Category: Music

Celtic Pathways – Healing Medics

By Simon

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In this episode we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for doctor in some Germanic languages.

Doctores Oftalmologos

The Proto-Celtic word *leigis means healer and either comes from Proto-Germaic *lēkiz (healing, medicine, healer), or directly from the Proto-Indo-European *h₂leg- (to care for) [source].

Descendants in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • lia [l̠ʲiə] = healer, physician in Irish
  • lèigh [l̪ʲeː] = physician, surgeon in Scottish Gaelic
  • (fer/ben) lhee = (male/female) doctor, physician in Manx

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root possibly include leech (physician, healer) in English, læknir (medical practitioner, doctor) in Icelandic, läkare (doctor, physician) and läka (to heal) in Swedish, lääkäri (phyisican, doctor) in Finnish, and læge (doctor, physician, surgeon) in Danish [source].

Words from the same PIE root include religion and neglect in English, religione (religion) Italian, religie (faith, religion) Dutch, and négliger (to neglect, ignore) in French [source].

Incidentally, leech used to refer to a physician or healer in English, that is, someone who practised leechcraft (healing, medicine) using leechdom (medicine, remedy) and possibly leeches, and maybe a leechbook (a compilation of medicinal cures and remedies).

This type of leech comes from Middle English leche (physician), from Old English lǣċe (doctor, physician), from Proto-West Germanic *lākī (doctor, physician), from Proto-Germanic *lēkijaz (doctor, physician) [source].

Leech, as in an aquatic blood-sucking annelid of class Hirudinea, especially Hirudo medicinalis, comes from the same roots, but via Middle English leche (blood-sucking worm), Old English lǣċe (blood-sucking worm), Proto-West Germanic *lākī, and so on [source].

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Adventures in Etymology – Minions

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we unravel the roots of the word minion.

Minions

A minion [ˈmɪnjən] is:

  • A loyal servant of another, usually a more powerful being.
  • A sycophantic follower.
  • A small, yellow creature that appears in the Despicable Me and Minions films.

It used to mean:

  • A loved one; one highly esteemed and favoured.
  • Favoured, beloved

It comes from Middle French mignon (lover, favourite, darling), from Old French mignon (dainty, pleasing, gentle, kind), from Frankish *minnju (love, friendship, affection, memory), from Proto-Germanic *minþijō, (affectionate thought, care), from PIE *men- (to think, mind) [source].

Related words in Engish include minionette (small, delicate), minionlike (resembling a minion, finely, daintily), and miniondom (the realm, sphere, or world of minions; minions collectively).

Words from the same PIE roots include mignon (cute, sweet, lovely) in French, manit (to notice, observe, perceive) in Lithuanian, monieren (to criticize, complain) in German, mostrare (to show, indicate, point) in Italian, mynwent (graveyard, cemetery) in Welsh, and admonish, mantra, mind, monitor, monster, monument and summon in English [source].

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this podcast is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2017.

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.

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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 blog.




Celtic Pathways – Cumbersome Confluences

By Simon

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In this episode we disencumber the cumbersome and confluent Celtic roots of words like encumber.

The meeting of the waters

The Proto-Celtic word *kombereti means to bring together and comes from Proto-Celtic *kom- (with, together) and *bereti (to bear), from PIE *bʰéreti (to be carrying) [source].

Descendants in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • cumar = ravine, channel, rut in Irish
  • comar [komər] = confluence, concourse in Scottish Gaelic
  • cymer [ˈkəmɛr] = confluence, meeting of waters, meeting place or clash of armies in Welsh
  • kemper = confluence, junction of streams in Cornish
  • kember [ˈkɛm.bɛr] = confluence in Breton

Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots, via Gaulish *comberos (river dam) and Latin combrus (river dam), possibly include encombrer (to block off, clutter, congest, encumber, burden) in French, ingombrare (to encumber, clutter, choke) in Italian, and cumbersome, encumber and incumbrance in English [source].

You can be encumbered and unencumbered in English, but can you be simply cumbered? Yes, you can. Cumber is an old word that means to slow down, hinder or burden. It comes from Middle English combren (to trouble, vex, annoy), from Old French combre (dam, dike), from Latin combrus etc. [source].

Other words related to cumber include cumberer (one that cumbers), cumberless (unencumbered), and cumberground (a totally worthless object or person, something that is just in the way).

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.




Adventures in Etymology – Jots & Tittles

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we jot down a jot or two about jots (and tittles).

gocco moleskine - jotter

A jot [ʤɒt / ʤɑt] is:

  • The smallest letter or stroke of any writing; an iota.
  • A small, or the smallest, amount of a thing; a bit, a whit. E.g. He didn’t care a jot for his work.
  • A brief and hurriedly written note.
  • An instant, a moment. (obsolete)

And to jot (down) means:

  • to write (something) quickly; to make a brief note of (something). E.g. I will jot it down in my jotter.

It comes from Middle English jote (jot, tittle, whit), from Latin iōta (iota – a Greek letter), from Ancient Greek ἰῶτα (iôta – the 9th letter of the Ancient Greek alphabet (Ιι), a very small part of writing, a jot), from Phoenician 𐤉 (yodh / y‬ – the 10th letter of the Phoenician abjad), ultimately from the Ancient Egytian hieroglyph 𓂝 (arm) [source].

Related words include jotter (a memordandum book, exercise book, someone who jots), jotting (a brief note or sketch), and jotty (written as, or like, a brief informal sketch) [source].

The expression (every) jot and tittle means a small detail, or the smallest details [source].

A tittle is any small dot, stroke, or diacritical mark, especially if part of a letter, or if a letter-like abbreviation; in particular, the dots over the Latin letters i and j. A small, insignificant amount (of something); a modicum or speck. [source].

Related words include tittle-tattle(r) (an idle gossip, a trifling talker, to engage in/spread gossip), tittle-tattling (idle gossip) title, and tilde (e.g. ~, as used on ã, ñ, õ, etc.).

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this podcast is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2017.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.




Celtic Pathways – Celtic Carpenters

By Simon

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In this episode we drill down to the Celtic roots of words for carpenter in English and other languages.

Moffett Mill

The Proto-Celtic word *karbantos means (war) chariot or wagon and is possibly related to the Proto-Celtic word *korbos (wagon, basket). Beyond that, its origins are not known [source].

Descendants in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • carbad [ˈkaɾˠəbˠəd̪ˠ] = chariot in Irish
  • carbad [karabad] = chariot, coach, carriage, wagon, vehicle, bier, jaw(bone) in Scottish Gaulish
  • carbyd = bus, coach, vehicle, bier, hearse in Manx
  • cerbyd [ˈkɛrbɨ̞d / ˈkɛrbɪd] = car, carriage, chariot, wagon, coach; clumsy fellow, bungler in Welsh
  • karbed = vehicle in Breton

More details about words for Wagons & Carts in Celtic languages on Celtiadur.

The Gaulish word carbantos (chariot, wagon) comes from the same Proto-Celtic root, and was borrowed into Latin as carpentum (carriage, wagon, cart), from which we get the Latin word carpentārius (coachman, cartwright, carpenter) [source].

Words from the same Latin and Gaulish roots include charpente (framework, build, structure) and charpentier (carpenter) in French, carpentiere (carpenter) in Italian, carpintero (carpenter, woodpecker) in Spanish, and carpenter in English [source].

Incidentally, in Old English one word for carpenter, and woodworker, was trēowwyrhta, or literally “tree worker”. This later became treewright, an old word for a carpenter, joiner or other worker of wood [source].

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.




Omniglot News (01/06/25)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Bambalang (Chrambo), a Grassfields Southern Bantoid language spoken in Cameroon.
  • Bila (kiBila), a Bantu language spoken in Ituri Province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Budu (Ɨbʉdhʉ), a Bantu language spoken in Orientale Province in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

New numbers pages:

  • Zotung (Zo), a Kuki-Chin language spoken mainly in Chin State in western Myanmar.
  • Yine, a Southern Arawakan language spoken mainly in eastern and southern Peru.

New constructed script: Ilo Reverse Abugida, an alternative writing system for Hawaiian invented by TheDankBoi69 and based on the Maldivian Thaana script.

Sample text in Hawaiian in the Ilo Reverse Abugida

New adapted script: Sawi Toki Pona, a way to write Toki Pona with the Shavian script devised by Aahan Kotian.

New article: Decoding Meanings in Spanish Color Expressions

On the Omniglot blog we find out when a tomato is not a tomato in a post entitled Foreign Eggplants, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in northern Queenland in Australia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Musey (Museyna), a Chadic language spoken in southern Chad.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Luxurious Locks, we unlock connections between the words luxury and lock.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Captive Hostages about words for hostage, captive, pledge and related things in Celtic languages, and I made improvements to the Soft and Tender post.

In other news, I went to see Babymetal at the O2 Arena in London this week. It was a fantastic show that I thoroughly enjoyed. Their songs are almost all in Japanese and I’ve heard most of them many times, so I can sort of sing along, and while I can understand Japanese to some extent, and have everyday conversations, understanding songs is on a different level. I might understand some words and phrases, but the overall meaning usually escapes me.

At the concert, and on my way to and from it, I heard people speaking a variety of languages. The ones I recognised included Spanish, German, Dutch, Czech, Russian, Arabic and Welsh.

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

JapanesePod101.com

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Luxurious Locks

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we unlock connections between the words luxury and lock.

Sofitel So Bangkok - Wood Element Room - 01

As a adjective luxury [ˈlʌk.ʃə.ɹi / ˈlʌɡʒəɹi] can mean:

  • Very expensive.
  • Not essential but desirable and enjoyable and indulgent.

As a noun luxury can mean:

  • Very wealthy and comfortable surroundings.
  • Something desirable but expensive.
  • Something that is pleasant but not necessary in life.

It comes from Middle English luxurie [ˈluksjuri(ə)] (lustfulness; sexual desire or attraction; copulation), from Old French luxur(i)e (lust), from Latin lūxuria (luxury, extravangance, lust), from lūxus (a dislocation, extravagance, luxury, excess, debauchery, pomp, splendor), from Proto-Italic *luksos, from Proto-Indo-European *lewg- (to bend, twist) [source].

Words from the same roots include lock, locket and reluctant in English, lok (lock of hair) in Dutch, Loch (hole, perforation, pit, gap, cavity, dungeon) in German, lujuria (lust, excess) and luchar (to fight, battle, struggle, strive) in Spanish, and gollwng (to releasse, drop, leak) in Welsh [source].

Incidentally, one word for luxury in Old English was firenlust / fyrnlust [ˈfi.renˌlust] which also means sinful lust, sinful pleasure, or extravagance, and comes from firen (crime, sin, torment, suffering) and lust (desire, pleasure, appetite, lust) [source].

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this podcast is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2017.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.




Omniglot News (25/05/25)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Kebu (Kǝkpǝǝkǝ), a Kwa language spoken in southern Togo and southeastern Ghana.
  • Bangubangu (Kibangubangu), a Bantu language spoken in the east and south the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Cherepon (Kyiripong), a Kwa language spoken in the Eastern Region of Ghana.

New numbers pages:

  • Kebu (Kǝkpǝǝkǝ), a Kwa language spoken in southern Togo and southeastern Ghana.
  • Butuanon, a Southern Bisayan language spoken Mindanao in the Philippines.

New constructed script: Sadalian (新德書), a phonetic script for Cantonese created by Wong “Sadale” Cho Ching.

Sample text in Sadalian

On the Omniglot blog we discover whether the words host and hostage are related in post entitled Hosting Hostages, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Wapishana (Wapixana), a Northern Arawakan language spoken in Guyana and Brazil.

