Majadiliano:Utaridi

What resources did you use to find the translation of this planet's name? --Mjanja 22 Aprili 2011

Umesoma makala? Maelezo yamo. Halafu linganisha mazungumzo kwa Mfumo wa jua. Menginevyo angalia Jan Knappert, Swahili Islamic poetry kuhusu majina ya sayari. Uko chuoni penye maktaba?Kipala (majadiliano) 20:05, 22 Aprili 2011 (UTC)

Yep, I have read the articles about this subject. And you continue to discredit all Swahili literature and references saying otherwise. Regardless of what the original Arabic means, it is apparent that the Swahili language is indeed trying to grow and has tried to implement new names for the three once-unknown planets. The planets Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto seem to have had some mistranslations or confusions in the past, but it is time that we fix the headwords of these pages to fit the proper and current terminology. The planet Uranus has been cited as Zohali/Zohari in two sources one from tessafrica.net (a downloadable file about the planets) and the other in a textbook (2011) by Wallah bin Wallah; however, in this following textbook, that can be found on Google Books, names Uranus as Saratani. I myself believe that this is merely a mistake on account of Sarateni's resemblance to the English word Saturn (even though I do agree that Utaridi and Zohali originated from the Arabic words for Mercury and Saturn respectively; Not one source or school textbook has used the terms Uranus, Neptun or Pluto as the names of these planets.) It seems that times are changing and new terminology is being accepted. So we should follow what these textbooks say and follow the curriculum that they teach in Kenya and Tanzania (and wherever else Swahili is taught). Furthermore, in all three of the above sources (tessafrica, Wallah bin Wallah and Masomo ya Msingi 8) Mercury is Zebaki, Neptune is Kausi, Pluto is Utaridi. Saturn and Uranus are mostly likely Sarateni and Zohali respectively. These textbooks are the standard for teaching Swahili, thus are reputable and represent current terminology. And thus these articles must match the current standards. --Mjanja 22 Aprili 2011

Ndg Mjanja, unfortunately it is not uncontroversial which sources to follow. Textbooks are changed, and esp. in East Africa their terminology often made up on a shoe string (I'm a linguist also working in Swahili terminology, in case you wondered). I do grant you that "Zebaki" (currently only used for the chemical element mercury) is used more commonly for the planet now as well but you must realise that this is *not* Swahili in its original form but a mistranslation of English (where both the element and the planet are the same). Going by the TUKI dictionary, Pluto, Uranus and Neptuni are the proper names in Swahili. This is followed by major Tanzanian newspapers where in articles as late as February 2011, I find both "sayari ya Pluto" and "sayari ya Uranus". By contrast, the phrase "sayari ya Kausi" doesn't give you a single Google hit. So, it doesn't seem to be current standard. As long as Swahili newspapers and bloggers predominantly use Pluto, Uranus and Neptuni, I'd vote for keeping it that way on wikipedia, too. Thanks for listening, --Baba Tabita (majadiliano) 12:59, 23 Aprili 2011 (UTC)