Celtic Pathways – People

22nd July 202222nd July 2022 By Simon

In this episode we’re looking at words for person, human and related things.

In Proto-Celtic a word for person was *gdonyos, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *dʰéǵʰom-yo- (earthling, human), from *dʰéǵʰōm (earth, human) [source].

Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:

duine [ˈd̪ˠɪnʲə] = human, man, mankind, person in Irish
duine [dɯn̪ʲə] = fellow, person, man, husband in Scottish Gaelic
dooinney [ˈd̪uːnʲə] = human, man, fellow, husband in Manx
dyn [dɨːn / diːn] = man, human being; person, and dynes [ˈdənɛs] = woman in Welsh
den [dɛ:n / de:n] = man, guy, human, person in Cornish
den [ˈdẽːn] = human being, person, man, husband in Breton

Another Proto-Celitc word from the same PIE root is *gdū (place), which became dú (place, inheritance; native, natural, proper, fitting) in Modern Irish, dùth (natural, hereditary, proper, fit, suitable) in Scottish Gaelic, and dooie (complement, inherent, natural, patriotic) in Manx [source].

Other words from the same PIE root include: human, humus, bridegroom in English; goom, an old word for man in northern English dialects and Scots; gumi, a poetic word for a man in Icelandic, and hombre (man, husband) in Spanish [source].

Incidentally, the English word dean is not related to these words – it comes from the Middle English de(e)n (dean), from the Anglo-Norman deen and from the Old French deien, from Latin decānus (chief of ten people, dean), from decem (ten) and -ānus (of or pertaining to) [source].

Words for man and people in some Native American languages sound similar to, though are not related to these Celtic words. For example, diné (person, man, people) in Navajo comes from di- (thematic prefix relating to action performed with the arms and legs) and -né (man, person) [source].

There are also words for people in Celtic languages that were borrowed from the Latin populus (people, nation, community):

pobal [ˈpˠɔbˠəlˠ] = people, community, parish, population in Irish
poball [pobəl̪ˠ] = folk, people, community in Scottish Gaelic
pobble = people, population, community in Manx
pobl [ˈpʰɔbl̩ˠ / ˈpɔbɔl] = people, public, nation, tribe in Welsh
pobel = people in Cornish
pobl = people, multitude in Breton

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.

Omniglot News (17/07/22)

17th July 202217th July 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

This week there are new language pages about:

Haroi, a Chamic language spoken in southern Vietnam.
Palikúr (Pa’ikwaki), a Northern Arawakan language spoken in Brazil and French Guiana.
Suwawa, a Philippine language spoken in the district of Suwawa in the Bone Bolango Regency in Gorontalo Province on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia.

There are new numbers pages in:

Bambassi (Màwés Aasʼè), an Omotic language spoken in the Benishangul-Gumuz Region of western Ethiopia.
Apurinã (ドゥナンムヌイ), an Arawakan language spoken in the states of Amazonas and Mato Grosso in Brazil.
Ewondo, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon.

On the Omniglot blog this week we have posts about Wurbling Wurblers, about Scots words for crawling, worms and related things; the League of the Lexicon, a new language-based game that was launched this week, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Dogri (डोगरी / ڈوگری‬), a Western Pahari language spoken in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in northern India.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Brushes and Broom, Ferns and Bracken and related things in Celtic languages.

I started a new series on Radio Omniglot this week called Celtic Pathways, in which I explore connections between Celtic languages, and search for Celtic roots in other languages. such as English, French and Spanish. This is something I’ve been thinking about doing for quite a while, and finally got round to. The first episode looks at words for Languages and Tongues.

In the Adventure in Etymology we’re uncovering the mysterious and puzzling origins of the word riddle.

I also made improvements to the general page about Quechua, adding details of Classical Quechua and making a separate page about Cuzco Quechua.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Riddles

16th July 202217th July 2022 By Simon

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Today we’re uncovering the mysterious and puzzling origins of the word riddle.

A riddle [ˈɹɪdəl] is:

A verbal puzzle, mystery, or other problem of an intellectual nature.

To riddle is:

To speak ambiguously or enigmatically.
To solve, answer, or explicate a riddle or question.

