Omniglot News (24/05/26)

24th May 202624th May 2026 By Simon

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Naki, an Eastern Beboid language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Nali, an Oceanic language spoken on Manus Island in northern Papua New Guinea.
Ndoola (laˊ ndòòlaˋ), a Bantoid language spoken mainly in Nigeria, and also in Cameroon.
Chiquitano (Bésɨro), a language isolate spoken in southwestern Bolivia and western Brazil.
Cavineña (Kabina), a Tacanan language spoken in the Beni Department in northern Bolivia.

New numbers pages:

Nali, an Oceanic language spoken on Manus Island in northern Papua New Guinea.
Ndoola (laˊ ndòòlaˋ), a Bantoid language spoken mainly in Nigeria, and also in Cameroon.
Chiquitano (Bésɨro), a language isolate spoken in Bolivia and Brazil.
Cavineña (Kabina), a Tacanan language spoken in the Beni Department in northern Bolivia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Gather Together, we’re gathering together the good roots of the word gather.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Fire Arrows about the Chinese word 火箭 (huǒjiàn), which means rocket (lit. “fire arrow”) and related words, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Bangladesh and India.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Putukwam, a Southern Bantoid language spoken in Cross River State in southern Nigeria.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Side by Side, about words for side 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/profile.php?id=100046466483286

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Gather Together

23rd May 202623rd May 2026 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we’re gathering together the good roots of the word gather.

Gather [ˈɡæðə / ˈɡæðɚ] as a verb can mean to collect normally separate things; to harvest food; to accumulate over time; to congregate or assemble; to bring parts of a whole closer; or to infer or conclude.

As an noun, gather can mean a plait or fold in cloth, a blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe, or a gathering.

It comes from Middle English gaderen (to assemble, congregate), from Old English gaderian (to bring together, to gather), from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn (to gather, bring together), from *gadur (together, gathered in one place), possibly from PIE *gʰódʰ-r̥, from *gʰedʰ- (to join, unite, suit) [source].

Words from the same roots include godzić (to reconcile, bring together) in Polish, hodit (to fit, suit, be appropriate) in Czech, guõdas (virtue, nobleness, glory, honour) in Lithuanian, goed (good, correct, right) in Dutch, and good and together in English [source].

Next week I’m off to the Polyglot Gathering in Brno in the Czech Republic, where language enthusiasts from all over the world will forgather and regather together to talk in and about languages. There may some woolgathering, but hopefully no misgathering, as we gather our thoughts and ourselves together.

to forgather = to assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up, to congregate
to regather = to gather again, to gather back together
woolgathering = the gathering of fragments of wool torn from sheep by bushes, etc. indulgence in idle fancies or daydreams
to misgather = to accumulate or assemble incorrectly, to infer or conclude incorrectly

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.

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 (17/05/26)

17th May 202617th May 2026 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Lukpa, a Southern Gur language spoken in Benin and Togo.
Chepang, a Binanderean language spoken in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Mungbam (Mùŋgbàm), a Southern Bantoid language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Rengao (Rơngao), a North Bahnaric language spoken in Quảng Ngãi Province in central Vietnam.

New numbers pages:

Rengao (Rơngao), a North Bahnaric language spoken in Quảng Ngãi Province central Vietnam.
Northern Emberá (ẽberã bed̶ea), a Chocoan language spoken in Colombia and Panama.
Catio (Ẽ́bẽra Katío), a Chocoan language spoken in Colombia and Panama.

New constructed script: Scrollex, an alternative way to write English with lettera shaped a bit like scrolls that was inspired partly by the Chinese Seal script.

Sample text in Scrollex

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Burning Torrents, we uncover the burning roots of the word torrent.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Ashen Hearted, in which we investigate the Chinese word 灰心 (huīxīn), which means to lose heart, to be discouraged or to despair,and related words, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Nisgaʼa, a Tsimshianic language spoken in British Columbia in western Canada.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Directly Straight, about words for direct, straight and related things in Celtic languages.

Improved pages Blackfoot language page

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046466483286

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Burning Torrents

16th May 202623rd May 2026 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the burning roots of the word torrent.

