In this episode we unravel the Celtic roots of words for wheel, rim and related things in French, Spanish and other languages.
The Proto-Celtic word *kambitā means rim and comes from Proto-Celtic *kambos (twisted, crooked, bent), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱh₂embos (crooked), possibly from *(s)ḱamb- (bent, crooked) [source].
Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:
For more details of related words in the Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post Crooked.
Words from the same Proto-Celtic root, via Transalpine Gaulish cambita (curve) and Latin *cambita, include jante (rim, wheel rim) in French, jante (rim, wheel rim) in Portuguese, llanta (tyre rim, wheel rim, tyre, fat) in Spanish, jant (rim, wheel rim) in Turkish [source].
Words from the same PIE roots possibly include schimpen (to abuse, swear at, mock) in Dutch, schimpfen (to tell off, scold, yell at) in German, skimp (to jeer, jibe, scoff, taunt) in Afrikaans, and skimp (to poke fun (at), banter, mock, speak sarcastically (about)) in Scots [source].
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In this episode we discover the possible Celtic roots of the word jeans, and also the place names Genoa and Geneva.
Jeans are trousers made from denim cotton, traditionally dyed dark blue, and also known as blue jeans. The word jeans is an abbreviation of jean fustian, from Middle English Gene (Genoa, Genovese) and fustian (a strong cotton fabric) [source].
Gene comes from Latin Genua (Genoa), which like Geneva, possibly comes from the Proto-Celtic *genwā ([river] bend) from PIE *ǵénw-eh₂, from *ǵónu (knee), which is also the root of the Proto-Celtic word *glūnos (knee) [source].
Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:
glúin [ɡl̪ˠuːnʲ] = knee, generation, step, node in Irish
glùin [ɡl̪ˠuːn̪ʲ] = knee, generation, lap in Scottish Gaelic
glioon [ɡlʲuːnʲ] = joint, knee in Manx
glin [ɡliːn] = knee in Welsh
glin [ɡliːn] = knee in Cornish
glin [ɡlĩːn] = knee in Breton
Other words from the same PIE roots include genuflect (to bend the knee, grovel) and knee in English; genou (knee) in French; knie (knee) in Dutch and Afrikaans; gju [ɟu/ɡjũː] (knee) in Albanian, and γόνατο [ˈɣɔnatɔ] (knee) in Greek [source].
Incidentally, the k in knee was pronounced in Middle Engish kne [kneː] and Old English cnēow [kne͜oːw] [source], and also in Early Modern English until about the 16th or 17th century, when it quietly disappeared in speech [source].
See the Celtiadur post Knees for more details of words for knee and related things in Celtic languages. 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.
In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what the dickens a dinkus is, and what to do with an asterism.
A dinkus is:
A small drawing or artwork used for decoration in a magazine or periodical.
A small ornament, usually a line of three asterisks (* * *), especially for the purpose of breaking up sections of a chapter, article, or other text
⁎⁎⁎
It comes from German Ding (thing), from Old High German thing [ðinɡ] (thing, object, matter, case), from Proto-West Germanic *þing (court session, lawsuit, affair, matter, thing, object), from Proto-Germanic *þingą (date, appointment, meeting, assembly, matter, issue) [source].
Words from the same roots include thing in English, ding (matter, thing) in Dutch, þing [θiŋk] (assembly, meeting, council, parliament) in Icelandic, and ting (thing, court of law, legislative assembly) in Swedish [source].
Dinkus should not be confused with dingus, which can refer to something whose name you’ve forgot, i.e. a thingamajig, whatchamacallit, etc in North American and South African. In the USA and Canada it can also refer to a foolish, incompetent, or silly person [source].
Dingus was possibly borrowed from Dutch and/or Afrikaans dinges (thingamajig, whatshisname) and ding (thing).
An asterism is:
A rarely used typographical symbol (⁂, three asterisks arranged in a triangle), used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book (like a dinkus).
