Category: Language

Omniglot News (12/12/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The new language pages on Omniglot this week are:

  • Poqomam (Qaq’oral), a Mayan language spoken mainly in the Jalapa Department in southern Guatemala.
  • Tektitek (B’a’aj), a Mayan language spoken mainly in the department of Huehuetenango in western Guatemala.
  • Uspantek (Uspanteko), a Mayan language spoken mainly in the department of Quiché in western Guatemala.

There are new numbers pages in the following languages (all of which are Mayan): Q’eqchi’, Q’anjob’al, Sakapultek, Yucatec Maya, Tektitek and Awakatek.

There’s a new page with a collection of Penny Pinching idioms and sayings in various languages that mean someone is stingy, tight or careful with their money.

On the Omniglot blog we find out when a chair is not a chair in a post entitled Soapy Chairs, and there’s the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Paha, a Kra language spoken in Wenshan Prefecture in Yunnan Province in southern China.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Grace and Favour in Celtic languages.

In the Adventure in Etymology this week we’re telling tales about the origins of the word tale.

I also made improvements to the Yucatec Maya and Awakatek language pages.

In other news, I made a little video of a tune I wrote a few years ago called The Whistling Windows / Y Ffenstri Sïo, which you can find on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube:

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Adventures in Etymology – Telling Tales

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re telling tales about the origins of the word tale.

Telling Tales

A tale [teɪl] is:

  • a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story
  • a literary composition having the form of such a narrative
  • a falsehood; lie
  • a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue

It used to mean:

  • number, tally, quota
  • account, estimation, regard, heed
  • speech, language
  • a speech, a statement, talk, conversation, discourse
  • a count, declaration

It comes from the Middle English tale [ˈtaːl(ə)] (personal narrative, account), from the Old English talu [ˈtɑ.lu] (account, reckoning, tale, narration) from the Proto-West Germanic *talu (narration, report, assessment, judgement, calculation, counting), from the Proto-Germanic *talō (narration, report), from the PIE *dol-éh₂ (reckoning, calculation, fraud), from *del- (to reckon, calculate) [source].

Some words from the same Proto-Germanic root include tell in English, taal [taːl] (language) in Dutch and Afrikaans, Zahl [tsaːl] (number, numeral, figure) in German, tala [ˈtʰaːla] (a speech, button, number) in Icelandic, tala [ˈtɑːˌla] (to speak, tell, talk) in Swedish, and tale [ˈtˢæːlə] (speech, talk, discourse; to speak, talk) in Danish [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

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

Here’s a silly little ditty I wrote in 2019 called Tall Tales:

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (05/12/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The new languages this week on Omniglot are all Mayan languages:

  • Itza’, a Yucatecan Mayan language spoken by the Itza people mainly in the village of San José on the north shore of Lake Petén Itzaʼ in Petén department in northern Guatemala.
  • Chontal Maya (Yoko t’an), a Cholan-Tzeltalan Mayan language spoken in central parts of the state of Tabasco in southern Mexico.
  • Chuj (Koti’), a Qʼanjobalan–Chujean Mayan language spoken mainly in western Guatemala, and also in southern Mexico.
  • Mocho’ (Qatoʼk), a Qʼanjobalan–Mocho’ean Mayan language spoken in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.

I finally got round to recording a new episode of the monthly Radio Omniglot Podcast. This is Episode 49 and discusses Linguistic Correctness, the idea that there are correct ways to speak and write languages that conform to grammatical standards and conventions.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we find out how budgets. bags, bellies and bulges are connected.

There’s a new Omniglot blog post about the wonderful Scots word Humdudgeon, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Poqomam, a Mayan language spoken in parts of central Guatemala.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Parts and Portions in Celtic languages.

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Adventures in Etymology – Budgets

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In today’s Adventure in Etymology we look into the origins of the word budget and find out how it’s connected to words for bags and bellies and bulges.

Budget

A budget [ˈbʌdʒ.ɪt] is:

  • The amount of money or resources earmarked for a particular institution, activity or timeframe.
  • An itemized summary of intended expenditure; usually coupled with expected revenue.
  • A wallet, purse or bag. (obsolete)

It comes from the Middle English bouget/bo(w)gett(e) (leather pouch), from the Old French bougette [bu.ʒɛt] (purse for carrying coins) a diminutive of bouge (sack, purse, small bag), from the Latin bulga [ˈbul.ɡa] (knapsack, wallet, satchel, purse, womb), from the Gaulish bolgā (sack, bag, stomach), from the Proto-Celtic *bolgos (sack, bag, stomach), from the PIE *bʰólǵʰ-o-s (skin bag, bolster), from *bʰelǵʰ- (to swell) [source].

