Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know, or can you guess, the language?
Tag: omniglot
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
Language Quiz
Nesting Niches
What connects the word niche with nests? Let’s find out.
A niche include:
- A cavity, hollow, or recess, generally within the thickness of a wall, for a statue, bust, or other erect ornament.
- A function within an ecological system to which an organism is especially suited.
- Any position of opportunity for which one is well-suited, such as a particular market in business.
There are several ways to pronounce it, including [niːʃ], which rhymes with leash, [nɪʃ], which rhymes with fish, and [nɪtʃ], which rhymes with pitch. Which one do you prefer?
It comes from French niche [niʃ] (niche, kennel), from Middle French niche, from Old French niche, from nicher (to make a nest), from Latin *nīdicāre (to nest), from nīdus (nest), Proto-Italic *nizdos (nest), from Proto-Indo-European *nisdós (nest), from *ni (down) & *sed- (sit) – literally “where [the bird] sits down” [source].
Words from the same PIE roots include neth (sprout, bud) in Albanian, նստել [nəsˈtel] (to sit, sink, fit, shrink) in Armenian, ligzda (nest) in Latvian, gniazdo (nest, socket) in Polish, नीड़ (nīṛ – nest) in Hindi, nead (nest, bed, lair, home, den) in Irish, and nido (nest, home, nursery school) in Italian [source].
The English word nest comes from the same PIE roots, via Middle English nest (nest), Old English nest (nest), Proto-West Germanic *nest (nest), and Proto-Germanic *nestą (nest, provisions, food and supplies) [source].
The English word nidus (an aggregate of neurons; a nest of insects or small animals) also comes from the same roots, via Latin nīdus (nest), as do nidation (the implantation of the early embryo in the uterus), nidificate (to make or build a nest), nidolody (the study of nests) and nidifugous (that leaves the nest shortly after hatching) [source].
The archaic English words nid(e) (a nest of pheasants) and nye (a brood or flock of pheasants), also share the same roots. They were probably borrowed from Middle French nid (nest), from Latin nīdus (nest) [source].
Yielding Payment
What links the word yield with payments, tax and gold? Let’s find out.
Meanings of yield include:
- To give as a result or outcome; to produce or render.
- To give up; to surrender or capitulate.
- A product.
- The quantity of something produced.
And it used to mean payment, money or tribute.
The verb comes from Middle English yẹ̄lden (to relinquish, give up, surrender, to pay, to fullfil an obligation), from Old English ġieldan (to pay, to reward, to worship), from Proto-West Germanic *geldan (to pay for), from Proto-Germanic *geldaną (to pay, to have/give value), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeldʰ- (to pay, to repay).
The noun comes from the same PIE root, via Middle English yẹ̄ld (tax, agricultural yield, reward, recompense), Old English ġield (payment, tax, tribute, cost), Proto-West Germanic *geld (payment), and Proto-Germanic *geldą (reward, gift, money) [source].
Words from the same roots include guild in English, geld (money) and gelden (to apply, count, be considered) in Dutch, Geld (money) and gelten (to be valid, count, be worth) in German, gjald (fee, payment) and gjalda (to pay) in Icelandic, gæld (debt, debts) and gælde (to hold good, be valid) in Danish, gille (feast, guild) in Swedish, and geall (pledge, pawn, token, bet, asset, prize) in Irish [source].
The English word gelt means money, tribute, tax, or chocolate coins usually eaten on Hanukkah (a.k.a. Hanukkah gelt). It originated in thieves’ cant and Polari in the UK, and was later adopted by Jews and used in general slang. It comes from the same roots as yield, etc, via Middle High German gelt (money) and Yiddish געלט (gelt – money) [source].
The English word geld, which historically meant a payment, particularly a medieval form of land tax, also comes from the same roots [source]. It is found in Danegeld, a tax raised originally to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders in the 10th and 11th centuries and later continued as a land tax [source].
Language quiz
Knobbly Monsters
When does a alligator become a knobbly monster? Let’s find out.
Some journalists tend to use alternative ways to refer to the subjects of their articles when mentioning them for the second (or third) time, rather than using the same word twice.
Apparently in an article about alligators, journalist Paul Hudson, referred to them as reptiles then the knobbly monsters. Such alternative descriptions became known as knobbly monsters as a result. They are also known as gratuitous synonyms, pov or popular orange vegetable (a.k.a. the carrot), and American writer and journalist Charles W. Morton (1899–1967) referred to this practice as the ‘the elongated yellow fruit school of writing’.
In 1926, H. W. Fowler (1858-1933), an English schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on English usage, wrote in his book A Dictionary of Modern English Usage:
“Elegant variation. It is the second-rate writers, those intent rather on expressing themselves prettily than on conveying their meaning clearly, & still more those whose notions of style are based on a few misleading rules of thumb that are chiefly open to the allurements of elegant variation” [source]
At that time, elegant was a disparaging adjective for pretentious or precious refinement.
Other examples of knobbly monsters / elegant variation include:
- The watery playground (paddling pool)
- The whirring powertool (chainsaw)
- Large balls of the freezing ice (hail)
- The pepperpot-shaped trundling nasties (Daleks)
- The tentacled monster (Giant squid)
- The chunky chin-blankets (beards)
- The red-jacketed festive gift-bringer (Santa)
- The fatty breakfast treat (sausage)
- Elongated yellow fruit (banana)
- The numbered spheroids (billiard balls)
- Hen-fruit safari (Easter egg hunt)
- Succulent bivalves (oysters)
- Rubber-tired mastodon of the highway (truck)
- Succulent bivales (oysters)
- The toothsome cocoa-based delight (chocolate)
Here’s an actual example of a knobbly monster in the wild [source]:
Elegant variations for everyday terms were commonly-used in Old English and Old Norse poetry, and were known as kennings. Examples include báru fákr (wave’s horse) for ship, hron rade (whale’s road) for sea and grennir gunn-más (feeder of raven) for warrior [source]
Sources: https://www.bbc.co.uk/lancashire/fun_stuff/2004/09/07/monsters.shtml
https://mistakeswritersmake.com/knobbly-monsters/
https://pjhoury.com/knobbly-monsters/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Morton_(editor)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegant_variation
Inflammability
Something that is not divisible is indivisible and something that is not accurate is inaccurate, yet something that is inflammable can be burnt. Why is that? Let’s find out.
The word inflammable [ɪnˈflæməbəl] means:
- Capable of burning
- Easily set on fire
- Easily excited; set off by the slightest excuse; easily enraged or inflamed.
It can also mean the opposite: Incapable of burning; not easily set on fire. It comes from Middle French inflammable, from Medieval Latin īnflammābilis, from Latin īnflammāre (to set on fire), from in- (in, on) & flamma (flame) [source].
A related word, (to) inflame means to set on fire, to kindle, to cause to burn, flame or glow, to put in a state of inflammation, or to produce morbid heat, congestion, or swelling, and something that is inflammable can be inflamed [source].
Other related words include inflammation in English , infiammare (to set fire to, to inflame, stir up or flush sth) in Italian, inflamar (to inflame, catch fire) in Portuguese, and inflamar (to inflame, ignite) in Spanish [source].
The word flammable is a back-formation from inflammable and means capable of burning, easily set of fire, or extremely contentious. The prefix in-/im- is often used like un- and non- to negate the meaning of words, such as unaware and non-abrasive. It doesn’t have this meaning in inflammable, but to avoid confusion, the word flammable was coined [source].
Other words that can be used to indicate that something is not easily set on fire include non-flammable, noninflammable, unflammable, uninflammable, incombustible, non-combustible, not flammable and fireproof [source].
In French and Spanish, something that can be burnt is inflammable, while something that cannot be burnt is ininflammable, and there’s a similar word in Italian: ininfiammabile – a nice pile up of prefixes! [source]
More on inflammable v flammable:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/flammable-or-inflammable
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combustibility_and_flammability