Episode 49 – Linguistic Correctness

By Simon

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In this episode I talk about linguistic correctness. That is, the idea that there are correct ways to speak and write languages that conform to grammatical standards and conventions (“rules”), and that anything else is wrong.

There are three kinds of grammatical rules or conventions:

  1. Rules that everybody follows. For example in English, articles and adjectives precede nouns – you say the word and not word the, and a long word, not a word long.
  2. Rules that distinguish the standard varieties of a language from other varieties. For example, in standard English you might say ‘I don’t have any money’, while in some varieties you might say ‘I ain’t got no money’.
  3. Rules that are written in grammar books and which many people believe you should follow. For example, in English infinitives should never be split, sentences should never end with a prepostion, and you should never use a double negative. Many of these were just pet peeves and preferences of 18th century writers.

Then there are spelling and punctuation conventions, such as the use of commas, semi-colons and apostrophes.

I discussed what grammar is and where it comes from in Episode 16 and talk about the origins of some linguistic pet peeves in Episode 16

Further reading
What Is ‘Correct’ Language?
The Notion of Correctness
Definition and Examples of Correctness in Language

Theme tune

Friday Afternoon / Prynhawn Dydd Gwener

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 (28/11/21)

By Simon

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This week there are two new language pages on Omniglot :

  • Amdo Tibetan (ཨ་མདོའི་སྐད་), a Tibetic language spoken in the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan and in the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China.
  • Khams Tibetan (ཁམས་སྐད), a Tibetic language spoken in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and in the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China, and also in eastern Bhutan and northern Myanmar / Burma.

Surat Beringin
There’s a new constructed script: Surat Beringin, which was is a way to write Beka Melayu, a version of Malay with all the non-Austronesian elements replaced with words from Austronesian roots. It is in fact a version of the Aksara Beringin script, which was invented by Adam Damario in 2017 as an alternative way to write Indonesian. The person behind Surat Beringin script prefers to remain anonymous.

There are new numbers pages in: Botlikh (Буйхалъи мицӏцӏи), a Northeast Caucasian languages spoken in southwestern Dagestan in the Russian Federation, and Bamum (Shü Pamom), a Bantoid language spoken mainly in Cameroon.

There are Omniglot blog posts about being Lukewarm and Hairy Cats and Little Dogs, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Awngi (አውጚ), a Central Cushitic language spoken in northern Ethiopia.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Trousers, Socks and Sites in Celtic languages.

We find out when a gate is not a gate in this week’s Adventure in Etymology.

Stonegate

I also made improvements to the Botlikh and Chakma languages pages.

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Gates & Streets

By Simon

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In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re find out when a gate is not a gate.

A gate [ɡeɪt] is:

  • A doorlike structure outside a house.
  • A doorway, opening, or passage in a fence or wall.
  • A movable barrier.

It comes from the Middle English gat(e)/ȝat(e) [ɡa(ː)t/ja(ː)t] (gate), from the Old English ġe(a)t/gat [jæ͜ɑt] (gate) from the Proto-West Germanic *gat (hole, opening) from the Proto-Germaic *gatą [ˈɣɑ.tɑ̃] (hole, opening, passage), from *getaną [ˈɣe.tɑ.nɑ̃] (to attain, acquire, get, receive, hold) [source].

In parts of northern England the word gate means a way, path or street, and in Scots it means way, road, path or street. It appears mainly in street names such as Briggate (“bridge street”) and Kirkgate (“church street”). It comes from the Old Norse gata (street, road), from the Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ [ˈɣɑt.wɔ̃ː] (street, passage), which comes from the same Proto-Germanic root as the other kind of gate.

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate

Words from the same Old Norse root include gata [ˈɡɑːˌta] (street, frontage, strip) in Swedish, gate (street) in Norwegian and gade [ˈɡ̊æːðə] (street, road) in Danish, Gasse [ˈɡasə] (alley) in German, and gas [χɑs/ɣɑs] (unpaved street) in Dutch [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate 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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Omniglot News (21/11/21)

By Simon

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There are two new constructed scripts on Omniglot this week: Tainonaíki, which was invented by Javier A. Hernández as a way to write his reconstructed version of the Taino language, and Khoh, a way to write Terengganu Malay devised by Amir Syafiq.

