Note On Terminology in English and German
The name Jura (German: Jura, related to Jurassic) derives from the Jura mountains, of which the Swabian and Franconian plateaux are geographically part. In German, at least outside geological circles, the word Alb is used almost universally in place of Jura. The origin of the word is uncertain. One theory is that it derives form the Latin albus ("white"). Another is that it is from from a pre-Indo-European word albhros ("hill"). It is related to the German words Alpe, Alm or Alp (f., Old High German alpâ), meaning an "upland pasture". The word Alb functions as a proper noun referring more or less exclusively to the Swabian and the Franconian Jura (German: Fränkische Alb) areas however, and as such has no direct translation into most other languages. It is perhaps for this reason that Schwaebische Alb has sometimes been translated into English as 'Swabian Alps', thus avoiding the rather formal and obscure geological name Jura. However, the area is not part of the Alps (despite its proximity), nor is it ever referred to as such in German.
Read more about this topic: Swabian Jura
Famous quotes containing the words note, english and/or german:
“To note an artist’s limitations is but to define his talent. A reporter can write equally well about everything that is presented to his view, but a creative writer can do his best only with what lies within the range and character of his deepest sympathies.”
—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
“So in Jamaica it is the aim of everybody to talk English, act English and look English. And that last specification is where the greatest difficulties arise. It is not so difficult to put a coat of European culture over African culture, but it is next to impossible to lay a European face over an African face in the same generation.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)
“The German language “speaks Being,” while all the others merely “speak of Being.””
—Martin Heidegger (1889–1976)