New phrases page

There’s a new phrases page on Omniglot – Please say that again – how to ask people to repeat something that you didn’t understand or hear clearly. A very useful phrase when you’re learning a language. Could you let me know if you spot any mistakes or have translations into other languages?

Yesterday Owen Lee very kindly sent me a complimentary copy of his book Ultimate Language Secrets for review (感谢你!). Owen promises that the book will help “slash the time, effort and money” involved in learning languages, help you to avoid “blunders” made by most language learners, and to master any language in as little as 6 months.

Owen, who speaks Shanghainese, Mandarin, English, German, Dutch and Spanish, has tested all the suggestions in his book thoroughly and is very confident they will work for others.

I’ve just started reading it, will let you know how I get on.

Office Speak / Béarlagair na hOifige

Today I found a useful site that has Irish versions of some popular phrases used in offices, some of which are words of wisdom from that great leader, David Brent of the BBC comedy series, The Office.

Here are a few examples:

Mura n’éiríonn leat an chéad uair, faigh réidh leis an bhfianaise go ndearna tú aon iarracht.
If at first you don’t succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.

Ní botún é, is deis foghlama é
Its not a mistake, it’s a good learn

Éirim tuirseach den obair go héasca, mar sin caithfidh post m’aird a tharraingt
I get bored easily so a job really needs to keep my interest

Bíodh a fhios agat cad iad do chuid teorainneacha agus bí sásta leo. Ciallaíonn barraíocht uaillmhianta ardú céime chuig post nach mbeidh tú in ann aige.
Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can’t do.

Chlis an tiomantán crua agus chaill mé mo chuid teachtaireachtaí ríomhphoist go léir
The hard drive crashed and I lost all my emails

Pleananna Cliste

Le déanaí bhí mé ag smaoineamh ar cad é atá mé ag iarraidh a dhéanamh sa todhchaí. Bhuel, i ndáiríre bhí mé ag smaoineamh ar an rud seo le blianta beaga anuas. Bhí mé ag smaoineamh ar páirt a ghlacadh sa sorcas, ar mhúinteoireacht, ar chéim máistir a dhéanamh, nó ar rud éigin éagsúil ar fad a dhéanamh mar taisteal timpeall an domhain ar rothar nó ar scátaí.

Cén fáth? Bhuel, bím ag obair sa post céanna le ocht mbliana anuas. Cé go bhfuil mo thuarastal maith, níl sé an post is suimiúla an domhain, agus ba maith liom rud éagsúil a dhéanamh agus b’fhéidir i mo chónaí in áit eile. An bhliain seo chugainn tá súil agam go mbeidh mé in ann beo ar an ioncam a gheobhaidh mé ó Omniglot chomh maith.

Ar faoi láthair mo phlean atá céim máistir sa teangeolaíocht a dhéanamh san Ollscoil na Breataine Bige, Bangor ar an bhliain seo chugainn. Tabharfaidh sé deis dom m’eolais faoi teangeolaíocht a fheabhsú, agus tá súil agam go mbeidh Breatnais líofa agam i ndiaidh bliain ansin.

I ndiaidh sin, b’fhéidir déanfaidh mé cúrsa ar ceol traidisiúnta agus Gaeilge na hAlban sa Colaisde Bheinn na Faoghla.

Planau Cyfrwys

Yn diweddar dw i wedi bod yn meddwl am beth ydw i eisiau gwneud yn y dyfodol. Wel, a dweud y gwir, dw i wedi bod yn meddwl am y peth hyn ers cryn dipyn o flwyddyn. Dw i’n ystyried ymuno â’r syrcas, dyfod yn athro, gwneud gradd Meistr, neu gwneud rhywbeth hollol wahanol fel beicio neu sglefrolio o gwmpas y byd.

Pam? Wel, dw i wedi gweithio yn yr un swydd dros yr wyth mlynedd diwethaf. Er fod nghyflog yn dda, dydy hi ddim y swydd mwyaf diddorol yn y byd, ac hoffwn i’n gwneud rhywbeth wahanol, ac efallai byw rhywle arall. Gobeithio y blwyddyn nesa gallaf byw ar y incwm o Omniglot hefyd.

Ar hyn o bryd, fy nghynllun yw gwneud gradd Meistr yn y ieithyddiaeth ym Mrifysgol Cymru, Bangor y flwyddyn nesa. Bydd hynny’n rhoi cyfle i fi ffurfioli a gwella ngwybodaeth am ieithyddiaeth, a gobeithio bydda i’n rhugl yn y Gymraeg ar ôl blwyddyn yno.

Ar ôl hynny, effallai bydda i’n gwneud cwrs mewn cerddoriaeth traddodiadol a Gaeleg yr Alban yng Ngholeg Benbecula.

Riviera Lloegr / The English Riviera

A photo of Paignton beach and pier

The towns of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham in the county of Devon in the south west of England are marketed collectively by the local tourist board as ‘The English Riviera‘. Their website offers provides information in a number of languages – the usual suspects like French, German, Italian and Spanish, and also Dutch, Polish, Chinese and Japanese. Recently they’ve had part of the site translated into Welsh – a first for English holiday resorts, according to this article.

A spokesman for the English Riviera Tourist Board said,

“We are a popular destination for visitors from Wales. The Welsh language should be used more on publicity like this in England. It is a UK language.

The board’s director, who used to be in charge of tourism in Anglesey, doesn’t speak Welsh herself, but has a fondness and commitment to preserving the language.

There are also plans to provide downloadable MP3 walking tours for the area in Welsh.

Word of the day – pachi pachi

Today’s word, パチパチ (pachi pachi) is an onomatopoeic Japanese word meaning:

1. pleasant clapping sound;
2. sound of something hot bursting open (i.e. popcorn);
3. incessant blinking

It came up while I was chatting with some Japanese friends earlier today and is one of the many onomatopoeic words in Japanese.

Here are some more examples:

バラバラ (bara bara) – rattle
クスクス (kusu kusu) – giggle
ポチャポチャ (pocha pocha) – splash
フサフサ (fusa fusa) – a full and attractive head of hair
ギトギト (gito gito) – being oily
イライラ (ira ira) – the state of being frustrated
ポカポカ (poka poka) – the state of being nice and warm

See also this site and this site.

Interestingly, some such words describe visual phenomena, such as blinking, or feelings rather than sounds. Does any other language do this?

By the way, apologies if you’ve been unable to access this blog, my other blog, the Omniglot forum or some of the pages on Omniglot recently. Unfortunately I haven’t managed to find a solution to this problem yet, though it usually sorts itself out after a while. If any of you have any ideas how to fix it, please let me know.

Shanghai Metro

There’s apparently a plan to train the staff of the Shanghai Metro in basic phrases in five major Sinitic languages in order to provide information about fares and directions to non-Mandarin-speaking domestic tourists and visitors, according to a blog post on the Shanghaiist.

In response to this plan, the director of the Shanghai Language Works Commission said:

“We have contacted the Metro management today, stating that the program could violate the country’s language policy to promote the use of Putonghua.”

“There are at least 1,000 regional dialects in China, not including more branch dialects in different regions. The right way to solve communication barrier is to speak Putonghua.”

“What about passengers who speak other dialects? Using only the five dialects would not solve the problem.”

Inspite of this, Shanghai Metro plans to continue with the training scheme and are thinking of extending the service to Shanghai South Railway Station Metro stop. The languages in question are Cantonese, Wenzhou-hua (Zhejiang), Wuhan-hua (Hubei), Changsha-hua (Hunan) and Fujian-hua (a.k.a. Hokkien). Presumably these are the most common languages spoken by visitors to Shanghai, though the post doesn’t discuss the reasons for choosing these particular ones.

Cerddoriaeth

Dwi’n hoff iawn cerddoriaeth, yn enwedig cerddoriaeth o Iwerddon, o’r Alban ac o Gymru. Teulu cerddorol yw nheulu i – mae fy mam yn canu mewn corau yn gyson ac yn canu’r piano o bryd i’w gilydd. Mae mrawd yn chwarae’r trymped a chwaraeodd y trombôn pan oedd e’n ifanc. Chwaraeodd ‘n chwaer y piano, y sielo ac y recorder, ond dydy nhad ddim yn chwarae unrhyw offerynnau.

Dechreuais innau chwarae’r piano pan o’n i’n saith oed, a chwaraeais am bum mlynedd. Ac wedyn, ar ôl i mi fethu yr arholiad cerddorol grâd 2, dechreuais chwarae’r clarinét a chwaraeais am saith mlynedd. Teimlais yn fwy brwdfrydig am chwarae’r clarinét na’r piano, felly ymarferais yn fwy aml a dysgais ef hyd at lefel eithaf uchel. Dysgais y sacsoffon ar fy mhen fy hun, a chwaraeais y clarinét bas am sbel hefyd. Ceisiais ddysgu’r gitâr a’r harmonica, ond heb mwy o lwyddiant.

