Délibáb

ausermilar

ausermilar

Senior Member
Portuguese
Hello,

I've tried to understand the supposed link between "dél" (South), "báb" (puppet) and "mirage" that my dictionary exposes (with even a picture of sandy landscapes), but I still don't see what's the role of the puppet that comes from the South to describe this optical phenomenon called "mirage".

Could you help me?
 
    • Dél doesn't only mean South, it also means noon/midday. It is when the sun is in its highest position. Calling it a báb probably indicates that it is not real, even though it looks real, it is just an illusion. Puppet vs a real person?
     
    Interesting question. According to my one language dictionary, it comes from déli+bába (= boszorkány= witch, the final "a" disappeared with the use).
    How midday (agreeing with tom)+ witch gives mirage?
    As the midday sun is the strongest, it is most likely to produce this effect that "something seems to be there when, really, nothing is", which could be considered as a sort of a "boszorkányság"- meaning here: miracle/magic, a tricky, misleading occurrence.
     
    Zsanna said:
    How midday (agreeing with tom)+ witch gives mirage?
    As the midday sun is the strongest, it is most likely to produce this effect that "something seems to be there when, really, nothing is", which could be considered as a sort of a "boszorkányság"
    Click to expand...
    Yes, this makes sense to me.
     
    francisgranada said:
    Only for curiosity, according with the following explanation of tomtombp


    I'd like to add that the portuguese term "meridional" (= southern) derives from the Latin meridies that also means "midday, noon".
    Click to expand...
    Ok, but in Portuguese the mirage is called "miragem" without any allusion to midday, and in Spanish it's even "espejismo" (something that you see like in a mirror). So I guees that each language sees the mirage from a different point of view!
     
    Hello and welcome as48as :)
    Yes, I think we all agree about the translation.
    Congratulation to A délibábok hőse, not many Hungarians know even the title.:thumbsup:
     
    Zsanna said:
    Hello and welcome as48as :)
    Yes, I think we all agree about the translation.
    Congratulation to A délibábok hőse, not many Hungarians know even the title.:thumbsup:
    Click to expand...
    I simply learned Hungarian here in Italy at the University of Udine.
    Unfortunately I am no more fluent (A recently written autotest result was B1) I strongly need of speaking it
     
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