Month: October 2018

When is the sky not the sky?

By Simon

Useful phrase in Danish

In Danish, Norwegian and Swedish the word sky means cloud, as does ský in Icelandic. The word for sky in these languages is himmel (himinn in Icelandic), and in Swedish sky also means sky or gravy.

I learnt the Danish word sky the other day from the sentence: Enhjørningen flyver på en sky (The unicorn is flying on a cloud) – are very useful thing to be able to say.

Sky comes from the Old Norse ský (cloud), from Proto-Germanic *skiwją (cloud, cloud cover), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew- (to cover, conceal), which is also the root of the English word sky [source].

The English word cloud comes from the Old English clūd (mass of stone, rock, boulder, hill), from Proto-Germanic *klūtaz / *klutaz (lump, mass, conglomeration), from Proto-Indo-European *gel- (to ball up, clench), which is also the root of the English words chill, cold, congeal, cool, gel, gelatin and jelly [source].

In Old English there were different words for sky and cloud:

  • heofon was the sky or heaven [source], which survives in such modern English expressions as ‘the heavens opened’ (it started to rain heavily).
  • wolcen was cloud, and the plural, wolcnu was the sky or the heavens [source]. This became welkin in modern English, an archaic and poetic word for the sky, the upper air; aether; the heavens.

A sunny day in Bangor / Dydd heulog ym Mangor

Polyglot Conference – Day 2

By Simon

The Polyglot Conference came to and end yesterday, and while it was only a few days, we managed to pack quite a lot into the time.

Yesterday I went to talks on the Pirahã language, Braille, personality-focused training in second language acquisition, and the character traits of polyglots.

I also gave my talk on the diversity of writing systems to a nearly full room. Quite a few people told me afterwards that they really enjoyed it and found it interesting. Which is encouraging.

At the end of the conference we were told where next year’s conference will be: Fukuoka (福岡市) in Japan from 18-20 October 2019. I haven’t decided whether to go yet.

I left a very wet Ljubljana this morning and flew to Manchester via Frankfurt. Apart from a bit of turbulence, everything went smoothly. I’m currently on the train from Manchester Airport to Crewe. Should be home in a few hours.

Polyglot Conference – Day 1

By Simon

The Polyglot Conference officially started today. There were talks and workshops all day on all sorts of interesting topics. I went to talks on Slovenian, linguistic relavtivity, Romani, the Cathars, and audiolinguistics. They were all interesting, especially the linguistic ones.

There was plenty of time between the talks to talk to other participants, and I managed to make some recordings in quite a variety of languages for the next episode of my podcast. I hope to make more recordings tomorrow.

I had conversations in English, Welsh, French, Irish, German, Russian, Mandarin, Japanese, and tried to speak a few other languages.

They are preparing Ljubljana for the Ljubljana Marathon tomorrow, and quite a few streets are being lined with barriers. I hope I’ll be able to get to the conference venue tomorrow.

Polyglotting in Ljubljana

By Simon

After arriving in Ljubljana yesterday I found a bus into the city centre, then walked to the AirBnB I’m staying in, which is more or less in the centre of the old town. It doesn’t look like much from outside – the door is covered in graffiti, and the outside of the building is rather plain, but inside the flat I’m in is very nicely decorated.

Ljubljana

Last night I had dinner at a restaurant by the Ljubljanica, the river that flows through Ljubljana. I saw quite a few people I know from previous polyglot events going past, and met some of them afterwards in a tapas restaurant.

So far I’ve spoken a little Slovenian, quite a bit of German, French and Welsh, and odd bits of other languages.

We spent today talking about the best ways to learn languages. This was interesting and there was some useful advice that I might try.

I haven’t had a lot of time to explore the city yet. The centre is quite compact and mostly pedestranised, with lots of interesting and colourful buildings.

This evening there was a concert with songs in many languages, then I went for dinner with quite a few other polyglots.

