Stable Stables

In this Adventure in Etymology we find out whether the words stable (a building for horses) and stable (steady, permanent) are related.

Stables

A stable is:

  • a building for the lodging and feeding of horses, cattle, etc.
  • a collection of animals housed in such a building. [other meanings are available]

It comes from Middle Englsh stable (a building for horses), from Anglo-Norman stable (a place for keeping animals), from Latin stablum (dwelling, stable, hut, tavern), from stō (to stand, stay, remain) and‎ -bulum (instrumental suffix) [source].

In Old English, a stable was a horsern [ˈhorˠzˌerˠn] (“horse place”) [source] or a steall [stæ͜ɑll], from which we get the word stall (a compartment for a single animal in a stable or cattle shed) [source].

As an adjective stable means:

  • Relatively unchanging, steady, permanent; firmly fixed or established; consistent; not easily moved, altered, or destroyed

It comes from Middle English stable, from Anglo-Norman stable / stabel (stable, firm), from Latin stabilis (firm, steadfast), from stō (to stand, stay, remain) and -abilis (able). It displaced the Old English word for stable, staþolfæst [ˈstɑ.ðolˌfæst] [source].

So it seems that these two words do come from the same roots. Other words from the same roots include stage, stand, state and stamina in English, stabbio (pen, fold, pigsty) in Italian, estar (to be) in Spanish, and ystafell (room, building, house) in Welsh [source].

I forget mention on the podcast, but the reason I chose the word stable for this adventure is because it’s related to the Scottish Gaelic sabhal [sa.əl̪ˠ] (barn), which comes from Middle Irish saball, from Latin stabulum [source], and I’ve just spent a week doing a course in Scottish Gaelic songs at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (“Ostag’s Big Barn”), the Gaelic college on the Isle of Skye [more details].

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

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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 (31/03/24)

Omniglot News

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Ambo-Pasco Quechua (Kichwa), a Central Quechua language spoken in central Peru.
  • Matsés, a Panonan language spoken mainly in Brazil and Peru.
  • Yine, a Southern Arawakan language spoken in eastern and southern Peru.

New constructed script: Skyling Script, which was invented by Kitsune Sobo for his fictional Rhodinoverse.

Sample text in Skyling Script

New constructed script: Japonesian, which created by Aiden Neuding as an alternative way to write Japanese and Indonesian.

Sample text (Japanese)

New numbers pages:

  • Chuj (Koti’), a Mayan language spoken in western Guatemala and southern Mexico.
  • Tzotzil (Batsʼi kʼop), a Mayan language spoken mainly in the Mexican state of Chiapas.
  • Tzeltal (Bats’i k’op), a Mayan language spoken in the Mexican state of Chiapas.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post about Madrugadores (Early Risers), 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 (IAL).

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Khanty (Ханты), a Ob Ugric language spoken in the Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs in the west and north of the Russian Federation.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, entitled Fortified Dunes, we uncover Celtic fortresses among the sand dunes.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Blessings and related things, and I made improvements to the post about words for Talkative.

I also made improvements to the Tzotzil, Tzeltal and Kubachi language pages.

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

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Celtic Pathways – Fortified Dunes

In this episode we uncover Celtic fortresses among the sand dunes.

Killinallan

A dune is a ridge or hill of sand piled up by the wind. It comes from Proto-West Germanic *dūn(ā) (sand dune, hill), via French or Dutch, from Proto-Germanic *dūnaz (accumulation, pile, heap, mound), or from Gaulish dunum (hill), from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (stronghold, rampart), all of which come from Proto-Indo-European *dʰuHnom (enclosure) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • dún [d̪ˠuːnˠ] (fort(ress), place of refuge, residence, house) in Irish
  • dùn [duːn] (fortress, heap) in Scottish Gaelic
  • doon [duːn] (fort, stronghold) in Manx
  • din [dɪn] (city, fortress, stronghold), and dinas (city) in Welsh
  • din [di:n] (fort) in Cornish
  • din [ˈdĩːn] (fortress) in Breton

Apart from dinas in Welsh, these words are mostly found in placenames, such as Dún Dealgan (Dundalk) in Ireland, Dún Dè(agh) (Dundee) in Scotland, Dinbych (Denbigh) in Wales, Dinmeur (Dunmere) in Cornwall, and Dinan in Brittany.

Words from the same Celtic roots possibly include town and down (a [chalk] hill, rolling grassland) in English, tuin (garden, yard) in Dutch, tún (hayfield) in Icelandic, and тын [tɨn] (fence [especially one made of twigs]) in Russian [source].

Words same PIE roots include dusk, dust and fume in English, dagg (dew) and dy (mud, mire, sludge) in Swedish, and fem (dung, manure) in Catalan [source].

More about words for Castles & fortresses 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.

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Omniglot News (24/03/24)

Omniglot News

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Jibu, a Central Jukunoid spoken in Taraba State in eastern Nigeria.
  • Oroha, a Southern Solomonic language spoken in the south of Small Malaita Island in Malaita Province in the east of the Solomon Islands.

There’s a new page about Neolatin, an international auxiliary language designed to be used by speakers of different Romance languages to communicate with one another, and also Phrases, Numbers, Time, Family words and Weather pages in Neolatin

New constructed script: Script of the All-Seers (Lishan Oiad), which was invented by Kitsune Sobo as the native script of the alien All-Seers in the fictional Rhodinoverse.

Sample text in Script of the All-Seers

New numbers pages:

  • Jibu, a Central Jukunoid spoken in Taraba State in eastern Nigeria.
  • Oroha, a Southern Solomonic language spoken on Small Malaita Island in the east of the Solomon Islands.
  • Kryts (цIека meз), a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the Quba district in the northeast of Azerbaijan.

On the Omniglot blog we’re Noodling About Nurdles, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is distantly related to Finnish and is spoken in Russia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Achuar-Shiwiar (Achuár chícham), a Chicham language spoken in Peru and Ecuador.

The recording comes from YouTube

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we’re Noodling About Noodles.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for heart, centre and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Streets and Ants.

Finally, with all this noodling about, I was inspired to write a new song called Noodling. It goes something like this:

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Adventures in Etymology – Noodling About Noodles

In this Adventure in Etymology we’re noodling around with the word noodle.

Noodling About Noodles

As a noun, a noodle can refer to:

  • A string or flat strip of pasta or other dough, usually cooked (at least initially) by boiling, and served in soup or in a dry form mixed with a sauce and other ingredients.
  • An object which is long and thin like a noodle.

It comes from Dutch noedel (noodle), or from German Nudel (a piece of pasta, noodle). The origin of these words is uncertain [source].

Apparently in the USA noodle can refer to Asian noodles and Italian pasta, whereas in the UK, noodle only refers to Asian noodles.

As a verb, to noodle can mean:

  • To play a musical instrument or to sing in an improvisatory or light-hearted manner
  • To ponder or think, especially in an unproductive or unsystematic manner
  • To attempt in an informal or uncertain manner; to fiddle.

In Shetland dialect, to noddle means to hum or sing (a tune) at a low pitch or volume. This may be a blend of the Shetland word nune (to sing softly, croon, hum) and doodle (to play the bagpipes) in Scottish English.

The English verb to noodle may come from the Shetland word, or from German nudeln (to make music or sing listlessly, at a low pitch or volume, or in an improvisatory manner). It was possibly influenced by doodle (to draw or scribble aimlessly).

In informal British English, to noodle can also mean to engage in frivolous behaviour, or to fool around or waste time, and it used to mean a person with poor judgement, a fool, or to fool or trick someone.

Other meanings of noodle are available.

