Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
français | English | Cymraeg |
---|---|---|
le rouage d’horloge | clock work | perfedd cloc; clocwaith; peirianwaith cloc; treuliau cloc |
marcher comme sur des roulettes | to go like clockwork | mynd fel cloc; troi fel deiol |
réglé comme du papier à musique | as regular as clockwork | mor rheolaidd â chloc/deial; fel y cloc |
le rouage | cog; gearwheel; part | dant; cocsyn; cledren ddanheddog/gocos; olwyn ddanheddog |
les rouage | machinery | perianwaith; peiriannau |
être un rouage de la machine | to be a cog in the machine/wheel | bod neb o bwys yn y drefn |
la manie; l’engouement (m); la mode | craze | chwilen; mympwy; ffasiwn; chwim |
un engouement passager | a passing fad | mympwy/ffasiwn dros dro / byrhoedlog |
métier (à tisser) | (weaving) loom | gwŷdd; ffrâm wau |
épuisé; vendu | sold out | wedi i gyd ei werthu |
le gibet | gibbet; gallows | crocbren |
match nul | draw (sports) | gêm gyfartal |
le crépuscule | dusk | tywyll; cyfnos; tywyllwch; llwydwyll |
au crépuscule; à la tombée de la nuit | at dusk | gyda’r nos/cyfnos; rhwng dau liw/olau; ar awr y teiliwr |
du matin au soir | from dawn til/to dusk | o fore gwyn tan nos; o wawr hyd fachlud; rhwng gwawl a gwyl |
Today I discovered that the Welsh word llan (church, parish), which is used mainly in place names, such as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, has cognates in the other Celtic languages: lann in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish and Manx, and lan in Breton. These words all come from the Proto-Indo-European root *lendʰ- (land, heath) [source].
Another word church-related word that is used mainly in Irish and Scottish place names is kil(l), as in Kildare (Cill Dara), Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) and Kilmarnock (Cill Mheàrnaig). It means church or graveyard and comes from the Irish cill (cell (of a hermit), church, burial place), from the Old Irish cell (church), from the Latin cella [source] (a small room, a hut, barn, granary; altar, sanctuary, shrine, pantry), which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *ḱelnā, which is made up of *ḱel- (to cover) and a suffix -nā.
The Welsh word cell (cell); the Scottish Gaelic cill (chapel, church yard, hermit’s cell); the Manx keeill (church, cell); and the Breton kell (cell) all come from the same root.
The more commonly-used words for church in the Celtic languages are: eglwys (Welsh), eaglais (Irish and Scottish Gaelic), eglos (Cornish), iliz (Breton) and agglish (Manx). These all come from the Latin ecclēsia (church), from the Ancient Greek ἐκκλησία (ekklēsía – church).
I spent yesterday in Harlech [ˈharlɛx] with a friend looking round the castle, exploring the village and wandering along the beach. We wondered where the name Harlech comes from, so I thought I’d find out. According to Wikipedia, there are two possible sources: from the Welsh ardd (high; hill) llech (stone) or from hardd (beautiful) llech (stone). Apparently it was referred to as ‘Harddlech’ up until the 19th century in some texts, so the second derivation might be more likely.
The word ardd is not used in modern Welsh – high is usually uchel and hill is bryn. There are cognates in the other Celtic languages: arth (hill) in Cornish; arz (high) in Breton; ard (head; ascent; incline; high; height; senior; advanced) in Irish; àrd (high, lofty, tall; great; loud; chief, eminent, superior, supreme) in Scottish Gaelic; and ard (high, towering, tall, big, loud, height, high place, fell, incline) in Manx.
These all come from from the Proto-Celtic *ardwos (high), from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁rh₃dh-wo- (high, steep), which is also the root of the Latin words arduus (lofty, high, steep, tall, elevated) and arbor (tree, mast, javelin), the Ancient Greek word ὀρθός (orthós – straight), the English word arduous, [source].
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
français | English | Cymraeg |
---|---|---|
la camelote | tat | hen drugareddau |
la maternelle | nursery school / kindergarten | ysgol feithrin; meithrinfa |
grillées (à sec) | (dry-)roasted | wedi ei rostio (yn sych) (?) |
le brushing | blow-dry | chwythsychu |
faire défiler | to scroll (on screen) | rholio |
mur | wall | mur; wal |
mûr | mature; ripe | aeddfed |
mûre | blackberry | mwyaren ddu; mafonen ddu |
les arts ménagers | domestic science | gwyddor ty |
l’économie (f) domestique | home economics | economeg y cartref |
le râtelier à bicyclettes/vélos | bike rack (on floor/ground) | rhesel beiciau |
le porte-vélos | bike rack (on car) | rhesel beiciau |
la galerie | roof rack | rhesel ben to |
le porte-bagages | luggage rack | rhesel baciau/fagiau |
The French words mur (wall) mûr (ripe; mature) and mûre (blackberry; mulberry) are written differently but pronounced the same – [myʁ], so are only distinguished by context in speech.
The word mur (wall) comes from the Latin mūrus (wall), from the Old Latin *moerus/*moiros, from the Proto-Indo-European *mei (to fix, to build fortifications or fences) [source].
The word mûr (ripe; mature) comes from the Latin mātūrus (mature; ripe; early), from the Proto-Indo-European root *meh₂- (to ripen, to mature) [source].
The word mûre (blackberry; mulberry) comes from the Vulgar Latin mora (mulberry), from the Latin mōrum (mulberry) from the Ancient Greek μόρον (móron – mulberry; blackberry) from the Proto-Indo-European *moro (mulberry; blackberry). [source].
One Welsh word for wall, mur [mɨ̞r/mɪr], comes from the same root as the French word mur, probably via Norman or Latin. Another word for wall in Welsh is wal, which was probably borrowed from English. The word pared is used for interior walls, though only in literary Welsh. This probably comes from the Latin pariēs (wall) from the Proto-Indo-European *sparri (wall), which is also the root of the Spanish word pared (wall), the Portuguese parede (wall), and similar words in other Romance languages [source].
The word wall comes from the Old English weall (wall, dike, earthwork, rampart, dam, rocky shore, cliff), from the Proto-Germanic *wallaz/*wallą (wall, rampart, entrenchment), from the Latin vallum (wall, rampart, entrenchment, palisade), from the Proto-Indo-European *wel- (to turn, wind, roll) [source].
I discovered the other day that in Chinese families it is considered impolite to say the equivalents of please and thank you, as this is seen as distancing yourself from other members of the family, so within a family such words are apparently rarely used. Is this correct? Does it vary between families?
Although I lived in Taiwan for more than five years, I never spent much time in family homes – I shared flats/apartments with locals and people from other countries – so I didn’t see enough of normal family life to notice the lack of pleases and thank yous.
To a British person the idea of not saying please and thank you in such circumstances seems bizarre and wrong, but it is just a different way of being polite.
Are there situations where you wouldn’t use please and thank you? If so, is this because they are considered distancing, as in the Chinese case, or just unnecessary?
Last week I started learning Serbian (српски) in preparation for the Polyglot Conference in Novi Sad in Serbia in October. Whenever I visit a country whose language I don’t already speak I learn at least the basics of their language, so I couldn’t go to Serbia without learning some Serbian.
I’m using online materials, such as Serbian Lessons and an app I download to my web tablet – any suggestions for other online resources would be welcome. I am listening to online Serbian radio most days as well.
I’ll be trying some of the language learning methods discussed in Gabriel Wyner’s book, Fluent Forever, which I started reading recently.
I will also be making little videos using the Serbian I’m learning. Here’s the first one:
If you speak Serbian and spot any mistakes in the dialogue or subtitles, please let me know.
This is a little video I made featuring a couple of simple dialogues in Serbian. I started learning Serbian this week in preparation for the Polyglot Conference in Novi Sad in Serbia in October – I try to learn at least a little of the language of any country I visit – and I plan to make more videos like this to practise using what I’m learning.