Category: News

Omniglot News (29/08/21)

By Simon

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This week we have a new writing system on Omniglot: the Qiang Script, which was created in 2017 and is used to write the Qiang languages of Sichuan Province in the southwest of China. One of those languages, Northern Qiang (Rrmea), now features on Omniglot, and was the mystery language in this week’s language quiz on the Omniglot blog.

There’s a new phrases page in Cumbric (Cumbraek), a reconstructed language based on Cumbric, a Celtic language that was spoken in parts of northern England and southern Scotland until about the 12th century.

There’s a new page about colour words and expressions in Igbo (Ásụ̀sụ̀ Ìgbò), a Volta-Niger language spoken mainly in southeast Nigeria.

There’s a new article about Colloquial Indonesian Spoken by Papuans, that is on the island of New Guinea in Papua New Guinea, and in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua.

This week’s Celtiadur post is about words for oxen and related words in Celtic languages. I discovered that words for sheep in the Brythonic languages, such as dafad in Welsh, are related to words for oxen and stags in the Goidelic languages, such as damh, which can refer to an ox, stag, strong man, champion or a corpulent person.

There are Omniglot blog posts about words for skips, dumpsters and related things in English and French: Skip to the Bin and Skips and Dumpsters.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word ado.

There is a new Radio Omniglot podcast about surnames, specifically about some of the most common surnames in England and Wales.

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, 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.

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Omniglot News (22/08/21)

By Simon

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This week’s new languages are:

  • Ateso – an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in eastern Uganda and northwestern Kenya.
  • Ngaju – a West Barito language spoken in the province of Central Kalimantan in Indonesia.
  • Lango (Lëblaŋo) – a Southern Luo language spoken in northern Uganda.
  • Melanau – a North Bornean language spoken in the state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo in Malaysia.

There’s a new adapted script called Arabulga (арабълга / ارابعلغا), which is a way to write Bulgarian with the Arabic alphabet.

There are new numbers pages in Ateso and Alutiiq (Sugpiaq), which is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in western Alsaka.

This week’s Celtiadur post is about words for stables and enclosures in Celtic languages, and there are Omniglot blog posts about Fences and Worthless Slabs, and the language quiz. The answer to last week’s language quiz was Jebero (Shiwilu), a Cahuapanan language spoken in northern Peru.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word hedge.

I also made improvements to the Cantonese language page and the Altay phrases page this week.

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, 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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (15/08/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week’s new languages are: Kelabit, Bonggi and Ida’an

  • Kelabit (karuh Kelabit) – a North Bornean language spoken mainly in the Bario Highlands of Sarawak in Malaysia, and in nearby parts of East Kalimantan province in Indonesia.
  • Bonggi – a North Bornean language spoken on the islands of Banggai and Balambangan, part of the Malaysian state of Sabah
  • Ida’an (Buri’ Lun Bawang) – a North Bornean language spoken in the state of Sabah on the island of Borneo in Malaysia.

There’s a new adapted script called Cantonese Phonetic Symbols (廣東話注音符號), which is a way to represent the sounds of Cantonese using the Zhuyin fuhao (bopomofo) phonetic script.

There are new numbers pages in Akuapem and Akan, which are Kwa languages spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

This week’s Celtiadur post is about wool and related words.

That inspired an Omniglot blog post about wool-related expressions in English, Dutch and Welsh called Unreliable Wool. There’s also a blog post about the Dutch word stuurknuppel, which could be literally translated as “Steering Club”, and the language quiz.

The answer to last week’s language quiz was Maskelynes (Kuliviu), an Oceanic language spoken mainly in the Maskelyne Islets in Vanuatu.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word fence.

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, 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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (01/08/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week’s new languages are: Juang, Ye’kuana and Sandawe.

  • Juang (ଜୁଆଙ୍) – a Munda language spoken in Odisha state in eastern India.
  • Ye’kuana – a Cariban language spoken mainly in southern Venzuela, and also in northwest Brazil
  • Sandawe (Sàndàwé kì’ìng) – a language isolate spoken in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania.

There’s a new constructed script Thai-ResPriv, an alternative way to write Thai devised by Jay and Pailin Strong.

