Omniglot News (19/12/22)

19th June 202218th June 2022 By Simon

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

This week there are new language pages about:

Santiagueño Quechua (Arhintina runasimi), a Southern Quechua language spoken in northern Argentina.
Gawar, a Chadic language spoken in the Far North Region of Cameroon.
Wambule (वाम्बुले‎), a Kiranti language spoken in parts of eastern of Nepal.
Sabanê, a Nambikwaran language spoken in the state of Rondônia in western Brazil.

With these languages, the total number of language profiles on Omniglot is now 1,700!

There are a new numbers pages in:

Ho-Chunk / Winnebago (Hoocąk), a Siouan language spoken in Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa in the USA.
Potawatomi (Neshnabémwen), an Algonqian language spoken in Ontario in Canada, and in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Kansas in the USA.
Shawnee (Sawanwa), a Central Algonquian language spoken in Oklahoma in the USA.
Naskapi (ᓇᔅᑲᐱ‎), an Algonquian language spoken in the provinces of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.

There’s an Omniglot blog post called Turning Oxen, which is about the writing direction known as boustrophedon, or literally “like the ox turns”, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language belongs to a small language family that is spoken in a group of islands off the Asian mainland.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Loma (Löömàgòòi), a Southwestern Mande language spoken in northern Liberia.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Second and Other, and words for Lead (metal) and related things in Celtic languages.

In the Adventure in Etymology we find out how the word butter is connected to such words as buffalo, truffle and tyromancy.

I also made improvements to the Naskapi, Latvian and Ho-Chunk language pages, and created a separate page for the Hočąk Syllabary.

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.

Aventure in Etymology – Butter

18th June 202219th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today we’re looking into the origins of the word butter.

Butter [ˈbʌtə / ˈbʌɾɚ] is:

A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow’s milk)
Any of various foodstuffs made from other foods or oils, similar in consistency to, eaten like or intended as a substitute for butter, such as peanut butter

It comes from the Middle English buter [ˈbutər] (butter), or from the Old English butere [ˈbu.te.re] (butter), from the Proto-West-Germanic *buterā (butter), from the Latin būtȳrum [buːˈtyː.rum] (butter, butter-like chemicals), from the Ancient Greek βούτῡρον [bǔː.tyː.ron] (butter), from βοῦς [bûːs] (cow, ox, cattle, shield) and τυρός [tyː.rós] (cheese), so in Ancient Greek, butter was literally “cow cheese” [source].

The Ancient Greek word βοῦς [bûːs] (cow, ox) comes from the Proto-Hellenic *gʷous (cow, cattle), from the Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws (cattle). English words from the same roots include beef, bovine, bucolic, buffalo, cow, boustrophedon (writing in lines alternating from left to right and right to left, or lit. “as the ox turns”) [source].

The word boustrophedon is discussed in this Omniglot blog post.

The Ancient Greek word τυρός [tyː.rós] (cheese) comes from the Proto-Hellenic *tūrós (cheese), from the Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (to swell). English words from the same roots include thumb, truffle, tuber, tumor and tyromancy (divination by studying the coagulation of cheese) [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 (12/06/22)

12th June 202212th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week there are new language pages about:

Gawar Bati (گواربتی بݰہ), a Dardic language spoken in northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan.
Huaylla Wanca Quechua (Wanka Nunashimi), a Central Quechua language spoken in central Peru.
Sakaizaya, an East Formosan language spoken in northeastern Taiwan.

There’s a new constructed script called Arwo Wanco, which is based on arrow shapes and was created by Nikolaj Østermark Hansen to write a fictional language called Wessaic that he also created.

There’s a new adapated script called Armerican (Ա·րմէրի՛կե՛ն), which is a way to write indigenous American languages such as Choctaw, Halkomelem and Inuktitut with the Armenian alphabet devised by Marc Harder.

Sample text in Inuktitut in Armerican
Ինւլւկտա՜տ ինւ՜լիսա՜ն՜·ւղպւտ նան·մինի՜րւն·նասիմաղաղռւտիկ այ՜իգի՜ն·միգլւ իլիտարիյաւյ՜ւտսիաղաղռւտիգլւ պիյւն·նաւտիտաւղաղռւտիկ․ Իսւմակսաղսիւրւն·նատսիարնիրմիկ ինւ՜տսիարւտիգիյարլւ պիլիղտւն·աւտ՜ւտ, ասիան՜·ւրնւլ՜ւ իլիւրնիրվիղատիգի՜տ՜արւկսարիաղարալւաղպւտ ղատան՜·ւտիգի՜ղ՜ատիգի՜տ՜ւտ անիրնիղսա՜րնի․

There are a new numbers pages in: Egyptian Arabic (مصرى), and Ayacucho Quechua (Chanka runasimi), a Southern Quechua language spoken in southern Peru.

There’s an Omniglot blog post called Short On, which is about some differences between British and American English, and related words in Japanese, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: some uncommon letters and lots of accents are used when writing this language.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Skolt Sámi (sääʹmǩiõll), an Eastern Sámi language spoken mainly in northern Finland, and in northwestern Russia.

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

In the Adventure in Etymology we’re looking into the origins of the word roof.

I made some improvements to the Kutchi language page as well.

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 – Roof

11th June 202211th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

A roof [ɹuːf / ɹʊf] is:

the cover of a building
material used for a roof
the highest point
an upper limit
the vaulted upper boundary of the mouth

It comes from the Middle English rof [roːf] (roof, house, top of the mouth), or from the Old English hrōf [xroːf] (roof, the sky or heavens), from the Proto-Germanic *hrōfą (roof), from the Proto-Indo-European *krāpo- (roof), from *krāwə- (to cover, heap) [source].

Words from the same roots include: roef [ruf] (a cabin on a boat) in Dutch, ruf (deckhouse, doghouse) in Danish, rouf [ʁuf] (deckhouse) in French, strop (ceiling) in Croatian, Czech, Polish, Serbian and Slovenian, and the old Russian word строп [strop] (roof, attic, loft) [source].

Incidentally, the Dutch word roef is only used to refer to a cabin on a river boat. A cabin on a big ship is a kajuit the origins of which are uncertain. It possibly comes from the Old French cabane (cabin, hut, shack, shed) and hutte (hut) [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 (05/06/22)

5th June 20225th 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:

Dhatki (धाटकी / ڍاٽڪي), a Western Rajasthani language spoken in southern Pakistan and northeasten India.
Penobscot (pαnawαhpskewi), an Eastern Abenaki language spoken Penobscot County in Maine in the USA.
Moose Cree (ᐃᓕᓖᒧᐧᐃᓐ / ililîmowin), a central Algonquian language spoken Moose Factory Island in Ontario, Canada.

There are a new numbers pages in: Penobscot and Moose Cree, and in Kutchi (કચ્છી), an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Gujarat in India and Sindh in Pakistan.

There’s a new constructed script called Pangeul, which is an alternative way to write Esperanto and French devised by Paoli Mbongo and inspired by the Korean Hangeul alphabet.

Sample text in the Pangeul alphabet in Esperanto

There’s an Omniglot blog posts called Pepper and Salt, which is about words that always or usually go together in a particular order, also known to linguists as binomials. Such as salt and pepper in English, which is usually peper en zout (pepper and salt) in Dutch. There’s also a post about words for Moose in Cree languages, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the far north.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Khorchin Mongolian (ᠬᠣᠷᠴᠢᠨ), a variety of Mongolian spoken in the Hinggan League in the east of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the north of China.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Tin and Metal and related things in Celtic languages.

In the Adventure in Etymology we’re looking into the origins of the word circus.

Here’s a little song called Ffaldiral that I wrote yesterday in Welsh and English. It’s based on the Welsh word canu, which means to sing, and can mean various other things.

Simon Ager · Ffaldiral

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 – Circus

4th June 20224th June 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today we’re looking into the origins of the word circus.

A circus [ˈsɜːkəs/ˈsɝkəs] is:

A traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, clowns, trained animals, and other novelty acts, that gives shows usually in a circular tent.
A round open space in a town or city where multiple streets meet.
A spectacle; a noisy fuss; a chaotic and/or crowded place.

It comes from the Latin circus [ˈkɪrkʊs̠] (orbit, circle, ring, racecourse, space where games are held), or from the Ancient Greek κίρκος [ˈkir.kos] (hawk, falcon, wolf, circle, ring, racecourse), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (to turn, bend) [source].

Some English words from the same PIE root include: corona, crisp, crest, cross, crown, curb, curtain, curve, ring and rink, [source].

In Old English the word for circus was hringsetl [ˈr̥iŋɡˌsetl], from hring (ring) and setl (residence, seat, bench, throne). This was replaced by circus in about the 14th century [source].

At first circus referred to ancient Roman ampitheatres or buildings used for chariot races. By the early 18th century it meant buildings arranged in a ring or a circular road, as in Piccadilly Circus, and by the late 18th century it refered to an arena for performances of acrobatics, horsemanship etc,and later extented to refer to the performers and their performance [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 (29/05/22)

29th May 202229th May 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

This week we have new language pages about:

Swampy Cree (ᓀᐦᐃᓇᐍᐏᐣ / nêhinawêwin), a Central Algonquian language spoken Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Ontario in Canada.
Bilua, a language isolate spoken on Vella Lavella Island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands.
Cajamarca Quechua (Kashamarka qichwa), a Quechua language spoken in the province of Cajamarca in northwestern Peru.
Totontepec Mixe (Ayöök), a Mixe-Zoque language spoken in the State of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
Plains Cree (ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ / nēhiyawēwin), a Central Algonquian language spoken mainly in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada, and in Montana in the USA.
Tlahuitoltepec Mixe (Ayuujk), a Mixe-Zoque language spoken in the State of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

I changed the focus of the Cree page to be about Cree Syllabics, and have started making separate pages for different varieties of Cree, so far we have Plains Cree and Swampy Cree (as mentioned above), and more are on the way.

