Category: Podcast

Celtic Pathways – Family

By Simon

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In this episode we’re looking at words for family, tribe and related things.

Corgi Puppies 21

In Proto-Celtic a word for family or kindred was *wenyā, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (to wish, seek, desire, love, win) [source].

Descendents in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • fine [ˈfʲɪnʲə] = family, kin, clan, tribe, race in Irish
  • fine [finə] = family group, race, territory of a family group in Scottish Gaelic
  • gouenn = race in Breton

The name of Vannes [van], a town in Brittany, comes from the same Proto-Celtic root, via the Latin Veneti [source]

Words from the same PIE root include venom, Venus, wonder, wean and winsome in English, vän (friend) in Swedish, and gwenwyn (poison, venom) in Welsh [source]

The Proto-Celtic word *genos (family, clan, birth) is the root of iníon [ˈɪnʲiːnʲ] (daughter, girl maiden, (young) woman, Miss) in Irish, nighean [ɲiː.an̪ˠ] (daughter, girl, lass) in Scottish Gaelic, and inneen [ɪnˈjiːn] (daughter, girl) in Manx [source].

It also makes up part of the Irish name Eoghan [oːn̪ˠ], the Scottish Gaelic name Eòghan [joː.ən̪ˠ], both of which are thought to come from the Proto-Celtic name *Iwogenos, from *iwos (yew) and *genos (born, family) [source].

The name Morgan possibly comes from the Old Welsh name Morgen from *mor (sea) and *gen (born), from the Proto-Celtic *genos [source].

The Proto-Celtic word *tegeso-slougo- means family or household. It comes from the Proto-Indo-European *tegos (cover, roof) [source] and *slowgʰos / *slowgos (entourage) [source].

Descendents in modern Celtic languages include:

  • teaghlach [ˈtʲalˠəx] = household, family, domestic establishment, retinue in Irish
  • teaghlach [ˈtʲɤːɫ̪ˠəx] = family, household in Scottish Gaelic
  • thielagh = family, household in Manx
  • teulu = family, tribe, nation, household in Welsh
  • teylu = family in Cornish
  • tiegezh = household, farm, family 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.

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Omniglot News (31/07/22)

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:

  • Hadza (Hadzane), a language isolate spoken around Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania
  • Hejazi Arabic (حجازي), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Budukh (Будад мез), a North East Caucasian language spoken in the northeast of Azerbaijan.
  • Tindi (Идараб мицци), a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the southwest of Dagestan in the Russian Republic.
  • Hejazi Arabic (حجازي), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.

On the Omniglot blog this week we have a post called Kenning, about the words ken and kenning, and related words in English and other 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 west of the Russian Federation.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Hlai, a group of Kam-Tai languages spoken in central Hainan Province in southern China.

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

Here’s a song I released this week, though actually wrote back in April 2022:

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

The Polyglottals (Richard Simcott, Simon Ager and Chris Taylor)
Some friends who came to visit Bangor this week (Photo by Richard Simcott)

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 (24/07/22)

By Simon

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

This week there are new language pages about:

  • Porohanon, a Central Bisayan language spoken in the Camotes Islands in Cebu province in the Philippines.
  • Athpare (आठपहरिया‎), an Eastern Kiranti language spoken in the Dhankuta District in eastern Nepal.
  • Bukusu (Lubukusu), a Bantu language spoken in southwestern Kenya.

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Pingelapese, a Micronesian language spoken mainly in Pingelap and Pohnpei in Micronesia.
  • Bonggi, a North Bornean language spoken mainly on Banggi Island in Sabah, Malaysia.
  • Tobian (ramarih Hatohobei), a Micronesian language spoken in the Hatohobei and Koro states in Palau.

There’s a new article about Scottish Gaelic dialects of Arran.

On the Omniglot blog this week we have a post about Japanese words and idioms related to tatami called Tatami Swimming, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is distantly related to Thai and Lao.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Ronga (XiRonga), a Central Bantu language spoken mainly in southern Mozambique, and also eastern South Africa

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

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

In the Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the word Dean with words such as doyen, decimal and December.

During the heatwave earlier this week I wrote a new song called Melting, which goes something like this:

Normal service has been resumed and the weather, at least here in Bangor, is now it bit cooler.

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

Adventures in Etymology – Dean

By Simon

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Today we’re investigating the origins of the word dean.

Dean

A dean [diːn] is:

  • A senior official in a college or university, who may be in charge of a division or faculty.
  • A dignitary or presiding officer in certain church bodies.
  • The senior member of some group of people

It comes from the Middle English de(e)n (dean), from the Anglo-Norman deen (dean), from the Old French deien (dean), from the Latin decānus (chief of ten people, dean), from decem (ten), and -ānus (of, pertaining to) [source].

Incidentally, dean is not related to words for person or man in Celtic languages, such as dyn [dɨːn / diːn] in Welsh. and duine [ˈd̪ˠɪnʲə] in Irish. They come from the Proto-Celtic word *gdonyos (person) [more details].

The English word doyen (a leading light, exemplar of a practice or movement, senior member of a group) comes from the same Latin root, via the modern French doyen (dean, senior member) [source].

A related word is decurion (an officer in charge of ten men in the Roman army, a member of the local government in ancient Rome), which comes from the Latin decuriō (decurion, foreman), from decuria (a group of ten men/soldiers, a jury), from decem (ten) and vir (man) [source].

Other words in English that come from the Latin decem (ten) include decimal, decimate, and december (the 10th month in the Roman calendar) [source]. Dime (a coin worth one-tenth of a dollar in the USA and Canada) comes from the Latin decimus (tenth) [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 – People

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

Fem Fest

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)

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Korean with KoreanClass101

Adventures in Etymology – Riddles

By Simon

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

Puzzled

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.

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Celtic Pathways – Languages and Tongues

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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.

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Omniglot News (10/07/22)

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:

  • 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:

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Adventures in Etymology – Daff

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.

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