Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
Month: March 2019
Books, books, books
One of the Czech words I learnt this week is knihkupectví [ˈkɲɪxkupɛt͡stviː], which means bookstore / bookshop.
It’s one of a number of words that come from kniha (book), including :
- knihkupec – book seller
- knihovna – library, bookcase
- knihovník – librarian
- knihomol – bibliophile, book lover, bookworm
- knížka / knížečka – diminutives of book
- knižní záložka – bookmark
The word kniha comes from the Proto-Slavic *kъniga (book), but beyond that its origins are shrouded in the mists of time. More details.
In Czech it’s easy to see the connection between these words, which makes learning them easier. In English there are book-related words derived from Old English (book), Latin (library) and Greek (bibliophile).
In Welsh most book-related words share a common root:
- llyfr [ɬɨ̞vr / ɬɪvr̩] – book
- llyfygell – library
- llyfygellydd – librarian
- siop llyfrau – bookshop / bookstore
- llyfraf / llyfro / llyfru – to book, record, register, enrol
- llyfran – small book, booklet, pamphlet
- llyfreugar – fond of books
- llyfrgarwr – bibliophile, bookworm
- llyfrbryf – bookworm
- llyfrgaes – bookcase
- llyfrgaer – bookkish, studious
- llyfrnod – bookmark
- cyfriflyfr – ledger
- dyddlyfr – diary, daybook
- gwerslyfr – textbook
- llawlyfr – handbook, manual
The word llyfr was borrowed from the Latin liber (book; the inner bark of a tree), which is also the root of the English word library, and words for book in many other European languages [source].
Blah blah English blah blah
A Danish friend came to visit Bangor this week. He makes the ActualFluency podcast, and is one of the people behind such courses as Italian Uncovered.
We talked a lot about websites and marketing, particularly email marketing, which I haven’t done before, but am going to try.
As well as Danish and English, he also speaks Russian and Hungarian, and has studied other languages. He doesn’t know any Welsh though, and I was curious to find out what Welsh sounded like to him. As I speak and understand Welsh, I can’t get an outsider’s perspective on it. To him it sounded very foreign – something like “blah blah blah blah English word blah blah blah blah”.
When I listen to languages I don’t know, they may sound like that to me. Mostly mysterious sounds with occasional recognisable words. The recognisable words are borrowed from English, or from another language I know, or are the names of places or people.
When listening to languages related to ones I know, I can usually understand more, or at least recognise more words.
What do unknown languages sound like to you?
The hieroglyphs in the image mean “The cat dances when the crocodile hides” (iw ib(A) miw imn msH), and come from Hieroglyphs.net
Language Quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?