Babysiteáil

By Simon

Listening to Raidió na Gaeltachta today I heard the word babysiteáil, in a sentence something like “Tá sé ag Babysiteáil dúinne.” (He babysits for us). This caught my attention because I don’t seem to hear as many English words made into verbs like this in Irish as I do in Welsh. The Welsh equivalent is babysitio, or gwarchod.

There are ways of saying baby-sit in Irish: páistí a fheighil (to care for children) and aire a thabhairt do pháistí (to give care to children).

If you put baby-sit into Google Translate, the Irish comes out as leanbh-suí – a literal translation. The Welsh version, baban-sefyll, is also a literal translation. For other languages the translations are perhaps better: e.g. garder les enfants (French) and cuidar niños (Spanish).

Perils of machine translation

By Simon

Today we have a guest post by David Ackermann of Romo Translations

When it comes to translating web copy, most people agree that sophisticated translation tools will never be able to accurately translate an entire website or web page into a foreign language. There is however an ongoing debate about whether or not shorter snippets of text can be accurately translated by using translation software. This post takes a look at this scenario and puts Google Translate to the test.

Why free translation tools are not ideal for translating your adwords campaign

Web translation has long been a topic of discussion amongst industry enthusiasts. Most people agree that when it comes to entire web site translations, the use of tools such as Google translate and other full translation “machines” out there simply won’t suffice. A slightly grey area however, arises when it comes to shorter snippets of text such as those used for Google Adwords campaigns. Let’s take a look at an example of a Google Adwords Translation and test whether Google Translate will do a good job for us:

For this scenario, let’s assume that you run a car insurance company and wish to extend your business from the UK to a French audience. You need to translate your Adwords text ads into French so you decide to make use of Google Translate. Your primary keyword which is “Car Insurance” receives over 9 million searches a month from Google in the UK. “Car insurance” typed into Google Translate returns the phrase “L’assurance automobile” – very snazzy! You decide to simply change the relevant words in your Adwords campaign and start targeting French internet users. That was quick, painless and more importantly – FREE! Web language translation at its best!

Now, although “L’assurance automobile” is a technically correct translation, it is just not a commonly used term to refer to car insurance in France. A quick check in Adwords shows that “L’assurance automobile” returns a hit list of “not enough data”. Weird huh? Not really. I call my (imaginary) friend, “Jean Paul” and ask him what he would enter in French if he was looking for car insurance? He replies saying that he would use the phrase “assurance auto” which is commonly used; otherwise he’d use “assurance voiture” which is a popular phrase used in his small community. Upon checking these searches I can see that there are now significantly more hits in Google Adwords.

This was me simply translating two words: “car insurance”. Imagine the inaccuracies that would occur should I translate an entire ad using web translation software. The risks could be even worse so for legal translations! For business purposes, you’ll be better off using a professional translation services agency. You need to chat to them, explain your business, define your target audience and supply them with information on the tone you want your copy to express. Yes, it takes more time, and costs money, but it doesn’t cost as much as you think. A Web translator will charge you per hour, per word or per project. Costs per hour start at about 5–10 Euros. If you have 10 Adwords ads you wish to translate, this could easily be done in an hour or two. 10 Euros for web translation to ensure your company’s image is protected and, better yet, promoted to an international audience, is a small cost with massive benefits.

Brain training

By Simon

According to an article I came across today in the Financial Times, computer games designed to improve your brain have only negligible effect on your mental ability and cognitive function.

Researchers at Cambridge University, Manchester University and King’s College London have carried out large-scale clinical trials of brain training games and found very little or no improvements in the participants who played the games. In some cases the control group showed more improvement than the brain training group. The conclusion is that while there’s no harm in brain training, apart from the cost of buying the programs, it doesn’t have any significant benefit either. The lead researcher, Dr Adrian Owen of Cambridge University, commented that,

“Brain training doesn’t do you any harm but you might as well do something else mentally stimulating, like learning a new language – it’s as good as brain training and you will be able to speak a foreign language.”

Have you tried any of these brain training programs? Have they been effective?

Spincop

By Simon

Spider / Spincop

William Caxton introduced printing into England, and also translated a number of literary works from French, Latin and Dutch. Within his translations he used words he picked up while learning and practising his trade in Germany and Belgium, including spincop, from the Dutch spinnekop (spider), and okselle, from the Dutch oksel (armpit).

The English word spider comes via the Middle English spither and the Old English spiþra from the Proto-Germanic *spenthro, which comes from *spenwanan (to spin). Another Old English for spider was gangewifre (a weaver as he goes). In other Germanic languages the words for spider retain the link to spin: Spinne (German), spinnekop / spin (Dutch), spindel (Swedish) and שפּין (shpin) – Yiddish.

When I came across the word spincop it set me wondering whether it might be related to a Welsh word for spider, copyn (also cop, pryf cop(yn), corryn). Does anyone know the etymology of these words?

The Proto-Indo-European root word for spider is *araKsn, and the words for spider in the Romance languages come from this root: aranea (Latin), aranya (Catalan), aranha (Portuguese), araña (Spanish), ragno (Italian).

While okselle didn’t really catch on in Standard English, a related word, oxter, is used in dialects of Northern England, and in Hiberno English and Scots. This word is thought to come from the Old English ōxta, which is probably related to the Old English word axle or axis – eax. The medical term for this part of the body is axilla, which comes from Latin and is diminutive of ala (wing).

Chef-io

By Simon

Yesterday while listening to Blas, a cookery programme on Radio Cymru, I heard one of the contributors use the verb “chef-io” [ˈʃefɪɔ] in a sentence something like “Dw i wedi chef-io ers X flywyddyn” (I’ve been chefing for X years).

This struck me as quite a useful verbing of a noun and is also possible in English, though I’ve never heard this usage before. You could also say “Dw i wedi gweithio fel chef ers X flywyddyn” / “I’ve been working as a chef for X years”, but might be a bit too long-winded.

There are Welsh words for chef, by the way – pen-cogydd (head cook) and prif gogydd (main cook).

Another interesting verbing I heard recently was in a programme about mountain climbing in which the mountaineers talked about summiting, i.e. reaching the summit of the mountain. Have you heard this usage before, or other verbing like this.

Hens and chickens

By Simon

Hens

There are a number of words in English for the domesticated fowl Gallus gallus domesticus:

  • Chicken – general word for the birds and their meat
  • Cock / Rooster – adult male
  • Cockerel – adult male under a year old
  • Hen -adult female
  • Pullet – young female
  • Chook – general word for the birds used in Australia, New Zealand and some varieties of British English
  • Broiler – a type of chicken raised specifically for meat production

Chicken originally referred only to the chicks of this species, and the general term for them was domestic fowl or fowl. It comes from the Old English word cicen (also written cycen and ciecen) and is probably a diminutive of cocc.

Cock comes from the Old English cocc (male bird) and is thought to be an imitation of the sounds made by birds.

Rooster is derived from to roost, from the Old English hróst (perch / roost), and was originally roost cock in the 17th century but lost the second half of the phrase thanks to Puritan influence.

Hen comes from the Old English henn, which can be traced back to the PIE root *kan (to sing), via the West Germanic *khannjo, the feminine form of *khan(e)ni (male fowl, cock – lit. “bird who sings for sunrise”). In Old English hana was cock/rooster.

Pullet comes from the Latin pullus (a young animal or bird) via the Old French poulette (chicken), a diminutive poule (hen), and the Anglo-Norman pullet (chick / young bird).

Cockerel is just a diminutive of cock.

Chook probably comes from the British dialect words chuck or chucky (chicken) and is imitative of the sound made by chickens.

Broiler comes from the Old French bruller (to broil, roast).

