Adventures in Etymology – New Year

1st January 20221st January 2022 By Simon

As today is New Year’s Day, I decided to look at the origins of the words new and year. Happy New Year, by the way.

Happy New Year in various languages

New [njuː/nu] means:

recently made, or created
additional; recently discovered

It comes from the Middle English newe [ˈniu̯(ə)] (new), from the Old English nīewe [ˈni͜yː.we] (new), from Proto-Germanic *niwjaz [ˈniu̯.jɑz] (new), from Proto-Indo-European *néwyos (new), from *néwos (new). [source].

Other English words from the same root include innovate, novice and novel [source].

Year [jɪə/jɪɹ] means:

the time it takes any astronomical object to complete one revolution of its star

It comes from the Middle English yeer/yere (year), from the Old English ġēar [jæ͜ɑːr] (year), from the Proto-Germanic *jērą [ˈjɛː.rɑ̃] (year), from the Proto-Indo-European *yóh₁r̥ (year) [source].

Words from the same root, via the Latin hōra (hour, time, o’clock, season), include: hora (hour, time, period) in Spanish, ora (hour, time) in Italian, heure (hour, time, o’clock) in French, and hour in English [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate link].

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.

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.

Episode 48 – Gamification

29th October 202129th October 2021 By Simon

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In this episode I talk about the gamification of language learning, and specifically how gamification is used in language learning apps like Duolingo.

What is Gamification?
According to Wikipedia, “Gamification is the strategic attempt to enhance systems, services, organizations, and activities in order to create similar experiences to those experienced when playing games in order to motivate and engage users.”

Theme tune

Friday Afternoon / Prynhawn Dydd Gwener

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

Find out more about StoryLearning [affiliate link]

Omniglot News (26/09/21)

26th September 202126th September 2021 By Simon

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There are three new languages on Omniglot this week:

Kambera (hilu Humba), a Sumba-Flores language spoken mainly in the east of Sumba Island in the Lesser Sunda Islands in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia.
Mentawai (Behase Mentawei), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in the Mentawai Islands in West Sumatra province of Indonesia.
Gayo (Basa Gayo), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in Aceh province in the highland region of north Sumatra in Indonesia.

There’s new adapated script on Omniglot week called Hermosa española (هعرمۆسا عسپاڽۆلا), which is a way to write Spanish with the Arabic alphabet devised by Zayan Anwar.

There are new numbers pages in Proto-Italic, Umbrian, Oscan and Ket.

On the Omniglot blog this week I wrote a post about the Japanese word 賑やか / にぎやか (nigiyaka), because I just liked the sound of it, and related words in Japanese and Chinese, as well as the usual language quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Kanakanavu, a Southern Tsouic language spoken in the villages of Manga and Takanua in Namasia District (那瑪夏區) of Kaohsiung (高雄) in southern Taiwan.

In this week’s Celtiadur post you can find connections between words for victory in Celtic languages, the English word booty, and Queen Boudica.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks into the origins of the word neighbour, as I got to know some of my neighbours better this week. I found out that some of them speak other languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, French and Irish, and I got to speak a bit of all those languages, and some Welsh as well with one of my builders.

I made a new video this week featuring me play a tune I wrote a few years ago called the Dancing Donkeys on four different instruments, and it’s been getting a lot of views and likes on TikTok particularly.

In other news, work started on laying the foundations of my new garden studio 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.

Omniglot News (12/09/21)

12th September 202112th September 2021 By Simon

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This week I added details of Xiǎo’érjīng (小兒錦 / ثِیَوْعَرڭٍ۟), which is a way to write Mandarin Chinese (普通话) and Dungan (Хуэйзў йүян) with the Arabic alphabet that’s sometimes used by Muslims in China.

There are two new constucted scripts: Elithnah and IKON.

