1. Article on the art and architecture of the Republic of Tel Aviv
2. The Office to be remade for Israeli TV
3. A fan writes
4. Eamonn McDonagh on Israel and Iran at war
5. Let the wild rumpus begin
6. New books blog
8. 20-somethings on the recession
9. FT2020
10. Why are full-backs the key to winning?
@10. “In Brazil… a “full-back” is a ‘lateral’. The term gives a notion of width, but not of depth: …a wide player… [not] defensive.”
I know that Israel is well behind in sports, particularly team sports on the national level, but I’m interested more in the linguistics here. The very same position in Hebrew is know simple as a “magen” – a defender (magen yemani, smali), which seems to be the very opposite of the connotation in Brazil – of very definitely a strictly defensive player.
On the other hand – a midfielder, at least in English, seems to have only a linguistic meaning with regards to physical position on the pitch – not necessarily with regards to responsibility in the match. However, here Hebrew actually does show some more flexibility – the term is “kashar” – connector, loosely translated.
I’m not really sufficiently knowledgeable to draw any real conclusions from this – but can anyone comment on the relationship between these terms and the different manner in which the game is played in South America/Israel/Europe/UK, etc? Is there a relationship, or am I reading way too deeply into this?
It’s a nice idea, but I think it’s just because modern Hebrew hasn’t evolved enough to take in all the subtleties that have emerged with the game’s development…
If you had seen their pathetic display tonight, you’d know the answer to that question!
