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.

Omniglot News (02/10/22)

By Simon

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Hiw, a Southern Oceanic language spoken on the island of Hiw, one of the Torres Islands in Torba province of Vanuatu.
  • Rapa (Reo Rapa), an Eastern Polynesian language spoken on Rapa Iti, one of the Austral Islands in French Polynesia, and on Mangaia in the Cook Islands.

There’s a new constructed script called Nawa, which was created by Arturo Jiménez Zavala as an alternative way to write Spanish and Nahuatl.

Nawa alphabet

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Besermyan (бесерман), a dialect of Udmurt spoken in Udmurtia and the Kirov and Perm regions of the Russian Federation.
  • Rapa (Reo Rapa), an Eastern Polynesian language spoken on Rapa Iti in French Polynesia and Mangaia in the Cook Islands.
  • Fula (Fulfulde / 𞤊𞤵𞤤𞤬𞤵𞤤𞤣𞤫), a Senegambian language spoken in many parts of in West, Central and North Africa.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a post called Sake, which is about Japanese words for salmon (鮭 [sáꜜkè]) and alcohol / rice wine (酒 [sàké]), and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in parts of South America.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was
Namonuito, a Micronesian language spoken on Namonuito Atoll in the Caroline Islands in the Federated States of Micronesia.

There are new Celtiadur posts about words for Flowers, Foundations and related things in Celtic languages.

On the Celtic Pathways podcast we are teasing out the origins of the word Wool.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we unload the origins of the word Quay, and related words.

I also improved the Beitha Kukju and Elbasan pages, and made a separate page for the Old Uyghur alphabet.

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.

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Celtic Pathways – Wool

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we are teasing out the origins of the word wool.

Wool

The Proto-Celtic word for wool is *wlanā. It comes from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂ (wool), from *h₂welh₁- (hair, wool) [source].

Descendants in the Celtic languages include:

  • olann [ˈɔlˠən̪ˠ] = wool, woolly hair, mop of hair; woollen in Irish
  • olann [ˈɔl̪ˠən̪ˠ] = wool (usually while on sheep) in Scottish Gaelic
  • ollan = wool in Manx
  • gwlân = wool, down, soft hair, grass, herbage; woollen, soft, made of wool in Welsh
  • gwlan = wool in Cornish
  • gloan = wool in Breton

The English word flannel (a soft cloth material originally woven from wool, washcloth) comes from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Gaulish, Old French, Anglo-Norman and Middle English. This was reborrowed into French, and from French into other languages such as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Swedish [source].

Words for wool in other European languages come from the same PIE root, including wool in English, wol [ʋɔl] in Dutch, Wolle [ˈvɔlə] in German, and lana in Italian and Spanish [source]

More details about these words on Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Quay

By Simon

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Nyhavn, Copenhagen / København

Today we are unloading the origins of the word quay.

A quay [kiː/keɪ] is:

  • a stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.

It comes from the Middle English key(e) [ˈkɛi̯(ə)] (quay), from the Old French kay / cail (quay, wharf), from the Gaulish *kagyum / *cagiíum (enclosure), from the Proto-Celtic *kagyom (pen, enclosure), from the Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (enclosure, hedge) [source].

The spelling quay was adopted in the 1690s to emulate the French spelling quai. In Middle English it was spelled kay, kaye, key or keye.

Other words from the Proto-Celtic root *kagyom include cae [kaːɨ̯/kai̯] (hedge, fence, field, enclosure) in Welsh, ke (fence, hedge) in Cornish, kae (hedge, quay) in Breton, quai (quay, wharf, platform) in French, and cais (quay, wharf, pier) in Portuguese [source].

Words for quay in the Celtic languages come from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Middle English / Anglo-Norman and Gaulish. They include cidhe [kʲi.ə] in Scottish Gaelic, cé in Irish, and cei [kei̯] in Welsh [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly [afflilate link].

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (25/09/22)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Gourmanchéma (gùlmàncéma), a Gur language spoken mainly in Burkina Faso, and also in Togo, Niger and Benin.
  • Konkomba (Likpakpaln), a Gur language spoken mainly in northern Ghana, and also in northern Togo.
  • Moba (Muaba), a Gur language spoken mainly in northern Togo, and also in southeastern Burkina Faso.

There’s a new constructed script called Mawar, which was created by Eko Wahyu Darmansyah to write his constructed language, Darman.

