Omniglot News (20/04/25)

20th April 2025 By Simon

Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

New language pages:

Tai Yo (ไทญ้อ), a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Vili (Civili), a Bantu language spoken mainly in the Republic of the Congo, and also in Gabon and Angola.

New adapted script: Vietnamese Arabic Script (چىٰٖ جاوي تيٛەٖڭ ۏیٔەٖط), a way to write Vietnamese with the Arabic script created by Nima Farid.

توٕٛط کەٖࣤ مأي ڠوٚوٖي شيڽ ژەٖ دېٚو دىٖٚوٖق تىٖٔ ذا ۏەٖٚ بيٚڽ دۀٕڭ ۏېٚ ڽان فؤٕم ۏەٖٚ كوٚيەٖن لؤٖي.
مأي كان ڠىٖٚوٖي دېٚو دىٖٔوٖق تۀٖو ھوٛەٖ بەٖن چا لیٛ څیٛ ۏەٖٚ لىٖوٖڭ توٕم ۏەٖٚ كوٕٚن فەٖࣤي دۅٛي سىٖࣤ ۏوٖٛي ڽەٕو څوٕوڭ تيٚڽ ءەٖڽ ءەِم.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Jolly Jaunts about the words jaunt and jaunty (which are not related), and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in eastern Mexico.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Norman (Normaund), a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Normandy in northern France.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Theoretical Theatre, we find out what links the words theory and theatre.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post about words for Masters and related things, and there’s a new Celtic cognates page about words for Vehicles in Celtic languages.

In other news, I went to London this week to see The Warning, a fantastic rock band from Monterrey, Mexico. They put on an incredible show – the best I’ve seen – and looked like they enjoyed it as much as the 5,000 of us in the audience did. They sang mainly in English, with a few songs in Spanish, and on my way to and from the concert, I heard a variety of languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Welsh and Swedish, and even some English.

Here’s a little video I made:

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Theoretical Theatre

19th April 2025 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology, we find out what links the words theory and theatre.

Theory [ˈθɪə.ɹi / ˈθɪ.ɹi] has a variety of meanings, including:

A description of an event or system that is considered to be accurate.
(sciences) A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena and correctly predicts new facts or phenomena not previously observed, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
(informal) A hypothesis, conjecture, unsubstantiated statement or idea.

It comes from Middle French théorie (theory), from Late Latin theōria (speculation, theory), from Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría – contemplation, divine perspective, speculation, a looking at, a seeking) from θεωρέω (theōréō – I look at, view, see, consider, examine), from θεωρός (theōrós – spectator), from θέα (théa – view, perspective, sight) and ὁράω (horáō – I see, look) [source].

Words from the same roots include theorem and theatre / theater in English, θεωρία (theoría – theory, contemplation), θεατής (theatís – spectator, viewer, onlooker) and θεατρίνος (theatrikós – actor, theatrical) in Greek, théâtre (theatre) in French, and teatro (theatre, drama, cinema) in Spanish [source].

Incidentally, in Middle English theatre was written both theatre and theater. It comes from Old French t(h)eatre (theatre), from Latin theātrum (theatre, playhouse, stage), from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron – theatre, gathering place, play, spectacle), from θεάομαι (theáomai – to view, watch, observe), from θέα (théa – view, perspective, sight) [source].

Theater is usually written with -er at the end in the USA, and sometimes in Canada, while in other English-speaking countries, it’s usually written with an -re spelling. However, theatrical people in the USA apparently use the -re spelling when referring to the art-form, and reserve the -er spelling to refer to the building in which theatre is performed. It that right?

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this episode is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I composed and recorded in 2017.

Simon Ager · The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.

Omniglot News (13/04/25)

13th April 202513th April 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

New language pages:

Yaka (Yiyáká), a Bantu language spoken mainly in Kwango Province in the southwest of the DRC.
Yansi (kiBeembe), a Bantu language spoken in the south of the Republic of the Congo.
Shatt (Caning), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in South Kordofan Province in the south of Sudan.

New numbers pages:

Shatt (Caning), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in South Kordofan Province of Sudan.
Occitan (occitan, lenga d’òc), a Gallo-Romance language spoken in southern France, Monaco, northwest Italy and northern Spain.
Limosin (lemosin), a variety of Occitan spoken in Limousin, Charente and Dordogne in the southwest of France.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Lord of the Marches in which we investigate the word marquis, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in northern France.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Monguor (Dēd Mongol), a Mongolic language spoken in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in the of northeast of China.

In this week’s Celtic Pathwys podcast, Crooked Rims, we discover the crooked Celtic roots of words for rim and wheel rim in French, Spanish and other languages.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post about words for Stewards & Mayors and related things.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Celtic Pathways – Crooked Rims

13th April 2025 By Simon

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In this episode we unravel the Celtic roots of words for wheel, rim and related things in French, Spanish and other languages.

The Proto-Celtic word *kambitā means rim and comes from Proto-Celtic *kambos (twisted, crooked, bent), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂embos (crooked), possibly from *(s)ḱamb- (bent, crooked) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

camedd [ˈkameð] = crookedness, curvature, loop, bend, joint, hook in Welsh
kammek = (wheel) rim in Cornish
kammed [ˈkã.mːɛt] = rim, rounded in Breton

For more details of related words in the Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post Crooked.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Transalpine Gaulish cambita (curve) and Latin *cambita, include jante (rim, wheel rim) in French, jante (rim, wheel rim) in Portuguese, llanta (tyre rim, wheel rim, tyre, fat) in Spanish, jant (rim, wheel rim) in Turkish [source].

Words from the same PIE roots possibly include schimpen (to abuse, swear at, mock) in Dutch, schimpfen (to tell off, scold, yell at) in German, skimp (to jeer, jibe, scoff, taunt) in Afrikaans, and skimp (to poke fun (at), banter, mock, speak sarcastically (about)) in Scots [source].

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Omniglot News (06/04/25)

6th April 20256th April 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

New language pages:

Bembe (kiBeembe), a Bantu language spoken in the south of the Republic of the Congo.
Kwambi (Oshikwambi), a Southwest Bantu language spoken mainly in northern Namibia.
Luyana (Esiluyana), a Bantu language spoken in mainly the Western Province of Zambia.
Yeyi (Shiyeyi), a Bantu language spoken mainly in the northwest of Botswana, and also in the northeast of Namibia.

New numbers pages:

Alyawarr, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken mainly in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Kala Lagaw Ya, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken on the Torres Strait Islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Jah Hut, an Aslian language spoken mainly in Pahang state in the south of peninsula Malaysia.

On the Omniglot blog we find out what the Italian word matita (pencil) has to do with blood and stones in a new post entitled Bloody Pencils, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the northeast of China.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Nambikwara (Kitãulhu), a Nambikwaran language spoken in Mato Grosso in western Brazil.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we’re risking ridicule and getting rather ridiculously Ridiculous

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post about words for Malt and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about Swords and Spikes and Nails, Claws and Talons.

In other news, I added the 8,000th page to Omniglot this week.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Ridiculous

5th April 20255th April 2025 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re risking ridicule and getting rather ridiculously ridiculous.

Ridiculous [ɹɪˈdɪkjələs/ɹɪˈdɪkjʊləs] means deserving or ridicule, foolish, absurd, astonishing, extreme or unbelievable.

It comes from Latin rīdiculus [riːˈd̪ɪkʊɫ̪ʊs̠] (laughable, funny, amusing, silly, absurd, ridiculous), from rīdeō (to laugh (at), ridicule, mock), the origins of which are not known [source].

Words from the same roots include ridicule (mocking words or behaviour; to make fun of), risible (ludicrous, ridiculous, provoking laughter) and derisory (laughably small or inadequate) in English, ridere (to laugh) in Italian, sourire (to smile) in French, and ridikül (ridiculous) in German [source].

The rare English word ridibund (inclined to and easily brought to laughter, happy), and the anatomical term risorius (the facial muscle used when smiling) also come from the same roots [source]

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this episode is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I composed and recorded in 2017.

Simon Ager · The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.

Omniglot News (30/03/25)

30th March 202530th March 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

New writing system: Hurûf-ı munfasıla, a script based on the Ottoman Turkish alphabet with the letters written separately and all the vowels written devised by Enver Pasha in 1914.

Sample text in the Hurûf-ı munfasıla

New adapted script: Hengul (헨규얘 아얘푸벹), an alternative way to write English with the Korean Hangeul alphabet devised by Evan Wenning.

곧ㅉ 얘우ㄸ 푤 혀유마니터 이ㅉ 쇼 이멘ㅅ, 빹 허 개ㄸ 히ㅉ 요냬어 순 ㅌ유 탴 앆ㄹ ㅸ이앳 쇼 빹 꺼 칸 버 ㅍ러 우ㄸ 앆ㄹ 신 안ㄷ 버 컈언 ㅍ룸 오얘 운랴예엣닛.

New language pages:

Ivbiosakon (émáì), an Edoid language spoken in the north Edo State in southern Nigeria.
Ososo (Ósósọ̀), an Edoid language spoken in Edo and Kogi states in southern Nigeria.
Moro, a Talodi language spoken in Southern Kordofan state in southern Sudan.