Torrent [ˈtɒɹənt / ˈtoɹənt] as a noun can mean a violent flow (as of water, lava, etc), a stream suddenly raised and running rapidly, or a large amount or stream of something.

As an adjective, torrent means rolling or rushing in a rapid stream, and as a verb it means to fall or flow in a torrent or to pour.

It comes from French torrent (a torrent), from Italian torrente (stream, creek, torrent), from Latin torrentem, from torrēns (scorching, burning, roasting), from torreō (to scorch, burn, parch, roast), from Proto-Italic *torzeō (to burn, scorch), from PIE *torséyeti (to make dry), from *ters- (dry) [source].

Words from the same roots include tir (land) in Welsh (and Cornish and Breton), tierra (earth, land, ground, soil) in Spanish, torr (dry, matter-of-fact, dull) in Swedish, turska (cod) in Finnish, and terrace, terrain, territory, thirst, toast, torrid in English [source].

The terrier dog also gets its name from the same roots via Old French chien terrier (terrier dog) from chien (dog) and terrier (of earth), from Latin terra (dry land, ground, earth), ultimately from PIE *ters- (dry)[source].

The Mediterranean also gets part of its name from the same roots. It comes from Latin mediterrāneus (inland), from medius (middle),‎ terra (earth, land) and -āneus (adjectival suffix) source].

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.

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 (10/05/26)

10th May 2026 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Maonan (Vah kiong naemz), a Kam-Sui language spoken in Guangxi and Guizhou in southern China.
Guhu-Samane, a Binanderean language spoken in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Zyphe, a Maraic language spoken the north of Chin State in western Myanmar.
Komi-Yazva (коми-ёдз көл), a Permic language spoken in the Perm Krai in the northwest of the Russia Federation.

New numbers pages:

Guhu-Samane, a Binanderean language spoken in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.
Zyphe, a Maraic language spoken in Chin State in western Myanmar.

New idioms page: To lose one’s marbles – idioms meaning you have lost your mind, gone crazy and similar things in various languages.

New constructed script: Loopiform, an alternative way to write French and other languages devised by Filipe Reis.

Sample text in Loopiform in French

New adapated script: Bodigari (བོ་དེ་གརི), a way to write English with the Tibetan script devised by Ian Bonnycastle.

Sample text in Bodiform in English

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Rightly Adroit, we deftly discover the right roots of the word adroit

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Dressed to Pieces, in which we investigate the Japanese word ワンピース (wanpīsu), which means dress or one-piece bathing suit, and related words, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in western Canada.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Qabiao, a Kra language spoken in northern Vietnam and southern China.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled A Stack of Heaps about words for heap, pile, stack and related things in Celtic languages.

Improved pages: Komi language page, and made separate pages for Komi-Permyak and
Komi-Zyrian.

I wrote a new song this week called Perdre Le Nord, which was inspired by ways to say that someone has lost their marbles (lost their mind / gone crazy) in French such as perdre le nord (‘to lose the north’).

Simon Ager · Perde Le Nord

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046466483286

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Rightly Adroit

9th May 20269th May 2026 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we deftly discover the right roots of the word adroit.

Adroit [əˈdɹɔɪt] means deft, dexterous or skillful. Related words include adroitness (skillfulness or ease of ability), and maladroit (awkward, clumsy, inept).

It comes from French adroit (skilful, apt, skilled), from à (to) and droit (right, law, right angle), so could be translated as ‘to the right’, and the French phrase à droite means on the right or to the right [source].

A related word in French is adret, which refers to the sun-facing side of a mountain, particularly in the Alps [source].

The somewhat dated German word adrett (neat, tidy, clean-cut) [source] was borrowed from French, and was also borrowed into Danish (via German) to become adræt (agile, nimble) and adræthed (agility) [source].

The French word droit (right, etc) comes from Old French, droit [ˈdɾoi̯t] (justice, right), from Late Latin drictus (straight, right), from Latin dīrēctus (laid straight, direct, straight), from dīrigō (to lay straight, guide, distribute) [source].

Words from the same roots include dirigere (to address, run, manage, direct) in Italian, derecho (straight, right, correct) in Spanish, dyrygować (to conduct, boss around) in Polish, and address and direct in English [source].

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.

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 (03/05/26)

3rd May 2026 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Mundani (Mundàni), a Southern Bantoid language spoken in the Southwest Region of Cameroon.
Amuzgo (Ñòmndaá), an Eastern Oto-Manguean language spoken in Guerrero and Oaxaca in southern Mexico.
Cuicatec (Dibaku / Dbaku), a Mixtecan language spoken in the northwest of Oaxaca in southern Mexico.

New numbers pages:

Saho (Saahot Af), an East Lowland Cushitic language spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Ghomara (žamaεa / ⵖⵓⵎⴰⵔⴰ), a Northern Berber language spoken in northern Morocco.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Frequently Crowded, we uncover the crowded roots of the word frequent.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Sadly Satisfying Assets, in which we find out what connects the words asset, satisfy and sad, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in northern Vietnam and southern China.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Khinalug (каьтш мицІ) , a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in northern Azerbaijan.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Shearing Fleeces about words for fleece, shearing 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/profile.php?id=100046466483286

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Frequently Crowded

2nd May 20262nd May 2026 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the crowded roots of the word frequent.

Frequent [ˈfɹiː.kwənt] as an adjective can mean:

Done or occuring often – common, regular, recurring.
Occurring at short intervals – continual, steady.
Addicted to any course of conduct; inclined to indulge in any practice; habitual; persistent.

It used to mean full, crowded or thronged, or often or commonly reported, and as a verb to frequent [fɹɪˈkwɛnt] means to visit often.

It comes from Old French frequent (frequent, often), from Latin frequēns (crowded, filled with a multitude, frequent, repeated), from Proto-Italic *frekʷents, possibly from PIE *bʰrekʷ- (to condense, crowd together) [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include fréquent (frequent) in French, freqüent (frequent, often) in Catalan, frequente (frequent, common) in Portuguese, and frequency in English [source].

Words from the same PIE roots may include farcir (to stuff) in French, harter (to bore, tire, make fed up) in Spanish, hartzitu (to ferment) in Basque, and farce in English [source].

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.

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 (26/04/26)

26th April 202626th April 2026 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Mundabli-Mufu (Ngɔ Njan), a Western Beboid language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Wamey (Wameỹ / Koñagi), a Senegambian language spoken in Senegal and Guinea.
Faiwol, a Mountain Ok language spoken in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

Wamey, a Senegambian language spoken in Senegal and Guinea.
Fataluku, a Trans-New Guinea language spoken on the island of Timor in East Timor and Indonesia.

New constructed script: Chivabwe, an alternative way to write Shona and other languages of Africa created by Duncan Junior Kutya.

Sample words in Chivabwe

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Entangled Perplexity, we untangle the perplexing roots of the word perplexity.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Losing Marbles about ways to say that someone has lost their marbles (gone crazy) in English and French, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Itzaʼ, a Yucatec Mayan language spoken in the Petén Department in northern Guatemala.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Brittle Fragility about words for brittle, fragile 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/profile.php?id=100046466483286

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Entangled Perplexity

25th April 2026 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we untangle the perplexing roots of the word perplexity.

Perplexity [pəˈplɛksɪti / pəɹˈplɛksəti] is:

The state or quality of being perplexed (puzzled, confused, bewildered)
Something that perplexes.
(information theory) A measure of how well a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.

It comes from Middle English perplexite ([a state of] doubt, confusion), from Middle French perplexite (perplexed, uncertain), from Latin perplexitās (perplexity, state of bewilderment, obscurity), from perplexus (entangled, involved, intricate, confused, complicated), from per- (very) and plectēre (to weave, twist), from Proto-Italic *plektō, from PIE *pleḱ- (to fold, weave), from *pel- (to wrap) [source].

Words from the same roots include πλέκω (pléko – to knit, weave, tangle) in Greek, plést (to braid, plait, knit) in Czech, fläta (braid, plait) in Swedish, vlak (flat, place) in Dutch, and flax and flay in English [source].

The English suffix -plex, as in complex, duplex, multiplex, possibly comes from the same roots [source].

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.

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.