Elithnah was created by Richard Orbeck, and is used in his novel Lost Blood to write Dadeirom b’Vae, a constructed language that features in the book.
IKON is a graphical communication system designed to be an easy, intuitive, international and transcultural visual language developed by the KomunIKON project.

There are two new languages on Omniglot this week, thanks to Wolfram Siegel: Singlish and Provençal.

Singlish is a creole spoken in Singapore that combines elements of English, Hokkien, Malay, Tamil and other languages.
Provençal (pro(u)vençau) is a variety of Occitan spoken mainly in Provence in the southeast of France.

There’s also a new numbers page in Provençal.

There are Omniglot blog posts about Iron Ferrets and about the IKON script, as well as the usual language quiz.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for kisses and related things in Celtic languages.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology delves into the origins of the word iron, and versions of this adventure can be found on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube, which includes some extras bits.

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.

Episode 46 – Surnames

26th August 202127th August 2021 By Simon

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The word surname, as in a family name, comes from the Late Latin supernōmen/suprānōmen (surname), from super- (over, above, beyond) and nōmen (name) [source].

The most common surnames in England are: Smith, Jones, Taylor, Brown, Williams, Wilson, Johnson, Davies, Robinson and Wright [source].

Types of surname:

Occupational; Smith, Taylor, Wright
Patronimics; Jones, Williams, Wilson, Johnson, Davies, Robinson
Based on appearance: Brown

Smith is the most common surname in the English-speaking world, as are equivalents in many other languages, including Schmidt in German, Ferraro / Ferrari in Italian, Herrero in Spanish, Kovač in Serbian, Croatian, Slovak and Slovenian, and Mac Gabhann (McGowan) in Irish. It comes from the Old English word smitan (to smite, strike).

A smith is someone who works with metal, and has been used as an occupational surname since Anglo-Saxon times. There are various kinds of smith, and their names are or were used as surnames, including Blacksmith (works mainly with iron); Brownsmith and Redsmith (work with copper); Goldsmith (works mainly with gold); Shoesmith (makes horseshoes); Sixsmith (makes scythes and sickles – a version of Scythesmith or Sicklesmith), and Whitesmith (works with tin) [source].

The surname Taylor came to Britian with the Normans, and was first used in 1182. It comes from the Old French word tailleur (cutter). It is also common in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA [source].

The surname Wright comes from the Old English word wryhta/wyrhta (worker, shaper of wood). It is also common in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA. There are quite a few surname that include wright, such as: Arkwright (a maker of wooden chests), Boatwright (a maker of boats), Cartwright (a maker of carts), Plowright (a maker of ploughs), Wainwright (a maker of wagons) [source].

Other occupational surnames include: Faulkner / Falconer (falcon trainer), Fletcher (arrow maker), Hayward (hedge warden), Parker (keeper of the park) and Walker (a fuller of cloth) [source].

Jones is the most common surname is Wales, and is also common in England and the USA. It’s based on Welsh patronimics meaning “son of John”, such as Mab Ioan or ap Siôn. These were commonly used until the mid 16th century, when Welsh people started using surnames, and many Welsh names were Anglicised, as all official documents had to be in English. Davies and Williams have similar origins [source]. More on Welsh surnames.

The surname Brown was originally a nickname for someone with brown hair or clothing. It’s common in England, Scotland, Canada, Australia and the USA. It was first used in England in 1066 in the form of Brun [source].

Other colour-based surnames include Black (dark-haired, or short for blacksmith), White (possibly referred to pale complexioned Vikings), Green (one who lives by the village green or is from a place called Green), Blue (someone with blue eyes / blue clothes), Red (red haired, ruddy complexion), Orange (associated with the Dutch House of Orange) and Pink (nickname for a bright, chirpy person) [source].

Other sourses
https://www.behindthename.com/name/geoffrey
https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Ager
https://www.familyeducation.com/baby-names/name-meaning/ager

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

Adventures in Etymology 20 – Distract

1st August 20211st August 2021 By Simon

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Today we are looking at the word distract [dɪsˈtɹækt], that’s if I don’t get distracted, as often happens.