It comes from the Middle English rēdels (riddle, problem, enigma), from the Old English rǣdels [ˈræː.deɫs] (guess, conjecture, counsel, debate, enigma, riddle), from the Proto-West-Germanic *rādislī (advice, guess, riddle, puzzle), from *rādan (to advise, guess, interpret), from the Proto-Germanic *rēdaną [ˈrɛː.ðɑ.nɑ̃] (to decide, advise), from the PIE *Hreh₁dʰ- (to think, arrange) [source].

The English word read comes from the Germanic root, as do the Dutch words raadsel (riddle, mystery) and raden (to guess), the German words Rätsel (riddle, puzzle, mystery) and raten (to advise, recommend, guess), and the Swedish word råda (to advise, rule, reign, occur, exist) [source].

The word riddle, as in a kind of sieve, usually made of wire, comes from different roots: from the Middle English ridel (coarse sieve), from the Old English hriddel (sieve), from the Proto-West Germanic *hrīdrā (sieve), from the Proto-Germanic *hrīdrǭ [ˈxriːð.rɔ̃ː] (sieve), from *hrid- (to shake), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *krey- (to sift, separate, divide) [source].

Words from the same roots include crime, crisis, critic and secret in English, Reiter [ˈʁaɪ̯tɐ] (rider, mounted man-at-arms) in German, and crynu (to tremble, quake, shiver) and crwydr (sieve, winnowing-fan, wandering, roaming) in Welsh [source].

More details about sieve-related words in Celtic languages on the Celtiadur.

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.

Celtic Pathways – Languages and Tongues

15th July 20228th October 2022 By Simon

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Celtic Pathways is a new series on Radio Omniglot that will be exploring connections between Celtic languages, and looking for Celtic roots in other languages.

The Six Celtic languages currently spoken are all members of the insular branch of the Celtic language family, which is part of the Indo-European language family. They can be divided into two groups: the Goidelic or Q-Celtic languages: Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic, and the Brythonic or P-Celtic languages: Welsh, Cornish and Breton. They are spoken mainly in the British Isles, Ireland, and Brittany in the northwest of France. There are also Welsh speakers in Patagonia in Argentina, and Scottish Gaelic speakers in Nova Scotia in Canada.

Other Celtic languages were spoken in the past in parts of Continental Europe, particularly in what is now France, Spain, Portugual, northern Italy and across central Europe perhaps as far as Turkey. They are all extinct, although there is a little written material in some of them, such as Gaulish, Celtiberian and Leptonic.

I’ve been collecting words that are cognate (related) in some or all of the modern Celtic languages since 2009 and putting them together in the Celtic cognates section of Omniglot. In 2018 I started exploring these words in more depth on the Celtiadur blog. I look for related words in the modern Celtic languages, in earlier versions of the Celtic languages, such as Middle Welsh and Old Irish, and in their extinct and reconstructed relatives, right back to Proto-Celtic. I also look for words from the same roots in other languages, such as English, French and Spanish.

Words of Celtic origin in other languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_English_words_of_Celtic_origin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_French_words_of_Gaulish_origin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Galician_words_of_Celtic_origin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Spanish_words_of_Celtic_origin
https://www.uni-trier.de/en/forschung/zat/celtic-studies/celtic-cultures/celtic-words

By the way, I speak Welsh and Irish more or less fluently, can get by in Scottish Gaelic and Manx, and have a smattering of Breton and Cornish. I’ve been interested in Welsh for a long time as my mother’s family is mostly Welsh, although she doesn’t speak it. I got into Irish and Scottish Gaelic through a love of tradition music and songs from Ireland and Scotland, and I learnt the others out of interest. While doing an MA in Linguistics at Bangor University, I wrote a dissertation on the Death and Revival of Manx. Find out more in my Language Learning Adventures.

Let’s start this first episode of Celtic Pathways by looking at words for language and tongue.

The Proto-Celtic word for language was *yaxtī, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *yek- (to utter) [source].

Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:

iaith [jai̯θ] = language, tongue; people, nation, race, tribe in Welsh
yeth [eːθ / jeːθ] = tongue, language in Cornish
yezh [ˈjeːs] = language in Breton

The Middle Irish word icht (race, people, tribe; province, district) possibly comes from the same Proto-Celtic root.

Words from the same PIE root include: joke and Yule in English, jul (Yule, Christmas) in Danish and Norwegian, juego (play, game, sport) in Spanish, and joc (game, play, dance) in Romanian [source].

