nature or natural?

[roseriver1012]

A dove had spent its lifetime in a cage and had never flown under a ___________ sky.
Nature or natural should be in the gap? Thanks for help!

 

[MikeNewYork]

Grammatically, the only possibility would be natural. But that would leave us with a sentence that makes no sense. There really isn't an "unnatural sky". The problem with the dove is having been unable to fly at all. It has nothing to do with the sky.

 

[Matthew Wai]

The problem with the dove is having been unable to fly at all.

It could fly as long as the cage was large enough, e.g. this one.

 

[Ali Hsn]

Hello!

*I AM NOT A TEACHER OR NATIVE.*

Can we consider something like "high space" as another meaning for "sky" as well? If so, then we can differentiate "a natural sky" from the one which is, for instance, constrained in a covert area (e.g. a very big and high but roofed space), right?

 

[roseriver1012]

Grammatically, the only possibility would be natural. But that would leave us with a sentence that makes no sense. There really isn't an "unnatural sky". The problem with the dove is having been unable to fly at all. It has nothing to do with the sky.

I think it means the sky in nature, instead of an artificial one. The question is since a noun can also be used to modify another noun, why can't "nature" be used in this sentence?

 

[Boris Tatarenko]

Not a teacher nor a native speaker.

First of all, we need to use an adjective, but "nature" is a noun.
Secondly, I can't imagine any unnatural, artificial sky. The question seems strange for me.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have never heard "nature sky" and would not know what it means. I still don't know what an "artificial" or "unnatural sky" would be.

 

[SoothingDave]

It had never flown free. Never in the open air.

If it is flying inside a large cage or inside a building, that is one thing. But it isn't an artificial or unnatural sky.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think it means the sky in nature, instead of an artificial one.

My compatriot, we may say "大自然的天空" in Chinese, but it may be weird to say "a natural sky" in English because an artificial or unnatural sky is inconceivable. We should avoid using Chinglish.

Not a teacher.

 

[Tdol]

Can we consider something like "high space" as another meaning for "sky" as well? If so, then we can differentiate "a natural sky" from the one which is, for instance, constrained in a covert area (e.g. a very big and high but roofed space), right?

We don't normally do this, but you could for poetic or descriptive effect. In London's St Pancras station, the metal is painted blue to try to create the effect of an artificial sky with the glass, so it's not impossible, but I don't walk out of the station and think it's the natural sky outside: http://www.elleuk.com/var/elleuk/st...naissance-hotel-view-from-city-chamber_TA.jpg

 

[tzfujimino]

"大自然的天空"

"大" - 'big' or 'great'.
"自然" - 'nature'
"的" - used to make the word function adjectivally
"天空" -　'the sky'

I see.
So, the problem seems to be that "natural sky" is the literal translation of the Chinese expression.
I suppose the aim of the question/exercise is to see if examinees/students can use the suitable form of the word 'nature' (in this case, an adjective), which doesn't really work in English.

 

[Raymott]

I have never heard "nature sky" and would not know what it means. I still don't know what an "artificial" or "unnatural sky" would be.

Surely you've heard of the experiments with the indigo bunting (a bird), which proved that they navigate by the stars by placing them under an artificial sky in which the star positions were manipulated?

 

[Raymott]

I think it means the sky in nature, instead of an artificial one. The question is since a noun can also be used to modify another noun, why can't "nature" be used in this sentence?

A noun can't always be used to modify another noun. This is an example.

 

[tzfujimino]

Surely you've heard of the experiments with the indigo bunting (a bird), which proved that they navigate by the stars by placing them under an artificial sky in which the star positions were manipulated?

So, in the context of the experiment, the ceiling of a planetarium can be an 'artificial sky', right?

 

[Tdol]

I think so.

However, that doesn't make natural sky work as a phrase; people can have artificial legs, but we don't talk of natural legs.

 

[5jj]

So, in the context of the experiment, the ceiling of a planetarium can be an 'artificial sky', right?

Unlike Tdol. I don't think this is possible. We know that it is meant to represent the sky, but I cannot imagine anybody actually referring to it as an 'artificial sky'.

The only artificial sky that I can think of is in a science fiction story, in which, for some reason, an enormous hemisphere has been contructed around half a planet to give the inhabitants the illusion that what they see above them is the sky. People in the uncovered half of the planet know they are seeing the real sky. People in the other half know they are seeing an artificial sky.

However, outside science fiction, I can't see 'artificial sky' working.

 

[Ali Hsn]

We don't normally do this, but you could for poetic or descriptive effect. In London's St Pancras station, the metal is painted blue to try to create the effect of an artificial sky with the glass, so it's not impossible, but I don't walk out of the station and think it's the natural sky outside: http://www.elleuk.com/var/elleuk/st...naissance-hotel-view-from-city-chamber_TA.jpg

Thanks for your helpful explanations! Searching "under a natural sky", Google lists some books, pages, and documents but they are just a few.
For instance, the last paragraph of page 122 on: http://jeb.biologists.org/content/191/1/107.full.pdf

As you stated, it's not impossible to say "natural sky" but this term is very rarely used.

 

[Raymott]

So, in the context of the experiment, the ceiling of a planetarium can be an 'artificial sky', right?

I would think so. Those who are in the field of working with artifical skies don't seem to have a problem with the term.
http://www.uidaho.edu/caa/news/features/artificial-sky
http://www.slideshare.net/C_White/artificial-sky-visit-ucl
http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/318/3/641.full.pdf
...

PS: I also have a picture of birds under an articial sky, but the editor won't let me post it, counting it as words! This has never happened before.
In any case, if you're an ornithologist working with birds under artificial skies, how do you refer to the [?] sky once they are released?

 

[SoothingDave]

There was never such a thing as "natural grass" or "natural turf" until they invented artificial turf.