Slovenian (slovenščina)

By Simon

I’ve been learning Slovenian for nearly three months now, and will have chances to use it when I go to Slovenia in a few days. I’ll be there for the Polyglot Conference.

While I can’t say a lot in Slovenian yet, I have at least learnt the basics. I’ve been using a Memrise course based on Slovenian for Travelers, another version of which is available here.

As I’ve studied other Slavic languages to varying degrees – Russian, Czech, Slovak and Serbian – I can recognise quite a few words in Slovenian, and the grammar seems similar. I like the sound of Slovenian, and may continue learning it after the conference.

My favourite Slovenian words are currently: predvčerajšnjim (the day before yesterday) and pojutrišnjem (the day after tomorrow).

I plan to record an episode of the Radio Omniglot Podcast at the conference. It will be about the conference, and the people there, and will hopefully include recordings of participants speaking as many different languages as possible. Looking forward to it!

Shlyap on a shapka

By Simon

шапка, шляпа, шляпка

A Memrise Russian lesson I’ve been working on this week includes two different words for hat: шапка (shapka), which is translated as ‘hat (to keep you warm)’ and шляпа (shlyapa), which is defined as ‘a hat (for style)’.

Шапка comes ultimately from the Old French chape (cape) [source].

Шляпа comes from the Old East Slavic шляпа (šljapa – hat, milksop, difficult situation), from Bavarian German Schlappe (defeat, flop, slap) [source].

When you search for шапка in Google Images, you mainly get pictures of knitted woollen hats, like the bobble hat in the image, plus a few fur hats.

When you do the same for шляпа you get mainly men’s hats, like the fedora in the image.

Another word for hat in Russian is шляпка (shlyapka), which seems to refer to a variety of quite elaborate women’s hats, like in the image. It is a diminutive of шляпа.

I like these words because they’re fun to say.

Are there other words for hat in Russian?

Here here!

By Simon

Here here!

There seem to be different ways to say here in Russian. In some contexts you use тут (tut), and in others здесь (zdyes’), or another word. I’m not sure when to use each one, so I thought I’d investigate.

Тут means here, then, at this point, and other things in some phrases [source]. For example:

  • У нас тут задержан подходящий подозреваемый
    = Look, we’ve got a pretty good suspect in holding here
  • Кстати, я работаю тут консультантом
    = Erm, I’m a consultant here, by the way
  • Поищу каких-нибудь заработков тут и там
    = I’ll try to pick up some odd jobs here and there

Тут comes from Old East Slavic тутъ (tutŭ – here; thereto; herewith), from ту (tu – there; thereto; then; here, herewith), from Proto-Slavic *tuto/*tu (there, here) [source].

Здесь means here or therein [source]. For example:

  • Мы можем провести больше времени здесь = I don’t know, we could spend more time here.
  • Так, подпишите здесь = Okay, sign here
  • Нам нужно зайти здесь = We need to go in here

Здесь comes from the Proto-Slavic *sьde (here, in this place) [source].

Сюда means here or therein [source]. For example:

  • (и) туда и сюда = both here and there
  • то туда, то сюда = sometimes here, sometimes there
  • ни туда ни сюда neither here nor there
  • туда-сюда = backwards and forwards, everywhere, all over the place
  • иди сюда! = come here!

Сюда comes from the Proto-Slavic *sǫda [source].

Отсюда means from here, hence [source]. For example:

  • После приёма я увезу тебя отсюда
    = After the party, I will get you out of here
  • Я выследил логово русских недалеко отсюда
    = I tracked the Russians to a warehouse not far from here
  • Я потерял их запах недалеко отсюда
    = Now, I lost their scent not too far from here.

Вот means here (is) [source]. For example:

  • вот моя мама = here is my mother
  • вот мои дети = here are my children
  • вот он идёт = here he comes

According to Reverso, здесь refers to location, сюда refers to destination, отсюда refers to departure point (from here), and тут means at this point or in the past.

Do other languages have several ways to express the idea of here?