The Proto-Celtic word for tongue was *tangʷāss, tangʷāt, from the Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s (tongue). Descendents in the modern Celtic langauges include:

teanga [ˈtʲaŋə / ˈtʲaŋɡə] = tongue, language in Irish
teanga [tʲɛŋgə] = tongue speech, spit (of land) in Scottish Gaelic
çhengey [ˈtʃɛnʲə] = bell-clapper, clasp, feather, strap-hinge; catch (of buckle); tongue; language, speech; utterance in Manx
tafod [ˈtavɔd / ˈtaːvɔd] = tongue, faculty of speech, power of expression; language, speech, dialect, accent in Welsh
taves = language, tongue in Cornish
teod [ˈtɛwt] = language, tongue in Breton

Words from the same PIE root include: tongue and language in English, lingua (tongue, language) in Italian, язик [jɐˈzɪk] (tongue) in Ukrainian, and jazyk (tongue, language) in Czech and Slovak [source].

An Old Irish word for language and speech was bélrae [ˈbʲeːl͈re], from the Old Irish bél (mouth). This became Béarla [ˈbʲeːɾˠl̪ˠə] in modern Irish, Beurla [bjɤːr̪ˠl̪ˠə] in Scottish Gaelic and Baarle [bɛːᵈl], all of which mean English (language) [source].

More details about these words on the Celtiadur.

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.

Omniglot News (10/07/22)

10th July 202210th July 2022 By Simon

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

This week there are new language pages about:

Sayula Popoluca (yamay ajw), a Mixe language spoken in the southern Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.
Oluta Popoluca (Yaak’awü), a Mixe language spoken in the southern Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.
Dominican Creole (kwéyòl), a French-based creole spoken in the Dominican Republic.

New adapated scripts:

Qurditsuraya (ܩܘ̣ܪܕܝ̤ܬܣܘ̣ܪܝܝܐ) is a way to write the Kurdish languages with the Syriac script devised by Allison Powell. It looks something like this:

ܗܥ̣ܡܘ݄ ܡܝ̤ܖܘ̇ܘ݅ ܐܙܐܕ ܘ݄ ܕܝ̤ ܘܥ̣ܩܐܖ ܘ݄ ܡܐܦ݆ܐܢܢ ܕܥ̣ ܘܥ̣ܟܗܥ̣ܘ݅ ܬܥ݄ܢ ܕܝ̤ܢܝܐܝܥ݄܀ ܥ̣ܘ ܚܘܥ̣ܕܝ̣ ܗܝ̤ܫ ܘ݄ ܫܘ̣ܘ݄ܖ ܝ̤ܢ ܘ݄ ܕܝ̤ܘ݅ܥ݄ ܠܝ̤ ܗܥ̣ܡܒܥ̣ܖ ܗܥ̣ܘ݅ ܒܝ̤ ܙܝ̤ܗܢܝ̤ܝܥ̣ܬܥ̣ܟܥ̣ ܒܖܐܬܝ̤ܝܥ݄ ܒܝ̤ܠܝ̤ܘ݅ܝ̤ܢ܀

Jawacaraka (ꦗꦮꦕꦫꦏ) is a way to write Indonesian and Malay languages with the Javanese script devised by Allison Powell. It looks something like this:

ꦱꦼꦩꦸꦴ ꦎꦫꦁ ꦢꦶꦭꦲꦶꦂꦏꦤ꧀ ꦩꦼꦢꦺꦏ ꦢꦤ꧀ ꦩꦼꦩ꧀ꦥꦸꦚꦻ ꦩꦂꦠꦧꦠ꧀ ꦢꦤ꧀ ꦲꦏ꧀꧇꧒꧇ ꦪꦁ ꦱꦩ꧉ ꦩꦼꦫꦺꦏ ꦢꦶꦏꦫꦸꦤꦾꦻ ꦄꦏꦭ꧀ ꦢꦤ꧀ ꦲꦠꦶ ꦤꦸꦫꦤꦶ ꦢꦤ꧀ ꦲꦼꦤ꧀ꦢꦏ꧀ꦚ ꦧꦼꦂꦒꦻꦴꦭ꧀ ꦱꦠꦸ ꦱꦩ ꦭꦻꦤ꧀ ꦢꦭꦀ ꦱꦼꦩꦔꦠ꧀ ꦥꦼꦂꦱꦻꦴꦢꦴꦤ꧀꧉

Hocąk (һиоча̃к / һоча̃к) is an alternative way to write Ho-Chunk with the Cyrillic alphabet devised by Ruslan Safarov. It looks something like this:

Һиąҹиһиўíра ўąгереги шанąкере, рáш һашíнина ўакąčą́к ни̃гигирекҹенą. Һųгмą́ һашíнина һираиҹикҹаўина. Ўошгą́ һашíнина мąнéги ъųирекҹенą, ўąгереги ҹасге һинąкъи̃, жесге мąнéги һирекҹена. Һąп теé ўаисгабетúč һанíўира һокъųўиąҹе.