Incidentally, I like to noodle on my various musical instruments, and with my voice, and wrote a little ditty about this the other day, which goes something like this:

I’m just noodling away quite happily
and nothing can get in my way
I could noodle all day down by the bay
and noodle all through the night

Will you noodle with me down by the sea?
Will you noodle along the shore?
Will you noodle and moodle and all that caboodle?
We’ll have a lot of fun you’ll see

We can noodle and doodle and eat some strudel
with oodles of custard and cream
And then noodle some more it won’t be a bore
Just noodling down on the shore

Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore
Just noodling down on the shore

To moodle means to dawdle aimlessly, to idle time away [source], oodles means an unspecified large amount, number, or quantity; lots, tons [source], and cabdoodle means any large collection of things or people [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.

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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 (17/03/24)

Omniglot News

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

New writing system: Ogan Script, which is used to write Ogan, a Central Malay language spoken in South Sumatra and Lampung in Indonesia.

There are new language pages about:

  • Ogan (Base Ugan / بهاس اوڬن), a Central Malay language spoken along the Ogan River in South Sumatra and Lampung provinces in eastern Indonesia.
  • Longgu, a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on the northeast coast of Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
  • Lop (Ľor télé / لوپنۇر تېلې), a Karluk Turkish language spoken in the Lop Nur region in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the northwest of China.

New numbers pages:

  • Kongo (Kikongo), a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola.
  • Northern Ndebele (isiNdebele), a Bantu language spoken in southwestern Zimbabwe and northeastern Botswana.
  • Lozi (siLozi), a Bantu language spoken mainly in the southwest of Zambia, and in neighbouring countries.

On the Omniglot blog, may I ask you to read, comment on and share a new post about imperatives phrased as questions, a.k.a. Whimperatives, 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 Peru and Ecuador.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Soninke (Sooninkanxanne), a Mande language spoken mainly in Mali, and other parts of West Africa.

In this week’s episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast, Horny Peaks we find Romance horns among Celtic peaks and mountains.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Thin and Slender and related things, and I made improvements to the posts about words for Mountains and Roads.

I also made improvements to the Soninke language page.

By the way, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! / Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit!

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

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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.

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Celtic Pathways – Horny Peaks

In this episode we find Romance horns among Celtic peaks and mountains.

Panoramic view from Snowdon / Golygfa panoramig o'r Wyddfa

In Proto-Celtic, the word *bandā means top, peak or horn, and *benno means peak or top. They are thought to be related, and possibly come from the PIE *bendʰ- (pin, point).

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:

  • beann = horn, antler or fork prong in Irish
  • beann [bjaun̪ˠ] = horn, peak or top; and beinn [bein̪ʲ] = mountain or high hill in Scottish Gaelic
  • beinn = mountain, summit or pinnacle in Manx
  • ban [ban] = top, tip, summit or peak in Welsh
  • ban = prominence in Cornish
  • bann = rising, uphill, post or column in Breton

Words from the same Celtic roots include ben (mountain, hill) in Scots, as in Ben Nevis (Beinn Nibheis), etc, banya (horn) and banyut (horned, unfaithful) in Catalan, and bana (horn) in Occitan [source].

Words same PIE roots include peak and pin in English, pinne (chopstick, perch, point) in Swedish, pind (stick, perch, peg) in Danish, and pin (peg, pin) in Dutch [source].

More about words for Peaks 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.

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Omniglot News (10/03/24)

Omniglot News

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Andoque (Paasi-ahá), a language isolate or a Witotoan language spoken in southern Colombia.
  • Berom (Cèn Bèrom), a Benue-Congo language spoken in the north of Plateau State in central Nigeria.
  • Hdi (xdí), a Chadic language spoken mainly in the Far North Region of Cameroon

New constructed script: Wind-and-Leaf Script, an alphabet invented by Kitsune Sobo as the native script of the Gods of Ooseyard (“God World”) in the Rhodinoverse (a fictional multiverse).

Sample text in Wind-and-Leaf Script

New fictional script: Neo-Chakobsa, a constructed script and language developed by American linguist David J. Peterson for the Dune film series.