Chwaraeais mewn bandiau yn yr ysgol, a mynychais ysgol cerddoriaeth lleol dwywaith yr wythnos lle chwaraeais mewn bandiau chwyth, bandiau mawr a cherddorfa. Canais yng nghôr yr ysgol am sbel hefyd.

Dechreuais chwarae y chwiban pan o’n i’n bymtheg oed a chwaraeais am bum mlynedd. Chwaraeais alawon o Iwerddon yn bennaf, dechreuais wrando ar cerddoriaeth o Iwerddon a syrthiais mewn cariad â’r iaith Gwyddeleg. Dyma y prif rheswm pam o’n i’n eisiau dysgu Gwyddeleg o hyn ymlaen.

Yn ystod fy ail blwyddyn yn y prifysgol, o’n i’n yn Taiwan, Japan a Tsieina a es i ddim â fy offerynnau. Na barheais chwarae nhw ar ôl ddes i adref, rhywbeth ydw i’n difaru yn fawr.

Pan es i i Glencolmcille ers dwy flynedd, dechreuais chwarae’r chwiban un waith eto, a dwi’n chwarae bron bod dydd bellach. Dw i’n canu caneuon yn y Wyddeleg, yn Aeleg yr Alban ac yn y Gymraeg yn aml hefyd. Ers i mi ddechrau dysgu Cymraeg, dw i wedi ymddiddori mewn cerddoriaeth yn y Gymraeg, yn enwedig roc a phop Cymraeg.

Ceol

Is breá liom ceol, go háirithe ceol as Éirinn, as Albain agus ón Bhreatain Bheag. Tá ceol ag beagnach gach éinne i mo theaghlach (ach amháin m’athair) – bíonn mo mháthair ag seinm an pianó agus bíonn sí ag canadh sna cóir chomh maith. Bíonn mo dheartháir ag seinm an stoc agus bhí sé ag seinm an trombón nuair a bhí sé níos óige. Bhí mo dheirfiúr ag seinm an pianó, an dordveidhil agus an fhliúit Shasanach.

Thosaigh mise an pianó a sheinm nuair a bhi mé seacht mbliana d’aois, agus bhí mé ag seinm ar feadh cúig bhliana. I ndiaidh theip an scrúdú ceoil grád 2 orm, thosaigh mé an chláirnéid a sheinm agus bhí mé ag seinm ar feadh seacht mbliana. Bhí mé níos díograiseach faoi an chláirnéid a sheinm na an pianó, dá bhrí sin, chleacht mé níos minice agus d’fhoghlaim mé í go dtí leibhéal measartha ard. D’fhoghlaim mé an sacsafón ar m’aonar, agus sheinm mé an dordchláirnéid ar feadh tamall freisin. Bhain mé triail as an giotár agus an orgán béil a fhoghlaim chomh maith, ach gan rath.

Sheinm mé i bannaí ar scoil, agus d’fhreastail mé scoil ceoil áitiúil dhá uair sa seachtain cá sheinm mé i bannaí gaoith, bannaí mór agus ceolfhoireann. Chanadh mé i cór na scoile ar feadh tamall freisin.

Thosaigh mé an fheadóg stáin a sheinm nuair a bhí mé cúig bliana deich d’aois. Sheinm mé foinn Gaelach go príomha, thosaigh mé ag éisteacht le ceol Gaelach agus thit mé i ngrá leis an Ghaeilge. Sin é an príomh-fhail atá mé ag iarraidh Gaeilge a fhoghlaim as sin amach.

I rith na dara bhliana dhom san ollscoil, bhí mé i Taiwan, sa tSeapáin agus sa tSín, agus níor thug mé m’uirlisí liom. Níor lean orm iad a sheinm i ndiaidh tháinig mé abhaile, rud éigin atá aithreachas orm faoi.

Nuair a chuaigh mé go Gleann Cholm Cille dhá bhliain ó shin, thosaigh mé an fheadóg stáin a sheinm arís eile, agus bím ag seinm beagnach gach lá anois. Bím ag canadh amhráin i nGaeilge, i nGaeilge na hAlbain agus as Breatnais go minic chomh maith.

Are you computarded?

When reading this blog today, I noticed a interesting word in the comments on one of the posts – computarded. It was used in the following sentence: “I made it up to the basic internet skills era (email! google search! social network site! PubMed! etc…) and beyond that I’m computarded.”

This is an example of a portmanteau word or blend. It works better than computer illiterate, I think, though only if you’re talking about yourself. If you used it to describe someone else, it might be considered pejorative.

A possible antonym is compudextrous. Can you think of any others?