Adventures in Etymology – Busk

28th July 2023 By Simon

In this Adventure we investigate the origins of the word busk.

Busk [bʌsk] means:

To solicit money by entertaining the public in the street or in public transport.
To sell articles such as obscene books in public houses etc. (obsolete)
To tack, cruise about (nautical)

It possibly comes from French busquer (to seek, prowl, filch, busk), from Old Spanish buscar/boscar (to look for, to collect wood), from Vulgar Latin *buscum (wood), from Frankish *busk (wood), from Proto-Germanic *buskaz (bush, thicket) from PIE *bʰuH- (to be, become, grow) [source].

Words from the same roots include (to) be, bower, neighbour and future in English, boer (farmer, peasant) and buur (neighbour) in Dutch, and verbs meaning to be in most Indo-European languages [source]

There are several homophones/homographs of busk with different meanings. For example, there is busk that refers to to a strip of metal, whalebone, wood, or other material, worn in the front of a corset to stiffen it, and by extension, a corset. This comes from French busc (busk [of corset]), from Italian busco (splinter), probably from Frankish *busk (wood) [source].

Then there is busk that means to prepare, make ready, array, dress, or to go or direct one’s course. It’s used in northern England and Scotland and comes from Middle English busken (to prepare, get ready, arrange), from Old Norse būask, from būa (to prepare, make, live, dress, decorate), from Proto-Germanic *būaną (to dwell, reside), from PIE *bʰuH- (to be, become, grow) [source].

So it seems that even though these words have different meanings, they possibly all come from the same PIE root (*bʰuH-).

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.

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.

Omniglot News (23/07/23)

23rd July 2023 By Simon

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

There’s a new writing system: Fox alphabet, which was used to write Fox, an Algonquian language spoken in parts of Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska in the USA.

Fox alphabet

There are new language pages about:

Kyode (Gikyode), a North Guang language spoken in eastern Ghana.
Emerillon (Teko), a Tupian language spoken in southern French Guiana.
Sauk (Thâkiwâtowêweni), an Algonquian language spoken in parts of Oklahoma, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska in the USA.

New phrases pages: Silly Finnish and Sauk.

New numbers pages:

Kyode (Gikyode), a North Guang language spoken in eastern Ghana.
Aiton (တႝ ဢႝတွꩫ်), a Southwestern Tai language spoken in the state of Assam in the northeast of India.
Caucasian Albanian (𐔰𐕅𐕒𐕡𐔰𐕎𐔼𐔿 𐔲𐔼𐕙𐕎 𐔶), a northeast Caucasian language once spoken in Azerbaijan and Daghestan.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a post about the word Asunto and related words in Finnish and other languages, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in southern India.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Fox / Meskwaki (Meshkwahkihaki), an Algonquian language spoken in parts of Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa in the USA.

There are new Celtiadur posts about words for Beaks and Snouts, the number Hundred and related things in Celtic languages.

In the Celtic Pathways podcast we discover the Celtic roots of words like Gob and Beak.

Improved page: Fox language, and I added some code to the languages, phrases, numbers and constructed scripts index pages so that you can see which pages have been added recently.

For more Omniglot News see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
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 – Gobs and Beaks

22nd July 202322nd July 2023 By Simon

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In this episode we look into the Celtic roots of English words like gob and beak.

The Proto-Celtic word *gobbos means muzzle, snout or beak. It comes from PIE *ǵebʰ- (jaw, mouth) [source].

Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:

gob [ɡɔbˠ] = beak, bill, tip, point or projection in Irish.
gob [ɡob] = beak, bill, gob, pointed/sharp end or corner in Scottish Gaelic
gob = apex, headland, hook, jet, point, promontory, beak, nib, spout, mouth or muzzle in Manx

The English word gob, which is a slang word for mouth in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, was borrowed from Irish or Scottish Gaelic. [source].

It also means a lump of soft or sticky material, saliva, phlegm and various other things, and that version of the word comes from the same Proto-Celtic roots via Middle French go(u)be (lump, mouthful), and Gaulish *gobbos (mouth) [source].

Other words from the same Proto-Celtic roots include gober (to swallow whole) and gobelet (goblet, cup, beaker) in French, and goblet in English [source].

