# slope, to incline, to stand on the slope



## ThomasK

I was _i_n the German-speaking part of Switzerland and enquired about the translation of "*slope*". At first it did not seem so self-evident to find the right word, but then it turned up: _*der Hang*, der Abhang _(the concept of hanging here seems strange to me, but …). Dutch has* "helling".* [1] What would be your word? (It can refer to both the slope area and to the inclination)

But starting from related words in Dutch, I'd like to hear how you would translate words or expressions such as the following
 - [2] the verb "hellen*" *(generally meaning: a landscape's *inclining movement* or the *leaning to the side*, generally 'destined' to fall, like a tower as in Pisa)
 - [3] the expression "op de helling staan" (to be/ stand on the slope, meaning "*to be under threat, likely to get lost*", like values, etc.)

But [4] other associations with slopes (and sloping ???) welcome!


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> [1] What would be your word? (It can refer to both the slope area and to the inclination)



In *Spanish*, _pendiente_ is the most common one for the inclination… or maybe I'm biased right now because it's La Vuelta's time. Anyway, _pendiente_ comes from the verb _pender_ (to hang) so there you have a connection with Swiss' German. And _pendiente_ is a polysemic Word that it's used not just for slope but also for earring, an undo task is a _tarea pendiente_...



ThomasK said:


> the verb "hellen*" *(generally meaning: a landscape's *inclining movement* or the *leaning to the side*, generally 'destined' to fall, like a tower as in Pisa)



In *Spanish*, that would be _inclinarse_, I guess. _Inclinación_ (noun) is also used for slope.


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## ThomasK

Great, that opens my mind again! ;-) The funny thing here again is that an inclination (_neigen, buigen_) would be a physical body movement implying bowing, i.e., curving the body_ (hope that is the correct word). _

The fact that there is no "specific" word for _helling/ hellen_ will probably lead to other associations being elicited by _pendiente_. Do you associate anything positive or negative with it? And: does it refer to both a slope area and the degree of inclination (of a landscape)?


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> The funny thing here again is that an inclination (_neigen, buigen_) would be a physical body movement implying bowing, i.e., curving the body_ (hope that is the correct word)._



In Spanish, that's true for human beings. But Pisa tower is _inclinada_... If its body was curved, we would likely say _arqueada_.

Another verb related with inclining movements is _balancearse_ (to swing in English). _Sacudir_ (to shake) might be also related with inclining movements on an earthquake.



ThomasK said:


> Do you associate anything positive or negative with it?



It's quite neutral. However, _pendiente de un hilo_ (literally hanging from a yarn) is used to express that something/someone is on a fragile position; in risk.


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## ThomasK

I would never have associated the latter, well-known expression with hellen, just because of course the different verb closes our mind so to speak to any such parallel: we do not associate _hellen_ with hanging at all. None of us sees things wrongly of course, but just describing words in different ways opens or closes our minds. I suddenly think of _gradiente_. Isn't that Spanish too? I think that it would seem more "normal" to us, as it refers to a bow...


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> I suddenly think of _gradiente_. Isn't that Spanish too?



Yes, it is as well as _declive_, _cuesta..._


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## ThomasK

Thanks. Now, one last question: is there a reason why you did not refer to those in the first phase? Are they less common or …? _(Just wondering, you know, not blaming you!!!)_


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## apmoy70

Greek:

(1) *«Πλαγιά»* [plaˈʝa] (fem.) < Classical adj. *«πλάγιος, -ίᾱ, -ιον» plắgiŏs* (masc.), *plăgíā* (fem.), *plắgiŏn* (neut.) --> _placed sideways, athwart, (of ground) sloping, (metaph.) crooked, treacherous_ (of unclear etymology).
Verb: *«Πλαγιάζω»* [plaˈʝa.zo] --> _to recline, lie down, lie in bed_.

(2) *«Κλιτύς»* [kliˈtis] (fem.) < Classical 3rd declension deverbative fem. noun *«κλῑτύς» klītús* (nom. sing.), *«κλῑτύος» klītúŏs* (gen. sing.) < Classical v. *«κλίνω» klī́nō* --> _to bend, incline, lean on, sink_ (PIE *ḱlei̯- _to lean_ cf Lat. clīnāre, Proto-Germanic *hlinjaną > Ger. lehnen, Dt. leunen, Eng. lean).
Verb: *«Kλίνω»* [ˈkli.nɔ] --> _to lean, decline, conjugate, tend_.

(3) *«Πρανές»* [praˈnes] (neut.) < Classical adj. *«πρᾱνής, -νής, -νές» prānḗs* (masc. & fem.), *prānés* (neut.) --> _with the face downwards, lying on the front, falling forwards, (neut.) the side of hill_ (of uncertain etymology).
No verb.

(1) prevails in the vernacular, (2) is techical, (3) is somewhat bookish.


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## ThomasK

The verb in (1) reminds me of Dutch _buigen_, bow but also bend. Everything bended is, figuratively speaking, often considered as not straight, though we need to add a prefix as in _ombuigen_, something like 'bend over'... But bending, bowing and inclining are different concepts to us in Dutch. I'll be back with some comments on that…


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## Awwal12

In Russian, "slope" as an element of landscape is "склон" /sklon/; the more general term is "наклон" /naklon/. The both are related to tilting, slanting. Cf. "поклон" /poklon/ - a bow (as a gesture), "уклон" /uklon/ - in*clin*ation, plus many other related verbs and other words.


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## AndrasBP

In Hungarian, "slope" is "*lejtő*", which originally is an active participle of the verb "lejt" = to slope.
The verb derives from the adverb "le", meaning "down(wards)".