Sample text in Neo-Chakobsa

New numbers pages:

  • Berom (Cèn Bèrom), a Benue-Congo language spoken in the north of Plateau State in central Nigeria.
  • Hdi (xdí), a Chadic language spoken mainly in the Far North Region of Cameroon.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post entitled Clinking Hardware about the French word quincaillerie (hardware store, hardware, junk), 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 Mali, and also in other parts of West Africa.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Paicî, a New Caledonian language spoken in the North Province of New Caledonia. From YouTube.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Shambling Shambles, we shamble around looking into the shambolic origins of the words shamble and shambles.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Thin and Slender and related things.

I also made improvements to the Southern Ndebele, Northern Ndebele, Swati, Tswa and Tsonga language pages.

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

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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.

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Adventures in Etymology – Shambling Shambles

In this Adventure in Etymology we’re looking into the origins of the word shamble (and shambles).

Shambles
The Shambles in York

To shamble means to walk while shuffling or dragging the feet, and a shamble is one of a succession of niches or platforms, one above another, to hold ore which is thrown successively from platform to platform, and thus raised to a higher level in a mine.

It comes from Middle English schamel / schambyll [ˈʃaːməl] (footstool), from Old English sċamol [ˈʃɑ.mol] (stool), from Proto-West Germanic *skamil (stool, bench), from Latin scabellum (footstool, a kind of percussion instrument played with the foot), from scamnum (stool, step, bench, ridge), from PIE *skabʰ- (to hold up) [source].

Words from the same roots include scanno (seat, bench, stool) in Italian, escano (bench, footstool) in Portuguese, scaun (chair, seat, stool, throne, residence, butcher’s block) in Romanian, Schemel (footstool) in German, and iskemle (chair) in Turkish [source].

In the plural, shambles means a scene of great disorder or ruin, a great mess or clutter, a scene of bloodshed, carnage or devastation, or a slaughterhouse, and it used to mean a butcher’s shop. It comes from the same roots as the singular shamble [source].

There’s a street in York in the north of England called The Shambles (see the photo above), that was once home to many butchers. They originally displayed their wares on stalls or benches known as shamels or schambylls, which gave the street its name. There are several similarly-named streets in other parts of the UK and Ireland [source].

Incidentally, a German equivalent of shamble is schlurfen [ˈʃlʊɐ̯fn̩], which means to shuffle (walk without picking up one’s feet). It’s related to the English word slurp [source].

Now it’s time to shamble off. I made a bit of an omnishambles of this post – I wrote most of it, then accidentally deleted half of it and had to rewrite it as I couldn’t retrieve the lost bits. I hope it’s not too shambolic.

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.

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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 (03/03/24)

Omniglot News

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

There are new language pages about:

  • Ghomalaʼ (Ghɔmáláʼ), a Bamileke language spoken in the West Region of Cameroon.
  • Feʼfeʼ (Fèʼéfěʼè), a Bamileke language spoken in the West Region of Cameroon
  • Lengo, a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
  • Lau, a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands.

New constructed script: Fana, a syllabic script created by Brian Drake to write his constructed language, fana, which is based on Toki Pona, but with more phonemes, a more complex grammar, and a larger vocabulary.

Sample text in fana

New numbers pages:

  • Ghomalaʼ (Ghɔmáláʼ), a Bamileke language spoken in the West Region of Cameroon.
  • Lengo, a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands.
  • Lau, a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post entitled Overflowing Vases about ways to say ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and similar things in various languages, 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 New Caledonia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Xong (Dut Xonb), a Hmong-Mien language spoken in southern China.

In this week’s episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast, entitled Bijou Fingers, we find Celtic fingers among French jewellery.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Long Distance, about words for long, distant and related things, and I made improvements to the Fingers and Toes, Silver & Money and Streams and Currents posts.

I also made improvements to the Paicî and Huambisa language pages.

New song: Colourless Green Ideas – based on the sentence ‘Colorless green ideas sleep furiously’, which was coined by the linguist Noam Chomsky in his 1957 book, Syntactic Structures, to demonstrate that a sentence can be grammatically correct, but semantically nonsensical. I started writing it in May 2023, then forgot about. I came back to it in and finally finished writing and recording it in January / February 2024.

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

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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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