Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know or can you guess the language?
Desks, Discs and Discos
What links the words desk, dais, disc, disco, dish and discus?
My desk in my office/studio
The answer is, they share the same roots: the Latin word discus (a discus, quoit, dish-shaped object, disc of a sundial), but arrived in English via different routes [source].
Desk comes from the Middle English deske (a reading desk or lecturn), from the Medieval Latin desca, from the Latin discus [source].
Dais (a raised platform in a room for a high table, a seat of honour, a throne, or other dignified occupancy) comes from the Middle English deis (podium, dais, high table), from the Anglo-Norman deis (dais, high seat/table, table of honour), from the Old French deis/dois, from the Latin discum, the accusative singular of discus [source].
Disc (a thin, flat, circular plate or similar object; a gramophone record) comes from the French disque (disc, discus, record, disk), from the Latin discus [source].
Disco, is an abbreviation of discoteque, which was borrowed from the French discothèque (discotheque, nightclub), from disque (disc, record) and bibliothèque, (library). It originally it meant “a library of discs/records”. Disque comes from the Latin discus [source].
Dish comes from the Middle English disch (dish, plate, bowl, discus), from the Old English disċ (plate, dish), from the Proto-West Germanic *disk (dish) from the Latin discus [source].
Discus comes directly from the Latin discus, from the Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos – disc, dish, round mirror), the origins of which are uncertain [source].
Disk is used interchangeably with disc, and means more or less the same things. However, it comes straight from the Ancient Greek δίσκος [source].
Language Quiz
Teaching School
In an email I received yesterday the phrase “I teach school” appeared. Although I understand what it means, it sounds a bit strange to me. I suppose it’s a difference between American English and British English.
If I were a teacher, I might say that “I teach in/at a school”, “I’m a teacher” or just “I teach”, but not “I teach school” – that sounds to me like I teach a subject called ‘school’. You could also say “I teach languages/music/physics/[insert name of subject]” or “I teach school children [subject]”.
Would American English speakers, of speakers of other flavours of English, say “I teach college”, “I teach university” or “I teach kindergarten”, or is this structure just used with school? Is it used only in informal writing/speech, or also in formal writing/speech?
Chez Nous
The French word chez [ʃe] is used to mean ‘to, at, in or into a home, office etc’. For example, chez moi means ‘at my house’, and chez le dentiste means ‘at the dentist’.
It can also mean ‘to, at or in a country or other place’, e.g. une spécialité bien de chez nous = ‘a true specialty of our country’. In the title of this post I use chez nous to indicate we are in the world of Omniglot.
Other meanings include: ‘in or among a group of people or things of the same type’, e.g. chez les chiens = ‘among dogs’, or ‘in the work of an author or artisit’ – chez Baudelaire = ‘in Baudelaire’s work’ [source].
It has been borrowed into English and just means ‘at the home of’ [source].
Chez comes from the Middle French chez (in the house/home of), from the Old French chies (house), from the Latin casa (hut, cottage, cabin, small farm, dwelling, house), the origins of which are uncertain [source].
The French word case [kaz], which means a box or a square in a board game, and used to mean a hut, cabin or shack, comes from the same roots, as do words like casino in English (via Italian), and casa, which means house in most Romance languages [source].
Another word for house in Spanish is hogar [oˈɡaɾ], which appeared in my Spanish lessons today and inspired this post. It also means fireplace, hearth, fireside, furnace, home, home life, family life, housekeeping, homeland or household.
Is it used more in some Spanish-speaking countries than in others?
It comes from the Old Spanish fogar, from the Vulgar Latin focāris, from the Latin focus (fireplace, hearth, brazier, house, family), the origin of which is uncertain [source].
Related words in Spanish include hogareño (home, family, fireside; (of a person) home-loving, stay-at-home), hoguera (bonfire, blaze) and hogaraza (large loaf, cottage loaf).
Related words in other languages include focus and foyer in English, words for fire in Romance languages, such as fuego in Spanish and feu in French [source], and a Greek word for brazier, φουφού [fuˈfu], via Turkish and Italian [source].
Language Quiz
Beautifully Red
Recently I started learning Finnish – I have a few Finnish friends, and just like the sound of the language. I’m currently using Duolingo, and may try other apps and resources.
One of the words that comes up quite often in my lessons is kaunis [ˈkɑ̝u̯nis̠], which means beautiful, pretty, or fair (weather). For example, Hän on todella kaunis (She is really beautiful).
It comes from the Proto-Finnic *kaunis (beautiful), from the Proto-Germanic *skauniz (beautiful, shining) from the PIE *(s)kewh₁- (to perceive, pay attention) [source].
Related words include:
- kauniisti = beautifully
- kaunistaa = to embellish, beautify, prettify
- kaunistella = to embellish, sugar, prettify, euphemize, be euphemistic
- kaunismuotoinen = shapely, with a beautiful shape
- kuvankaunis = picturesque
Words from the same Proto-Finnic root include kaunis (beautiful) in Estonian, kaunis (pretty, beautiful) in Karelian, and kauniz (red) in Votic [source].
Words from the same Proto-Germanic root include sheen in English, skön (fair, beautiful, comfortable, pleasurable) in Swedish, schoon (clean, beautiful) in Dutch, schön (beautiful, lovely, pretty, good, great, nice) in German, and שיין (sheyn – beautiful, pretty, cute, handsome, nice) in Yiddish [source].
Have you learnt any languages because you like the sound of them?
Language Quiz
Cupboards, Cabinets and Closets
A friend asked me about the difference between cupboards, cabinets and closets, so I thought I’d look into it and write a post about it.
A cupboard is
- A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
- Things displayed on a sideboard; dishware, particularly valuable plate(16th-19th century).
- A board or table used to openly hold and display silver plate and other dishware; a sideboard; a buffet (14th-18th century).
Note that kitchen cupboards are also known as kitchen cabinets. What do you call them?
It comes from Middle English cuppeborde (sideboard), from cuppe (cup) and bord (board, slab, table) [source].
If something is small, fusty or poorly lit, you could call it “cupboardy” [source].
A cabinet is
- A storage closet either separate from, or built into, a wall.
- A cupboard.
- A group of advisors to a government or business entity.
- A group of government ministers responsible for creating government policy and for overseeing government departments.
- A small chamber or private room (archaic) [source].
Originally it meant a secret storehouse, treasure chamber or case for valuables. It comes from Middle French cabinet (small room), a diminutive of the Old French cabane (cabin) [source], from Old Provençal cabana, from Late Latin capanna/cabanna (hut), which is of uncertain origin [source].
A closet is
- A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
- A secret or hiding place.
- A small room or side-room (mainly in Scotland and Ireland)
- A small room or side-room intended for storing clothes or bedclothes. (in the USA and Philippines)
Obsolete and archaic meanings of closet include:
- Any private space, (particularly) bowers in the open air.
- Any private or inner room, (particularly):
– A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.
– A private room used for prayer or other devotions
– A place of (usually, fanciful) contemplation and theorizing.
– The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch. - A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.
An American-style closet (as in the photo above) might be called a built-in wardrobe in the UK. What would you call it?
It comes from Old French closet (a small enclosed area, such as a field or paddock), from clos (enclosed outdoor area, such as a field or a paddock), from Latin clausum (enclosed space, enclosure) clausus (shut, closed), from claudō (I shut, close, lock), from Proto-Italic *klaudō (I close), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂u- (key, hook, nail) [source].
English words from the same roots include cloister, clove, claustrophobia [source].
In Scotland and Ireland, a word used for cupboards and cabinets is press.