Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know, or can you guess, the language?
Author: Simon
I am a linguist, web developer and musician. I live in Bangor in Wales and run Omniglot - the online encyclopedia of writing systems and languages, as well as making the Radio Omniglot Podcast.
Ashen Hearted
The word 灰心 (huīxīn) came up in my Chinese lessons recenlty. It could be translated literally as ‘ashen heart’ or ‘heart of ash(es)’, but what does it actually mean?
灰心 (huīxīn) means to lose heart, to be discouraged or to despair. 灰 (huī) means ash(es), dust, lime or mortar, and 心 (xīn) means heart, mind, intelligence or soul [source].
灰 can also mean grey/gray when combined with 色 (sè – colour), as in 灰色 (huīsè), so I thought at first that 灰心 meant ‘grey heart’ [source].
Related phrases include 灰心喪氣 (huīxīnsàngqì), which means disheartened, discouraged, downhearted, downcast or in dispair, or literally “ash heart lose qi”, and 心灰 (xīnhuī), which means extremely disappointed or discouraged [source].
The character 心 (xīn) also appears in phrases such as:
- 开心 [開心] (kāixīn) = happy, delighted, to make fun of (sb), to open up the mind, to enlighten the mind, (lit. “open heart”).
- 关心 [關心] (guānxīn) = to be concerned about, to care for, to put first, (lit. “closed heart”).
- 担心 (dānxīn) = anxious, worried, uneasy, to worry, to be anxious (lit. “to carry (the) heart”).
- 小心 (xiǎoxīn) = to be careful of something, to mind, to beware of, to take care, to be careful (lit. “small heart”).
- 耐心 (nàixīn) = patient (lit. “to withstand (the) heart”).
- 黑心 (hēixīn) = ruthless and lacking conscience (lit. “black heart(ed)”).
- 好心 (hǎoxīn) = goodheartedness, kindness (lit. “good heart(ed)”) [source].
Language Quiz
Dressed to Pieces
The word ワンピース (wanpīsu) came up in my Japanese lessons the other day. You could translate it as ‘one-piece’, and it refers to an article of clothing, but which one?
ワンピース (wanpīsu) [wàńpíꜜìsù] actually refers to a dress or other piece of clothing that comes in one piece, such as a bathing costume / swimsuit, and can be shortened to ワンピ(wanpi). It was borrowed from the English term one-piece, which is an adjective meaning ‘composed of a single integral unit, or so appearing’, e.g. a one-piece metal hammer, or a one-piece article of clothing, especially a swimsuit [source].
ワンピース (wanpīsu) or One Piece is also a manga series, an anime TV series and media franchise. Here’s some music from one of the One Piece spin offs, One Piece film RED, sung by Ado:
A similar word is ツーピース (tsūpīsu) [tsɨːpʲiːsɨ], which means a two-piece suit, particular women’s suits. It comes from English two-piece, which refers to a suit or dress in two pieces [source].
Similar words are also found in Korean: 원피스 (wonpiseu) [wʌ̹npʰi(ː)sʰɯ] = dress, and 투피스 (tupiseu) [ˈtʰu(ː)pʰi(ː)sʰɯ] = two-piece suit / dress [source].
Another word for dress in Japanese is ドレス (doresu), which was borrowed from English dress [source].
Incidentally, the English word dress comes from Middle English dressen (to arrange, put in order, to direct or aim), from Anglo-Norman / Old French drecier (to stand up, get to one’s feet), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (to guide, direct, put in order), from Classical Latin dīrēctus (laid straight, direct, straight), from Proto-Italic *dwizrektos, from dīrigō (lay straight, direct, distribute) [source].
Words from the same roots include address, adriot (deft, dexterous, skillful) and direct in English, dresser (to raise, build, lift, prepare) in French, addirizzare (to straighten, correct, direct, guide) in Italian, díreach (straight, direct, exact) in Irish, and derecho (straight, upright, right, correct) in Spanish [source].
Language Quiz
Sadly Satisfying Assets
What connects the word asset to the words satisfy and sad?
An asset [ˈæsɛt] is
- A thing or quality that has value, especially one that generates cash flows.
- Any component, model, process or framework of value that can be leveraged or reused.
It comes from assets, from Anglo-Norman as(s)etz (enough), from Old French as(s)ez (enough, sufficiently), from Early Medieval Latin ad satis (copiously), from ad (to) and satis (enough) [source].
Words from the same Latin roots include assai (very) in Italian and assez (enough, quite, rather) in French [source].
The English word (to) satisfy also comes from the same Latin roots, via Middle English satisfyen, Old French satisfier (to satisfy, to pay) and Latin satisfacere (to satisfy, content, secure, pay off), which comes from satis (enough) and faciō (to make, construct). [source].
The Latin word satis (adequate, enough, plenty, satisfactory, sufficient) comes from Proto-Indo-European *sh₂tis (satiation, satisfaction), from *seh₂- (to satiate, to satisfy) [source].
Words from the same PIE roots include sásaigh (to satisfy, to please) in Irish, zat (fed up, have had enough, drunk, sated, full) in Dutch, satt (not hungry, satiated, full, done, fed up, sick of) in German, and (to) satiate (to fill to satisfaction, to satisfy) and satiety in English [source].
The English word sad used to mean sated, satisfied, weary, steadfast, valiant, dignified, serious, grave, naughty, troublesome, wicked, unfashionable, etc. In Middle English it meant sated, weary, firm, solid, heard, considered, thoughtful, serious, etc. From the 14th century it was used to mean inspiring or having sorrow.
It comes from Old English sǣd (full, sated, weary), from Proto-West Germanic *sad (sated, full), from Proto-Germanic *sadaz (sated, satisfied), from PIE *seh₂- (to satiate, to satisfy) – the same root as asset and satisfy [source].
Language Quiz
Losing Marbles
If you say that someone has lost their marbles, you either mean that they can’t find their marbles, or that they’re crazy, mad, incompetent, are losing their mind, or are suffering from a mental illness.
It’s not known exactly when or why losing one’s marbles came to be associated with losing one’s mind. One early example that connects marbles with mental capicity appears in a story from April 1898 in The Portsmouth Times, a newspaper from Ohio in the USA:
Prot. J. M. Davis, of Rio Grande college, was selected to present J. W Jones as Gallia’s candidate, but got his marbles mixed and did as much for the institution of which he is the noted head as he did for his candidate.
By the early 20th century, losing or not having all one’s marbles was commonly associated with a decent into madness. For example, American Speech, Vol. 2, No. 8 (May, 1927) has a collection of dialect words from West Virginia that includes the definition:
marbles, doesn’t have all his (verb phrase), mentally deficient. “There goes a man who doesn’t have all his marbles.”
One French equivalent of this idiom is perdre la boule, which literally means ‘to lose the ball’.
Other ways to say this in French include:
- perdre le nord = ‘to lose the north’ – see also Losing the North
- perdre la boussole = ‘to lose the compass’
- perdre la raison = ‘to lose the reason’
- perdre le sens commun = ‘to lose the common sense’
- se perdre les oies = ‘to lose the geese’
- péter les plombs = ‘to blow the fuses’
- péter un câble = ‘to blow a cable’
Incidentally, perdre comes from the same root as the English word perdition (eternal damnation, hell, absolute run, downfall).
Are there interesing ways to say that someone has lost their marbles in other languages?
Sources:
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/lose-your-marbles.html
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perdre_la_boule#French
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perdo#Latin
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/perdition#English
Language Quiz
A Nexus of Connections
What connects the words nexus, annex(e) and connection?
A nexus [ˈnɛksəs] is form or state of connection; a connected group, network or web; or a centre or focus of something. It comes from Latin nexus (bound, tied, fastened, connected, interwoven), from nectō (to connect, interweave, attach, bind, tie, oblige), possibly from nōdus (knot, bond, obligation) and/or nassa (a narrow-necked basket for catching fish) [source].
Apparently in Ancient Rome, a nexus was a person who had contracted a nexum or obligation of such a kind that, if they failed to pay, their creditor could compel them to work as a servant until the debt was paid. This practice was abolished in 326 BC [source].
If there is more than one nexus, there are several nexuses, nexusses or nexi. The plural in Latin is nexūs or nexûs, not nexi, by the way. Do you have a preferred plural for this word?
Related words include nexo (nexus, connection, sense, coherence) in Portuguese, nexo (link, connection, nexus) in Spanish and nexe (nexus, connection, link) in Catalan [source].
The word annex(e) (an addition, extension, appendix) also comes from the same roots, via French annexe (annex(e), appendix), from Latin annexus (tied, fastened, bound, related by blood), from annectō / adnectō (to bind, tie to, connect, annex), from ad- (to) and nectō (to connect, etc) [source].
Related words include anejo (accompaniment, affix) and anexar (to annex, attach) in Spanish, and annettere (to attach, add, annex, consolidate) in Italian [source].
Another connected word is the word connection, which comes from Middle English connexioun (connection), from Latin connexionem, from cōnexiō (junction, meeting, connection), from cōnectō (to connect, link, fasten together) from con- (with) and nectō (to connect, etc) [source].
Related words include connexe (closely related, connected) in French, connesso (connected, associated, linked, related) in Italian and conex (connected) in Romanian [source].