Some words from the same Proto-Celtic root include bolg [ˈbˠɔlˠəɡ] (belly, stomach, bag, bulge, bellows) in Irish, bol [bɔl] (belly, stomach, bowels, womb) in Welsh, and bolgh (breach, gap, opening) in Cornish [source]. See also Celtiadur.

Words from the same Latin root (bulga) include bouge [buʒ] (hovel, dive, bulge, protuberance) in French, bolgia (pit, bedlam, chaos) in Italian, and the English words bulge and budge [source].

The name Belgium comes ultimately from the PIE root *bʰelǵʰ- (to swell), via the Latin Belgae (an Iron-Age tribe that lived between the Seine and Rhine rivers), and the Proto-Celtic *belg-/*bolg- (to swell (with anger)) [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.

Here’s a video I made of this information:

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

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Episode 49 – Linguistic Correctness

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this episode I talk about linguistic correctness. That is, the idea that there are correct ways to speak and write languages that conform to grammatical standards and conventions (“rules”), and that anything else is wrong.

There are three kinds of grammatical rules or conventions:

  1. Rules that everybody follows. For example in English, articles and adjectives precede nouns – you say the word and not word the, and a long word, not a word long.
  2. Rules that distinguish the standard varieties of a language from other varieties. For example, in standard English you might say ‘I don’t have any money’, while in some varieties you might say ‘I ain’t got no money’.
  3. Rules that are written in grammar books and which many people believe you should follow. For example, in English infinitives should never be split, sentences should never end with a prepostion, and you should never use a double negative. Many of these were just pet peeves and preferences of 18th century writers.

Then there are spelling and punctuation conventions, such as the use of commas, semi-colons and apostrophes.

I discussed what grammar is and where it comes from in Episode 16 and talk about the origins of some linguistic pet peeves in Episode 16

Further reading
What Is ‘Correct’ Language?
The Notion of Correctness
Definition and Examples of Correctness in Language

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (28/11/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week there are two new language pages on Omniglot :

  • Amdo Tibetan (ཨ་མདོའི་སྐད་), a Tibetic language spoken in the provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan and in the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China.
  • Khams Tibetan (ཁམས་སྐད), a Tibetic language spoken in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, and in the Tibet Autonomous Region in western China, and also in eastern Bhutan and northern Myanmar / Burma.

Surat Beringin
There’s a new constructed script: Surat Beringin, which was is a way to write Beka Melayu, a version of Malay with all the non-Austronesian elements replaced with words from Austronesian roots. It is in fact a version of the Aksara Beringin script, which was invented by Adam Damario in 2017 as an alternative way to write Indonesian. The person behind Surat Beringin script prefers to remain anonymous.

There are new numbers pages in: Botlikh (Буйхалъи мицӏцӏи), a Northeast Caucasian languages spoken in southwestern Dagestan in the Russian Federation, and Bamum (Shü Pamom), a Bantoid language spoken mainly in Cameroon.

There are Omniglot blog posts about being Lukewarm and Hairy Cats and Little Dogs, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Awngi (አውጚ), a Central Cushitic language spoken in northern Ethiopia.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Trousers, Socks and Sites in Celtic languages.

We find out when a gate is not a gate in this week’s Adventure in Etymology.

Stonegate

I also made improvements to the Botlikh and Chakma languages 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

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Adventures in Etymology – Gates & Streets

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re find out when a gate is not a gate.

A gate [ɡeɪt] is:

  • A doorlike structure outside a house.
  • A doorway, opening, or passage in a fence or wall.
  • A movable barrier.

It comes from the Middle English gat(e)/ȝat(e) [ɡa(ː)t/ja(ː)t] (gate), from the Old English ġe(a)t/gat [jæ͜ɑt] (gate) from the Proto-West Germanic *gat (hole, opening) from the Proto-Germaic *gatą [ˈɣɑ.tɑ̃] (hole, opening, passage), from *getaną [ˈɣe.tɑ.nɑ̃] (to attain, acquire, get, receive, hold) [source].

In parts of northern England the word gate means a way, path or street, and in Scots it means way, road, path or street. It appears mainly in street names such as Briggate (“bridge street”) and Kirkgate (“church street”). It comes from the Old Norse gata (street, road), from the Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ [ˈɣɑt.wɔ̃ː] (street, passage), which comes from the same Proto-Germanic root as the other kind of gate.

