Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess the language?
Author: Simon
I am a linguist, web developer and musician. I live in Bangor in Wales and run Omniglot - the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages, as well as making the Radio Omniglot Podcast.
Turning Oxen
Some early alphabets, such as Ancient Greek, Latin and Etruscan were written in a style known as boustrophedon [ˌbuːstrəˈfiːdən], which involves alternate lines of a text being reversed, with letters also written in reverse. Here’s an example in Old / Archaic Latin:
The first and third lines of this text are written from right to left, while the second and fourth lines are written from left to right.
Transliteration
Opnēs hemones decnotāti et iouesi louberoi et parēs gnāscontor, rationes et comscientiās particapes sont, quibos enter sēd comcordiās studēōd agontinom est.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Translation (boustrophedon style)
The word boustrophedon could be translated literally as “like the ox turns [while plowing]”. It comes from βοῦς [bûːs] (ox), στροφή [stro.pʰɛ̌ː] (turn), and the adverbial suffix -δόν [dón] (like, in the manner of) [source].
From βοῦς we get such English words as beef, bovine, buffalo, butter and bulima [source], and the word cow comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root as βοῦς – *gʷṓws (cattle) [source].
The word στροφή is the root of the English word strophe, which refers to “A turn in verse, as from one metrical foot to another, or from one side of a chorus to the other”, and appears in words like apostrophe and catastrophe [source].
The old Mayan script was written in a way similar to boustrophedon: in paired columns zigzagging downwards from left to right.
From: Flickr
Chinese, Japanese and Korean could be also be written in this way but aren’t, as far as I know. They could also be written in other directions as illustrated below.
The text on the left starts on the top left and runs in vertical columns running from alternatively from top to bottom and bottom to top. The text on the right starts at the bottom right and runs in horizontal lines alternating from right to left and left to right.
If you’re thinking of created a writing system, one thing to consider is giving it a unique writing direction. This might inspire you.
Language Quiz
Short on
Have a look at the English sentences below and see if anything stands out for you.
This comes from the Japanese course on Duolingo, by the way.
For me, the use of short on in these contexts seems odd. I would use short of here. When I saw this, I wondered if this is a difference between British English and American English – the English on Duolingo is generally American English.
I’ve noticed other subtle differences in the ways prepositions and other words like articles are used as well. For example, would you say I’m on the beach or I’m at the beach?
One Japanese way to say you’re short of/on something is 不足している (fusoku shite iru). 不足 (fusoku) on it’s own means insufficiency, deficiency, shortage, lack, scarcity, deficit, dissatisfaction, discontent or complaint. It appears in such expressions as:
- 不足分 (fusokubun) = shortage, amount outstanding (on a loan), deficit
- 不足前 (tarazumae) = deficit, shortage
- 不足勝 (fusokugachi) = needy circumstances
- 不足を言う (fusoku o iu) = to complain, express one’s dissatisfaction
不 (fu / bu) on it’s own means negative, non-, bad, ugly, clumsy, 足 (ashi) means foot, paw, arm, leg, gait or pace, and 足 (soku) it is used as a counter for pairs of footwear. The verb 足りる (tariru) means to be sufficient or enough, and 足る (taru) means to be sufficient or enough, to be worth doing, to deserve, serve or answer. If you don’t have quite enough of something, you could use the word 足らず (tarasu). It means just under, a little less than or just short of.
Source: jisho.org
Language Quiz
Pepper and Salt
There are some pairs of words that often go together, and usually in a particular order. For example, the title of this post, Pepper and Salt, might seem a bit strange to native English speakers, as we usually say salt and pepper. There are many ideas about why we do this, but it might just be an old habit that developed over time.
To Dutch speakers zout en peper (salt and pepper) would sound strange, as they usually say peper en zout (pepper and salt). Are there any other languages that do this?
The linguistic term for such pairs of words is binomials, and pairs of words that always, or almost always, appear in the same order are known as frozen binomials.
Some ideas about why these words are ordered in this way include:
- More powerful and important words go first: kings and queens, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, mum and dad, granny and grandpa, mother and child, ladies and gentlemen, cat and mouse, bread and jam, fish and chips
- General words go first: rules and regulations, terms and conditions
- Marked words go first: horse and carriage, trial and error, friend and foe (concrete before abstract, living before nonliving, positive before less positive, etc)
Pairs of words that always go together in a particular order and have a collective meaning in addition to their individual meanings are known as irreversible binomials.
Examples include: rock and roll, and legal terms like law and order, (last) will and testament and:
- goods and chattels = any property that is not freehold, usually limited to include only moveable property
- kith and kin = one’s acquaintances and relatives – kith (friends and acquaintances) only appears in this context
- aid and abet = to assist another in the commission of a crime by words or conduct.
- let or hindrance = having no impediment or obstacle to progression
Are there any language in which black and white is usually white and black, or other common pairs are reversed compared to English?