This week’s episode of Celtic Pathways, entitled Cheesy Hills, uncovers the possible Celtic roots of words for hillsides and rough scrub land in Romance languages, and also of the French cheese brie.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Spring Fountains about words for spring, fountain, well 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

JapanesePod101.com

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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Omniglot News (18/05/25)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Nawdm (nawdm), a Gur language spoken in northern Togo and southern and eastern Ghana.
  • Yom (Pila), a Gur language spoken in the Atacora, Borgou and Donga departments in the northwest of Benin.
  • Akuapem, a variety of Akan spoken mainly in southern Ghana, and in the southeast of the Ivory Coast.
  • Likpe (Sεkpεlé), a Kwa language spoken in the Hoehoe District of the Volta Region in southeastern Ghana.

New numbers pages:

  • Nawdm (nawdm), a Gur language spoken in Togo and Ghana.
  • Loma (Löömàgòòi), a Southwestern Mande language spoken in northern Liberia.
  • Mandari (Kútúk nà mùndárì), an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Central Equatoria state in South Sudan.

New phrases pages:

  • Nawdm (nawdm), a Gur language spoken in Togo and Ghana.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Rustling Frou-frous – a frou-frou little post I rustled up about ways to say rustle in French, and there’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Batak Mandailing (Saro Mandailing), a Southern Batak language spoken mainly in North Sumatra Province in Indonesia.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology is an assembly of words about the word thing, or something like that.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Buckets & Pails about words for bucket, pail and related things in Celtic languages.

In other news, I finally finished the Spanish course on Duolingo this week, or all the lessons I hadn’t got to yet disappeared. This has happened before for other languages, including Japanese, Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Sometimes lessons mysteriously disappear, and other times new ones appear. I’d previously finished all the Spanish lessons, for example, then a whole load more showed up.

I’m currently concentrating on Italian and Mandarin Chinese, and keeping my Japanese ticking over. I’m thinking about either trying a completely new language to me, or brushing up one of the ones I’ve already studied. My streak is currently at 2,857 days – that’s over 8 years (and 14 languages), and I don’t want to lose it. I’ve got into the habit of studying every day and would miss it, even if some days I’m mainly doing it to maintain my streak and my position in the diamond league.

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

JapanesePod101.com

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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Adventures in Etymology – An Assembly of Things

By Simon

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This Adventure in Etymology is an assembly of words about the word thing, or something like that.

Pointless things?

Meanings of thing [θɪŋ] include:

  • That which is considered to exist as a separate entity, object, quality or concept.
  • A word, symbol, sign, or other referent that can be used to refer to any entity.
  • An individual object or distinct entity.

It comes from Middle English thing (thing, substance, object), from Old English þing (thing, matter, concern, event, meeting, court, case, reason, means), from Proto-West Germanic *þing (court, session, lawsuit, affair, matter, thing, object) from Proto-Germanic *þingą (time, date, meeting, assembly, council, case, matter, issue), from Proto-Indo-European *tenk-ó-, from *tenk- (to be suitable) [source].

So, its meaning changed from being suitable, to a suitable or scheduled time, to an assembly, to a specific issue discussed at an assembly, to issues, objects or things in general. Which is quite something.

There are related words in other Germanic languages that also mean thing, and other things. For example, ding (matter, thing) in Dutch [source] (and Afrikaans), Ding (thing, girl, boy) in German [source], and Déngen (thing, object) in Luxembourgish [source].

The Alþingi
The Alþingi

However, in Norwegian, ting can mean thing, court or assembly [source], ting means thing, assembly or parliament in Danish [source], and þing means assembly, meeting, council or parliament in Icelandic, and the parliament of Iceland is called the Alþingi – see above [source].

Other words from the same roots include tinka (quarrel, disagreement, shortage, lack, tight situation) in Finnish, tinge (to bargin, haggle) in Danish, þinga (to hold a meeting) in Icelandic, dungi (to employ) in Esperanto, and gedeihen (to thrive, flourish, prosper) in German [source].

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

The theme tune for this podcast is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I wrote and recorded in 2017.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.