There are new language pages in:

  • Terengganu Malay (Base Tranung), a Malayan language spoken mainly in the state of Terengganu (Tranung) in eastern Peninsular Malaysia.
  • Gaddi (गदी), a Western Pahari language spoken mainly in the Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India.
  • Rajbanshi (राजबंशी) a Bengali-Assamese language spoken mainly in southeastern Nepal.

There are new numbers page in: Algerian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic, and I made improvements to the Algerian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic language pages.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Bark and Beehives in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a post about the Japanese word Otaku (nerd/geek), and a post about reaching 1,600 languages on Omniglot, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Gorontalo (Bahasa Hulontalo), a Philippine language spoken in the provinces of Gorontalo and Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology is rather ridiculous and absurd and looks at the origins of the word silly.

A word cloud based on the contents of this post
Generated with WordItOUt

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Silly

By Simon

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In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re getting a bit absurd and ridiculous and looking at the origins of the word silly.

A word cloud based on the contents of this post
Generated with WordItOUt

Silly [ˈsɪli] means:

  • laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance
  • weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish
  • absurd; ridiculous; irrational
  • stunned; dazed

It comes from the Middle English se(e)ly [seːliː] (spiritually favoured, blessed, holy, virtuous, righteous; worthy, noble, fine, excellent; fortunate, lucky, prosperous; happy pleasant; wealthy; innocent, harmless, good; simple, guileless, foolish, gullible; weak, helpless; wretched; humble; worthless) [source].

From the Old English sǣliġ [ˈsæː.lij] (blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy), from the Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (blissful, prosperous, happy) from *sāli (happiness, prosperity; proper, appropriate time), from the Proto-Germaic *sēliz (happy, fortunate; kind, good) [source]

Words from the same Proto-West Germanic root (*sālīg) include: salig [ˈsæːli] (blessed) in Danish, salig [ˈsɑːli(ɡ)] (blessed, delighted, poor) in Swedish, and selig [ˈzeːlɪç] (overjoyed, tranquil, blessed) in German [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate link].

Here’s a silly little ditty I wrote in 2019 about being silly and odd: It’s Okay To Be Odd / Mae’n Iawn Bod yn Od

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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Omniglot News (14/11/21)

By Simon

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There’s a new constructed script on Omniglot this week called Abbekosima, which can be used to write English and Russian, and was inspired by the Japanese, Chinese and Korean scripts.

Sample text in Abbekosima in Russian

There are new language pages in:

  • East Frisian (Ōstfräisk), or East Frisian Low Saxon, a mixture of Eastlauwers Frisian, Low German, Dutch and French that is spoken in northern Germany.
  • Moloko (Ma Mǝloko), a Chadic language spoken in the Far North Province of Cameroon.
  • Wanetsi (وڼېڅي), an Eastern Iranian language spoken in southwest Pakistan.
  • Sukuma (Kɪsukuma), a northeast Bantu language spoken in northern Tanzania.
  • Migaama (mìgáàmá), an East Chadic language spoken in central Chad.

There’s also a new numbers page in: Migaama.

There’s a new phrases page in: Tamasheq (Tafaghist), a Berber language spoken in parts of Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for words, calls and cries in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a post about IndyLan, a EU-funded project to promote and teach languages such as Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Northern Saami, Basque and Galician. There’s a post called Misdirection about directional words such as upward, downward and awkward – read it to find out which direction awkward is, and the usual Language Quiz

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Blang (Pu Lang), a Palaungic language spoken in southern China, and northern Myanmar / Burma and northern Thailand.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word nogging, which should not be confused with noggin, although they might be related.

I also made improvements to the Marwari language page.