Bœuf

By Simon

One thing we were discussing last week at the French conversation group was words for animals and their meat. In French the words for meat are also used for the animals: bœuf means beef and ox, porc means pork and pig, mouton means mutton and sheep, while in English there are different words for these things.

The popular explanation for the different English words for the animals and their meat is that after the Norman invasion of Britain in 1066, the animals were reared by the English, who called them cý, pecges and scéapes (cows, pigs and sheep) and eaten by the Normans, who called them boef, porc and motun (beef, pork and mutton). However the distinction between the names for the meat and the animals didn’t become set until the 18th century, and mutton and beef were used to refer to sheep and cows for many centuries after the Norman Conquest.

Bœuf comes from the Latin bos (ox, cow), the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root of which is gwóu (cow). This is also the root of vache, the French word for cow, via the Latin vacca (cow), and of the English word cow, via the Old English cú (pl. cý) and the reconstructed Proto-Germanic word kwom. In fact many of the words for cow, bull or cattle in Indo-European languages probably come from the PIE root gwóu. Examples include: bó (Irish and Scottish Gaelic), booa (Manx), buwch (Welsh), bugh (Cornish), buoc’h (Breton), govs (Latvian), կով (kov) (Armenian), گاو (gav – Persian) and Kuh (German).

As well as ox or steer and beef, bœuf also means (a) surprising; unusual; (b) stupid (in Swiss French); (c) (musical) jam session / jazz improvisation.

Idioms containing bœuf include:

  • avoir un boeuf sur la langue (to have a cow on the tongue) = to keep quiet; not give anything away
  • boeuf carottes (beef carrots) = internal affairs (Police)
  • comme un boeuf (as an ox) = very strong
  • gagner son boeuf (to earn one’s beef) = to earn a living
  • on n’est pas des boeufs (we are not cattle) = a little consideration and respect, I beg you

Meanings of mouton include: (a) sheep; (b) mutton; (c) sheep / lamb (someone easily led); (d) stool pigeon / grass; (e) moutons = white horses (on waves) / fluff / fluffy or fleecy clouds. Mutton and mouton possibly come from the Gaulish multo (ram) via the Middle Latin multonem and the Old French moton (ram, wether, sheep).

Idioms containing mouton include:

  • mouton à cinq pattes (a sheep with five feet) = white elephant rara avis / rare bird (something difficult or impossible to find)
  • revenir à ses moutons (to return to one’s sheep) = to return to the thread / subject of one’s discourse
  • suivre comme un mouton (to follow like a sheep) = to act like everyone else; gregarious

Sources
http://www.anglo-norman.net/
http://www.ceantar.org/Dicts/MB2/mb04.html
http://www.indo-european.nl/
http://www.le-dictionnaire.com/
http://www.etymonline.com/
http://indoeuro.bizland.com/project/phonetics/word28.html

Berreen bog

By Simon

Teisen lap

Ren mee teisen lap (berreen bog) fastyr jiu lesh oijys ayns my lioar oijys Vretnagh. T’eh brishlagh çheumooie as bog çheusthie, as ta blass feer vie er. Ta mee goaill taitnys mooar as coagyraght, as ta mee janoo cooid vooar jeh er y gherrid.

Cáca tais

Rinne mé teisen lap (cáca tais) leis oideas í mo leabhar oideas Bhreatnaise. Tá sé go briosc amuigh agus go bog as go tais istigh, agus tá blas an-mhaith air. Bhainim an-sult as cócaireacht, agus bím ag déanamh cuid mhaith le déanaí.

Teisen lap

Mi nes i teisen lap y prynhawn ‘ma efo rysáit yn fy lyfr ryseitiau Cymreig. Mae hi’n greisionllyd tu allan ac yn feddal ac yn laith tu mewn, ac mae blas hyfryd arni. Dw i’n mwynhau coginio yn fawr, ac dw i’n gwneud ychydig ohono yn ddiweddar.