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> is there a reason why you did not refer to those in the first phase? Are they less common or …? _(Just wondering, you know, not blaming you!!!)_



Well, I started answering with a word that it's very usual for the inclination and that had connetions with one of the words that you quoted. From there onwards, I just answered your following questions. _Gradiente_ is a bit 'technical', _declive_ is less common. Cuesta (funnily enough is the same word in English) is a common word. There are many more words related with slopes like, for example, _vertiente_ (versant in French), _buzonamiento_ (the dutch helling when used in geology), _ladera_, _falda_...


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## ThomasK

@Circumflejo: I see. I'll have a look at the other words you refer to. I am a little  astonished though at the fact that there seem to be that many words referring to _helling/slope_. I cannot imagine so many equivalent words in Dutch...
@AndrasBP: so no need for more words, I understand.
@Awwal12: thanks for reminding me of the English words _tilt(ing), slant_, and the concepts, I had not thought of them in this connection!

I think I'll need to add more information to be more complete. I thought the helling/ hellen concept was the basic one, but I am not so sure anymore; the basic concept must be wider than just slope, etc. I'll be back...


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## ThomasK

Have you ever tried to google for images for your equivalent of _*helling*_ at Google or at bing.com? I have for _helling_, and the results are either perfect (the bing results) or  strange, to some extent at least (google). _Slope_ at bing.com seems to be very geometrical/…, and even more so at google...I am not suggesting either of them is better, but if you do it with your equivalent(s), do you see a likeness with mine?

The first conclusion seems to be that words elicit different associations, doesn't it? Do the _helling_-images lead to other words in your language?


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## apmoy70

Yes it does in Greek, _helling_ is *«κλίση»* [ˈkli.si] (fem.) --> _inclination, bending, (grammar) declension, conjugation_ < Classical 3rd declension fem. noun *«κλίσις» klĭ́sis* (nom. sing.), *«κλίσεως» klĭ́sĕōs* (gen. sing.) --> _inclination, bending, lying down, lying in bed, (grammar) declension, conjugation_ from the v. *«κλίνω» klī́nō*

(When I google κλίση, it shows up maths & grammar: κλίση)


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## ThomasK

But then: it is related with /klitus/, isn't it? Could the other two be used to for like the inclination of a roof or a ski track? Do you have any idea why the pictures trigger a new word? Is it strange that thie /klisi/ did not turn up first?


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> I would never have associated the latter, well-known expression with hellen, just because of course the different verb closes our mind so to speak to any such parallel: we do not associate _hellen_ with hanging at all.



_Pendiente de un hilo_ isn't really associated with slope. At most, it would associated with swing. However, I quoted it when you asked if pendinte could have positive or negative connotations because it's the only use of pendiente remotely related with slope that may have a non-neutral meaning; or, at least, it was the only one that came to my mind.



ThomasK said:


> Do the _helling_-images lead to other words in your language?



_Declive_ shows many pictures of the typical graphic showing a decrease in income (or any other sort of decrease) mixed with a few one of _declive_ in a more related with slope sense.
_Falda_, unsuriprisingly, shows pictures of skirts and to look for slope related ones you have to add something else to the search or to look at many skirt pictures till you find a slope one.


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## ThomasK

Thanks again, but can you tell me about what you mean by 'swing' here (I am thinking of the dance movements, like turning, but...?)? The declive is like the decline, I suppose (when looking at Google picture). Falda is interesting, intriguing: how do you think one word has come to mean both skirt and slope, do you think?

en.Wikipedia.org might be giving the answer to the latter question: folding has to do with bending, and bending might refer to slopes somehow…


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## apmoy70

ThomasK said:


> But then: it is related with /klitus/, isn't it? Could the other two be used to for like the inclination of a roof or a ski track? Do you have any idea why the pictures trigger a new word? Is it strange that thie /klisi/ did not turn up first?


Yes the two are related.
«Πλαγιά, κλιτύς, πρανές» (the three words in my previous post) are terms for the slope.
«Κλίση» is the inclination of the slope/ski track/roof:
*That's* 10% «κλίση»


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## ThomasK

Perfect information! Thanks!

Interesting information from etymonline.com: "1590s, "go in an *oblique* direction," from earlier adjective meaning "*slanting*" (c. 1500), …"A link is suggested with slupan "*to slip*" (see sleeve).


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## Circunflejo

ThomasK said:


> but can you tell me about what you mean by 'swing' here (I am thinking of the dance movements, like turning, but...?)?



What make the tree branches when the wind blows.



ThomasK said:


> how do you think one word has come to mean both skirt and slope, do you think?
> 
> en.Wikipedia.org might be giving the answer to the latter question: folding has to do with bending, and bending might refer to slopes somehow…



Basically, that's it.


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## Penyafort

*Catalan*

The common noun for a slope is *pendent*, which is masculine in Catalan (unlike _pendiente _in Spanish, _pente _in French or _pendenza _in Italian, all of which are feminine). 

Another typical word, specially as a name of slopes in towns, is *baixada *(literally, descent)

A *rost *is a steeper slope, but is mostly literary

A *vessant *usually refers to a mountain slope. It can also be called, more rarely, *aiguavessant *(literally, pouring water) or *coster*.


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## Circunflejo

Penyafort said:


> Another typical word, specially as a name of slopes in towns, is *baixada *(literally, descent)



That's Spanish _bajada_; a word that I forgot to quote (surely it isn't the only one) but that it's more used than some of the words that I quoted before.


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