News article

[Waawe]

Hey everyone,

the other day I came across an article one sentence of which I cant figure out. Will you kindly try to make me understood? You can find the whole text at

Why Kosovo Divides Europe - TIME.

The tricky part for me is the section

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — many of whose modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

I understand all the sentence perfectly but the part between the dashes. Frankly, I cant tell the subject or predicate i the clause, I dont understand well the phrase many of whose, either. What does the word whose refer to? Fissures?

Could you restate the part between the dashes for me to finally get the meaning across to me?

Thank you all.

[jamiep]

Many of the countries in Europe are made up of people from different cultures and ethnic origins. nea

"Fold" means mix in this context and is a term often used in cooking.

[Waawe]

Many of the countries in Europe are made up of people from different cultures and ethnic origins. nea

"Fold" means mix in this context and is a term often used in cooking.

Thank you for a kind answer.

Does the phrase many of whose relate to the word fissures or rather the continent?

Would it mean the same if many of which (ie fissures/continent) were used?

Thanks.

[Anglika]

Thank you for a kind answer.

Does the phrase many of whose relate to the word fissures or rather the continent?

Would it mean the same if many of which (ie fissures/continent) were used?

Thanks.

#1 "Many of whose" relates to the continent.

#2 You could not use "which" in this context.

[Waawe]

#1 "Many of whose" relates to the continent.

#2 You could not use "which" in this context.

Hey Angelica, would you mind helping me a bit more? Im afraid Im a bit slow on the uptake.

Ill remind us of the sentence concerned:

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — many of whose modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

#1 Do I get it right that the word "many" relates to the word "fissures" and "whose" relates to "continent"? Are they, thus, talking about fissures of the continent?

Thus, could I as well write the following with the same meaning?

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — the continent's modern nation states folded many fissures in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence."


#2 If I am wrong in the previous assumption, could you help me decipher the functions of the words in the dashed sentence?

modern nation states = subject in plural (who?)
folded = predicate in the past simple, active voice (what activity?) with the meaning of hid or mixed
in diverse kingdoms and peoples = adverbial (where?)


Im sorry for reasking, Im not trying to irritate anyone, Id just love to sort the secret out. Share some of your patience with me, will you? So far you have always pulled the thorns out of my side. Anyway, I guess the fissures will turn into abyss before I understand.

Thanks. Waawe

PS: Of course, I welcome anyones help, dont hesitate to open my mind.

[Anglika]

Hey Angelica, would you mind helping me a bit more? Im afraid Im a bit slow on the uptake.

Ill remind us of the sentence concerned:

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — many of whose modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

#1 Do I get it right that the word "many" relates to the word "fissures" and "whose" relates to "continent"? Are they, thus, talking about fissures of the continent?

In fact many refers to the modern nation states, in the continent of Europe.

The fissures are the political, social and economic divisions that develop within the continent and its nation states

The sentence can be rephrased in this way:

It is these long-standing divisions that appear across the continent [of Europe] (many of whose modern nation states took in/absorbed diverse kingdoms and peoples) that govern Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic - and potentially precedent-setting - declaration of independence.



Im sorry for reasking, Im not trying to irritate anyone, Id just love to sort the secret out. Share some of your patience with me, will you? So far you have always pulled the thorns out of my side. Anyway, I guess the fissures will turn into abyss before I understand.

Thanks. Waawe

PS: Of course, I welcome anyones help, dont hesitate to open my mind.

If you don't ask, you won't get an answer. It is much better to go on asking until you do understand than to give up! I am sure the fissures will turn into minute cracks in due course.

[Waawe]

If you don't ask, you won't get an answer. It is much better to go on asking until you do understand than to give up! I am sure the fissures will turn into minute cracks in due course.

Kudos to you, Anglika, Seems I am finally getting it, hopefully. Lets take the last inning, shall we? Would the sentence below have the same meaning as the original one? Would it be grammatical?

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — whose many modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

I am not aware of ever coming across the "many of whose" phrase, though I realise it doesnt indicate anything. But when I google the phrase, I get nix.

See many of whose - Google Search


So long,

Waawe

[Anglika]

Kudos to you, Anglika, Seems I am finally getting it, hopefully. Lets take the last inning, shall we? Would the sentence below have the same meaning as the original one? Would it be grammatical?

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — whose many modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

Yaay - got it!



I am not aware of ever coming across the "many of whose" phrase, though I realise it doesnt indicate anything. But when I google the phrase, I get nix.

See many of whose - Google Search


So long,

Waawe

"many of whose"

Try here instead: [Davies/BYU] BYU-BNC: British National Corpus

[Anglika]

Kudos to you, Anglika, Seems I am finally getting it, hopefully. Lets take the last inning, shall we? Would the sentence below have the same meaning as the original one? Would it be grammatical?

"And it's such long-standing fissures that pop up across the continent — whose many modern nation states folded in diverse kingdoms and peoples — that shape Europe's responses to Kosovo's historic, and potentially precedent-setting, declaration of independence. "

Yaay - got it!



I am not aware of ever coming across the "many of whose" phrase, though I realise it doesnt indicate anything. But when I google the phrase, I get nix.

See many of whose - Google Search


So long,

Waawe

"many of whose"

Try searching here instead: [Davies/BYU] BYU-BNC: British National Corpus