This week’s Omniglot blog posts were about The Pull of Pandas, and the usual language quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Chulym (ӧс тили), a Siberian Turkic language spoken in the Republic of Khakassia in the south of the Russian Federation.

This week’s Celtiadur post was about kitchens and related words.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word distract.

I finally made a new episode of the Radio Omniglot podcast this week about Japanese, and while I was doing that I got a bit distracted and made improvements to the Japanese language page on Omniglot.

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

Omniglot News (25/07/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week’s new languages are: Banjarese, Bukid, Surigaonon and Bilaspuri.

  • Banjarese (Bahasa Banjar) – a Malayic language spoken mainly in Kalimantan in Indonesia.
  • Bukid (Binukid) – a North Manobo language family spoken mainly in the Province of Bukidnon in the Northern Mindanao region of the Philippines
  • Surigaonon – a Southern Bisayan language family spoken in the Caraga region in the north of Mindanao island in the Philippines.
  • Bilaspuri (बिलासपूरी) – a Western Pahari language spoken in the states of Himalchal Pradesh and Punjab in northern India.

There are a number of new numbers pages in West Flemish, Old English and Banjarese.

This week’s Omniglot blog posts were about chaises longues, the most popular languages to learn and the usual language quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Sandawe (Sàndàwé kì’ìng), a language isolate spoken in the Dodoma Region of central Tanzania..

This week there were two Celtiadur posts – one about land, and another about grass and related words.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word mask.

I also made improvements to the Chakma language page.

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

Omniglot News (18/07/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week a new writing system appeared on Omniglot: Badlit, which is also known as the Bisaya or Visayan Script, Sulat Bisaya, Suwat Bisaya or Baybayin Bisaya. It looks at lot like the Baybayin script for Tagalog, and is used to write languages spoken in the Visayas region of the Philippines, such as Cebuano and Hiligaynon.

This week’s new languages are: Doteli, Kinabalian and Yawuru.

  • Doteli/Dotyali (डोटेली) – an Eastern Pahari language spoken in Sudurpashchim province in western Nepal.
  • Kinabalian – a Visayan language spoken in Leyte province in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philipines.
  • Yawuru – an Eastern Nyulnyulan language spoken in and around Broome in the Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia.

There is a new collection of silly phrases in Welsh, most of which involve Owen and his parships. Most of them come from the Welsh course on Duolingo and were sent to me by a friend who is studying Welsh. This inspired this week’s Adventure in Etymology, which is about parsnips. Another podcast that looks at the origins of words, and other things, is English with Stephen.

There are new numbers pages in Mòcheno and Coptic.

This week’s Omniglot blog posts were about subjects, fonts and the usual language quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Rukai, a Formosan language spoken in parts of southern Taiwan. The recording was from YouTube.

This week’s Celtiadur post is about words in Celtic languages for stones, rocks and related words.

I also made improvements to the Eastern Pomo language page and the Alsatian phrases page.

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

Omniglot News (11/07/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I added details of three new languages to Omniglot: Nimadi, Mandeali and Shompen.

  • Nimadi (निमाड़ी) is a Rajasthani language spoken mainly in Madhya Pradesh in central India by about 2.3 million people. It’s written with the Devanagari alphabet.
  • Mandeali (मंडयाल़ी) is a Western Pahari language spoken mainly in the Mandi district of Himachal Prasdesh in northern India by about 623,000 people. It is written with the Devanagari alphabet, and used to be written with the Takri alphabet.
  • Shompen is a Nicobarese language spoken on Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The number of speakers is not known, and it’s rarely written, except by researchers.

There are new numbers pages in Proto-Slavic and Old Church Slavonic.

There are new translations of stories in Lingua de planeta and Algilez.

There are Omniglot blog posts about knickknacks and bonnets, and the usual language quiz.

This week’s Celtiadur post is about words in Celtic languages for river mouths, estuaries and related things.

I also added new translations of the Tower of Babel in Russian, and made improvements to the Mundari and Fur language pages.

This week, for a change, I published an Adventure in Etymology (about balance) on Saturday rather than Sunday. Normally I work on Omniglot 7 days a week, but have decided to do other things on Sundays. Today, for example, I will be mainly working on a recording of one of my songs.

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