Muke Tever wrote:
On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 11:20:19 +0200, cookfire cookfire@softhome.net wrote:
If topo in Italian means both mouse and rat. Then it should be a word with two definitions. One will translate into mouse, the other will translate into rat.
Just because a word refers to multiple objects doesn't mean it has multiple definitions.
Less extremely, the word "dolphin" in everyday English[1] refers indiscriminately to dolphins that live in the ocean, dolphins that live in rivers, and (for some people) porpoises; however, there are languages that distinguish them: in Latin for example they are "delphinus", "platanista", and "thursio" respectively[2], and I wouldn't be surprised if other languages did similarly.
A dolphin can also be a fish, the dorado or mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus)
Ec