Tag: language

Omniglot News (20/04/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Tai Yo (ไทญ้อ), a Southwestern Tai language spoken in Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
  • Vili (Civili), a Bantu language spoken mainly in the Republic of the Congo, and also in Gabon and Angola.

New adapted script: Vietnamese Arabic Script (چىٰٖ جاوي تيٛەٖڭ ۏیٔەٖط), a way to write Vietnamese with the Arabic script created by Nima Farid.

توٕٛط کەٖࣤ مأي ڠوٚوٖي شيڽ ژەٖ دېٚو دىٖٚوٖق تىٖٔ ذا ۏەٖٚ بيٚڽ دۀٕڭ ۏېٚ ڽان فؤٕم ۏەٖٚ كوٚيەٖن لؤٖي. مأي كان ڠىٖٚوٖي دېٚو دىٖٔوٖق تۀٖو ھوٛەٖ بەٖن چا لیٛ څیٛ ۏەٖٚ لىٖوٖڭ توٕم ۏەٖٚ كوٕٚن فەٖࣤي دۅٛي سىٖࣤ ۏوٖٛي ڽەٕو څوٕوڭ تيٚڽ ءەٖڽ ءەِم.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Jolly Jaunts about the words jaunt and jaunty (which are not related), 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 eastern Mexico.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Norman (Normaund), a Gallo-Romance language spoken in Normandy in northern France.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Theoretical Theatre, we find out what links the words theory and theatre.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post about words for Masters and related things, and there’s a new Celtic cognates page about words for Vehicles in Celtic languages.

In other news, I went to London this week to see The Warning, a fantastic rock band from Monterrey, Mexico. They put on an incredible show – the best I’ve seen – and looked like they enjoyed it as much as the 5,000 of us in the audience did. They sang mainly in English, with a few songs in Spanish, and on my way to and from the concert, I heard a variety of languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, German, Welsh and Swedish, and even some English.

Here’s a little video I made:

The Warning at the O2 Academy Brixton

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 – Theoretical Theatre

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology, we find out what links the words theory and theatre.

The Warning at the O2 Academy Brixton

Theory [ˈθɪə.ɹi / ˈθɪ.ɹi] has a variety of meanings, including:

  • A description of an event or system that is considered to be accurate.
  • (sciences) A coherent statement or set of ideas that explains observed facts or phenomena and correctly predicts new facts or phenomena not previously observed, or which sets out the laws and principles of something known or observed; a hypothesis confirmed by observation, experiment etc.
  • The underlying principles or methods of a given technical skill, art etc., as opposed to its practice.
  • (informal) A hypothesis, conjecture, unsubstantiated statement or idea.

It comes from Middle French théorie (theory), from Late Latin theōria (speculation, theory), from Ancient Greek θεωρία (theōría – contemplation, divine perspective, speculation, a looking at, a seeking) from θεωρέω (theōréō – I look at, view, see, consider, examine), from θεωρός (theōrós – spectator), from θέα (théa – view, perspective, sight) and ὁράω (horáō – I see, look) [source].

Words from the same roots include theorem and theatre / theater in English, θεωρία (theoría – theory, contemplation), θεατής (theatís – spectator, viewer, onlooker) and θεατρίνος (theatrikós – actor, theatrical) in Greek, théâtre (theatre) in French, and teatro (theatre, drama, cinema) in Spanish [source].

Incidentally, in Middle English theatre was written both theatre and theater. It comes from Old French t(h)eatre (theatre), from Latin theātrum (theatre, playhouse, stage), from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron – theatre, gathering place, play, spectacle), from θεάομαι (theáomai – to view, watch, observe), from θέα (théa – view, perspective, sight) [source].

Theater is usually written with -er at the end in the USA, and sometimes in Canada, while in other English-speaking countries, it’s usually written with an -re spelling. However, theatrical people in the USA apparently use the -re spelling when referring to the art-form, and reserve the -er spelling to refer to the building in which theatre is performed. It that right?

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 episode is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I composed 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 (13/04/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Yaka (Yiyáká), a Bantu language spoken mainly in Kwango Province in the southwest of the DRC.
  • Yansi (kiBeembe), a Bantu language spoken in the south of the Republic of the Congo.
  • Shatt (Caning), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in South Kordofan Province in the south of Sudan.

New numbers pages:

  • Shatt (Caning), an Eastern Sudanic language spoken in South Kordofan Province of Sudan.
  • Occitan (occitan, lenga d’òc), a Gallo-Romance language spoken in southern France, Monaco, northwest Italy and northern Spain.
  • Limosin (lemosin), a variety of Occitan spoken in Limousin, Charente and Dordogne in the southwest of France.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Lord of the Marches in which we investigate the word marquis, 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 France.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Monguor (Dēd Mongol), a Mongolic language spoken in Qinghai and Gansu Provinces in the of northeast of China.

In this week’s Celtic Pathwys podcast, Crooked Rims, we discover the crooked Celtic roots of words for rim and wheel rim in French, Spanish and other languages.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post about words for Stewards & Mayors and related things.

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

Celtic Pathways – Crooked Rims

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we unravel the Celtic roots of words for wheel, rim and related things in French, Spanish and other languages.

circus wagon wheel

The Proto-Celtic word *kambitā means rim and comes from Proto-Celtic *kambos (twisted, crooked, bent), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂embos (crooked), possibly from *(s)ḱamb- (bent, crooked) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • camedd [ˈkameð] = crookedness, curvature, loop, bend, joint, hook in Welsh
  • kammek = (wheel) rim in Cornish
  • kammed [ˈkã.mːɛt] = rim, rounded in Breton

For more details of related words in the Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post Crooked.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Transalpine Gaulish cambita (curve) and Latin *cambita, include jante (rim, wheel rim) in French, jante (rim, wheel rim) in Portuguese, llanta (tyre rim, wheel rim, tyre, fat) in Spanish, jant (rim, wheel rim) in Turkish [source].

Words from the same PIE roots possibly include schimpen (to abuse, swear at, mock) in Dutch, schimpfen (to tell off, scold, yell at) in German, skimp (to jeer, jibe, scoff, taunt) in Afrikaans, and skimp (to poke fun (at), banter, mock, speak sarcastically (about)) in Scots [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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Adventures in Etymology – Ridiculous

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re risking ridicule and getting rather ridiculously ridiculous.

Ridiculous

Ridiculous [ɹɪˈdɪkjələs/ɹɪˈdɪkjʊləs] means deserving or ridicule, foolish, absurd, astonishing, extreme or unbelievable.

It comes from Latin rīdiculus [riːˈd̪ɪkʊɫ̪ʊs̠] (laughable, funny, amusing, silly, absurd, ridiculous), from rīdeō (to laugh (at), ridicule, mock), the origins of which are not known [source].

Words from the same roots include ridicule (mocking words or behaviour; to make fun of), risible (ludicrous, ridiculous, provoking laughter) and derisory (laughably small or inadequate) in English, ridere (to laugh) in Italian, sourire (to smile) in French, and ridikül (ridiculous) in German [source].

The rare English word ridibund (inclined to and easily brought to laughter, happy), and the anatomical term risorius (the facial muscle used when smiling) also come from the same roots [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 episode is The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl, a piece I composed 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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Omniglot News (23/03/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

Tai Noi scriptNew writing system: Tai Noi, a script used to write Lao and Isan in Laos and northern Thailand.

Sample text in Tai Noi

New constructed system: Aramikatavah (ארמיכתבה), an alternative way to write Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic created by Mina McVinnie.

Sample text in Tai Noi

New language pages:

  • Degema (Dẹgẹma), an Edoid language spoken in Degema LGA in Rivers states in southern Nigeria.
  • Egene (Ẹgẹnẹ), an Edoid language spoken in Rivers and Bayelsa states in southern Nigeria.
  • Esan (Ẹ̀sán), an Edoid language spoken in Edo State in southern Nigeria.

New numbers page:

  • Esan (Ẹ̀sán), an Edoid language spoken in Edo State in southern Nigeria.
  • Baniwa (Tapuya), an Arawakan language spoken in Brazil and Venezuela.
  • Bantayanon, a Central Bisayan language spoken in Cebu Province in the Philippines.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Breeze-Stoppers about the Spanish word limpiaparabrisas (windscreen / windshield wiper) and other compound words, 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 mainly in Azerbaijan.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Cia-Cia (Bahasa Ciacia / 바하사 찌아찌아), a Celebic language spoken on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi Province in Indonesia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we find out how wire used to bind hay bales, Haywire, came to be associated with chaos.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there are new posts about words for Night

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 – Haywire

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Haywire is wire used to bind bales of hay, and can also refer to something that’s roughly-made, erratic or uncontrollable. How are these meanings related? Let’s find out in this Adventure in Etymology.

Baling twine repair

As a noun, haywire [ˈheɪ.waɪ.ə(ɹ) / ˈheɪ.waɪɚ] means wire used for binding bales of hay, straw or grass, and is also known as bale wire, baling wire, farm wire or soft wire.

As an adjective, haywire means roughly-made, unsophisticated, decrepit, or behaviorally erratic or uncontrollable, especially when referring to machines and mechanical processes.

As a verb, to haywire means to attach or fix with haywire, and to go haywire means to become wildly confused, out of control, or mentally unbalanced. [source].

Originally haywire meant likely to become tangled unpredictably or unusably, or fall apart, as if bound by the soft springy wire used to bind hay bales. This usage comes from lumber camps in New England in 1905, when a haywire outfit was a company that patched up machinery temporarily using haywire rather than fixed it properly [source].

The expression to go haywire, which first appeared in writing in the 1920s, represents something held together or repaired with haywire falling apart or behaving unpredicatbly, or something that has gone wrong or is no good. As haywire tends to whip itself into wild and unruly tangles when cut, this meaning makes sense [source].

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

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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Omniglot News (16/03/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Saxwe (saxwɛgbe), a Gbe language spoken in the Atlantique, Couffo and Mono departments in the southwest of Benin.
  • Ekpeye (Ẹkpeye), an Igboid language spoken in Rivers and Bayelsa states in southern Nigeria.
  • Gun (Gungbe), an Eastern Gbe language spoken in southeastern Benin and southwestern Nigeria.

New numbers page:

  • Romani (romani ćhib), an Indo-Aryan language spoken by Roma people throughtout Europe and the USA.

New adapted script: Aksara Kémara Jawa-Bali-Indhonésia (អក្សរខេមរជវ-ពលិ-ឥណ្ឌោនេស្យ), a way to write Javanese, Balinese, Indonesian, etc with the Khmer script devised by Tom Mai.

Sample text in Aksara Kémara Jawa-Bali-Indhonésia in Javanese

New adapted script: Hrvatsku Glagoljicu (ⱈⱃⰲⰰⱅⱄⰽⱆ ⰳⰾⰰⰳⱁⰾⱐⰻⱌⱆ), a way to write Croatian with the Glagolitic script devised by Aahan Kotian.

Ⱄⰲⰰ ⰾⱓⰴⱄⰽⰰ ⰱⰻћⰰ ⱃⰰђⰰⱓ ⱄⰵ ⱄⰾⱁⰱⱁⰴⱀⰰ ⰻ ⱔⰴⱀⰰⰽⰰ ⱆ ⰴⱁⱄⱅⱁⱑⱀⱄⱅⰲⱆ ⰻ ⱂⱃⰰⰲⰻⱞⰰ. Ⱁⱀⰰ ⱄⱆ ⱁⰱⰴⰰⱃⰵⱀⰰ ⱃⰰⰸⱆⱞⱁⱞ ⰻ ⱄⰲⰻⱔⱎћⱆ ⰻ ⱅⱃⰵⰱⰰ ⱔⰴⱀⰻ ⱂⱃⰵⱞⰰ ⰴⱃⱆⰳⰻⱞⰰ ⰴⰰ ⱂⱁⱄⱅⱆⱂⰰⱓ ⱆ ⰴⱆⱈⱆ ⰱⱃⰰⱅⱄⱅⰲⰰ.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Strong Strings in which we find out whether the the words string, strong, strength, strait, stretch and strict related, 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 the Southeast Sulawesi Province in Indonesia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Arikara (Sáhniš), a Northern Caddoan language spoken in Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota, USA.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for Soot in French and other languages..

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog, there are new posts about words for Soot and Benches and related things in Celtic languages, and I made improvements to the post about Hedgehogs

Improved page: Tulu language page.

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

Celtic Pathways – Sooty Soot

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for soot in English, French and various other languages.

Anybody else smell smoke??

The Proto-Celtic word *sūdyā means soot and comes from Proto-Indo-European *suh₃d- (soot [?]), or from sed- (to sit) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • súiche [ˈsˠuːçɪ] = soot in Irish
  • sùith [suːj] = soot in Scottish Gaelic
  • sooie = smut, soot in Manx
  • huddygl [ˈhɨ̞ðɨ̞ɡl / ˈhɪðɪɡl] = soot in Welsh
  • hudhygel = soot in Cornish
  • huzil [ˈhyː(z)il] = soot in Breton

For more about words for soot and related things in Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post: Soot.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Gaulish *sūdiā (soot [?]), include sutge (soot) in Catalan, suie (soot) in French, and maybe soot in English, sot (soot) in Swedish, sadza (soot) in Polish, сажа (saža – soot) in Russian, and saze (soot) in Czech [source].

Incidentally, another Welsh word for soot is fflacs, which refers specifically to soot blown down a chimney on a windy day [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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (09/03/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Mpiemo (Mbimu), a Bantu language spoken in the Central African Republic, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo.
  • Ebira (èbìrà), a Volta-Niger language spoken mainly in Kogi State in central Nigeria.
  • Gun (Gungbe), an Eastern Gbe language spoken in southeastern Benin and southwestern Nigeria.

New adapted script: Shavian for Esperanto (Ŝava alfabeto), a way to write Esperanto with the Shavian (Shaw) Alphabet.

𐑗𐑦𐑪𐑢 𐑣𐑩𐑫𐑩𐑢 𐑧𐑕𐑑𐑨𐑕 𐑛𐑧𐑵𐑨𐑕𐑒𐑧 𐑤𐑦𐑚𐑧𐑮𐑨𐑢 𐑒𐑨𐑢 𐑧𐑜𐑨𐑤𐑨𐑢 𐑤𐑨𐑘 𐑛𐑦𐑜𐑵𐑩 𐑒𐑨𐑢 𐑮𐑨𐑢𐑑𐑩𐑢. 𐑦𐑤𐑦 𐑐𐑩𐑕𐑧𐑛𐑨𐑕 𐑮𐑨𐑔𐑦𐑩𐑵 𐑒𐑨𐑢 𐑒𐑩𐑵𐑕𐑔𐑦𐑧𐑵𐑔𐑩𐑵, 𐑒𐑨𐑢 𐑛𐑧𐑝𐑪𐑕 𐑒𐑩𐑵𐑛𐑪𐑑𐑦 𐑪𐑵𐑪 𐑨𐑤 𐑨𐑤𐑦𐑨 𐑧𐑵 𐑕𐑐𐑦𐑮𐑦𐑑𐑩 𐑛𐑧 𐑓𐑮𐑨𐑑𐑧𐑔𐑩.

New numbers page:

  • Ebira, a Volta-Niger language spoken in central Nigeria.

New Tower of Babel translation: Ebira, a Volta-Niger language spoken in central Nigeria.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Swallowing Camels about some interesting Danish idioms, 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 North Dakota in the USA.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was: Kurukh (कुड़ुख़), a northern Dravidian language spoken mainly in northern India, and also in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we’re grasping the Cash box as we look into the origins of the word cash.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

A bonus Adventure in Etymology is avalable on my Patreon page.

On the Celtiadur blog, there’s a new post entitled Satisfying Pleasure about words for satisfaction, pleasure, gratitude 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