Sample text in the Mawar

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Rotuman (Fäeag Rotuma), an Oceanic language spoken mainly in the South Pacific island group of Rotuma.
  • Phoenician, a Northern Semitic language that was spoken around the Mediterranean until about the 2nd century AD.
  • Iu Mien (Iu Mienh), a Hmong-Mien language spoken in China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand.
  • Ewe (Èʋegbe), a Volta-Niger language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin.

There’s an Omniglot blog post entitled Fangled, which is about words that are newfangled, oldfangled and just fangled, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was
Gallo (galo), a Romance language spoken in parts of Brittany and Normandy in the northwest of France.

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

There’s an episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast about words for Beer and related things.

In the Adventure in Etymology we burrowing into the origins of the word Rabbit, and related words.

I wrote a new song based on idioms that mean something is easy, such as ‘as easy as falling off a log’. It called As Easy As and sounds a bit like this:

You can hear this song, other songs and tunes I’ve written on SoundCloud.

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Rabbit 🐇

By Simon

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Today we are burrowing into the origins of the word rabbit.

Easter Bunny

A rabbit [ˈɹæbɪt] is:

  • a mammal of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.

It comes from the Middle English rabet(te) (young rabbit), from the Middle French *robotte/rabotte or the Anglo-Latin rabettus, from the Old French rabotte, probably from the Middle Dutch / West Flemish robbe (rabbit, seal). Beyond that its origins are uncertain [source].

Until the 19th century a rabbit was a young rabbit, while an adult rabbit was con(e)y (rabbit, hyrax), which comes from the Anglo-Norman conis (rabbits), from the Vulgar Latin *cuniclus (rabbit), from the Latin cuniculus (rabbit), from the Ancient Greek κύνικλος (kúniklos – rabbit), which probably comes from Iberian or Celtiberian [source].

Words from the same root include cuniculus (a burrow or low underground passage) in Englsh, coniglio (rabbit), cunicolo (tunnel, burrow, wormhole) in Italian, conejo (rabbit) in Spanish, and cwningen (rabbit, hyrax) in Welsh [source].

In Old English the word for rabbit, and hare, was hara [ˈhɑ.rɑ], which is the root of the word hare, and comes from the Proto-Germanic *hasô [ˈxɑ.sɔːː] (hare), from the Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₂s- (grey) [source].

Another word for rabbit is bunny, which probably comes from the Scots bun(n) (the tail of a rabbit or hare), from the Scottish Gaelic bun (base, bottom, source, butt, stump), from the Old Irish bun (base, butt, foot), from the Proto-Celtic *bonus (foundation, base, butt) [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly [afflilate link].

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.

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Celtic Pathways – Beer

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we are investigating words for beer and related things.

P1020436

In Proto-Celtic beer was *kormi or *kurman, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *kremH- (to burn), or from *ḱr̥h₃-m- (porridge, soup), or from *ḱh₁erh₂- (to mix) [source].

Descendants in the Celtic languages include:

  • coirm [kɞɾʲəmʲ] = ale, drinking-party, feast, banquet in Irish
  • cuirm [kurʲum] = feast, banquet, entertainment; ale, beer (archaic) in Scottish Gaulish
  • cuirrey = banquet, feast in Manx
  • cwrw [ˈkʊru / ˈkuːru] = beer, ale in Welsh
  • korev, kor = ale, beer in Cornish
  • korev = ale, beer in Breton

The Latin word cervēsa (beer) comes from the same Proto-Celtic roots. From this we get the Spanish word cerveza (beer), the Portuguese word cerveja (beer), the French word cervoise (ale, beer – archaic), and the Italian word cervogia (beer – archaic) [source].

Other words for beer in Celtic languages include:

  • beoir [bʲoːɾʲ] = beer in Irish
  • beòir [bjɔːrʲ] = beer in Scottish Gaulish
  • beer = beer in Manx
  • bir = beer, ale in Welsh
  • bier = ale, beer in Breton

The words in the Goidelic languages come from the Old Norse bjórr (beer), from the Proto-Germanic *beuzą [ˈbeu̯.zɑ̃] (beer), from the Proto-Indo-Eurpean *bʰews- (dross, sediment) [source]. The Welsh word were borrowed from English, and the Breton word was borrowed from French.

Sláinte! Slàinte! Slaynt! Iechyd da! Yeghes da! Yec’hed mat! (Good health! / Cheers!)

More details about these words on Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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.