An unofficial constellation (small group of stars that forms a visible pattern).
⁂
It comes from Ancient Greek ἀστερισμός [ˈæs.təˌɹɪz.əm] (a group of stars), from ἀστήρ [asˈtir] (star, planet, illustrious person, starfish) [source].
Asterism is also the name of a Japanese band:
The word asterisk (*) comes from the same roots, via Late Latin asteriscus (small star and Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος [as.teˈris.kos] (small star) [source].
Two asterisks on top of each other (⁑) are apparently used in texts to denote emphasis, comments, footnotes, corrections, or other similar annotations [source].
Incidentally, Asterix, the Gaulish hero of the comic books by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, gets his name from the French word astérisque (asterisk) combined with the Gaulish word *rīx (king) [source].
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.
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.
In this Adventure we are being indirect and circuitous and looking for an angle on the word obtuse.
Obtuse [əbˈtjuːs] means:
Blunt, pointed or acute in form
More than 90° and less than 180°
Intellectually dull or dim-witted
Deadened, muffled or mutted (sound)
Indirect or circuitous
Obtuse comes from Middle French obtus (obtuse, boring, dull, lifeless), from the Latin obtūsus (blunt, dull, obtuse), from obtundō (to batter, beat, strike, blunt, dull), from ob- (against) and tundō (to beat, strike, bruise, crush, pound), from PIE *(s)tewd- (to push, hit) [source].
Words from the same roots include student, study and studio in English, and tundir (to shear, mow) in Spanish [source].
Also from the same roots we get the word stot, which means a leap using all four legs at once. This is what springboks, Thomson’s gazelles, pronghorns and other species do as a way to show predators that they would be difficult to catch (see below) [source].
Stotting is also known as pronking or pronging, which come from Afrikaans pronk (to show off, strut or prance), from Dutch pronken (to display, show off) [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.
It comes from the Middle English neighebor [ˈnɛixəbur] (neighbour, citizen), from the Old English nēahġebūr [ˈnæ͜ɑːx.jeˌbuːr] (neighbour), from the Proto-Germanic *nēhwagabūrô [ˈnɛː.xʷɑ.ɣɑ.ˌbuː.rɔːː] (neighbour), from *nēhwaz [ˈnɛː.xʷɑz] (near, close) and *gabūrô (dweller) from *būraz (room, chamber, dwelling, residence) [source].
Other words derived for the Proto-Germanic *nēhwaz include near, next and nigh (near, close by), as in ‘the end is nigh’ in English, nah [naː] (near, close, nearby) in German, and na (close) in Dutch [source].
Other words derived for the Proto-Germanic *būraz include bower in English, buur(man/vrouw) [byr] (neighbour) in Dutch, boer [buːr] (farmer, peasant) in Dutch and Afrikaans, Bauer (birdcage) in some German dialects, and bur [bʉːr] (cage) in Swedish [source].
In this episode I talk about Dutch (Nederlands), a West Germanic language spoken mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium. I talk about the language itself and its history, about my attempts to learn it, and related stuff.
English words of Dutch origin include: Santa Claus, yacht, yankee, wildebeest, wagon, wiggle, waffle, stove, stoop, snack, skate, scone, rover, poppycock, pickle, plug, mannequin, maelstrom, luck, landscape, knapsack, jib, gin, furlough and many more [source].
This epsiode is about polyglottery and was partly recorded at the 2018 Polyglot Conference in Ljubljana in Slovenia.
I talk about what is a polyglot, how many languages you have to speak to call yourself a polyglot, and discuss what polyglots get up to, including the Polyglot Conference and other polyglot events, such as the Polyglot Gathering and LangFest. There are also some sound bites from participants in the conference in a variety of languages.
Definitions of polyglot:
“A polyglot is a person who speaks or understands many languages; a person with a command of many languages” [Collins English Dictionary].