Last week I wrote a blog post inspired by the Welsh idiom Mae e’n cadw draenog yn ei boced, which means that he is careful with his money, or literally “he keeps a hedgehog in his pocket”. This inspired me to write a new song this week called Pocket Hedgehogs. You can also hear this on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube:

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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Nogging

By Simon

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In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re looking at the word nogging.

Studio / Stwdio
This photo shows the studio that is being built in my garden. The noggings are the short pieces of wood that have been fitted between the long beams, according to my builder.

A nogging [ˈnɒɡɪŋ] is:

  • a short horizontal timber member used between the studs of a framed partition
  • masonry or brickwork between the timber members of a framed construction
  • a number of wooden pieces fitted between the timbers of a half-timbered wall

A nogging is also known as a nog or dwang (in Scotland and New Zealand), and comes from the verb to nog (to fill in with brickwork, to fasten with treenails) [source].

It is unclear where nogging or nog come from – possibly from Scots, where the noun nog means a peg, pin or small block of wood, and the verb to nog means to drive in a peg, post or the like [source]

Nogging should not be confused with noggin (a small mug, cup or ladle; a small measure of spirits or a slang word for head), the origins of which are unknown [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate 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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Omniglot News (07/11/21)

By Simon

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There’s a new writing system on Omniglot this week called Yezidi, which was used to write Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) possibly from the 12th century AD. Recently efforts have been made to revive it, and it is now used to some extent by the Spiritual Council of Yezidis in Georgia.

New language pages on Omniglot this week are:

  • Somrai (bii gə chibne), an East Chadic language spoken in the southwest of Chad.
  • Chadian Arabic (تشادية), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in Chad, and also in Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Niger, Sudan and South Sudan.
  • Libyan Arabic (ليبي‎), a variety of Arabic mainly in Libya, and also in Egypt, Tunisia, the UAE and Niger.

There’s a also new numbers pages in each of these languages: Somrai, Chadian Arabic and Libyan Arabic

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Ditches and Trenches in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s the usual Language Quiz, and a post called Pocket Hedgehogs, which is about ways to say that someone is careful with their money in various languages – what’s that got to do with hedgehogs? You’ll have to read the post to find out.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Miami (Myaamia), an Algonquian language that was spoken in parts of Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio and Oklahoma in the USA until 1962, and which is currently being revived.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word ladder.

I also made improvements to the Javanese numbers 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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Ladder

By Simon

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In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re looking at the origins of the word ladder.

ladders.jpg

A ladder [ˈladə/ˈlædɚ] is:

  • a frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs
  • a series of stages by which one progresses to a better position

It comes from the Middle English ladder/laddre [ˈladər], from the Old English hlǣder [ˈxlæː.der] (ladder), from the Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō [ˈxlɑi̯.dri.jɔː] (ladder) from the Proto-Indo-European *ḱley- (to lean, slope, incline) [source]

English words from the same PIE root include: climate, client, clinic, decline, incline and lean [source].

Words in Celtic languages meaning left (hand/side) come from the same PIE root, including: clé in Irish, clì in Scottish Gaelic, cledd in Welsh and kleiz in Breton, which also means north [source].

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate 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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Omniglot News (31/10/21)

By Simon

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There are three new language pages on Omniglot this week:

  • Makurap (Afséksta), a Tupari language spoken in state of Rondônia in western Brazil.
  • Sokoro (soŋoroŋ), an East Chadic language spoken in the Guéra Region of central Chad.
  • Valencian (valencià), a Western Catalan dialect/language spoken mainly in the Valencian Community in eastern Spain.

There’s a new numbers page in Sokoro.

There are two Celtiadur posts: one about words for Courts and Forts and one about words for Beaches and Shores in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a post about whether the grass is really greener on the other side and related idioms in various languages, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Marathi (मराठी), a Southern Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the state of Maharashtra in the west of India.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the etymology of the word Etymology.

There’s a new episode of the Radio Omniglot Podcast about Gamification of language learning, particularly in apps like Duolingo.

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, 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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