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate

Words from the same Old Norse root include gata [ˈɡɑːˌta] (street, frontage, strip) in Swedish, gate (street) in Norwegian and gade [ˈɡ̊æːðə] (street, road) in Danish, Gasse [ˈɡasə] (alley) in German, and gas [χɑs/ɣɑs] (unpaved street) in Dutch [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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (21/11/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There are two new constructed scripts on Omniglot this week: Tainonaíki, which was invented by Javier A. Hernández as a way to write his reconstructed version of the Taino language, and Khoh, a way to write Terengganu Malay devised by Amir Syafiq.

There are new language pages in:

  • Terengganu Malay (Base Tranung), a Malayan language spoken mainly in the state of Terengganu (Tranung) in eastern Peninsular Malaysia.
  • Gaddi (गदी), a Western Pahari language spoken mainly in the Chamba district in the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India.
  • Rajbanshi (राजबंशी) a Bengali-Assamese language spoken mainly in southeastern Nepal.

There are new numbers page in: Algerian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic, and I made improvements to the Algerian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic language pages.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for Bark and Beehives in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a post about the Japanese word Otaku (nerd/geek), and a post about reaching 1,600 languages on Omniglot, and the usual Language Quiz.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Gorontalo (Bahasa Hulontalo), a Philippine language spoken in the provinces of Gorontalo and Northern Sulawesi in Indonesia.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology is rather ridiculous and absurd and looks at the origins of the word silly.

A word cloud based on the contents of this post
Generated with WordItOUt

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Adventures in Etymology – Silly

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In today’s Adventure in Etymology we’re getting a bit absurd and ridiculous and looking at the origins of the word silly.

A word cloud based on the contents of this post
Generated with WordItOUt

Silly [ˈsɪli] means:

  • laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance
  • weak-minded or lacking good sense; stupid or foolish
  • absurd; ridiculous; irrational
  • stunned; dazed

It comes from the Middle English se(e)ly [seːliː] (spiritually favoured, blessed, holy, virtuous, righteous; worthy, noble, fine, excellent; fortunate, lucky, prosperous; happy pleasant; wealthy; innocent, harmless, good; simple, guileless, foolish, gullible; weak, helpless; wretched; humble; worthless) [source].

From the Old English sǣliġ [ˈsæː.lij] (blessed, fortunate, prosperous, happy), from the Proto-West Germanic *sālīg (blissful, prosperous, happy) from *sāli (happiness, prosperity; proper, appropriate time), from the Proto-Germaic *sēliz (happy, fortunate; kind, good) [source]

Words from the same Proto-West Germanic root (*sālīg) include: salig [ˈsæːli] (blessed) in Danish, salig [ˈsɑːli(ɡ)] (blessed, delighted, poor) in Swedish, and selig [ˈzeːlɪç] (overjoyed, tranquil, blessed) in German [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

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

Here’s a silly little ditty I wrote in 2019 about being silly and odd: It’s Okay To Be Odd / Mae’n Iawn Bod yn Od

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting

Omniglot News (14/11/21)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

There’s a new constructed script on Omniglot this week called Abbekosima, which can be used to write English and Russian, and was inspired by the Japanese, Chinese and Korean scripts.

Sample text in Abbekosima in Russian

There are new language pages in:

  • East Frisian (Ōstfräisk), or East Frisian Low Saxon, a mixture of Eastlauwers Frisian, Low German, Dutch and French that is spoken in northern Germany.
  • Moloko (Ma Mǝloko), a Chadic language spoken in the Far North Province of Cameroon.
  • Wanetsi (وڼېڅي), an Eastern Iranian language spoken in southwest Pakistan.
  • Sukuma (Kɪsukuma), a northeast Bantu language spoken in northern Tanzania.
  • Migaama (mìgáàmá), an East Chadic language spoken in central Chad.

There’s also a new numbers page in: Migaama.

There’s a new phrases page in: Tamasheq (Tafaghist), a Berber language spoken in parts of Mali and Burkina Faso.

The Celtiadur post this week is about words for words, calls and cries in Celtic languages.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a post about IndyLan, a EU-funded project to promote and teach languages such as Scots, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish, Northern Saami, Basque and Galician. There’s a post called Misdirection about directional words such as upward, downward and awkward – read it to find out which direction awkward is, and the usual Language Quiz

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Blang (Pu Lang), a Palaungic language spoken in southern China, and northern Myanmar / Burma and northern Thailand.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology looks at the origins of the word nogging, which should not be confused with noggin, although they might be related.

I also made improvements to the Marwari language page.

Last week I wrote a blog post inspired by the Welsh idiom Mae e’n cadw draenog yn ei boced, which means that he is careful with his money, or literally “he keeps a hedgehog in his pocket”. This inspired me to write a new song this week called Pocket Hedgehogs. You can also hear this on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube:

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.

Blubrry podcast hosting