who knows 6?

[LashSlash]

I have yet to fully map the vast unexplored donga of Silences' cerebral hinterland.

who knows what a 'donga' is, without looking it up?

[Ed]

I have yet to fully map the vast unexplored donga of Silences' cerebral hinterland.

who knows what a 'donga' is, without looking it up?

You?

[desertwomble]

Dongas were from my part of the world when I lived in Zimbabwe. They're still in my part of the world, but here they're called wadis.

DW

[LashSlash]

I have yet to fully map the vast dongas of Silences' cerebral hinterland; unexplored gullies.

does that help the reader out?

[desertwomble]

I have yet to fully map the vast dongas of Silences' cerebral hinterland; unexplored gullies.

does that help the reader out?

Wasn't the question about what a 'donga' is?

And didn't I answer it?

DW

[LashSlash]

i know what a donga is  -- i have spent many happy hours in them ..... i was asking if anyone who doesnt come from the metopo heights or table mountain, knows what the word means --- can i use it in a text without explaining it. it is a word in the dictionary.

in  my 2ns post i expalined in the text what a donga is --- IS IT NECESSARY FOR ME TO DO THIS?   thats the question
d
   

[delph_ambi]

I doubt if anyone who hasn't lived in Africa knows the word, but the second post explains it well enough.

I was more puzzled by 'cerebral hinterland' frankly. 

[Pharosian]

i was asking if anyone who doesnt come from the metopo heights or table mountain, knows what the word means --- can i use it in a text without explaining it. it is a word in the dictionary.

in  my 2ns post i expalined in the text what a donga is --- IS IT NECESSARY FOR ME TO DO THIS?   thats the question
d
   

Well, it's not in any of MY usual dictionaries, and I checked three of them (Webster's Ninth, American Heritage, and Oxford American online). I finally found it in Chambers, which indicates that it's of Zulu origin and used in South Africa. I was unfamiliar with the term, and I have a pretty big vocabulary. But whether or not you need the additional explanation depends a bit on the context. It sounds as though you're writing a review of a book whose title is or contains the word Silences. If that book pertains to a region where dongas are common, then you probably don't need it. If you're just using a word you happen to know, it sounds as if most people aren't going to know what it means unless they, too, have lived in Africa.

But your proposed explanation is grammatically incorrect and clunky. Even if people don't know the word and can't be bothered to look it up, they should still be able to understand the meaning of the sentence.

[LashSlash]

thanks delf and DW.....i

in the end -- no matter how absurd it may seem -- it'll all be plausable .... [i hope].....

[LashSlash]

thanks phar .... most things i write are grammaticaly incorrect ---- mostly i write with a lot of half sentences, much to delf's dismay!

.... silence is the name of a character ......

d 

[Pharosian]

Ah. Then it should have been Silence's cerebral hinterland, rather than Silences'.

[LashSlash]

Ah. Then it should have been Silence's cerebral hinterland, rather than Silences'.

......huh? - how can that be when silence ends wit an 's' sound? --- i'll never get the hang of it, will i?

[Pharosian]

The main thing is that "Silence" is apparently a character's name, whereas "silences" is a plural noun (I thought it might be the title of a book because of the capitalization.) To make a possessive of a name, add apostrophe s ('s).

For Ross or James or Louise, the final s of the possessive is pronounced (Rosses, Jameses, Louises) so you spell the possessives as Ross's, James's, Louise's.

The only place it gets tricky is when you've got a multi-syllabic name and the stress is on the penultimate syllable.

For example, with Achilles, Jesus, or Ulysses, the possessive is formed with the apostrophe alone (note the possessive is pronounced the same as the name itself):  Achilles', Jesus', Ulysses'.

There are a few exceptions, such as Bayes' Theorem, but if you stick to the rules above you should be all right most of the time. A good style guide is helpful for situations like this.

[LashSlash]

thanks Far - you certainly seem to no your onions!
note the possessive is pronounced the same as the name itself):  Achilles' ... like: achilles" heel etc

what about a hat that belongs to a duchess -- a duchess' hat ? how is it pronounced and written?

[what about hats that belongs to many duchesses == how is that pronounced? [duchesses' hats....??]


[Silence and I quietly watched BigChief and LittleChief quartering the chickenhok on their dawn patrol. The roosters: a brown speckled giant with hostile claws and a display of tail feathers fit to adorn a Duchess' hat, pacing alongside a black bantam cockerel, both on the lookout for any snake nit-witted enough to hope for a breakfast of fresh eggs....]

 

[Pharosian]

First of all, I'd probably word it as "the hat of a Duchess." If you absolutely have to word it as given in your example, I believe you have it right (Duchess') as that follows the same convention as the possessive for Jesus (stress on first syllable).

As for the plural possessive, that also looks right (Duchesses').

As for how to pronounce the singular possessive Duchess', refer to my first sentence.