There are a new numbers pages in: Swampy Cree, Plains Cree and Bilua.

There’s an Omniglot blog post about Podiums, which looks at the origins of the Dutch word podium (stage, podium, platform), and related words in other languages, such as pew in English, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language has a vertically-inclined alphabet.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Kadugli (Katcha dialect), a Central Kadu language spoken in the Kordofan Region of Sudan.

There are new Celtiadur posts are about words for Iron and Steel and related things in Celtic languages.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we’re talking about Tat (cheap, tasteless, useless goods; trinkets), and tatties and spuds (potatoes).

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 – Tat

28th May 202229th May 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

tat [tæt] is:

cheap, tasteless, useless goods; trinkets.
tatty articles or a tatty condition
a tangled mass
an abbreviation of tattoo

It comes from the Hindi टाट (ṭāṭ – burlap, gunny, hessian, sackcloth, sacking), or from tatty (worn out, shabby, tawdry, unkempt), which comes from tatter (a shred of torn cloth), from tattered (torn, ragged), from the Middle English tater (torn or ragged strips of material hanging from a garment), from the Old Norse tǫturr (tatters, rags) [source].

The word tatty also means potato in parts of northern England and Scotland. It’s a diminutive of potato, which comes from the Spanish patata (potato, piece of rubbish), from the Taíno batata (sweet potato) [source].

Another word for potato is spud [spʌd], which also means a sharp spadelike tool used for rooting or digging out weeds, and comes from the Middle English spudde [spud] (a small or inferior knife), possibly from the Old Norse spjót (spear, lance), from the Proto-Germanic *speutą/speutaz (spear), from the PIE *spewd- (to press; urge; hurry) [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 (22/05/22)

22nd May 202222nd May 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

The new language pages this week are about:

Western Pwo (ဖျိၩ့), a Karenic language spoken in southern Myanmar.
Sümi, a Sino-Tibetan language spoken mainly in Nagaland in the northeast of India.
Tai Laing (တႆးလꧥင်ꩽ), a southwestern Tai language spoken in northern Myanmar.
Northern Pwo (พลอง), a Karenic language spoken in the northwest of Thailand.

There are a new numbers pages in:

Mikasuki, an eastern Muskogean language spoken in Southern Florida in the USA.
Alabama (Albaamo innaaɬiilka), an eastern Muskogean language spoken in Texas in the USA.
Chickasaw (Chikashshanompa’), a Western Muskogean language spoken mainly in Oklahoma in the USA.

There’s a new page of words about the weather in Mandarin Chinese.

There’s a new page featuring words for Metals that are cognate is some or all of the Celtic languages.

There are new Tower of Babel translations in Northern Pwo and Western Pwo.

There’s an Omniglot blog post about table football, or Babyfoot as it’s known in French, and about Accents, which discusses whether you can say you speak a foreign language well if you have such a strong foreign accent that people find you difficult to understand, and there’s the usual Language Quiz – see if you can guess what language this is.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tlahuitoltepec Mixe (Ayuujk), a Mixe-Zoque language spoken in parts of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

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

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we find out what connects the word lead with words such as flood, float and Pluto.

I also made improvements to the Cree phrases page.

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 – Lead

21st May 202222nd May 2022 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Today we’re delving into the origins of the word lead.

lead [lɛd] is:

a soft, heavy, metallic element with atomic number 82 found mostly in combination and used especially in alloys, batteries, and shields against sound, vibration, or radiation.
a thin strip of metal used to separate lines of type in printing.

It comes from the Middle English le(e)d [lɛːd] (lead, cauldron), from the Old English lēad [læɑːd] (lead), from the Proto-West-Germanic *laud (lead)), from the Gaulish *laudon (lead), from the Proto-Celtic *ɸloudom (iron), from the PIE *plewd- (to fly, flow, run) [source].

Words from the same Proto-West-Germanic root include lood [loːt] (lead, plumb bob) in Dutch, Lot [loːt] (plummet, solder) in German, and lod [lʌð] (plumb bob, fishing weight) in Danish [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root include luaidhe [ˈl̪ˠuːiː/l̪ˠuəjə] (lead) in Irish and Scottish Gaelic, leoaie (lead) in Manx [source].

Words from the same PIE root include float, flow, flood, fleet and Pluto in English, vlotten (to glide, go smoothly) in Dutch, and flotter [flɔ.te] (to float, flutter, wave, mill about) in French [source].

Incidentally, to word lead [liːd], as in to guide or direct, is not related to lead (the metal). It comes from the Middle English leden (to lead, carry, take, put), from the Old English lǣdan (to lead, bring, take, carry, guide), from the Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (to cause one to go, lead), causative of the Proto-Germanic *līþaną (to go, pass through), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (to go, depart, die) [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

Omniglot News (19/12/22)

Aventure in Etymology – Butter

Omniglot News (12/06/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Roof

Omniglot News (05/06/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Circus

Omniglot News (29/05/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Tat

Omniglot News (22/05/22)

Adventures in Etymology – Lead