Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know, or can you guess, the language?
String Phones
In many languages, words for telephone are some variation of telephone, but in some, such as Swahili, the word for phone is completely different – simu. Let’s find out where it comes from and what other words are related to it.
The Swahili word simu means telephone, telephone message, telegraph or telegram. Some related words include:
- simu ya mkono(ni) / simu za rununu = mobile phone
- simu maizi = smartphone
- kibanda cha simu = telephone booth / box
- kitabu cha simu = telephone book
- piga simu = to make a call, to phone
It comes from Omani Arabic سيم (sīm – telegram), from Persian سیم (sim – wire, string, cord; silver, wealth, money [poetic]), from Middle Persian (ʾ)sym / (a)sēm (silver), from Old Persian 𐎿𐎡𐎹𐎶𐎶 (siyamam – silver), from Ancient Greek ἄσημον (ásēmon – silverware), from ἄσημος (ásēmos – unmarked, unintelligible, indistinct, silver) from ἄσημος, from σῆμα (sêma – mark, sign, token), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰyéh₂mn̥, from *dʰeyh₂- (to perceive, to see) [source].
Words from the same PIE roots include semaphore, semantic in English, semáforo (traffic light, semaphore) in Spanish, σημασία (simasía – meaning, sense, significance) in Greek, sim (string, wire, lead) in Azerbaijani, אסימון (asimón – token) in Hebrew, and сым (sym – wire) in Kazakh [source].
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented a device he called the telephone, which he described as an “apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically”. This was the first use of the word telephone to refer to the telephone we know today. Before then, it had been used to refer to other similar devices [source].
The English word telephone was borrowed from French téléphone (telephone), which comes from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle – afar) and φωνή (phōnḗ – voice, sound) [source].
Other languages that do not use some version of the word telephone include:
- Armenian: հեռախոս (heṙaxos) – from եռա- (heṙa – far) and խոսել (xosel – to speak)
- Breton: pellgomz – from pell (far) and komz (to speak, talk)
- Chinese: 电话 [電話] (diànhuà) – from 电 [電] (diàn – lightning, electric power, energy, electricity) and 话 [話] (huà – speech, talk, words) – borrowed from Japanese 電話 (denwa – telephone, phone call)
- Finnish: puhelin – from puhella (to chatter)
- Icelandic: sími – from síma (cord, rope)
Incidentally, the similarity between the Icelandic word sími and the Swahili word simu is entirely coincidental, and they are not related.
Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/telephone#Translations
Language Quiz
Gluten Glue
Did you know that the words glue and gluten are related to each other, and to the word clay?
Glue [ɡluː] is:
- A hard gelatin made by boiling bones and hides, used in solution as an adhesive; or any sticky adhesive substance.
- Anything that binds two things or people together.
- A viscid secretion on the surface of certain plants.
It comes from Middle English glew [ɡliu̯] (glue, birdlime, tar, resin), from Old French glu (glue, birdlime), from Late Latin glūs, from Latin glūten (glue), from Proto-Italic *gloiten, from Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥, from *gleyH- (to smear, to stick, glue, putty) [source].
Gluten [ˈɡluːtən / ˈɡluːtn̩] is:
- The major protein in cereal grains, especially wheat; responsible for the elasticity in dough and the structure in baked bread.
It comes from Middle French gluten, from Latin glūten (glue), etc. [source].
Clay [kleɪ] is:
- A mineral substance made up of small crystals of silica and alumina, that is ductile when moist; the material of pre-fired ceramics.
It comes from Middle English cley, from Old English clǣġ (clay), from Proto-West Germanic *klaij (clay), from Proto-Germanic *klajjaz (clay), from Proto-Indo-European *gloy-(y)ó-s, from *gleyH- (to smear, to stick, glue, putty) [source].
So they all come from the same PIE root. Other words from that root include glynu (to stick, adhere, settle) in Welsh, klína (to smear) in Icelandic, glina (clay, loam) in Polish, liiv (sand) in Estonian, klei (clay) in Dutch [source].
Language Quiz
Shearing Scissors
Why does the word scissors have a silent c in it, and is it related to the word shears? Let’s find out.
Scissors [ˈsɪzəz / ˈsɪzɚz] are:
- A tool used for cutting thin material, consisting of two crossing blades attached at a pivot point in such a way that the blades slide across each other when the handles are closed. [other meanings are available]
It comes from Middle English sisours (scissors, shears, [candle] snuffer), from Old French cusoirs (a cutting tool), from Late Latin cīsōria, from cīsōrium (a cutting tool), from Latin -cīsus or caesus (cut, hewn, felled, stuck, beaten), from *caedō (to cut, hew, fell, strike, beat), from Proto-Italic *kaidō (to cut, hew, fell), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂eyd- (to cut, hew) [source].
The c was added to scissors during the 16th century due to the influence of the Medieval Latin word scissor (tailor, carver) and the Latin word scindō (to cut, tear, read, separate), which both come from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (to divide, split) [source].
Words from the same PIE root include cement, to excise, incision, precise and chisel in English, qeth (to cut) in Albanian, césped (lawn, grass, turf) in Spanish, précis (specific, explicit, sharp) in French [source].
In Old English, the word for scissors or shears was sċēar [ʃæ͜ɑːr], which comes from Proto-West Germanic *skāri, from Proto-Germanic *skēriz (cutting, cuttable), from *skeraną (to shear), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (to cut off, sever, separate, divide) [source].
Words from the same roots include shear(s), shred, share, scourge, sharp, scrotum, cortex and carnage in English, scheren (to shear) in German, skörd (harvest) in Swedish, ysgar (separation, split, divorce) in Welsh, cena (dinner) in Italian and Spanish, and harr (to weed, prune) in Albanian [source].
So, scissors and shears are not related.
Another word with a silent / unnecessary c is schist [ʃɪst], which refers to any of a variety of coarse-grained crystalline metamorphic rocks with a foliated structure that allows easy division into slabs or slates.
It comes from French schiste [ʃist] (shale, schist), from Latin lapis schistos (“stone that is easy to split”), from Ancient Greek σχῐστός [skʰis.tós] (skhĭstós, cloven, divided, divisible), from σχῐ́ζω [skʰíz.dɔː] (skhĭ́zō, to split, cleave, divide), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- (to divide, split) [source].
Words from the same PIE root include schism (a split or separation within a group or organization, typically caused by discord) and schizophrenia in English, scindere (to split up, divide, cleave) in Italian, and scheef (crooked, weird) in Dutch [source].
Language Quiz
Select Choices
The Swahili lessons I did today were about politics, and one of the words I learnt was uchaguzi, which means election or selection. I was able to guess it’s meaning from the context, and because the -chagu appears in words related to choosing.
Uchaguzi comes from chagua (to choose, pick, pick out, select). Related words include:
- chaguo = choice, selection, the selected
- kuchagua = to choose, elect, deform, distort
- kuchaguliwa = to be chosen
- mchaguzi = fastidious person, choosy person
Sources: https://swahili-dictionary.com/swahili-english/chagua_chagua
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chagua#Swahili
Another word that I’ve noticed appearing in various forms is (ku)sikia, which means to hear, obey, pay attention, feel or sense. Related words include:
- sikio = ear
- (ku)sikiliza = to listen (to), to hear (a court case)
- sikika = listening
- msikilizaji = a listener
- usikivu = hearing
Sources: https://swahili-dictionary.com/swahili-english/sikia_sikia
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sikia#Swahili
I’ve been learning Swahili for a few months now, and am beginning to be able to guess the meanings of some words based on other words I know, or to at least recognise that they might be related. I feel like I’m making good progress, but there is a lot more to learn.
Language Quiz
Good Intentions
One of the things that came up in conversation last night was the expression the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This got me wondering about where it comes from and whether there are similar phrases in other languages.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions means that well-intended acts can potentially lead to disasters. Phrases with a similar meaning is hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works and the streets of hell are paved with promises [source].
The origins of this phrase are not known, but there have been sayings with a similar meaning going back a long way. For example, in the Aeneid (book 6, lines 126-129), Virgil wrote:
“facilis descensus Averno;
noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;
sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,
hoc opus, hic labor est” [source].
“The gates of hell are open night and day;
Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:
But to return, and view the cheerful skies,
In this the task and mighty labor lies” [source].
In the Bible (Ecclesiasticus 21:10) we have:
“The way of sinners is made plain with stones, but at the end thereof is the pit of hell.”
In around 1604, Bernard Clairvaux is claimed to have written, though probably didn’t:
L’enfer est plein de bonnes volontés ou désirs
“Hell is full of good meanings and wills”
In 1670 in A Collection of English Proverbs collected by John Ray we have:
“Hell is full of good meanings and wishes”
In 1741 John Wesley wrote in his sermon The Almost Christian:
“‘Hell is paved’, saith one, ‘with good intentions.'”
In 1791 in James Boswell’s biography of Samuel Johnson, Boswell quotes Johnson as saying to an acquaintance:
“Sir, hell is paved with good intentions.”
In 1811 in an English translation of a book by Johann Jacob Rambach we find:
“Der Weg zur Höllen sey mit lauter gutem Vorsatz gepflastert.”
“The road to hell is paved with good resolutions”
Related phrases in other languages include:
- Catalan: l’infern està ple de bones intencions
(Hell is full of good intentions.) - French: l’enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions
(Hell is paved with good intentions) - Mandarin Chinese: 好心没好报 [好心沒好報] (hǎoxīn méi hǎobào)
(Good intentions don’t go unrewarded) - Spanish: el infierno está empedrado de buenas intenciones
(Hell is paved with good intentions)
How about in other languages?
Sources and more information about these expressions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_road_to_hell_is_paved_with_good_intentions
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions.html
https://idiomorigins.org/origin/road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions