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.

Mackerel currants

By Simon

Groseille à maquereau is the French word for gooseberry, a word that came up last night at the French conversation group, and which none of us knew the French equivalent for.

Groseille means currant, light red or cherry red, and maquereau means mackerel. So groseille à maquereau could be translated as “mackerel currant”. Another French word for gooseberry is groseille verte or green currant.

Groseille also means redcurrant (ribes rubrum). So what’s the link between redcurrants and gooseberries? Well, the redcurrant is acutally part of the gooseberry family grossulariaceae.

A related fruit is the blackcurrant (ribes nigrum) or cassis / groseillier noir, which is part of the gooseberry family as well.

[Addendum] Appartently one possible reason why gooseberries are associated with mackerel in French is because mackerel and gooseberry sauce go well together. Here’s a receipe for mackerel with gooseberry sauce.

神马都是浮云

By Simon

神马都是浮云 (shénmǎ dōu shì fúyún）is a Chinese phrase I learnt yesterday which means something like “everything is fleeting / transient” or “nothing is permanent”. The 神马 part is internet slang for 什么 (shénme) = what, and 浮云 [浮雲] (fúyún) means floating clouds, fleeting, transient. This is apparently a popular phrase in China at the moment, particularly online.

Another phrase that’s popular online at the moment is 有木有 (you mùyou) instead of 有没有 (yǒu méiyǒu) = “have not have” – this is a typical form of question in Mandarin Chinese. For example, 你有没有时间？ (nǐ yǒu méiyǒu shíjiān?) = Do you have time? If you translate such questions literally into English they can sound rude – “You have not have time?” or “You have time or not?”, but this is fine in Chinese.

Sources:
http://www.mdbg.net
http://baike.baidu.com/view/4531752.htm
http://baike.baidu.com/view/5347838.htm

Stooshie

By Simon

Stooshie [ˈstɑʃi, ˈstɪʃi, ˈstʌʃi] is a Scots word I came across recently that means an uproar, a commotion, a fuss, a row, a brawl, a fight, a fuss, commotion or to-do. It is often crops up in relation to protests and complaints – people might create a stooshie about something they don’t like or which displeases them.

The Online Scots Dictionary spells this word stishie [‘stɪʃi, ‘stʌʃi, ‘staʃi] or strushie [‘strʌʃi, ‘struʃi] and defines it as “an uproar, hubbub, disturbance, commotion, turmoil, quarrel, brawl, row. A frolic, banter.” When used as a verb it means “to engage in a frolic, to banter, bandy words.” and the past participle is stishit or stishied.

The Dictionary of the Scots Language / Dictionar o the Scots Leid spells this word stashie, stashy, stachie; stushie, steeshie, steishie and stishie and defines it as “an uproar, hubbub, disturbance, commotion, turmoil, quarrel, brawl, row”.

Some examples include:

– Mony an aukward stashie was he in. (Many an awkward stashie was he in)
– The hail toun’s been in a stushie about it. (The whole town’s been in a stushie about it)
– There was a great stishie gaen on ower the road. (There was a great stishie going on over the road)
– Michty me, sic a muckle stushie at the clamjamphry in Embra! (Good heavens, such a mighty fuss at the gathering in Edinburgh!)

The origins of this word are uncertain, though it has been suggested that it might be a version of the English word ecstasy. Then again it might be related to the word stoush, which is used on Australia and New Zealand to mean fight or quarrel and is of uncertain origin.

Related words include:
– stramash [strɑˈmɑʃ] – an uproar, commotion, hubbub, disturbance, a broil, squabble, row; to shatter, to smash to pieces.
– collieshangie [kɔlɪ̜ˈʃɑŋi] – a noisy dispute, an uproar, row, disturbance

Sources
http://heritage.caledonianmercury.com/2011/03/04/useful-scots-word-stooshie/001942
http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/dictionary/stooshie/
http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/search.asp
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/
http://www.newstatesman.com/200104160022

Nursery rhymes and computers

By Simon

Comptine /kɔ̃tin/ is the French for nursery rhyme or for a counting rhyme or song. I learnt it last night and thought I’d look into where it comes from.

According Wiktionnaire, comptine is made up of compte (count, number, account) and the suffix -ine. Compte /kɔ̃t/ comes from computus (count, number, account, calculation), from computo (to count – computer in French), from con- (suffix = with; all) and putō (to think, suppose, reckon, count, prune), perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European *pu- (to wash).

My French dictionary says that comptine refers particularly to nursery rhymes involving counting, which is reflected in its etymology. Other words for children’s songs include chansons pour enfant (songs for children) and berceuse (lullaby, cradle song, hushaby, rocking chair), which also means nursemaid, and comes from bercer (to rock, cradle, lull), which apparently comes from Gaulish.

Links
– Comptines et chansons pour enfant
– Toutes les comptines et chansons pour enfants
– Comptines.net – Paroles de Comptines et Berceuses pour enfants et bébes

Chinese app

By Simon

Chinese character app logo

A new application for Android devices that teaches you how to read and write the 100 most widely-used Chinese characters was launched today.

It shows you how to write each character with animations, and also has recordings in Mandarin Chinese and English, as well as pinyin transcription and English translations for each character,

It was developed by Adam Beaumont of Leafcutter Studios with Mandarin Chinese recordings by a Chinese friend of mine, Helen Zhang (张丹), and English recordings by me.

Lyrics Translate

By Simon

The other day I came across a useful site called Lyrics Translate, where you can find, submit and request translations of songs. It currently contains translations between a wide range of languages, including English, German, Russian, Turkish, Spanish, Polish and so on, and the site itself can be viewed in a variety of languages. There is also a forum for translators, as well as articles and videos.

So it look like a good place to practise languages you’re learning – you can find songs in those languages, either originals, or translated from other languages, and you could even have a go at translating songs yourself.

I have submitted translations of Cockles and Mussels (Molly Malone) in Irish and Manx – not my own translations admittedly, and just found a song in Breton with a translations in English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and a video. There are quite a few other songs in Breton too.

Fry’s Planet Word

By Simon

There’s a new series on the BBC at the moment called Fry’s Planet Word. I just watched the first episode in which Stephen Fry explores the origins of language, and asks how it’s acquired, why only humans have language, why there are so many languages, and so on. He also touches on sign language and conlangs. He doesn’t cover anything in great detail, but it’s very interesting nonetheless.