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Omniglot News (18/09/22)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Bedawi Arabic (بدوي‎), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in Egypt and Jordan, and also in Israel, Syria and Palestine.
  • Midland Mixe (Ayüük), a Mixe-Zoque language spoken in the Sierra Norte Region in Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
  • Berba (Byali), a Gur language spoken mainly in northern Benin, and also in Burkina Faso and Togo.

There’s a new phrases page in Basaa (Ɓǎsɔ́ɔ̀), a Western Kru language spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Tedim (Tidim), a Kukish language spoken in northwestern Myanmar and northern India.
  • Acehnese (Bahsa Acèh), a Chamic language spoken in Aceh in Sumatra in Indonesia.
  • Dungan (Хуэйзў йүян), a variety of Chinese spoken in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

There’s an Omniglot blog post about Wanderwörter, which are words that have spread to many different languages, often via trade, such as tea, wine and chocolate, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this isn’t French, but it’s closely related to French.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was
Iñupiaq (Inupiatun), an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in northern Alaska in the USA.

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

There’s an episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast about words for Bells and Clocks, and I improved the Bells and Clocks post on the Celtiadur blog.

In the Adventure in Etymology we explore into the origins of the word campus, and find out how it’s connected to words like campaign and champagne.

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Campus

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig

Today we are exploring origins of the word campus.

A campus [ˈkæmpəs / ˈkæmpʊs] is:

  • The grounds or property of a school, college, university, business, church, or hospital, often understood to include buildings and other structures.

It comes from the Latin campus (field. plain), from the Proto-Italic *kampos, from the Proto-Indo-European *kh₂ém-po-s, from *kh₂emp- (to bend, curve, smooth) [source].

Words from the same roots include camp, campaign and champagne in English, campo (field) in Italian, campo (country(side), field) in Portuguese, and champ (field) in French [source].

The southern Italian region of Campania, the name of which comes from the Latin campus, was the source of bronze used to make bells, which were known as campāna in Latin Latin. This comes from Campāna (of Campania) [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include: campanile (bell tower, belfry) and campanology (the study of bells) in English, campana (bell) in Italian, campana (bell, bell-shaped object, hood) in Spanish, and cumpănă (balance, scales, equilibirum) in Romanian [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly [afflilate link].

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Celtic Pathways – Bells & Clocks

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we’re looking at words for bells, clocks and related things..

Bells

The Proto-Celtic word for bell was *klokkos, which comes either from the Proto-Indo-European *klēg-/*klōg- (onomatopoeia), or from *kleg- (to cry, sound) [source].

Descendants in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • clog [klˠɔɡ] = bell, clock in Irish
  • clag [kl̪ˠag] = bell; crash, loud noise in Scottish Gaulish
  • clag = bell, clock, ball in Manx
  • cloch [kloːχ] = bell, bell-shaped object, bubble; prize, feat; o’clock in Welsh
  • klogh [klɔ:x / klo:h] = bell in Cornish
  • kloc’h = bell in Breton

The Medieval Latin word clocca possibly comes from the same Proto-Celtic root. It meant bell from the 8th century, bell-shaped clock from the 13th century and clock from the 15th century [source].

Words from the same Latin root include cloche, cloak and clock in English, cloche (bell, cover, clot) and cloque (blister) in French, klocka (clock, watch, bell) in Swedish, and Glocke (bell) in German [source].

More details about these words on Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (11/09/22)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Isthmus Mixe (Ayüük), a Mixe-Zoque language spoken in Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
  • Isan (อีสาน), a Lao-Phuthai language spoken in the Isan region in northeastern Thailand.

There are new numbers pages in:

There’s a new family words page in: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ), a Mon-Khmer language spoken mainly in Cambodia, and also in Vietnam and Thailand.

There’s a new adapted script: Tengwar for Kurdish, a way to write Kurmanji Kurdish with Tolkien’s Tengwar alphabet devised by Ersen Yeşer.

Article 1 of the UDHR in Kurdish in the Tengwar alphabet

There’s an Omniglot blog post called Sleep like a …, about idioms for sleeping well, such as sleep like a log, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Alaska, and he’s talking about repairing fishing nets.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was
Dagaare, a Gur language spoken in Ghana and Burkina Faso.

There are new Celtiadur posts about words for Blood, Surfaces and related things in Celtic languages.

There’s an episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast about words for Wagons and Carts.

In the Adventure in Etymology we delve into the origins of the word nostril, and find out how it’s connected to such words as hood and heed.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Korean with KoreanClass101