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.
In this episode we are looking into words for swan.
In Proto-Celtic word for swan was *eli-, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *h₁el- (swan, bird, waterfowl) [Source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
eala [ˈalˠə] = swan in Irish
eala [jal̪ˠə] = swan in Scottish Gaelic
olla(y) = (mute) swan in Manx
alarch [ˈalarχ/ˈaːlarχ] = swan, the constellation Cygnus in Welsh
alargh = (mute) swan in Cornish
alarc’h = swan in Breton
Words from the same Proto-Celtic root include alondra (lark) in Spanish, alouette (lark) in French, and allodola (skylark) in Italian. They were probably borrowed from the Gaulish alauda (skylark), from ala (swan) [Source].
Other words from the PIE root *h₁el- include auk in English, olor (swan) in Latin, alke (auk) in Danish and Norwegian, and álka (razorbill) in Faroese and Icelandic [Source].
More details of words for swan in Celtic languages can be found on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.
Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.
There are new language pages about:
Burarra (Gu-jingarliya), an Arnhem language spoken in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Limbum, an Eastern Grassfields language spoken mainly in Cameroon, and also in Nigeria
Yankunytjatjara, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken in South Australia.
There are new numbers pages in:
Maldivian / Dhivehi (ދިވެހި), an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the Maldives.
Venetian (vèneto), a Romance language spoken mainly in Venice and surrounding areas of Italy.
Dagbani (Dagbanli), a Gur language spoken mainly in northern Ghana.
On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Cave Paintings Deciphered?, about recent news of the possible decoding of certain symbols found in cave paintings, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:
Here’s a clue: this is language is spoken in China, but isn’t Mandarin
The mystery language in this week’s language quiz was Wendat (Waⁿdat), an Iroquoian language formerly spoken in parts of Oklahoma in the USA and Quebec in Canada which is being revived.
In this Adventure we find out what connects the words harbinger and harbour.
A harbinger [ˈhɑːbɪndʒə/ˈhɑɹbɪnd͡ʒəɹ] is:
One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come;
A person sent in advance of a royal party or army to obtain lodgings for them (obsolete)
Harbinger is used most often in particular phrases: it can be negative, as in a harbinger of doom, or positive, as in a harbinger of Spring [source].
It comes from Middle English herberjour [ˌ(h)ɛrbi(r)ˈd͡ʒuːr] (a host, one who provides accommodation or hospitality, a person sent in advance (of an army) to arrange lodgings), from Old French herbergeor (innkeeper, host), from herbergier (to set up camp, to (take) shelter), via Frankish, from Proto-West-Germanic *harjabergu (army camp, barracks, refuge, shelter), from *hari (army) and *bergu (protection) [source].
Words from the same roots include harbour in English, Herberge (hostel, inn) in German, herberg (inn, lodging) in Dutch, härbärge (a place to stay, homeless shelter) in Swedish, herbergi (room, apartment) in Icelandic, and auberge (hostel) in French [source].
I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur.
In this episode we are looking into words for new and year in Celtic languages.
One Proto-Celtic word for new is *nouyos, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *néw(y)os (new), from which most words for new in Indo-European languages are descended [Source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
nua [n̪ˠuə / n̪ˠuː] = new, fresh, recent, novel; newness, new thing in Irish
newydd [ˈnɛu̯.ɨ̞ð] = new, recent, newly-grown, modern, late, novel, changed, fresh in Welsh
nowydh = fresh, new, novel, newly, just in Cornish
nevez [ˈne.ve] = new in Breton
The town of Noia in A Coruña in Galicia in the northwest of Spain probably gets its name from the same Proto-Celtic root, possibly via the Celtiberian nouiza [Source].
Another Proto-Celtic word for new is *ɸūros, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *puHrós (wheat), possibly from *pewH- (to be clean, pure) [Source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
úr [uːɾˠ] = fresh; free, liberal, moist in Irish
ùr [uːr] = new, fresh in Scottish Gaelic
oor = new, sweet, novel, sappy, crisp, span, fresh, hour, raw in Manx
ir [iːr] = verdant, green, juicy, sappy, moist, succulent in Welsh
yr [ɪ:r/iːr] = fresh in Cornish
Words from the same PIE roots include pure in English, პური (ṗuri – bread, wheat) in Georgian, and պուրի (puri – a type of Georgian bread) in Armenian [Source].
In Proto-Celtic words for year were *blēdanī/*bleido. which possibly come from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰloyd- (pale) [source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
bliain [bʲlʲiənʲ] = year in Irish
bliadhna [bliən̪ˠə] = year, vintage in Scottish Gaelic
blein = [blʲeːnʲ / blʲiᵈn] = year, twelvemonth in Manx
blwyddyn [ˈblʊɨ̯ðɨ̞n] = year, a long time, ages; lifetime, life in Welsh
bledhen = year in Cornish
bloavezh = year in Breton
Words from the same PIE root include бледный (pale) in Russian, бледен (pale, pallied, insignificant) in Bulgarian, and bledý (pale) in Czech [source].
More details of new and year-related words in Celtic languages can be found on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.
On the Celtiadur blog there’s a post about words for Magic and Spells and related things in Celtic languages. I also made improvements to posts on the Celtiadur about words for Fresh & New and Years.
In other news, I spent Christmas with my family in Lancashire in the northwest of England. It was the first we had all been together in the same place for over 3 years, and was fun. I noticed that my Russian sister-in-law often speaks Russian to her children, but they usually reply in English. My nine-year-old niece understands everything and sometimes speaks Russian, but my six-year-old nephew doesn’t seem to understand as much and rarely if ever speaks Russian.
In this Adventure we’re looking into the origins of the words amok and havoc. It’s a double bill this week as I had a break for Christmas last week.
Amok [əˈmɒk/əˈmʌk] means:
Out of control, especially when armed and dangerous.
In a frenzy of violence, or on a killing spree; berserk.
It usually appears in the phrase to run amok, which means to go on a rampage, to be in an uncontrollable rage, to go beserk, to go postal or to wreak havoc [source].
Amok comes from the Portuguese amouco (amok), from the Malay amuk (to go on a killing spree, to run amok), from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *hamuk. The Tagalog word hamok (fierce fighting, brawl) and the Māori word amo (to charge, attack) come from the same roots [source].
Other English words derived from Malay include bamboo, camphor, cassowary, cockatoo, compound (as in an enclousure), gecko, gingham, gong and orangutan [source].
The word havoc [ˈhævək] means:
Widespread devastation and destruction, mayhem
to pillage, cause havoc
It comes from the Middle English havok (plunder, pillage), from the Old French havok, from havot (pillaging, looting) [source].
It appears in the phrase to wreak havoc, which means to cause damage, disruption or destruction [source]. Incidentally, I wrote about the word wreak on the Omniglot blog this week.
In Middle English it was used in the phrases crien havok (to give the signal for general plundering, and maken havok (to plunder thoroughly and indscriminately) [source]. The phrase, to cry havoc (to give an army the order to plunder) was and possibly still is used in modern English [source].
I chose these words because I spent Christmas with my family (see below), including my niece and nephews, who are all under 10. While they didn’t exactly run amok or wreak havoc, a house full of young children can be a bit chaotic.
I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur.
I’m taking a break from making podcasts and videos over Christmas. Radio Omniglot will return soon.
Silverdale School, where my brother, sister and I all went
In the meantime, I’m spending Christmas with my mum, brother, sister and their families in the wilds of Lancashire in the north west of England. This is the first time I’ve seen them all for 3 years, and the first time I’ve been outside Wales.
Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.
There’s a new writing system called the Naasioi Otomaung Alphabet, which was created by Chief Peter Karatapi to write Naasioi, a language spoken on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
There are new language pages about:
Ghari, an Oceanic language spoken in Vaturanga in the northwest of Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
Naasioi, a South Bougainville language spoken Kieta District of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
Selaru (tel Masylarkwe), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku Tenggara Barat Regency of Maluku Province in the south of Malaysia.
New adapted script: Malay Shavian (𐑳𐑚𐑡𐑳𐑛 𐑥𐑩𐑤𐑳𐑘𐑫 𐑖𐑳𐑢𐑦), which was devised by Damian Izrullah bin Abdullah as an alternative way to write Malay, Indonesian and other Austronesian languages with the Shavian alphabet.
New adapated script: Magyargari (मजगरि), a way to write Hungarian with the Devanagari script devised by Xavier Merica.
Ghari, an Oceanic language spoken in Vaturanga in the northwest of Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
Selaru (tel Masylarkwe), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku Tenggara Barat Regency of Maluku Province in the south of Malaysia.
Ida’an, a North Bornean language spoken in Sabah, Malaysia.
On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post about the Japanese expression 歩行者天国 (hokōsha tengoku), which means a pedestrianised area, or literally “Pedestrian Paradise”, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:
Here’s a clue: this is language is spoken in Nigeria.
The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Bakhtiari Luri (بختیاری), a Western Iranian language spoken mainly in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province in southwestern Iran.
In this episode we’re getting to grips with the word javelin.
A javelin is a light spear thrown with the hand and used as a weapon, or a metal-tipped spear thrown for distance in an athletic field event. It comes from the Old French javelline (javelin), a diminutive of javelot (javelin), from the Vulgar Latin *gabalottus (spear), from the Gaulish *gabalos (fork), from the Proto-Celtic gablā- (fork, forked branch), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰabʰlos (fork, branch of tree) [source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
gabhal [ɡoːəl̪ˠ] = bifurcation, fork, crotch, junction in Irish
gobhal [ɡoːəl̪ˠ] = bifurcation, fork, crotch, junction in Scottish Gaelic
goal = fork, branch, crotch, crutch, junction, perineum in Manx
gafl [gafl] = fork, stride, lap, inner part of the thigh, groin, angle, nook in Welsh
gowl = crotch, fork in Cornish
goal = fork in Breton
The English word gable comes from the same Gaulish root, via the Old French gable [source]. The English word gaffle (a lever used to bend a crossbow) possibly comes from the same Gaulish root, via Middle English gaffolle, the Middle Dutch gaf(f)el (fork) and the Proto-West Germanic *gabulu (fork) [source].
Words in other languages from the same Gaulish root include Gaffel (gaff) in German, gaffel (fork) in Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and kahveli (gaff, fork) in Finnish [source].
More details of fork-related words in Celtic languages can be found on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.
In this Adventure we are snuffling around the origins of the word snort.
Snort [snɔɹt] means:
The sound made by exhaling or inhaling roughly through the nose.
to exhale roughly through the nose; to make a snort
to inhale snuff or another snortable substance
It comes from the Middle English snorten (to snore, breathe heavily, snort), from fnorten/fnōren (to snore loudly, to snort in one’s sleep, (of a horse) to snort), from the Old English fnora (a sneeze, sneezing), from the Proto-Germanic *fnuzô, from the Proto-Indo-European *pnew- (to breathe, snort, sneeze) [source].
Words derived from snort include chortle (a joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle) – a blend of chuckle and snort [source]; and snortle (a hearty laugh that is punctuated by a snort on the inhale) – a blend of snort and chortle [source].
Words from the same roots at snort include πνέω [ˈpne.o] (to blow) in Greek; niezen (to sneeze) in Dutch; sneeze, pneumonia and pneumatic in English; and fnysa (to snort, scoff, sniff, harumph) in Swedish [source].
I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur.