Another Proto-Celtic word for beak or snout is *bekkos. The only descendent in the modern Celtic languages that I can find is beg (beak, mouth, point, mouthpiece, embouchure) in Breton [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via the Gaulish *bekkos (beak, snout) and the Latin beccus (beak, bill), include bec (beak, bill, mouth) in French, beco (beak, mouthpiece, burner) in Italian, bico (beak, bill, snout, rostrum) in Portuguese, pico (beak, sharp point, pickaxe, peak, spout) in Spanish, and beak in English [source].

You can find more details of words for beaks, snouts and related things on the Celtiadur blog. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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 (16/07/23)

16th July 2023 By Simon

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

There are new language pages about:

Dharawal, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken in New South Wales in Australia.
Chungli Ao (Chùnglì Ahw), a Kuki-Chin-Naga language spoken in Nagaland in the northeast of India.
Chumburung (Kyo̱ŋbo̱ro̱ŋ), a North Guang language spoken in northern Ghana.

New adapted script: Esperanturduo (ےسپےرانتوردوؤ), a way to write Esperanto based on the Arabic script for Urdu devised by Elija Vesna.

چیوئ ہؤمؤئ ےستاس دےناسکے لیبےرائ کائ ےگالائ لاع دیگنؤ کائ رائتؤئ. یلی پؤسےداس راٹیؤن کائ کؤنسٹیےنٹؤن، کائ دےڤوس کؤندوتی ونو ال الیا ےن سپیریتؤ دے فراتےٹؤ.

New numbers pages:

Chumburung (Kyo̱ŋbo̱ro̱ŋ), a North Guang language spoken in northern Ghana.
Kiliwa (Koléew Ñaja’), a Yuman-Cochimí language spoken in Baja California in northern Mexico.
Shuswap (Secwepemctsín), a Salishan language spoken in central and southern British Columbia in Canada.
Chippewa (Ojibwemowin), an Algonquian language spoken in Michigan and North Dakota in the USA.
Kickapoo (Kikapú), an Algonquian language spoken in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas in the USA, and in Coahuila in Mexico.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a post about the word Attic and related things, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa in the USA.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Penrhyn (reo tongareva), an Eastern Polynesian language spoken on Penrhyn atoll in the Northern Cook Islands.

There are new Celtiadur posts about words for Thirty and Twenty and related things in Celtic languages.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we look into the origins of the the word Fire and related things, and find out how it’s connected to words like furze, purge and pyre.

In other news, I wrote and recorded a new song about Time this week that goes something like this:

Simon Ager · Time / Amser

I forgot to mention in the podcast, but this is in fact the 100th episode of this newscast.

For more Omniglot News see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
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 – Fire

14th July 202314th July 2023 By Simon

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In this Adventure we look into the origins of the word fire.

Fire [ˈfaɪ.ə/ˈfaɪ.əɹ] is:

A (usually self-sustaining) chemical reaction involving the bonding of oxygen with carbon or other fuel, with the production of heat and the presence of flame or smouldering.
An instance of this chemical reaction, especially when intentionally created and maintained in a specific location to a useful end (such as a campfire or a hearth fire)

It comes from Middle English fyr [fiːr] (fire), from Old English fȳr [fyːr] (fire), from Proto-West-Germanic *fuir (fire), from Proto-Germanic *fōr [ˈɸɔːr] (fire), from PIE *péh₂wr̥ (fire, spelt [grain]) [source].

Words from the same roots include furze, purge, pyre and pyromania in English, vuur [vyːr] (fire, heater) in Dutch, fyr [fyːr] (lighthouse, fire) in Swedish, and fyr [fyɐ̯ˀ] (lighthouse, radio beacon, boiler, fire, light) in Danish [source]

There are in fact two PIE words for fire *péh₂wr̥ (fire as something inanimate, passive and neuter), and *h₁n̥gʷnis (fire as something animate, active and masculine). The latter is the root of English words like ignite (to set fire to), igneous (resembling fire, produced by great heat, e.g. igneous rocks), and ignipotent (presiding over fire, fiery – poetic) [source].

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.

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.

Omniglot News (09/07/23)

9th July 20239th July 2023 By Simon

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

There are new language pages about:

Kafa (kafí noonoó / የከፋ-ቋንቋ), a North Omotic language spoken in the Keffa Zone in the south west of Ethiopia.
she shashishalhem (She Sháshishálhem), a Coast Salishan language spoken in the southwest of British Columbia in Canada.
Nooksack (Lhéchalosem), a Coast Salishan language spoken in the northwest Washington State in the USA.