New numbers pages:

Narragansett (Nãikanset), an Eastern Algonquian language that was spoken in Rhode Island in the USA until the 19th century, and that is being revived.
Konkomba (Likpakpaln), a Gur language spoken in northern Ghana and northern Togo.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Squally Showers about the Spanish word chubasco (shower, downpour) and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in western Brazil.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Budukh (Будад мез), a Lezgian language spoken mainly in northeastern Azerbaijan.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Windy Braying, we uncover the flatulent Celtic roots of words for to bray and related things in English, French and other languages.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there are new posts entitled Night and Breaking the Wind.

New article: How to Transition from Modern Standard Arabic to Real-Life Lebanese Arabic

Improved pages: Herero and Bashkir language pages.

New song: What Are You Waiting For?, which I started writing back in November 2024, and finally finished this week.

Simon Ager · What Are You Waiting For?

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Celtic Pathways – Windy Braying

29th March 202529th March 2025 By Simon

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In this episode we discover the flatulent Celtic roots of words for to bray and related things in English, French and other languages.

The Proto-Celtic word *bragyeti means to fart or flatulate and comes from Proto-Celtic *braxsman (fart), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreHg- (to stink, smell, have a strong odour) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

broim [bˠɾˠiːmʲ] = fart in Irish
braim [brãũm] = fart, breaking of wind in Scottish Gaelic
breim = fart in Manx
bram [bram] = fart, gentle puff in Welsh
bramm = fart in Cornish
bramm [brãmː ] = fart in Breton

For more about words for fart and related things in Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post: Breaking the Wind.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, Gaulish *bragiū (fart) and Latin bragiō (to bray, cry, weep), include (to) bray in English, braire (to bray, shout, cry, weep) and brailler (to shout, yell, speak very loudly) in French, and sbraitare (to shout, scream, yell, rant) in Italian [source].

Words from the same PIE root possibly include braña (mire, bog, fen, march, moorland) in Galician, flair, fragrant in English, flairer (to smell, sniff, scent, sense) in French, fragare (to smell) in Italian, and cheirar (to smell) in Portuguese [source].

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Omniglot News (23/03/25)

23rd March 202523rd March 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

Tai Noi script New writing system: Tai Noi, a script used to write Lao and Isan in Laos and northern Thailand.

Sample text in Tai Noi

New constructed system: Aramikatavah (ארמיכתבה), an alternative way to write Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic created by Mina McVinnie.

Sample text in Tai Noi

New language pages:

Degema (Dẹgẹma), an Edoid language spoken in Degema LGA in Rivers states in southern Nigeria.
Egene (Ẹgẹnẹ), an Edoid language spoken in Rivers and Bayelsa states in southern Nigeria.
Esan (Ẹ̀sán), an Edoid language spoken in Edo State in southern Nigeria.

New numbers page:

Esan (Ẹ̀sán), an Edoid language spoken in Edo State in southern Nigeria.
Baniwa (Tapuya), an Arawakan language spoken in Brazil and Venezuela.
Bantayanon, a Central Bisayan language spoken in Cebu Province in the Philippines.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Breeze-Stoppers about the Spanish word limpiaparabrisas (windscreen / windshield wiper) and other compound words, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly in Azerbaijan.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Cia-Cia (Bahasa Ciacia / 바하사 찌아찌아), a Celebic language spoken on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi Province in Indonesia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we find out how wire used to bind hay bales, Haywire, came to be associated with chaos.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there are new posts about words for Night

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Haywire

22nd March 202522nd March 2025 By Simon

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Haywire is wire used to bind bales of hay, and can also refer to something that’s roughly-made, erratic or uncontrollable. How are these meanings related? Let’s find out in this Adventure in Etymology.

As a noun, haywire [ˈheɪ.waɪ.ə(ɹ) / ˈheɪ.waɪɚ] means wire used for binding bales of hay, straw or grass, and is also known as bale wire, baling wire, farm wire or soft wire.

As an adjective, haywire means roughly-made, unsophisticated, decrepit, or behaviorally erratic or uncontrollable, especially when referring to machines and mechanical processes.

As a verb, to haywire means to attach or fix with haywire, and to go haywire means to become wildly confused, out of control, or mentally unbalanced. [source].

Originally haywire meant likely to become tangled unpredictably or unusably, or fall apart, as if bound by the soft springy wire used to bind hay bales. This usage comes from lumber camps in New England in 1905, when a haywire outfit was a company that patched up machinery temporarily using haywire rather than fixed it properly [source].

The expression to go haywire, which first appeared in writing in the 1920s, represents something held together or repaired with haywire falling apart or behaving unpredicatbly, or something that has gone wrong or is no good. As haywire tends to whip itself into wild and unruly tangles when cut, this meaning makes sense [source].

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog.