Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
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.
Wedi 7
Neithiwr roedd y Clwb Uke Bangor ar S4C ar y rhaglen Wedi 7 (tua diwedd y rhaglen) – ein ychychdig eiliadau o enwogrwydd! Ro’n innau ar y rhaglen yn siarad yn fyr yn Gymraeg efo Meinir Gwilym, y gohebydd crwydrol ar gyfer Gogledd Cymru, ac un o fy hoff cantorion Cymraeg.
Last night Bangor Uke Club was on the S4C programme Wedi 7 (towards the end of the programme) – our few moments of fame! I appeared briefly on the programme talking in Welsh with Meinir Gwilym, the roving reporter for North Wales, and one of my favourite Welsh singers.
Mawdelit
Mawdelit is one of the Scots words discussed in a programme I watched last night called Blethering Scots. It was described as an illness you pretend to have to get time off work, and comes from the French mal de lit, which is related to the medieval Latin malum lecti – an illness that confines one to bed or a bed-sickness.
Other words mentioned in the programme include:
– fankle – to catch in a snare, to trap; to tangle, ravel, mix up; confused, tangled, and the related words fankled and fanglet
Example: It was jist the ither day I got fankled wi’ some o’ ma accoonts.
– stramash – an uproar, commotion, hubbub, disturbance, a broil, squabble, row; to shatter, to smash to pieces
Example: There arose a stramash doon stairs fiercer than ordinary.
– glaikit – stupid, foolish; thoughtless, irresponsible, flighty; playful, full of pranks; wanton; sportive, roguish (of the eyes); deceitful, shifty.
Example: There rest him weel; for eith [also] can we Spare mony glakit gouks [fools] like he.
One contributor to the programme mentioned that it was unusual to see such words written down when he was young and that children were told that these words were wrong when they used them in school. Nowadays, however, some schools are teaching Scots and encourage its use. It is also used to a limited extent in the media.
Source: Dictionary of the Scot Language / Dictionar o the Scots Leid
Epizeuxis
I came across the word epizeuxis recently (in One of Our Thursdays is Missing, by Jasper Fforde) and wasn’t sure what it meant or even how to pronounce it, so I decided to find out.
According to the OED, epizeuxis (/ɛpɪˈzjuːksɪs/) is “a figure by which a word is repeated with vehemence or emphasis.” It comes via Latin from the Greek ἐπίζευξις (epizeuxis – a fastening upon), from ἐπί (epi – upon) and ζευγνύναι (zeugnunai – to yoke).
Wikipedia says that, “In rhetoric, an epizeuxis is the repetition of words in immediate succession, for vehemence or emphasis” and gives examples such as “O horror, horror, horror.” from Macbeth, and “Education, education, education.” by Tony Blair.
Information about this and other terms used in rhetoric from abating* to zeugma** can be found in the Silva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric.
* abating in an English version of anesis (/ˈænɪsɪs/), from the Greek ἄνεσις (anesis – a loosening, relaxing, abating) = “adding a concluding sentence that diminishes the effect of what has been said previously. The opposite of epitasis.”
** zeugma (/ˈzjuːgmə/), from the Greek ζεῦγμα (zeûgma – yoke) = “A general term describing when one part of speech (most often the main verb, but sometimes a noun) governs two or more other parts of a sentence (often in a series).”
Gaeilge
I found an online Irish test on ranganna.com today – it contains 100 questions of ever increasing difficulty and gives you a idea of your level of Irish. It’s available with instructions in Irish and English and has a seven-level marking scheme ranging from beginner to advanced.
I just took the test and got 69/100 or level 5 (Advanced) – I could understand almost all the questions, but my knowledge of the finer points of Irish grammar and orthography could be better. I’m happy with this as my main focus with Irish is understanding, speaking and reading it well.
After you have taken the test it shows you your answers with the incorrect ones highlighted and the correct ones indicated – a useful feature. It also has some suggestions for learning more Irish.
Canu am Ddŵr y Gogledd
Ddoe es i i Fanceinion efo’r Côr Cymunedol Bangor i gymryd rhan mewn Canu am Ddŵr y Gogledd neu Sing for Water North. Daeth tua 300 o bobl o gorau o ogeledd-orllewin Lloegr a gogledd Cymru efo’n gilydd i ganu ac i godi pres am yr elusen Wateraid. Mi adawon ni Fangor am 8 o’r gloch y bore ac aethon ni mewn coets i Fanceinion.
Ar ôl cyrraedd yn Manceinion, mi dreulion ni y bore yn ymarfer yn y neuadd mawr yn neuadd y dre – neuadd ac adeilad syfrdanol efo acwstig gwych. Ar ôl tamaid o ginio, dechreuodd y berfformiad tu allan neuadd y dro yn Sgwar Albert efo côr o Fanceinion yn canu dwy gân, ninnau yn canu dwy gân, ac yna pawb yn canu efo’n gilydd. Wrth i ni gorffen y gân olaf, mi gyrhaeddodd y parêd Dydd Manceinion.
Pan cyrhaeddodd y parêd aeth hi yn swnllyd iawn yn y sgwar ac mi dihangon ni i Starbucks am banaid a sgwrs. Yna aeth rhai ohonon ni i oriel celf Manceinion, ac yna mi aethon ni gatre.
Mae fideos y perfformiad ar gael ar YouTube.
Puzzle
A visitor to Omniglot sent in this image of some mysterious writing from an inscription on a Biedermeier glass from 1830-1860, a type of Bohemian / Czechoslovakian glass. Can you make any sense of it?
It looks like a cursive form of Cyrillic and reads something like “Сйо мень одь Госйос Дир Кторке Тр?імуко Сиус” or “Sjo menʹ odʹ Gosjos Dir Ktorke Tr?imuko Sius”. I have no idea what this might mean.
Language quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
Canapés, sofas and curtains
The other day I discovered that one French word for sofa is canapé (/kanape/), and that canapé-lit or canapé transformable/convertible is a sofa bed. The word sofa is also used in French, and canapé can also mean an open sandwich.
According to the OED, in English canapé (/ˈkænəpɪ/) can mean both “A piece of bread or toast, etc., on which small savouries are served.” and “A sofa”. I’ve never come across it used to mean sofa in English, and had always assumed that canapés were small items of food similar to tapas. I think such things are also known as appetisers or hors d’oeuvres.
Canapé comes from the Medieval Latin canāpēum, from canōpēum (mosquito curtains; pavilion, tent, bed), from the Latin cōnōpēum (seat with a baldaquin*), from the Ancient Greek κωνωπεῖον (kōnōpeion – an Egyptian bed or couch with mosquito curtains), from κάνωψ (kánōs – gnat, mosquito). In English the word came to mean mainly curtain or canopy, which comes from the same root, while in French and other Romance languages its primary meaning became sofa or couch.
Sofa /ˈsəʊfə/ probably arrived via the Turkish sofa from the Arabic صفة (súffa – a long seat made of stone or brick).
Settee /sɛˈtiː/ is probably a variant of settle /ˈsɛt(ə)l/, “a long bench, often with a high back and arms, with storage space underneath for linen.” [source]. Settle comes from the Old English setl, from the Germanic *setlo-, from the pre-Germanic *sedlo-, from the Proto-Indo-European *sed-lo-, from *sed- (to sit).
Couch /kaʊtʃ/ comes from the French couche, from the Old French culche, which is cognate with coucher (to sleep), which comes from the Latin collocāre (to lay in its place, lay aright, lodge) from com- (together) and locāre (to place).
*Baldaquin /ˈbældəkɪn/ = “A structure in the form of a canopy, either supported on columns, suspended from the roof, or projecting from the wall, placed above an altar, throne, or door-way”.
What do you call your a long padded seat designed for two or more people? If it can be converted into a bed, what do you call it?
For my parents such a piece of furniture is a settee, and I used to use this name as well. Now I usually call it a sofa. We also have a piece of furniture that came from my grandparents and that we call a settle – a long wooden seat with a high, straight wooden back, wooden arms and a narrow seat with a cushion on top. The seat also lifts up and we store board games inside.
Tiffin
I encountered the word tiffin the other day as the name of type of cake and wondered where it comes from.
According to the OED, tiffin is a light midday meal or luncheon in India and neighbouring eastern countries. It is also used as a verb meaning ‘to take tiffin/lunch’ or ‘to provide with tiffin’.
It is thought to derive from the English slang/dialect word tiffing, from the verb to tiff, which means ‘to take a little drink or sip’. The origins of tiff are unknown.
Tiffin is used to refer to snacks between meals in southern India and Nepal. Elsewhere in India tiffin might be a packed lunch, which is often delivered by dabbawallahs or tiffin wallahs on bicycles in places like Mumbai, and is packed in a lunch box known as a tiffin carrier, a tiffin-box, a dabba or a tiffin (see picture top right). Such lunches may contain such things as rice, curry, vegetables, dal, chapatis or spicy meats.
In the early 19th century the British custom of having a large meal during the afternoon was found to be less than ideal for the hot climate of India, and British inhabitants of India acquired the Indian custom of a light meal at midday and a larger meal in the evening. The earliest reference to tiffin in the OED dates back to 1800.
Sources: Wikipedia & World Wide Words
The tiffin cake I ate contained chocolate, dates, crushed biscuits, raisins and other goodies, and was rather tasty. There are recipes for this type of tiffin here and here.