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In this episode I look back at 2020 and talk about what I’ve been up to this year in terms of work, language learning and other stuff.
You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM, podtail and or via this RSS feed.
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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In this episode I take you on an adventure in etymology, the study of where words come from, and how they have changed over time. I start with the word etymology, and see where I end up.
Push ad Pull / Gwthio a Thynnu
You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM, podtail and or via this RSS feed.
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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If you’re good at languages, does it follow that you’re good at music, and vice versa? In this episode I talk about links between languages and music. I explore similarities and differences between learning and using languages, and learning and playing music, based mainly on my own experiences.
Languages and Music
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338120/
https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/133/the-relationship-between-music-and-language
Edinburgh Language Event
https://edinburghlanguageevent.com/
Hedge Cats / Cathod y Gwyrch
See the score for this tune.
The Whistling Windows / Y Ffenstri Sïo – a tune I wrote on various instruments in 2017.
Here’s a video I made at a music session in Y Glôb, a pub in Bangor. Musicians from Wales, England, Singapore and France were there that night.
If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.
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In this episode I discuss numbers, counting, and some of the other ways to refer to numbers and amounts in English – there are a lot more than you probably realise.
Information about numbers and numerals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_numerals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numeral_prefix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indefinite_and_fictitious_numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_large_numbers
https://www.omniglot.com/language/numbers/
https://www.omniglot.com/language/numerals.htm
Origins of hat-trick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hat-trick
Hedge Cats / Cathod y Gwyrch
See the score for this piece
Climbing the Stairs / Dringo’r Grisiau
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In this episode I talk about some of the benefits and advantages of learning minority and lesser-studied languages, focusing particularly on the Irish and other Celtic languages. I talk about my own experiences with these languages, and the benefits they have brought me.
There’s no point in learning small languages, is there? They’re spoken by relatively few people and maybe only in one country or region. So why bother? It would be better to learn a language that has many millions of speakers and that is spoken in many countries, like Spanish or French, wouldn’t it? Perhaps, but whatever language you learn can bring benefits and opportunities, even small, lesser-studied and minority languages.
Hedge Cats / Cathod y Gwyrch
See the score for this piece
The Elephant Song / Cân yr Eliffant
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In this episode I talk about language families – what they are, and how they develop, and I introduce some major and minor language families.
According to Wikipedia, a language family is “a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestral language or parental language, called the proto-language of that family”.
According to Ethnologue there are currently 142 different language families and 7,111 living languages. The ten largest languages families account for about 88% of the world’s population, and 74% of the world’s languages.
[table id=1 /]
Here’s an illustration a the family tree of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Elvish languages:
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvish_languages_(Middle-earth)
More information about language families
https://www.omniglot.com/writing/langfam.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_family
https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/family
https://www.mustgo.com/worldlanguages/language-families/
Dancing Donkeys / Asynnod sy’n Dawnsio
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In this episode I bring you news from the 2019 Polyglot Gathering, an annual get-together of polyglots and language lovers from all over the world. This year the Polyglot Gathering took place in Bratislava, Slovakia for the third time – it started in 2015 in Berlin, and was there for three years, then moved to Bratislava. The next Gathering will be in Teresin, near Warsaw in Poland from 26-30 May 2020.
I was planning to interview people at the Gathering, and to keep an audio diary, but was enjoying myself too much and decided to give you a flavour of the event after I got home. So this is the story of my Adventures in Polyglotland.
My badge from the Polyglot Gathering showing the languages I speak fluently, or at least fairly well:
N = native language, C = advanced level, B = intermediate level, A = basic / elementary level, en = English, cy = Cymraeg (Welsh), zh = 中文 [zhōngwén] – (Mandarin Chinese), ga = Gaeilge (Irish), es = español (Spanish), de = Deutsch (German), eo = Esperanto, gd = Gàidhlig (Scottish Gaelic), ja = Japanese, gv = Gaelg Vanninagh (Manx Gaelic), ru = Русский [Russkij] (Russian), cs = český (Czech), sv = Svenska (Swedish), da = Dansk (Danish).
Information about polyglot events: http://www.omniglot.com/events/
Bear With Me / Aros am yr Arth
Echoes on the Tongue / Atseiniau ar y Tafod
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In this episode we have a little natter about slang – what it is, where it comes from, and how it’s used.