There are new numbers pages in:

Sayula Popoluca (yamay ajw), a Mixe language spoken in the southern Veracruz in southeastern Mexico.
Yonaguni (ドゥナンムヌイ), a Southern Ryukyuan language spoken on Yonaguni, one of the Ryūkyū islands in southern Japan.
Dominican Creole (kwéyòl), a French-based creole spoken in the Dominican Republic.

On the Omniglot blog this week we go Dahu Hunting, or in others words, we go on a wild goose chase after imaginary creatures such as the dahu and the wampahoofus, There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language has it’s own alphabet, and is also written with several other alphabets.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Alabama (Albaamo innaaɬiilka), an Eastern Muskogean language spoken on the Alabama-Coushatta Indian Reservation in the southeast of Texas, USA.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Waterfalls, Ferns and Bracken and related things in Celtic languages.

In the Adventure in Etymology we’re playing with the word daff.

I posted a new song called Pannas Owen, which is in Welsh and is about the eternal search of Owen’s Parsnips. I was inspired to write it back in July 2021 when a Dutch friend sent me a load of interesting phrases from the Welsh course on Duolingo concerning Owen and parsnips. It took me a while to make a reasonable recording. It sounds a bit like this:

Simon Ager · Pannas Owen (Owen’s Parsnips)

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Daff

9th July 20229th July 2022 By Simon

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Today we’re playing with the word daff.

Daff

A Daff [dæf] is:

A fool, idiot or blockhead

It comes from the Middle English daf(fe) (fool, idiot), from the Old Norse daufr (deaf, stupid), from the Proto-Germanic *daubaz [ˈdɑu̯.βɑz] (stunned, deaf), from the PIE *dʰewbʰ- (hazy, unclear, dark, smoke, obscure) [source].

In northern dialects of English and in Scots, daff is a verb that means to be foolish, play, make sport or frolic. It comes from the same root as the noun daff, via the Middle English daffen (to render foolish) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include deaf and dumb in English; and words for black in Celtic languages, such as du [dɨː/diː] in Welsh, and dubh [d̪ˠʊvˠ/d̪ˠʊw/duh] in Irish and Scottish Gaelic [source].

Some words derived from daff include bedaff (to befool, make a fool of, confound), daffen (to make a daff, stun), daffish (stupid, silly), and daffy (somewhat mad or eccentric). Only the last one is much used these days. The others are obsolete or used only in some English dialects, and in Scots [source].

Daff is not related to daft (foolish, silly, stupid), which comes from the Middle English dafte/defte (gentle, humble, modest, awkward, dull), from the Old English dæfte (gentle, meek, mild), from the Proto-West Germanic *daftī (fitting, suitable), from the PIE *dʰh₂ebʰ- (fitting; to fit together) [source].

The English word deft comes from the same PIE root [source], as do words for good in Slavic languages, such as dobrý in Czech and Slovak, and добър [doˈbɤɾ] in Bulgarian [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.

Omniglot News (03/07/22)

3rd July 20225th July 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

This week there are new language pages about:

Lhowa (ॱलोवा), a Central Bodish language spoken in Gandaki Province in central Nepal
Yola (Yola Taalke), an Anglic language that was spoken in County Wexford in the southeast of Ireland until 1998, and which is currently being revived.
Munji (مونجى) – an Eastern Iranian language spoken in northeastern Afghanistan
Yidgha (یدغہ) – an Eastern Iranian language spoken in northern Pakistan

New adapated script:

Głagolicy (Ⰳⱉⰰⰳⱁⰾⰹⱌⱏ), a way to write Polish with the Glagolitic alphabet devised by Allison Powell. It looks like this:

Ⰲⱎⱏⱄⱌⱏ ⰾⱆⰼⰻⰵ ⱃⱁⰷⱘ ⱎⰻⱔ ⰲⱁⰾⱀⰻ ⰹ ⱃⱆⰲⱀⰻ ⰲ ⱄⰲⱁєⰺ ⰳⱁⰴⱀⱁⱎⰻⱍⰻ ⰹ ⱂⱃⰰⰲⰰⱈ. Ⱄⱘ ⱁⰱⰴⰰⰶⰵⱀⰹ ⱃⱁⰸⱆⰿⰵⰿ ⰹ ⱄⱆⰿⰻⰵⱀⰻⰵⰿ ⰹ ⱂⱁⰲⰹⱀⱀⰻ ⱂⱁⱄⱅⱔⱂⱁⰲⰰⱍⰻ ⰲⱁⰱⰵⱌ ⱎⰻⰵⰱⰻⰵ ⰲ ⰴⱆⱈⱆ ⰱⱃⰰⱅⰵⱃⱄⱅⰲⰰ.

There are also new numbers pages in:

Lun Bawang (Buri’ Lun Bawang), a North Bornean language spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Yola (Yola Taalke)
Ho (𑢹𑣉𑣉 𑣎𑣋𑣜 / hōō jagara), a Munda language spoken mainly in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

There’s an Omniglot blog post about Pseudonyms and related words, a post entitled Distreetly Discrete, which is about keeping the words discrete and discreet discrete, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language has the same name as a US state, although it is not spoken in that state.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Pennsylvania Dutch / German (Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch), a variety of German spoken mainly in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana in the USA, and in Ontario in Canada.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Soft and Tender, Emptiness and related things in Celtic languages.

In the Adventure in Etymology we dive into the world of puffins.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Puffin

2nd July 20223rd July 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today we’re exploring the origins of the word puffin.

A puffin [ˈpʌfɪn] is:

Any of the various small seabirds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda that are black and white with a brightly-coloured beak, such as the Atlantic or common puffin (Fratercula arctica).

It comes from the Middle English poffon / poffin / puffon (puffin and other sea-birds of the family Alcidae), perhaps from puf(f), from the Old English pyf (a blast of wind) – of imitative origin. Or it possibly comes from Anglo-Norman or Cornish [source].

The word puffin first appeared in English in the 14th century, and originally referred to the cured meat of young Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), which were originally known as the Manks puffin. Atlantic puffins acquired the name puffin in the 19th century, possibly due to similar nesting habits [source].

In French the word puffin [py.fɛ̃] refers to the shearwater, and was borrowed from English [source]. A puffin is a perroquet de mer (“sea parrot”) or macareux in French – not to be confused with maquereau (mackerel) [source].

The Latin name from the puffin Fratercula, comes from Medieval Latin and means “friar” or “little brother”, from the Latin frater (brother, friend, lover, sibling) and is a reference to their black and white plumage, which apparently looks like a monk’s robes [source].

Puffins are also known as sea-parrots, popes, sea clowns, clowns of the sea, tomnoddies, tammie norries, little brothers of the north, and various other things. Young puffins are known as pufflings, puffins live in puffinries, and a group of puffins is a circus or colony (on land), a wheel (when flying) or a raft (on water).

In Iceland, where puffins are common, shops that sell souvenirs, many of which are puffin-themed, are known as “puffin shops”, or lundabúðir in Icelandic [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly [afflilate link].

Here’s a lovely little song about puffins written by Malinda Kathleen Reese in collaboration with her followers:

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.

Omniglot News (26/06/22)

26th June 202226th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

This week there are new language pages about:

Mamaindê (Mamainsahai’gidu), a Nambikwaran language spoken in Mato Grosso State in western Brazil.
Bolyu (Pɔ₃₃lju₁₃), a Pankanic language spoken in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.

New constructed script
Jigul, a phonetic script that can be used to write any language, which was inspired by the Korean Hangeul alphabet.

Sample text in the Jigul alphabet

New adapated scripts
Inglisuraya (ܐ̤ܢ̇ܓܠܝ̣ܣܘ̣ܪܝܝܐ), a way to write English with the Syriac script devised by Allison Powell.

