Category: English

Bamboozling Baboons!

By Simon

This week I learnt a couple of interesting French words – embabouiner [ɑ̃.ba.bwi.ne] (to flatter, butter up) and embobiner [ɑ̃.bɔ.bi.ne] (to bamboozle).

Embabouiner combines the prefix em- and suffix -er with babouin (baboon), so you are making a baboon of someone when you flatter them [source].

Babouin comes from the Middle French babouyne, baboin, from Old French babouin, from baboue (grimace, muzzle), which is related to German dialectal word Bäppe (lips, muzzle) [source].

Baboons.

Embobiner means to get round (someone), to pull to wool over someone’s eyes, to bamboozle or to outfox. It can also mean to wind up, reel up/in or wrap up. It combines the same prefix and suffix as embabouiner with bobine (bobbin, reel, spool, drum), so you are winding someone on a bobbin when you bamboozle them [source].

Bobine probably comes from the Latin word balbus, (stammering, stuttering, lisping, fumbling) and is immitative of the noise of a bobbin [source].

The English word bamboozle comes from the 17th century slang word bam (to trick, to con), from the noun bam (fraudster, cheat), possibly from the French embobiner [source].

Thrapple & Wabbit

By Simon

Thrapple & Wabbit, Solicitors, Establised 1729
If someone said to you, “A’m gey wabbit, an a’v a sair thrapple comin on”, would you have any idea what they were talking about?

This is an example of Scots from L Colin Wilson’s Luath Scots Language Learner. It means, “I’m very tired, and I’ve a sore throat coming on”.

Wabbit, is a childish pronunciation of rabbit in English, and means exhausted, tired out, played out, feeble or without energy in Scots. It is also written wubbit, wibbit or wappit [source]., and it’s not certain where it comes from [source].

Here are some examples of how it’s used:

  • She sat doon, clean wabbit oot, pechin’. = She sat down, completely tired out, panting.
  • You’re lookin’ fair wubbit. What ails ye the day? = You’re looking quite tired. What is wrong with you today?

Thrapple [ˈθrɑpəl], means the windpipe, gullet or throat; to grip by the throat, throttle, strangle; to suppress (laughter) in the throat; to entangle with cords; to gobble up, to devour. It is also written thropple or throapple [source].

It is not certain where it comes from, but may be realted to the English dialect word thropple (larynx, windpipe), which comes from the Old English þrotbolla (windpipe) [source].

Here are some examples of how it’s used:

  • Yer thrapple shuts ticht wi’ the kink-hoast. = Your throat shuts tightly with the chincough (a breath drawn when coughing or laughing).
  • knot o’ the thrapple = Adam’s apple
  • thrapple-deep = up to one’s throat
  • thrapple-girth = a cravat or necktie

Thrapple & Wabbit would be a good name for a firm of solicitors / lawyers perhaps, or a comedy double act.

When is a buffalo not a buffalo?

By Simon

One of the things that came up at the French Conversation Group last night was the difference between buffalo and bison, and the words for them in French.

American bison / le bison d’Amérique du Nord

Where the Buffalo Roam

The creature found North America commonly known as a buffalo is actually a bison or American bison, and the its scientific name is Bison bison. There are two subspieces: the plains bison (Bison bison bison) – so good they named it thrice – and the wood bison (Bison bison athabascae).

In French it’s known as le bison or le bison d’Amérique du Nord. The plains bison is known as le bison des plaines, and the wood bison as le bison des bois [source].

European bison / le bison d’Europe

Żubry/European bisons #4

There is also a European bison (Buson bonasus), which was hunted to extinction by the early 20th century, but was kept alive in captivity, and has since been reintroduced into the wild [source].

In French it is known as le bison d’Europe [source].

Africa buffalo / le buffle d’afrique

Cape Buffalo

There are several species of buffalo in African, including the African buffalo or Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer) in southern and eastern Africa, the African forest buffalo (Syncerus caffer nanus) in central and west Africa, the Sudanese buffalo (Syncerus caffer brachyceros) in west Africa, and the Nile buffalo (Syncerus caffer aequinoctialis) in east Africa [source].

In French the African/Cape buffalo is known as le buffle d’afrique, le buffle noir des savanes or le grand buffle noir des savanes [source].

Water buffalo / le buffle domestique

Asian Water Buffalo.01

The water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) originating in South Asia, Southeast Asia and China, and is now found in other places [source].

In French it’s known as le buffle domestique or le buffle d’Asie [source].

Disappearing Languages

By Simon

According to many reports, a language becomes extinct every two weeks, on average, and over the next century, up to 90% of the world’s languages will cease to be spoken.