More about binomials
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/frozen-binomials-why-do-we-cringe-at-pepper-and-salt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irreversible_binomial
https://www.learngrammar.net/english-grammar/irreversible-binomials-definition-types-with-examples
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_doublet
Moose
Yesterday I added a page about the Moose Cree language to Omniglot. Moose Cree (ᐃᓕᓖᒧᐧᐃᓐ / ililîmowin) is a Central Algonquin language spoken mainly in the town of Moose Factory on Moose Factory Island on the Moose River in Ontario, Canada. That’s a lot of moose, or is it mooses, moosen or even meese? (see below)
A moose is:
“a ruminant mammal (Alces alces) with humped shoulders, long legs, and broadly palmated antlers that is the largest existing member of the deer family and inhabits forested areas of Canada, the northern U.S., Europe, and Asia” [source]
A moose can also be “a member of a major benevolent and fraternal order [Loyal Order of Moose]”.
The word moose was discussed in a previous post, along with the word elk and related words.
Today I thought I’d look into moose-related words in more detail.
Moose was first used in writing in English in 1603, and is thought to come from an Eastern Algonquian language such as Massachusett (moos), Narragansett (moos) or Penobscot (mos), from the Proto-Algonquian *môswa (it strips), referring to how a moose strips tree bark when feeding [source].
The standard plural of moose is moose, although mooses and meese are also used informally. I think a good alternative plural would be moosen, like oxen, children and aurochsen. What do you think?
In Moose Cree there are quite a few words moose-related words, including:
- ᒨᓱ / môso = moose; human prey (in traditional stories about cannibals)
- ᓈᐯ ᒨᓱ / nâpe-môso = a male moose
- ᐊᔮᐯᐤ / ayâpew = a (fully grown) buck, bull
- ᓅᓭ ᒨᓱ / nôse-môso = a female moose
- ᒨᔓᔑᔥ / môšošiš = a moose calf
- ᐱᐳᓈᔅᑯᔥ / piponâskoš = a one-year-old moose or caribou
- ᒨᒨᓶᐤ / mômôswew = s/he eats moose
Source: The Dictionary of Moose Cree
There are also plenty of moose-related words in Plains Cree:
- ᒨᓴᐧ / môswa = moose
- ᔮᐯᐤ / yâpew = bull moose
- ᒥᐢᑎᔮᐯᐤ / mistiyâpew = a big bull moose
- ᔨᑭᐦᒐᐊᐧᓭᐢ / yikihcawases = a one-year-old bull moose
- ᐊᐧᐢᑫᐤᒉᓭᐢ / waskewceses = a two-year-old bull moose
- ᐅᑭᓄᒪᐧᒐᔦᓭᐢ / okinomwacayeses = a three-year-old bull moose
- ᐅᓃᒐᓂᐤᒨᓴᐧ / onîcaniwmôswa = a female moose
- ᓅᓭᐢ / nôses = a mother moose with one calf
- ᐅᓃᓴᐧᐢᑯᒣᐤ / onîswaskomew = a mother moose with two calves
- ᐅᐢᑳᔨᐢ / oskâyis = a young/baby moose
Source: Online Cree Dictionary
While there are pages about Massachusett (Wôpanâôtuwâôk) and Narragansett (Nãikanset) on Omniglot, there isn’t one about Penobscot (Pαnawάhpskewi), which is a variety of Eastern Abenaki that was spoken mainly in Maine in the USA until the 1990s, and which is currently being revived. I’ll be adding details soon.
There is an online Penobscot Dictionary which includes quite a few moose-related words.
Update: there is now a page about Penobscot on Omniglot.
Language Quiz
Podiums
In Dutch the word podium [poː.di.(j)ʏm] means stage, and also podium or platform. It comes from Latin word podium (balcony, especially in an amphitheatre, parapet, podium), from the Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion – base), a diminutive of πούς (poús – foot, leg), from the Proto-Indo-European pṓds (foot) [source].
Some related words include:
- hoofdpodium = main stage
- podiumbeest = someone who enjoys being on stage and is often on stage (“stage beast”)
- podiumkunsten = performing arts
- poppodium = a venue where pop music is performed live
The English word podium (a platform on which to stand, as when conducting an orchestra or preaching at a pulpit; any low platform or dais) comes from the same root [source], as does the word pew, via the Middle English pewe, from the Middle French puie (balustrade), from the Latin podia, the plural of podium [source].
Other words from the same Latin root include poggio (hill) and podio (podium) in Italian, puig (hill, peak) in Catalan, and poyo (stone bench) in Spanish [source].
By the way, in English (and Dutch) the plural of podium can be either podiums or podia. Which do you prefer?
The diminutive of podium in Dutch is podiumpje, which means little or imaginary stage – I find Dutch diminutives like this very cute.
Language Quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess the language?
I don’t know if this language is always spoken this fast, but this is one of the few recordings I can find in it.