New numbers pages:

Sinte Romani, (Sintitikes), a Romani language spoken in Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy.
Welsh Romani, (Romnimus / Kååle), a Romani language that was spoken in Wales until about 1968.
Finnish Kalo (kaalengo tšimb), a Northwestern Romani language spoken mainly in Finland and Sweden.
Caló (kaalengo tšimb), a mixed Iberian-Romani language spoken in Brazil, Spain, France, Portugual and Columbia.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a post called Moon’s Ear, about the names of the @ symbol in various langauges, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly on one small island in the South Pacific Ocean.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Hill Mari (Кырык мары йӹлмӹ), a Uralic language spoken mainly in the Mari El Republic in the Russian Federation.

There are new Celtiadur posts about words for Spears and Javelins and the number Ten, and related things, in Celtic languages.

The Celtic Pathways podcast this week, Spears and Sceptres, discovers links between words for spears and related things in Celtic languages with words for arrows and sceptres in Basque and Armenian.

In other news, Duolingo appear to have suspended their ‘refer a friend’ offer. This was a way to get Super Duolingo, the paid version of their app, for free. For every person who signed up via your referal link, you got a free week of Super Duolingo. I put links on Omniglot, and have enjoyed many months of using Super Duolingo. It reverted back to the free version for me this morning, with all the tedious ads, and limited hearts and other restrictions. I’ve got so used to using the paid version, that I might have to start paying for it now. I’ve just signed up for the free 2 week trial. My current streak reached 2,178 days (nearly 6 years) today, by the way, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.

For more Omniglot News see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
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 – Spears and Sceptres

7th July 20237th July 2023 By Simon

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In this episode we find out what links the words spear and beam in Celtic languages with words for sceptre and arrow in other languages.

The Proto-Celtic word *gaisos means spear. It comes from Proto-Germanic *gaizaz [ˈɣɑi̯.zɑz] (spear, pike, javelin), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰoysós (throwing spear), from *ǵʰey- (to throw, impel) [source].

Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:

ga [ɡa]= spear, dart, sting, ray (of light), radius, suppository or (fishing) gaff in Irish.
gath [gah] = dart, beam, ray (of light), sting, barb or shooting pain in Scottish Gaelic
goull = beam, dart or ray in Manx
gwayw [ɡweɨ̯.ʊ] = lance, spear, javelin, shooting pain, stab, stitch or pang in Welsh
guw = spear in Cornish
goaf = spear, pike, javelin or stamen in Breton

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root in other languages include gezi [ɡe̞.s̻i] (arrow) in Basque (via Latin and Gaulish), գայիսոն [ɡɑjiˈsɔn/kʰɑjiˈsɔn] (sceptre) in Armenian (via Ancient Greek), gaesum (a Gaulish javelin) in Latin, and γαῖσος [ɡâi̯.sos] (a Gaulish javelin) in Ancient Greek [source].

Words from the same Proto-Germanic root include garfish (any fish of the needlefish family Belonidae) in English [source], geer (spear) in Dutch, Ger (spear) in German, and keihäs (spear, javelin, pike) in Finnish, [source].

Incidentally, my surname, Ager, possibly comes from the same Proto-Germanic root as well, via the Old English name Ēadgār, from ēad (happiness, prosperity), and gār (spear) [source].

You can find more details of words for spears, javelins and related things on the Celtiadur blog. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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 (02/07/23)

2nd July 20232nd July 2023 By Simon

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

New page: Armeno-Turkish (Էրմէնի խարֆլի Թիւրգչէ), a way to write Ottoman Turkish with the Armenian alphabet that was used in the Ottoman Empire until 1928.

Պիւթիւն ինսանլար հիւր, հաեսիեէթ վէ հաքլար պաքըմընտան էշիթ տoղարլար. Աքըլ վէ վիճտանա սահիփթիրլէր վէ պիրպիրլէրինէ քարշը քարտէշլիք զիհնիեէթի իլէ հարէքէթ էթմէլիտիրլէր.

There are new language pages about:

Kar (kar / kái yor), a Senufo language spoken in the southwest of Burkina Faso.
Cebaara (senã́rì), a Senufo language spoken in northern Ivory Coast
Dan, a Southeastern Mande language spoken in Ivory Coast, Libera and Guinea.