This is an oft-repeated story, but is it true?

According to Mike Campbell of Glossika, the actual data on language death tells a different story. He wrote a blog post about this, and made a video:

If a language dies every two weeks, you would expect an average of 26 to die each year, and 260 each decade. This is not what is happening at the moment, and new languages are even being discovered. Or at least forms of speech that were formerly classified as dialects are being reclassified as separate languages.

These the languages that have become extinct since 2008. The dates given are for when the last known native speakers of these languages died.

  • Eyak (I·ya·q), a Na-Dené language that was spoken in south central Alaska in the USA until 2008. Efforts are being made revive it.
  • Bidyara, a Pama-Nyngan language that was spoken in Queensland in Australia until 2008. Efforts are being made revive it.
  • Pataxó (Pataxó Hã-Ha-Hãe), a Maxakalían language that was spoken in the Bahia region of Brazil, until 2009.
  • Kora (Aka-Kora), a Great Andamanese language that was spoken in the Andaman Islands, a part of India until 2009.
  • Nyawaygi, a Pama-Nyngan language that was spoken in the northeast of Queensland in Australia until 2009.
  • Bo (Aka-Bo), a Great Andamanese language that was spoken in the Andaman Islands, a part of India until 2010.
  • Cochin Portuguese creole, an Indo-Portuguese creole that was spoken on Vypeen Island in Cochin in the state of Kerala in southern India until 2010.
  • Pazeh, an Northwest Formosan language that was spoken in central Taiwan until 2010. Efforts are being made revive it.
  • Lower Aranda / Lower Arrernte (Alenjerntarrpe), a Pama–Nyungan language that was spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia until 2011.
  • Holikachuk (Doogh Qinag), a Northern Athabaskan language that was spoken in the village of Holikachuk (Hiyeghelinhdi) on the Innoko River in central Alaska until 2012.
  • Upper Chinook (Kiksht), a Chinookan language that was spoken along the Colombia River in Oregon in the USA until 2012. Efforts are being made to revitalise the language.
  • Dhungaloo, a Pama–Nyungan that was spoken in Queensland in Australia until 2012. The current status of this language is not certain
  • Yurok (Puliklah), an Algic language that was spoken in Northern California until 2013. It is currently being revived.
  • Livonian (Līvõ kēļ), a Finnic language that was spoken in Latvia until 2013, and which is being revived.
  • Klallam (Nəxʷsƛʼayʼəmúcən), a Salishan language that was spoken in Washington State in the USA, and in neighbouring areas of Canada, until 2014. It is currently being revived.
  • Thao (Thaw a lalawa), a Northern Formosan language that was spoken in central Taiwan until 2014, or maybe more recently. Efforts are being made revive it.
  • Wichita, a Caddoan language that was spoken in Oklahoma in the USA until 2016. Efforts are being made revive it.
  • Mandan (Nų́ų́ʔetaa íroo), a Siouan language that was spoken on Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota in the USA until 2016. Efforts are being made revive it.

That’s a total of 18, plus a couple of dialects I haven’t listed, over the past decade – slightly less than the predicted 260. Moreover, while there are no native speakers of these languages, efforts are being made to revive some of them.

More information about recently extinct languages, language death and language revitalization:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinct_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_death
http://rosettaproject.org/blog/02013/mar/28/new-estimates-on-rate-of-language-loss/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_revitalization

Little by little

By Simon

растерять definition

An interesting Russian word I learnt today is растерять [rəsʲtʲɪˈrʲætʲ], which means ‘to lose little by little, to be confused, to go missing. The first meaning comes from Wiktionary, but I can’t find any examples of it being used in that way.

It comes from the prefix рас- [rəs] &‎ терять [tʲɪˈrʲætʲ] (to lose, waste, shed).

Here are some examples of how it’s used:

  • В воде каждый может растеряться = Anyone can lose control in the water
  • Трудно тут не растеряться = It’s hard not to get rattled

Related words include:

  • теряться [tʲɪˈrʲat͡sːə] = to lose (one’s head, sight of, one’s way), get lost, disappear
  • потеряться [pətʲɪˈrʲat͡sːə] = to get lost, to be lost, to lose oneself
  • затеряться [zətʲɪˈrʲat͡sːə] = to go missing, disappear
  • растеряться [rəsʲtʲɪˈrʲat͡sːə] = to be confused, go missing
  • утерять [ʊtʲɪˈrʲætʲ] = lost

The adjective потерянный [pɐˈtʲerʲɪn(ː)ɨj] is used when an object is lost. It can also mean embarrassed, perplexed, hopeless or ruined. However, if a person is lost, пропавший [prɐˈpafʂɨj] is used, and also means missing, hopeless or long-lost.