ܐ݅ܠ ܗܝܘ̣ܡܥ݄ܢ ܒܝ̣ܝ̤ܢ̇ܙ̈ ܐܪ ܒܐ݅ܪܢܢ ܦ݆ܪܝ̣ ܐ݆ܢܕ ܝ̣ܟܘܥ݄ܠ ܐ̤ܢܢ ܕܝ̤ܓܢܝ̤ܛܝ̣ ܐ݆ܢܕ ܪܥ̤ܛܣ̈܀ ܯܥ݆ ܐܪ ܐ̤ܢܕܐ݆ܘ݆ܕ ܘܝ̤ܯ ܪܝ̣ܙܥ݄ܢܐ݆ܢܕ ܟܐܢܫܥ݄ܢܣ ܐ݆ܢܕ ܫܘ݆ܕ ܐ݆ܟܛ ܛܥ݄ܘܐ݅ܪܕܙ ܘܥ݄ܢ ܐ݄ܢܥ݄ܯܥ݄ܪ ܐ̤ܢܢ ܐ݄ ܣܦܝ̤ܪܝ̤ܛ ܐ݄ܘ݅ ܒܪܥ݄ܯܥ݄ܪܗܘ݆ܕ܀

Arabo-Chinese, a way to write Chinese with the Arabic script created by Uriel Serna.

رٰن رٰن شٙڭ اٰر دزٖ تٰو، دزٖاي دزوٙن يٰان هٰه تسيوٰان ليٖ شٖاڭ يٰ ليوٖ پيٰڭ دٚڭ. تٙا مْن فوٖ يٚو ليٚ سيٖڭ هٰه ليٰاڭ سيٙن، بيٖڭ يٙڭ يٚ سيوٙڭ ديْ گوٙان سيٖ دْ دزيٙڭ شٰن هوٖ سيٙاڭ دوٖي دٖاي

There’s a new numbers page, a phrases page, and a translation of the Tower of Babel story in Sierra Leone Creole (Krio), an English-based creole spoken in Sierra Leone.

There are also new numbers pages in:

Ho-Chunk / Winnebago (Hoocąk), a Siouan language spoken in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa in the USA.
Osage (𐓏𐒰𐓓𐒰𐓓𐒷 / Wažáže), a Siouan language spoken in Oklahoma in the USA.

There’s an Omniglot blog post called Mountain Wind, which is about the Japanese word 嵐 (arashi), which means storm, and is made up of the characters for mountain and wind; and another entitled Antidry, which is about the French word antisèche (lit. “antidry”, actually a cheat sheet), and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: speakers of this language live far from where their ancestors originated.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Yonaguni (ドゥナンムヌイ / Dunan Munui), a Southern Ryukyuan language spoken on Yonaguni island in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

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

In the Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the word secret with words like crime, crisis, critic and hypocrisy.

I made improvements to the Osage language page, and made a separate page for the Osage script.

In other news, my current streak on Duolingo reached 1,800 days today, and I’m currently learning Danish, Dutch, Japanese, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish and Swedish there – just a few languages.

I'm on a 1800 day language learning streak on Duolingo

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https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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Adventures in Etymology – Secret

25th June 202225th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today we’re exploring the origins of the word secret.

A secret [ˈsiːkɹɪt / ˈsiːkɹət] is:

A piece of knowledge that is hidden and intended to be kept hidden.
The key or principle by which something is made clear; the knack.
Something not understood or known.

It comes from the Middle English secrette (secret), from the Old French secret (secret), from the Latin sēcrētus (put apart, separated, severed), from sēcernō (to separate, set aside), from sē- (aside, by itself) and cernō (to see, discern), from the PIE *krey (to sift, separate, divide) [source].

English words from the same PIE root include: certain, concern, crime, crisis, critic, discreet and hypocrisy [source].

Words in other languages from the same PIE root include: crynu [ˈkrənɨ/ˈkrəni] (to tremble, shiver, shudder) in Welsh, κρίνω [ˈkɾi.no] (to judge, assess, decide) in Greek, cernere [ˈt͡ʃɛr.ne.re] to separate, distinguish, choose) in Italian, and kraj [kraj] (country, land, border) in Polish [source].

In Old English a secret was a dēagol [ˈdæ͜ɑː.ɣol], which also meant hidden, obscure or (poetically) dark, which became diȝel in Middle English. It comes from the Proto-West Germanic *daugul (hidden, secret) [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.

Radio Omniglot

Podcasts about languages and words

Author: Simon

Celtic Pathways – People

Omniglot News (17/07/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Riddles

Celtic Pathways – Languages and Tongues

Omniglot News (10/07/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Daff

Omniglot News (03/07/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Puffin

Omniglot News (26/06/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Secret