Definition:

to draw away or divert, as the mind or attention
to disturb or trouble greatly in mind, beset
to provide a pleasant diversion for; amuse; entertain
to separate or divide by dissension or strife

[source]

It comes from the Latin word distractus (divided, scattered; sold), from the distrahō (I draw, pull, drag asunder), from dis- (asunder, apart, in two), and *trahō (I drag, pull), from the PIE *dʰregʰ- (to pull, draw, drag) [source].

From the same Latin root come such words as traire (to milk) in French, traer (to bring, fetch, attract, pull) in Spanish, trazer [tɾɐ.ˈzeɾ/tɾa.ˈze(ʁ)] (to bring) in Portuguese, and tractor, tract and traction in English [source].

From the same PIE root, via Proto-Germanic draganą [ˈdrɑ.ɣɑ.nɑ̃] (to draw, pull, carry) and the Old English dragan [ˈdrɑ.ɣɑn] (to draw, drag), we get the English words draw drag [source].

As I mentioned in this episode, I often get distracted. I even wrote a song about this, called Distraction – I was planning to write one about owls, but got distracted and wrote this one instead. Later I did write an owl-related song called The Little Green Owl.

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate link].

I also write about etymology, and other language-related topics, on the Omniglot Blog.

Adventures in Etymology 17 – Balance

10th July 202110th July 2021 By Simon

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Today we are endeavouring to maintain a state of equilibrium by looking at the word balance [ˈbæləns].

Definition:
– a state in which opposing forces harmonise; equilibrium.
– something of equal weight used to provide equilibrium; counterweight
– awareness of both viewpoints or matters; neutrality; rationality; objectivity.

It comes from the Middle English word balaunce [baˈlantsə] (a set of scales), from the Middle French balance (scales), from the Latin Latin *bilancia from the Latin *bilanx [ˈbɪɫ̪äŋks̠] ((of a balance) having two scales) from bi- (twice) and lanx [ɫ̪äŋks̠] (dish, plate, scalepan) [source].

In Latin the word for a pair of scales or balance was libra, which was also a unit of measure equal to twelve ounces or a pound (lb). This is the root of words for weight and currency in various languages, including livre (pound) in French, lira in Italian, and libra (pound) in Portuguese and Spanish [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly – an easy-to-use animated video creator [affiliate link].

I also write about etymology, and other language-related topics, on the Omniglot Blog.

Episode 43 – Punctuation

18th May 202116th June 2021 By Simon

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In this episode I talk about punctuation, focusing particularly on the history and development of punctuation, and some of the people involved.

Here is Victor Borge demonstrating his Phonetic Punctuation:

Music featured in this episode

Hedge Cats / Cathod y Gwyrch

See the score for this tune.

Frolicing Ferrets / Ffuredau sy’n Prancio

Simon Ager · Frolicing Ferrets / Ffuredau sy’n Prancio

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

Adventures in Etymology 7 – Session

2nd May 20212nd May 2021 By Simon

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On today’s adventure we are looking at the origins of the word session, because this afternoon I took part in a music session in a friend’s garden, and I thought I’d find out where the word comes from.

Session comes from the Old French session (sitting, (court) session), from the Latin sessiō (a sitting, a seat, loitering), from sedeō (I sit), from the Proto-Indo-European *sed- (to sit) [source].

Words for to sit in Romance languages, such as sentar in Spanish and Portuguese, asseoir in French, come from the same Latin root [source], and from same the Proto-Indo-European root we get English like assess, dissident, insidious, obsess, possess, reside, seat, sedentary, sedate, sit and siege [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Episode 42 – Instant Language

1st April 20211st April 2021 By Simon

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Today I have some exciting news from the world of language learning for you. Technology that will amaze and astound you. What is it? You’ll have to listen to this episode to find out.