Here are a few definitions of slang:
Source: Merriam-Webster
Source: wordnik (from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition)
Source: wordnik (from The Century Dictionary)
Source: Dictionary.com
Source: Wikipedia
The origins of the word slang are not known. It was first used in writing in 1756 to refer to the language of “low” or “disreputable” people, or the “special vocabulary of tramps or thieves”. It possibly comes from the same root as sling, from the Old Norse slyngva (to hurl) [source]
Information about slang
https://www.britannica.com/topic/slang
https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/what_is_slang.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_slang
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-back-slang-1689156M
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verlan
Details of specific words: natter, chat, gob (English), gob (Irish), mush, fika
Slang dictionaries
Green’s Dictionary of Slang
A Dictionary of Slang (British English)
Cockney Rhyming Slang
The Online Slang Dictionary (American, English, and Urban slang)
The Scampering Squirrels / Y Gwiwerod sy’n Prancio
The Unexpected Badger / Y Mochyn Daear Annisgwyl
If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation, or contribute to Omniglot in other ways.
See the score for this tune
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When people ask me what I do, I usually tell them that I write and talk about languages for a living, mainly on my website. This leads to more questions about what exactly my website is about, how I make money from it, and what I spend my days doing.
In this episode I try to answer these questions, and explain how Omniglot came to be, what my work involves, and how it generates revenue. I also suggest some ways you could turn your interests into online business.
Read more about the history of Omniglot.
The tunes featured in the episode are:
The recording I use in the podcast was generated by MuseScore (See a PDF of the score). The recording below features me on all the instruments.
In Episode 12 I slipped in a couple of made-up facts and challenged you to spot them. They were:
Although I made these up, there are people who believe that Cornish never ceased to be spoken, and it’s possible that someone has trained their parrot to speak some Cornish.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation, or by contributing in other ways.
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In this episode I talk about Manx (Gaelg), or Manx Gaelic (Gaelg Vanninagh), a Celtic language spoken in the Isle of Man. I look at the history of the language, its decline and revival, and its current situation. I also talk about my own experiences with the language, and play a few Manx tunes, and a song I wrote in Manx and English.
Here are some of the bits of Manx featured:
Failt dys yn çhiaghtoo cur magh jeh’n podcreeley Radio Omniglot.
Welcome to episode 7 of the the Radio Omniglot podcast.
Mish Simon Ager, as bee’m laoyrt mychione y Ghaelg, ny’n Ghaelg Vanniagh, çhengey Cheltiagh ta goll er loayrt ayns Mannin.
I’m Simon Ager, and I will be speaking about Manx, or Manx Gaelic, the Celtic language spoken in the Isle of Man.=
Tra haink ny skibbyltee boghtey stiagh hie yn Ghaelg magh.
When the tourists came in, the Manx language went out.
Cha jean oo cosney ping lesh y Ghailck
You will not earn a penny from Manx
Gura mie mooar ayd son eaishtaght, as slane lhiat
Thank you very much for listening, and good bye
I mention that the Manx Tynwald (parliament), which is Tinvaal in Manx, comes from the Old Norse word Þingvǫllr (meeting place of the assembly), and that the modern Icelandic parliament has a similar name: Þingvellir (Thingvellir). The Icelandic parliament is in fact called the Alþingi (Althingi), and Þingvellir is the place south of Reykjavik where the parliament was held from 930-1798.
This is a photo I took of Þingvellir in Icelandic in October 2017.
Information about Manx
http://www.learnmanx.com/
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/manx.htm
http://www.omniglot.com/language/articles/languagerevival.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manx_language
https://gv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelg (in Manx)
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/k-david-harrison/manxs-surprising-revival_b_6725490.html
Information about the Isle of Man
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Man
https://www.visitisleofman.com/<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Isle_of_Man
A day in the life of the Bunscoill Ghaelgagh (Manx-medium primary school)
Brian Stowell and Adrian Cain talking about the revival of Manx
Cuchulainn – an animation telling Cuchulainn’s story in Manx
Brian Stowell and Adrian Cain talking about the native speakers of Manx
Manannan – an animation about Mannan beg mac y Leir, the Celtic sea god who is said to protect the Isle of Man with his mists
A conversation in Manx between Ned Maddrell and Tommy Lecce
Ruth Keggin – Irree ny greiney (Sunrise), a song in Manx written by Bob Carswell
