Category: Travel

Adventures in Etymology – Gather Together

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we’re gathering together the good roots of the word gather.

A room full of polyglots

Gather [ˈɡæðə / ˈɡæðɚ] as a verb can mean to collect normally separate things; to harvest food; to accumulate over time; to congregate or assemble; to bring parts of a whole closer; or to infer or conclude.

As an noun, gather can mean a plait or fold in cloth, a blob of molten glass collected on the end of a blowpipe, or a gathering.

It comes from Middle English gaderen (to assemble, congregate), from Old English gaderian (to bring together, to gather), from Proto-West Germanic *gadurōn (to gather, bring together), from *gadur (together, gathered in one place), possibly from PIE *gʰódʰ-r̥, from *gʰedʰ- (to join, unite, suit) [source].

Words from the same roots include godzić (to reconcile, bring together) in Polish, hodit (to fit, suit, be appropriate) in Czech, guõdas (virtue, nobleness, glory, honour) in Lithuanian, goed (good, correct, right) in Dutch, and good and together in English [source].

Next week I’m off to the Polyglot Gathering in Brno in the Czech Republic, where language enthusiasts from all over the world will forgather and regather together to talk in and about languages. There may some woolgathering, but hopefully no misgathering, as we gather our thoughts and ourselves together.

  • to forgather = to assemble or gather together in one place, to gather up, to congregate
  • to regather = to gather again, to gather back together
  • woolgathering = the gathering of fragments of wool torn from sheep by bushes, etc. indulgence in idle fancies or daydreams
  • to misgather = to accumulate or assemble incorrectly, to infer or conclude incorrectly

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

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.




Omniglot News (19/04/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Metaʼ (Mɨta’), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Romani Tatar (Romaní Tatarja), a Kipchak Turkic language spoken in northeast Bulgaria and southeast Romania.
  • Kedang (tutuq nanang wela), a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on Lembata Island in East Nusa Tenggara in eastern Indonesia.
  • Waris, a Trans-New-Guinea language spoken in Sandaun Province of Papua New Guinea and Papua Province in Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

  • Waris, a Trans-New-Guinea language spoken in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
  • Oroqun, a Northern Tungusic language spoken in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang in northern China.

New constructed script: Urisaiyo, an alternative way to write Japanese, English and other languages created by Eteluptra.

Sample text in Urisayo in Japanese

New constructed script: Stylogic, a phonemic alphabet for English and other languages created by Richard Agnew.

Sample text in Stylogic

This week on the Omniglot blog we explore connections between the words nexus, annex(e) and connection in a post entitled A Nexus of Connections, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Guatemala.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tawellemmet (Tawəlləmmət / ⵜⵓⵍⵎⵓⵜ / تَاوَلَّمَّتْ), a Southern Tuareg language spoken in Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Dukes, duchesses are related things.

Here’s a little song I wrote recently called Reaching For The Sky inspired by idioms meaning to give up or quit such as ‘to throw in the towel’.

Unfortunately I didn’t get round to make a new Adventure in Etymology podcast this week as I was busy with other stuff, and I recorded this news a day early as I’ll be in London on Sunday (19th April) for a concert by the South Korean band Rolling Quartz (롤링쿼츠), which I’m very much looking forward to.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046466483286

JapanesePod101.com

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Omniglot News (18/01/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Ambele, a Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Babanki (Kə̀jóm), a Grassfields language spoken in Mezam Department in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Sarangani, a Southern Manobo language spoken in the Davao Region in Mindanao in the Philippines.

New numbers pages:

  • Chamacoco (Ɨshɨr), a Zamucoan language spoken in the Alto Paraguay department in northern Paraguay.
  • Western Fijian (Nadrogaa), an Oceanic language spoken in western Fiji.
  • South Slavey (Dene Zhatıé / ᑌᓀ ᒐ), a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in northern Canadai.

New adapted script: Slovarabik (سلوڤارابيك), a way to write Slovak with the Arabic script devised by Martin Varga.

ڤشېتڅیٛ ڵیٛدیٛا سا رۆدیٛا سلۆبۆدنئ ا رۆڤنئ ڤۆ دۋستۋىنۋستیٛ ا پرآڤاخ. سۊ ۆبدارېنئ رۆزۏمۆم ا سڤېدۆمئم ا مالیٛ بي سا سپرآڤات ناڦزآىۆم ڤ دۏخۏ برإتستڤا.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Outside Aliens about word for foreigner / outsider in Chinese and Japanese. There is also a new language quiz. Can you guess what language this is?

