Arimaa will be a difficult discipline for a long time to come.
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| « Last Edit: Feb 15th, 2010, 10:25am by Fritzlein » |
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #3 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 12:15pm » |
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on Feb 15th, 2010, 10:21am, Fritzlein wrote: After all, you can have a "beauty contest", but not a "beauty fight".
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You did find what will become the most important 3rd millenium concept I hope
on Feb 15th, 2010, 10:21am, Fritzlein wrote: I would say, "Silver's hostage pattern".
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Oh yeah, this does sound better. Thanks!
Daniel: Ok, thanks for your advice. All items but "the underneath" one did not intend conveying the meaning of going thru the 7th rank, I should have made that clearer. I'm going to stick with Karl's switching sides I guess. Maybe using something like "the camel switches sides through the 7th row" for that under thing.
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| « Last Edit: Feb 15th, 2010, 12:15pm by chessandgo » |
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Fritzlein
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #4 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 12:40pm » |
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Hmm, I just realized that if the silver camel switches sides it might be fighting for the gold army.  Maybe crossing under the gold elephant isn't so bad after all. But anyway switching wings should be safe.
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #5 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 1:57pm » |
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ok switching wings looks good. Actually I am using wing rather than side to denote east/west I think.
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| « Last Edit: Feb 15th, 2010, 2:00pm by chessandgo » |
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Fritzlein
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #6 on: Feb 15th, 2010, 3:24pm » |
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I also used "flank" to mean east/west.
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #7 on: Feb 16th, 2010, 1:29pm » |
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Ok, I have another question. In some chapter, the first few sections have been theoretic, with example positions just designed on purpose. In the last Section of the Chapter are presented parts of real games relevant to the Chapter topic. Could I entitle this Section:
Game samples
or
Sample games
or ...?
I want to convey the meaning that what is presented is some parts of some games.
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Adanac
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #8 on: Feb 16th, 2010, 1:57pm » |
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on Feb 16th, 2010, 1:29pm, chessandgo wrote:Ok, I have another question. In some chapter, the first few sections have been theoretic, with example positions just designed on purpose. In the last Section of the Chapter are presented parts of real games relevant to the Chapter topic. Could I entitle this Section:
Game samples
or
Sample games
or ...?
I want to convey the meaning that what is presented is some parts of some games. |
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I would recommend "Sample Games".
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| « Last Edit: Feb 16th, 2010, 4:29pm by Adanac » |
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Arimabuff
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #9 on: Feb 16th, 2010, 5:22pm » |
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on Feb 16th, 2010, 1:29pm, chessandgo wrote:Ok, I have another question. In some chapter, the first few sections have been theoretic, with example positions just designed on purpose. In the last Section of the Chapter are presented parts of real games relevant to the Chapter topic. Could I entitle this Section:
Game samples
or
Sample games
or ...?
I want to convey the meaning that what is presented is some parts of some games. |
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I'd rather use the term "Game excerpts" to express that idea.
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99of9
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #10 on: Feb 16th, 2010, 6:34pm » |
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on Feb 16th, 2010, 1:29pm, chessandgo wrote:
I want to convey the meaning that what is presented is some parts of some games. |
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I totally disagree with Adanac . "Sample games" implies complete games, (chosen from amongst all games).
"Game samples" is a bit clunky and ambiguous about whether it's whole games or parts of games.
"Game excerpts" sounds perfect. My vote is for the non-native English speaker!
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #11 on: Feb 17th, 2010, 12:14am » |
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I did not even know the word excerpt!. Thanks for the find Arimabuff. And yeah, I'm posting a question whenever I realize my wording is clunky (leanrt another word here)
I have one reserve to use "Game excerpt": I'm also writing for non bilingual arimaa players, is the word "excerpt" common enough to be widely understood? Maybe that's not an issue though, it's going to be pretty clear what an excerpt is then (maybe?).
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Fritzlein
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #12 on: Feb 17th, 2010, 6:44am » |
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I agree with "game excerpts" when a position and several moves are given. If it is an actual game position but without discussion of any of the actual moves, then I would refer to it as a position rather than as part of a game. Indeed, it isn't a problem to refer to them as "positions" even when you discuss following moves.
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #13 on: Feb 17th, 2010, 9:39am » |
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It's indeed several moves starting from a given position. Ok, I'm going to use excerpts. Thanks again Arimabuff.
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chessandgo
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Re: english arimaa terminlogy
« Reply #14 on: Feb 25th, 2010, 7:35am » |
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some more questions.
- Is it correct to say
The Horse stands on b6? Or The Horse sits on b6? Or The Horse lies on b6? Same question with all other animals ... I guess that one could say "the king stand on g8" at chess(?)
- To denote the potential of a given rabbit to reach goal in the future, is it correct to speak of the goaling prospects of a rabbit or of the goal prospects of a rabbit or of the goal potential of a rabbit?
- When a pair of horses have been traded, is it correct to describe the position as a position with one pair of horses down? (I'm concerned with using "with one pair of horses down" as a stand alone expression)
- Is it correct to say: a board can be useful to play out the analysed games? I'm not sure about "play out".
Cheers
Jean
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