There are probably other ways to talk about losing things, getting lost and being lost in Russian. What about in other languages?

Sources: Wiktionary, Reverso

Polyglot Plans

By Simon

Polyglot - definition

I just registered for the Polyglot Gathering in Bratislava at the end of May / beginning of June. This will be the fifth time I’ve been to the Gathering – the second in Bratislava, and I’m looking forward to it.

I’ll be staying in the same AirBnB as last time, which is close to the Gathering venue, and not too far from the centre of Bratislava. It’s easier that way as I already know my way around the area.

I haven’t decided if I’ll give a presentation or run a workshop at the Gathering. At previous polyglot events I’ve given talks on writing systems, the origins of languages, the origins of words, Manx, and language death and revival, and helped with a Welsh language workshop. Any suggestions for what I could talk about at this and future polyglot events?

At the end of January I’m going to Edinburgh for LingoFringo, a fringe event to the main polyglot conferences and gatherings with a focus on workshops, community and networking events. I’ll be running a workshop on traditional Scottish Gaelic songs there.

So this month I’ll be brushing up my Scottish Gaelic, preparing for the workshop, and continuing to work on other languages. The languages I’m focusing on currently are Swedish, Danish, Russian, Esperanto, Cornish and Scots. This year I also plan to learn some more British Sign Language and Slovak, and maybe some German, Czech and Spanish.

I don’t plan to start any new languages this year – we’ll see how that works out.

What are your language-related plans for this year?

Scripts in use

By Simon

Have you ever wondered how many alphabets and other writing systems are used regularly?

I show this in the writing system indices on Omniglot, although it isn’t always easy for less well-known writing systems to be sure how much they are used.

Also, how many different writing systems can you recognise?

This video explains how to recognise all the writing systems in regular use:

It covers the following scripts:

Alphabets
Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Armenian Georgian and Mongolian

Abjads
Arabic and Hebrew

Abugidas
Bengali, Devanagari, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Tibetan, Odia, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, Thai and Thaana

East-Asian scripts
Chinese, Japanese and Korean

Rare scripts
Tifinagh, N’Ko, Samaritan, Syriac, Inuktitut/Cree, Cherokee, Yi, Ol Chiki, Fraser and Tai Le

Christmas

By Simon

Christmas tree / Coeden nadolig

Did you get any language-related goodies for Christmas?

Are you planning to start learning any new languages next year?

I got a British Sign Language (BSL) course, The Accidental Dictionary by Paul Anthony, and a t-shirt with hello on it in many languages.

I plan to concentrate on improving my knowledge of the languages I already know, rather than starting any new ones. Whether I stick to this remains to be seen.

Oh and Merry Christmas
Nadolig Llawen
Joyeux Noël
Nedeleg Laouen
Frohe Weihnachten
Nadelik Lowen
聖誕快樂
Nollaig shona
メリークリスマス
Nollick Ghennal
¡Feliz Navidad!
Nollaig Chridheil
С Рождеством
God jul
Veselé vánoce
Glædelig jul
Ĝojan Kristnaskon

Just speirin

By Simon

Last night I saw FARA, a brilliant group from Orkney, in our local arts centre. One of the songs they sang, Speir Thoo The Wast Wind, was in Orcadian dialect and based on a poem by Christina Costie from Orkney.

Orcadian dialect is a type of Insular Scots that combines elements of the extinct Norn language and Scots. There isn’t a lot of information available about Orcadian, but I will try to put together a page about it on Omniglot.

Each verse of the song and the poem finishes with the line “Speir thoo the wast wind, bit speir no me”, which means “Ask the west wind, and don’t ask me”, I think.

The word speir [spiːr], which is also written speer, means to enquire or ask, according to The Orkney Dictionary. When I heard it in the song, I thought I might be related to words for to ask in North Germanic languages, and it turns out that it is.

It comes from the Old English spyrian (to track, inquire, investigate, examine), from the Proto-Germanic *spurjaną (to search; to examine; to ask) [source], which is also the root of the Danish word spørge (to ask, inquire), Norwegian word spørre (to ask, inquire), and the word spyrja (to ask) in Icelandic and Faroese [source].

A few other words from Orkney dialect: hoodjiekapiv, hoodjiekapiffle, hoodjiekaboogle, which are all Orcadian equivalents of whatsit, thingy, doobry, thingamajig, whatjumacallit, thingamebob, etc [source]. What do you call something when you can’t remember it’s normal name?

You can hear the song here: