Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Bafaw-Balong (lèfɔ́’, bàlòŋ), a Bantu language (or two closely-related languages) spoken in the Southwest and Littoral regions of Cameroon.
• Dciriku (Gciriku), a Central Sudanic language spoken mainly in southwestern Chad, and also in Nigeria.
• Kako (Mkako), a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo.

New magical script: Alphabet of Metatron, a magical alphabet based losely on the Hebrew script.

New adapted script: Thaana for Arabic, a way to write Arabic with the Thaana (Maldivian) script devised by Aahan Kotian.

On the Omniglot blog we discover whether the word plateau is related to plate, platypus, plaza, pizza, place, flat and fold in a post called Little Dishes, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Chaura (Sanënyö), a Nicobarese language spoken mainly on Chowra Island in the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Bottles, Boots and Butts, we find connections between words for bottle, butt, boot and other things in various languages.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post entitled Cressy about words for cress, watercress and related things in Celtic languages, and I made improvements to the Lies and Deceit and Bodies posts.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Kabwa (Ekikabwa), a Northeast Bantu language spoken in the Mara Region in northern Tanzania.
• Bagirmi (tàrà ɓármà), a Central Sudanic language spoken mainly in southwestern Chad, and also in Nigeria.
• Naba (Tar Melbene), a Central Sudanic language spoken mainly in Batha-Est Prefecture in central Chad.

New numbers pages:

• Zinza (Ecizinza), a Bantu language spoken in the Mwanza Region in northern Tanzania.
• Kabwa (Ekikabwa), a Northeast Bantu language spoken in the Mara Region in northern Tanzania.

New adapated script: Tengwar for Ukrainian, a way to write Ukrainian with Tolkein’s Tengwar script devised by Murray Callahan.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Hydraulic Plumbers, about how the word for plumber in Italian (idraulico) differs from words from plumber in other Romance languages, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the Indian Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: East Pomeranian (Ostpommersch), an East Low German language spoken mainly in Brazil, and also in the USA.

There’s no Adventure in Etymology this week as I was busy sorting things out at my mum’s house all weekend. That’s also why the sound quality of the recording is not up to the usual standards.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post entitled Ropes & Strings about words for rope, cord, to string and related things in Celtic languages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Waiwai, a Cariban language spoken mainly in northern Brazil, and also in Guyana and Suirname.
• Enawene Nawe (Enawenê-Nawê), a Southern Arawakan language spoken in State of Mato Grosso in western Brazil.
• Jah Hut, an Aslian language spoken mainly in Pahang state in the south of peninsula Malaysia.
• Brao, a Bahnaric language spoken in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand.

New numbers page:

• Mazandarani, a northwestern Iranian language spoken in the northwest of Iran.

New adapated script: Saurashtra for Gujarati (ꢱꣃꢬꢵꢰ꣄ꢜ꣄ꢬ ꢭꢶꢦꢶ), a way to write Gujarati with the Saurashtra alphabet devised by Aahan Kotian.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entilted Kinder Kinder, in which we discover whether the words Kinder (children) in German and kind(er) in English are related, as in the joke ‘No matter how kind you are … German children are Kinder’, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Tiwi, a language isolate spoken on the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory of Australia.

In this week’s episode of Celtic Pathways, Calamitous Swords, we discover the possible Celtic roots of Romance swords and Slavic hammers.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post entitled Birth about words for birth, to be born, to procreate and related things in Celtic languages.

Improved pages: Hiligaynon and Mazandarani phrases pages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Ghulfan (Wuncu), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken mainly in the Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan.
• Kadaru (Kodhin), a Northern Luo language spoken in the state of South Kordofan in the south of Sudan.
• Ponosakan, a Greater Central Philippine language spoken in North Sulawesi in the Philippines.

New numbers pages:

• Polci (Pəlci), a West Chadic language spoken in Bauchi State in northeastern Nigeria.
• Piapoco (Wenewika), an Arwakan language spoken in eastern Colombia and southwestern Venezuela.
• Powhatan (Kikitowämank), an Eastern Algonquian language that was spoken in Virgina and Maryland in the USA until the 1790s, and which is being revived.
• Munsee (Hulunìixsuwáakan), an Eastern Algonquian language spoken on the Moraviantown Reserve in Ontario, Canada.

On the Omniglot blog we discover what links the word satorial with words for tailor in various languages in a post called Satorial Tailoring, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language there is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Canada and the USA.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Ge’ez, (ግዕዝ), the classical language of Ethiopia which is still used as a liturgical language by Ethiopian Christians and the Beta Israel Jewish community of Ethiopia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Windy Wings, we find connections between the words wing, wind and feather.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post entitled Dutiful Laws about words for duty, debt, law, rule and related things in Celtic languages.#

I also made improvements to the Munsee language page.

A Multilingual Happy New Year!

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Yele, possibly a language isolate spoken on Rossel Island in the Louisiade Archipelago in east of Papua New Guinea.
• Hamtai, a Southeast Angan language spoken in Morobe and Gulf provinces in Papua New Guinea.

New constructed script: Pakis (Fern) Alphabet, which was created by Reza Sumanda for fun and as an alternative way to write Indonesian.

New constructed script: Melronian, which was invented by Murray Callahan for his conlang of the same name.

New adapted script: Tengwar for Lingala (Tengwala), a way to write Lingala with Tolkien’s Tengwar alphabet devised by Paul Mbongo.

On the Omniglot blog there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what languages there are:

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

The mystery languages in last week’s language quiz were: Isnag, a member of the Northern Luzon branch of the Philippine language family spoken in the north of Luzon in the Philippines.

And Blaan (B’laan), a member of the South Mindanao branch of the Philippine language family spoken in the south of Mindanao in the Philippines.

They are related, as they both belong to the Philippine branch of the Malayo-Polynesian language family.

I forgot to mention in the recoding, but I also made improvements to the Marma language page.

If you celebrate Christmas or anything else at this time of year, I hope you had a good one, and I wish you a Happy New Year for 2025.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Yaaku, a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in western Kenya.
• Afitti (Dinik), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in North Kordofan province in central Sudan.
• Daju Mongo (Dɑjiŋɡe), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in the Gúera region in central Chad.
• Dilling (Warki), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in the Nuba Mountains in Kordofan province in southern Sudan.
• Bube (Böbë), a Bantu language spoken mainly on Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea, and also in Gabon and Cameroon.
• Kogo (Ɓakógo), a Bantu language spoken in the Littoral and Southern Regions in southern Cameroon.
• Gaam (Gaahmg), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in Blue Nile Province in the southeast of Sudan.

New constructed script: Hosalipi, an alternative abugida for Kannada devised by Atharva Sreekar.

New constructed script: Tehreek-istani, an alternative script for Urdu devised by Willem and based mainly on the Korean script.

New numbers pages:

• Dilling (Warki), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in Kordofan State in southern Sudan.
• Mandailing Batak (Saro Mandailing), a Northern Batak language spoken mainly in North Sumatra Province in Indonesia.
• Batak Simalungun (Sahap Simalungun), a Southern Batak language spoken in the province of North Sumatra in Indonesia.
• Kogo (Ɓakógo), a Bantu language spoken in the Littoral and Southern Regions in southern Cameroon.

On the Omniglot blog, we discover what guillemets are, and what links chevrons to goats in a post entitled Guillemets & Goats, we find out what links the word epee/épée with the word spade in a post entitled Swords & Spades, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what languages there are:

Here’s a clue: these languages are spoken in the Philippines.

On the Celtiadur blog there are new posts entitled Gorse & Furze and Swords & Spikes.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

New language pages:

• Kuku (Kʊ́tʊ́k nà kùkù), an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in South Sudan and Uganda.
• Nyepu (Kútúk nà ŋyɛ́pʊ̀), an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in South Sudan.
• Ecuadorian Siona (Ba̠icoca), a Western Tucanoan language spoken mainly in northeastern Ecuador.
• Siona (Gantëya coca), a Western Tucanoan language spoken in southwestern Colombia.

New adapated script: Tengwar for Russian, a way to write Russian with Tolkein’s Tengwar script devised by Murray Callahan.

New numbers pages:

• Obolo, a Lower Cross River language spoken in southern Nigeria.
• Nuxalk (ItNuxalkmc), a Salishan language spoken in Bella Coola in British Columbia in Canada.

On the Omniglot blog this week, we discover what guillemets are, and what links chevrons to goats in a post entitled Guillemets & Goats and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in parts of Iran and Azerbaijan.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Yaaku (Mogogodo), a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in western Kenya.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Country Gardens, we uncover links between words for country and land in Celtic languages, and words for garden, wood and related things in other languages. It’s also available on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Cards in which we look into words for card and related things in Celtic languages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.