Author: Simon

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.

Omniglot News (11/02/24)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

There are new language pages about:

  • Iranun, a Danao language spoken mainly in the southwest of Mindanao island in the south of the Philippines.
  • Onhan (Inonhan​), a Western Bisayan language spoken mainly in the Province of Romblon in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines.
  • Southern Sorsogon, a Central Bisayan language spoken in the south of Sorsogon Province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines.

New numbers pages:

  • Onhan (Inonhan​), a Western Bisayan language spoken mainly in the Province of Romblon in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines.
  • Shompen, a Nicobarese language spoken in Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

New phrases page: Gallo (galo), a Romance language spoken in parts of Brittany and Normandy in the northwest of France.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post entitled Mud Glorious Mud, which is about some mud-related words such as lutarious (of, pertaining to, or like, mud; living in mud), and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the northwest of China.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Murrinh-Patha, an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on the west coast of Australia’s Northern Territory.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we look into the marshy origins of the word Quagmire.

On the Celtiadur blog there are new posts entitled Through and Through and Betwixt and Between, and I made improvements to the Green & Verdant and Blue / Green / Grey posts.

JapanesePod101.com

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

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Adventures in Etymology – Quagmire

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we’re looking into the origins of the word quagmire.

quagmire

A quagmire [ˈkwɒɡ.maɪər/ˈkwæɡ.maɪr] is:

  • A swampy, soggy area of ground.
  • A perilous, mixed up and troubled situation; a hopeless tangle.
  • To embroil (a person, etc.) in complexity or difficulty.

The quag part is an obsolete English word meaning quagmire, marsh or bog, from Middle English quabbe (marsh, bog), from Old English cwabba (that which shakes or trembles, something soft and flabby) [source].

The mire part comes from Middle English mire (marshy or swampy land), from Old Norse mýrr (moor, swamp, bog), from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō (bog, swamp, moor), from PIE *mews-yeh₂, from *mews- (moss) [source].

The English word quaggy/quoggy (marshy, soft, flabby) is related to quag, and the Dutch words kwab (a weak, blubbery mass), kwebbelen (to chatter) come and kwebbelkous (chatterbox) from the same roots [source].

Words from the same roots as mire include moss and mousse and moist in English, mos (moss, lichen) in Dutch, Moos (moss, bog, fen, marsh) in German, and mýri (marsh, swamp, bog) in Icelandic [source].

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.

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Omniglot News (04/02/24)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

There are new language pages about:

  • Nishi (Nyishi / न्यिसि), a Western Tani language spoken in Arunachal Pradesh and Assam in northeastern India.
  • Khengkha (ཁེངས་​ཁ་​), an Eastern Bodish language spoken in southern Bhutan.
  • Jumli (जुम्ली खस), an Eastern Pahari language spoken mainly in Karnali Province in northeastern Nepal.

New constructed script: Wiqa, which was created by Scott Printz to write his conlang of the same name. It was inspired by Korean Hangeul, Canadian Aboriginal Syllabics and human speech anatomy.

Sample text in Wiqa

New numbers pages:

  • Khorasani Turkic (Xorasan Türkçesi) a Turkic language spoken in northeastern Iran.
  • Kumandy (куманды) a Kipchak Turkic language spoken in the south of the Russian Federation.
  • Khengkha (ཁེངས་​ཁ་​), an Eastern Bodish language spoken in southern Bhutan.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post entitled Gatekeeping / Geatóireacht, which is about how some people can be very precious about what they consider ‘correct’ language, with particular reference to Irish, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the Northern Territory of Australia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Kabiye (Kabɩyɛ), a Southern Gur spoken in Togo, Benin and Ghana.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Swampy Cauldrons, we discover the Celtic origins of the name Paris, and also Britain and Brittany.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Cauldrons and Kettles and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Houses and Dwellings and Time & Weather.

I also finally worked out how to get Tibetan text to display correctly, at least in the browsers I use. For example, the native name of the Khengkha language is ཁེངས་​ཁ་, and without the relevant styles, it looks like this ཁེངས་​ཁ་. Do you see a difference?

JapanesePod101.com

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Celtic Pathways – Swampy Cauldrons

By Simon

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In this episode we discover Celtic roots of the name Paris.

Pont des Arts, île de la Cité

Paris is the capital of France and the centre of the Île-de-France or Paris Region. From about 250 BC, the area, particularly the Île de la Cité (see above), an island on the River Seine, was home to the Parisioi, part of the Gaulish Senones tribe.

After the Romans conquered the area in 52 BC, they set up a town on the Left Bank of the Seine which they called Lutetia Parisiorum (“Lutetia of the Parīsiī”). This later became Parisius, and eventually Paris [source].

The Gaulish name of the tribe, Parisioi, which was Latinized as Parīsiī, possibly comes from the Gaulish word *parios (cauldron), from Proto-Celtic *kʷaryos (cauldron) from the PIE *kʷer- (to do, make, build) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • coire [ˈkɛɾʲə] = large pot, cauldron, boiler in Irish
  • coire [kɔrʲə] = kettle, corrie, cauldron in Scottish Gaelic
  • coirrey = cauldron, boiler, maelstrom in Manx
  • pair [ˈpai̯r] = cauldron, large pot, boiler in Welsh
  • per [ˈpeːr] = cauldron in Breton

Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots, via Gaulish and Latin, include paiolo (copper cooking pot, cauldron) in Italian, perol (cauldron) in Catalan, perol (cauldron) in Spanish, and pairòl [pai̯ˈɾɔl] (kettle) in Occitan (Languedocien) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include Britain, Brittany and karma in English, cruth [kɾˠʊ(h)] (shape, appearance, state) in Irish, pryd [prɨːd] (sight, appearance, aspect) in Welsh, and काम [kɑːm] (work, task, job, function) in Hindi [source].

Britain and Brittany come from Middle English Britayne/Breteyn (Britain, Brittany), from Anglo-Norman Bretai(g)ne (Britain, Brittany), from Latin Brit(t)ānnia ([Great] Britain, [Roman province of] Britannia), from Βρεττανία (Brettaníā – Brittania, Great Britain), ultimately from Proto-Brythonic *Pritanī (Briton(s)), from Proto-Celtic *Kʷritanī/*Kʷritenī, from the PIE *kʷer- (to do, make, build) [source].

So the name Paris has Celtic roots. How about Lutetia? That comes from Gaulish *lutos (swamp), from Proto-Celtic *lutā (dirt, mud), from PIE *lew- (dirt, mud), which is also the root of lutulent (pertaining to mud, muddy) in English, and lodo (mud, muck, mire) in Spanish [source].

More about words for Cauldrons and Kettles and related things in Celtic languages.

You can find more connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (28/01/24)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

There are new language pages about:

  • Bahing (बायुङ्), a Western Kiranti language spoken in the west of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal.
  • Jirel (ཇི་རེ་ལ་ / जिरेल), a Southern Tibetic language spoken mainly in Bagmati Province in eastern Nepal.
  • Kahua (Anganiwai), a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on Makira island in the Solomon Islands

New writing system: Meetei Yelhou Mayek, a way to write Manipuri revived / created by Naoriya Phulo in the 1930s.

Sample text in the Meetei Yelhou Mayek

New phrases pages:

  • Korku (कोरकू), a Munda language spoken mainly in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in central India.
  • Kagate (स्युबा), a Tibetic language spoken in Bagmati Province in eastern Nepal.
  • Samogitian (žemaitiu kalba), an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Samogitia region in western Lithuania.

New numbers pages: Samogitian (žemaitiu kalba), an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Samogitia region in western Lithuania.

Logo of the World Endangered Writing Day

There are new Omniglot blog posts about Duostories – translations of the stories from Duolingo in many languages, including ones not featured on Duolingo, and World Endangered Writing Day, a day to celebrate the world’s minority and indigenous scripts and communities, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly in Togo in West Africa.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Interlingue (Occidental), an international auxiliary language based on Western European languages that was developed by Edgar von Wahl in the 1920s.

Since it’s been quite stormy here in the UK recently, in this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we look into the origins of the word Storm.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Stormy Weather and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Black and White and related things.

I also made improvements to the Kabiye language page, and I made a separte page for the Tartessian language.

JapanesePod101.com

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Storm

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we’re stirring up the origins of the word storm, as it’s been quite stormful (abounding in storms, stormy) here in the UK recently.

lightning-storm

A storm [stɔːm/stɔɹm] is:

  • an extreme weather condition with very strong wind, heavy rain, and often thunder and lightning
  • A heavy expulsion or fall of things
  • A violent agitation of human society [source]

It comes from Middle English storm (storm, dispute, brawl, fight), from Old English storm (storm), from Proto-West-Germanic *sturm (storm), from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz (storm), from PIE *(s)twerH- (to stir up, agitate, urge on, propel) [source]

Words from the same roots include steer, stir, turbine, turbulence and turbo in English, turba (mob) in Spanish, torma (crowd, throng) in Italian, and twrf (disturbance, tumult) in Welsh [source].

Incidentally, stormful means abounding with storms or stormy, and when the weather is stormful, you might be bestormed (overtaken with a storm, assailed with storms), stormbound (caught in a storm) or stormtossed (tossed by the wind in a storm), so make sure everything is stormworthy (fit for weathering a storm) and stormproof (capable of resisting a storm).

Here’s a stormy little song called Thunder Vengeance by Lovebites, one of my favourite Japanese bands:

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.

Omniglot News (21/01/24)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

There are new language pages about:

  • Kagate / Syuba (स्युबा), a Tibetic language spoken in Bagmati Province in eastern Nepal.
  • Chaná (Lanték Yañá), a Charruan language spoken in Argentina.
  • Chocha Ngacha (ཁྱོད་ཅ་ང་ཅ་ཁ་), a Tibetic language spoken in eastern Bhutan.

New constructed script: Sonos, an alternative phonetically-based script for English devised by C. Seguin and inspired by the Shavian alphabet.

Sample text in Sonos (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

New English spelling system: New Franklin Alphabet (Nju Fraŋklin Alfybet), an alternative way to write English devised by Haley Wakamatsu and based on Benjamin Franklin’s Phonetic Alphabet.

New numbers pages:

  • Kagate / Syuba (स्युबा), a Tibetic language spoken in Bagmati Province in eastern Nepal.
  • Korku (कोरकू), a Munda language spoken mainly in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in central India.
  • Malinaltepec Tlapanec (Me̱ꞌphaa Mañuwìín), a variety of Tlapanec, an Oto-Manguean language spoken mainly in Guerrero in southern Mexico.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post entitled Lady Gunilda about the origins of the word gun, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this is an International Auxiliary Language based on Romance languages.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Khasi (Ka Ktien Khasi / ক ক্ত্যেন খসি), an Austroasiatic language spoken mainly in Meghalaya state in northeastern India.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, we discover the soft and tender Celtic roots of the word Bog.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Bees and related beasts, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Lord, Ruler and To Read.

Improved page: Timbisha, Tiwi and Tlapanec language pages.

JapanesePod101.com

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Celtic Pathways – Soft Bogs

By Simon

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In this episode we discover the soft and tender Celtic roots of the word bog.

Bogs of Connemara

A bog is an area of decayed vegetation which forms a wet spongy ground too soft for walking on, and comes from Middle English bog (swamp, morass), from Irish / Scottish Gaelic bog (soft, tender, marshy, boggy), from Old Irish boc (soft, gentle, tender), from Proto-Celtic *buggos (soft, tender), from PIE *bʰewgʰ- (to bend, curve) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • bog [bˠɔɡ / bˠʌɡ] (noun) = soft, tender, flabby, indulgent, lenient, mellow (voice), mild (weather), loose, lukewarm in Irish
  • bog [boɡ] = flabby, soft, limp, pulpy, moist, marshy, boggy, sloppy, foolish, damp, humid in Scottish Gaelic
  • bog = soft, easy, tender, flabby, pulpy, slack, limp, moist, soft-hearted, callow in Manx
  • bouk [buːk] = soft, cozy, heavy, stifling (weather) in Breton

English words from the same PIE root include badge, bagel, bay, (to) bow, bow (and arrow), buck and elbow [source].

Incidentally, the word bog is also slang for toilet / bathroom (originally latrine or outhouse) in the UK (especially in northern England), Ireland, Australia and New Zealand, and a boglet is a small patch of boggy ground, or a kind of supernatural being like a bogle or goblin.

More about words for and related things in Celtic languages.

You can find more connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

Tóg go bog é! (Take it easy! – Irish).

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (14/01/24)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.

There are new language pages about:

  • Darmiya (Dar’ma), a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the state of Uttarakhand in northern India.
  • Sengele (kɛsɛ́ngɛlɛ), a Bantu language spoken in southwest of the Democratic Repubic of the Congo.
  • Mongo (Lɔmɔ́ngɔ), a Bantu language spoken in northwest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Gawri (ګاوری), a Dardic language spoken in the northwest of Pakistan.

New numbers pages:

  • Sengele (kɛsɛ́ngɛlɛ), a Bantu language spoken in southwest of the Democratic Repubic of the Congo.
  • Benga, a Bantu language spoken in southwestern Equatorial Guinea and northwestern Gabon.
  • Kimbundu, a Bantu language spoken in the northwest of Angola.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post about Interlinguistic Conflicts, which is about how closely-related, or even unrelated, languages might fight for dominance in your head, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the northeast of India.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Provençal (prouvençau), a variety of Occitan spoken in Provence in the southeast of France.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we’re dawdling, dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying as we look into the origins of the word Procrastination.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Modestly Humble, and I made improvements to the post about words for Free and related things.

Improved page: Bisu language page.

JapanesePod101.com

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://twitter.com/Omniglossia
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

Adventures in Etymology – Procrastination

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we’re looking into the origins of the word procrastination, unless I start procrastinating, as often happens.

Procrastination image

Procrastination [pɹəʊˌkɹæs.tɪˈneɪ.ʃən] is:

  • The act of postponing, delaying or putting off, especially habitually or intentionally.

It comes from Middle French procrastination, from Latin prōcrāstinātiō (procrastination), from prōcrāstinō (to procrastinate), from prō (for, before) and crāstinus (of tomorrow), from crās (tomorrow) [source]

Words from the same roots include craje [ˈkraj(ə)] (tomorrow) in Neapolitan, cras [kras] (tomorrow) in Sardinian, and the obsolete English word crastin (the day after, the morrow) [source].

An antonym of procrastination is precrastination (the completion of a task too quickly or too early for the optimal outcome; the compulsion to act in this way) [source].

If you’re a chronic procrastinator, as I am, you might even perendinate (to procrastinate for a long time, especially two days), from Latin perendinare (to defer until the day after tomorrow) [source].

Incidentally, while procrastination is often seen as negative habit, it can also help you to prioritise aspects of your life that bring joy, according to an article in MedicalNewsToday.

So, procrastinate now! Or maybe later.

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.

Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with Blubrry Podcast Hosting, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code omniglot.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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 blog.