Re: Gnus version

[CHENG Gao]

*On Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:30:36 +0530
* Also sprach Jambunathan K <address@hidden>:

> Katsumi Yamaoka <address@hidden> writes:
>
>> "Stephen J. Turnbull" <address@hidden> wrote:
>>> You're welcome. I now favor the "Ma Gnus" suggestion though, as the
>>> triple pun (Ma Gnus == True Gnus == wizard == Lars) is
>>> irresistible.
>> I like 真 Gnus. Though not a few Japanese people might pronounce it
>> as Makoto. ;) In addition, this is a good opportunity for Gnus to
>> drop non-Mule XEmacs 21.4 support.
>
> (Not related to earlier threads. But posting for curiosity value)
>
> Happened to stumble upon this a few minutes ago:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma_%28negative_space%29
>
> The pronunciation is "Ma" but it's written differently from the
> original Ma. It goes something like: 間
>
> It looks to me that the same letter is pronounced differently by
> different cultures. A chinese, a korean, a japanese, a vietnamese
> hacker looking at a MaGnus shirt may actually read different things.

Don't worry too much about this. In fact in Chinese, alphabetical form
of any character is ambiguious. And many characters have various
pronunciations. You always need context to decide the pronunciation and
meaning.

And there are some funny stories that can demonstrate this variation
to extreme. If anyone is interested, you can take a look at some
short novelss/verses below:

1. 《施氏食狮史》
　　　　
石室诗士施氏，嗜狮，誓食十狮。施氏时时适市视狮。十时，适十狮适市。
是时，适施氏适市。氏视是十狮，恃矢势，使是十狮逝世。
氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。石室拭，氏始试食是十狮。
食时，始识是十狮，实十石狮尸。试释是事。

All characters above have the same Pinyin form -- Shi. It's the
most famous demonstration.

2. 《于瑜与余欲渔遇雨》 
于瑜欲渔，遇余于寓。语余：“余欲渔于渝淤，与余渔渝欤？”
余语于瑜：“余欲鬻玉，俞禹欲玉，余欲遇俞于俞寓。”
余与于瑜遇俞禹于俞寓，逾俞隅，欲鬻玉于俞，遇雨，雨逾俞宇。
余语于瑜：“余欲渔于渝淤，遇雨俞寓，雨逾俞宇，欲渔欤？鬻玉欤？”
于瑜与余御雨于俞寓，俞鬻玉于余禹，雨愈，余与于瑜踽踽逾俞宇，渔于渝淤。

All characters above have the same alphabetical
form -- Yu.

3. 《季姬击鸡记》
季姬寂，集鸡，鸡即棘鸡。棘鸡饥叽，季姬及箕稷济鸡。
鸡既济，跻姬笈，季姬忌，急咭鸡，鸡急，继圾几，季姬急，即籍箕击鸡，
箕疾击几伎，伎即齑，鸡叽集几基，季姬急极屐击鸡，鸡既殛，季姬激，
即记《季姬击鸡记》。

All in form -- Ji.

4. 《遗镒疑医》
伊姨殪，遗亿镒。伊诣邑，意医姨疫，一医医伊姨。翌，亿镒遗，疑医，以议医。
医以伊疑，缢，以移伊疑。伊倚椅以忆，忆以亿镒遗，以议伊医，亦缢。噫！亦异
矣！

All in -- Yi.

5. 《熙戏犀》
西溪犀，喜嬉戏。席熙夕夕携犀徙，席熙细细习洗犀。犀吸溪，戏袭熙。
席熙嘻嘻希息戏。惜犀嘶嘶喜袭熙。

A verse. All in Xi.


There are many like these. Don't bother trying to understand what they
mean since most Chinese have difficulty in undersanding them.