New phrases page: I’m learning [your language] – how to tell people that you’re learning their language in their language.

New numbers pages:

Waama, a Gur language spoken in Atakora Department in the northwest of Benin.
Kabiye (kabɩyɛ), a Gur language spoken in Togo, Benin and Ghana.

New Tower of Babel translation: Cebaara

On the Omniglot blog there’s a post called Oof! What a Hash!, about the origins and names of the # symbol, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the west of the Russian Federation.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Konobo, a Western Kru language spoken in Liberia.

There’s a new Celtiadur post about words for Nine and related things in Celtic languages.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we take a seat to uncover the origins of the the word Chair, and find out how it’s connected to words like cathedral, catastrophe and cataract.

In other news: I was interviewed by Carlos Yerba López for his Hyperpolyglot Activist channel on YouTube:

For more Omniglot News see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
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 – Chair

1st July 20231st July 2023 By Simon

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In this Adventure we’re taking a seat to uncover the origins of the word chair.

A chair [t͡ʃɛə(ɹ)/t͡ʃɛɚ] is:

An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person.

It comes from Middle English chayer/chaier(e) [ˈtʃɛi̯ər(ə)] (a comfortable seat, such as a chair or couch; a throne), from Old French chaiere (chair, seat, throne) from Latin cathedra [ˈka.tʰe.dra] (armchair, ceremonial chair, office/rank of a teacher or bishop, pulpit, chair), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα [kaˈθe.ðra] (seat, posterior, base of a column, imperial throne), from κατά [kaˈta] (down) and ἕδρα [ˈe.ðra] (seat, chair, stool, bench), from PIE *sed- (to sit) [source].

English words from the same roots include cathedra (the chair or throne of a bishop, the rank of bishop), cathedral, catastrophe, cataract and chaise (an open, horse-drawn carriage for one or two people).

Words from the same roots in other languages include cadair (chair), and cadeirlan (cathedral) in Welsh, cathaoir (chair, seat, throne) in Irish [source], and words for cathedral in many other languages [source]

The native English words for chair or seat were stool and settle. When chayer was borrowed from French their meanings changed: stool came to mean “A seat, especially for one person and without armrests.” [source], and settle, which originally meant a seat of any kind, came to mean “A long bench with a high back and arms, often with a chest or storage space underneath” [source]

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.

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.

Omniglot News (25/06/23)

25th June 202324th June 2023 By Simon

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

New writing system: Komering, a traditional script from the province of South Sumatra in Indonesia that was used to write Komering, a Lampungic language spoken along the Komering River.

Sample text in the Komering script

There are new language pages about:

Yamdena (Yakw), a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian spoken mainly on Yamdena and Selaru islands in the Tanimbar archipelago in Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia.
Kei (Veveu Evav), a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian spoken in the Kei Islands in Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia.
Fordata (vaidida), a Central-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian spoken in the Tanimbar archipelago in Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia.

New fictional script: Nunkish, which appears in the Violet Evergarden (ヴァイオレット・エヴァーガーデン) anime TV series, and is used to write Nunkish, an encrypted version of Tamil.

Sample text in Nunkish

New constructed script: Urin Qichwa Simipaq Musuq Qillqa, an alternative way to write Southern Quechua invented by TheDankBoi69.

Sample of Urin Qichwa Simipaq Musuq Qillqa

New numbers page: Yamdena, Lampung and Komering

On the Omniglot blog we find out what links the words Croissant and Cereal, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Dolgan (Дулҕан), a northern Turkic language spoken in the Taymyr Peninsula in the far north of the Russian Federation.

There’s a new Celtiadur post about words for Eight and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Pigs and the number four.

The Celtic Pathways podcast this week, Hogging Sockets, uncovers links between words for pigs in Celtic languages with words like hog and socket in English.

I also improved the Somali language page and made separate pages for the Osmanya, Borama / Gadabuursi and Kaddare alphabets.

For more Omniglot News see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
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.

Radio Omniglot

Podcasts about languages and words

Author: Simon

Adventures in Etymology – Busk

Omniglot News (23/07/23)

Celtic Pathways – Gobs and Beaks

Omniglot News (16/07/23)

Adventures in Etymology – Fire

Omniglot News (09/07/23)

Celtic Pathways – Spears and Sceptres

Omniglot News (02/07/23)

Adventures in Etymology – Chair

Omniglot News (25/06/23)