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Ethiopia and Sudan.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Yaqui (Yoem Noki), an Uto-Aztecan language spoken in Sonora and Sinaloa in Mexico & in Arizona in the USA.

Slippery

There’s also a new post Celtiadur post this week entitled Smoothly Slippery about words for smooth, slippery and related things in Celtic languages.

Victoria Harbour at night / 維多利亞港嘅夜景

In other news, this week I’ve mainly been in Hong Kong. It’s changed a lot since I was last here 1990s, and I’ve visited some familar places and some new ones. There seems to be a lot more of everythings here – people, buildings, traffic etc, and it’s quite a constrast to Zhaoqing, which seemed quieter and more relaxed in comparison.

You can see some photos on Flickr.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

JapanesePod101.com

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Omniglot News (07/12/25)

By Simon

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Ngaʼka (Mungaʼka), a Grassfields language spoken in Bali Nyonga, a town in the Nortwest Region of Cameroon.
  • Ngiemboon (Ngiembɔɔn), a Grassfields language spoken in Bali Nyonga, a town in the Nortwest Region of Cameroon.

This week there’s a new blog post entitled No Fierce Action about some questionably translated text I’ve spotted here.

There’s a new post entitled Telling Tales on the Celtiadur blog about words for story, tale, news etc in Celtic languages.

Improved page: Mandarin phrases

星湖 / Star Lake

This week my adventures in Zhaoqing (肇庆) took me to the big lake in the centre of the city, known as Star Lake in English, or 星湖 (xīnghú) in Chinese. You can take boat trips around it, and there are quite a few islands to visit, some of which have temples on them. If you go to one of the cafés or restaurants overlooking the lake, be prepared for much higher prices than elsewhere.

星湖 / Star Lake

I also went to the Guangdong Business and Technology University (广东工商职业技术大学), a private university not far from here with some rather elaborate architecture.

Guangdong Business and Technology University / 广东工商职业技术大学

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




Omniglot News (31/08/25)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Naman, a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Malekula Island in central Vanuatu.
  • Mbugu (kiMbugu) / Maʼa (kiMaʼa), a Bantu language spoken in the Lushoto District in the Tanga Region in the northeast of Tanzania.
  • Mwerlap (N̄wërlap), a Southern Oceanic language spoken in the Banks Islands in Torba Province of Vanuatu.

New adapted script: Tang-galog (𗒨𗓸𗈒𗄀𗄻𗄀𗈒), a way to write Tagalog with the Tangut script devised by Chen Carson D. Callueng.

Sample text in Tang-galog

New adapted script: New Futhorch (ᚾᚣᚹ ᚠᚢᚧᚩᚱᚳ), a way to write Modern English with Old English / Anglo-Saxon runes devised by John Higgins.

Sample text in New Futhorch

New numbers pages:

  • Naman, a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Malekula Island in central Vanuatu.
  • Mwerlap (N̄wërlap), a Southern Oceanic language spoken in the Banks Islands in Torba Province of Vanuatu.
  • Newar (नेपाल भाषा), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken mainly in central Nepal, and also in northern India.

On the Omniglot blog there a new post entitled Facting Facts about the verbification of the word fact, and other fact-related factlets, factettes and factoids, 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 Iramba (Nilamba), a Bantu language spoken in the Singida Region in central Tanzania.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Birches, we unearth the Celtic roots of words birch (tree) in various languages.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Coughing about words for cough and various other things in Celtic languages, and I made improvements to the posts entitled To Choke and Birch (Trees).

Eastgate, Chester

In other news, I spent yesterday exploring Chester with Richard Simcott and Israel Lai (see photo below), friends I know from language-related events. Richard was our guide – he grew up in Chester and has relatives there, although he lives in North Macedonia. He’s studied even more languages than I have, runs the Speaking Fluently blog, and is the organiser of the Polyglot Conference and other language-related events. Israel is a composer, language enthusiast and podcaster from Hong Kong, who lives in Mancester, where he did a PhD in music composition. He has also studied many languages, including Welsh, and runs the blog Rhapsody in Lingo and a podcast 絮言．狂想 (seoi5jin4 kwong4soeng2), which discusses language and linguistics in Cantonese. We had a great time exploring the city and nerding out about language-related things.

Chester canal

More of my photos of Chester

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

JapanesePod101.com

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn and Podchaser.

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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Omniglot News (16/06/24)

By Simon

Omniglot News

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

New language and alphabet: Bactiran (Αριαο) , an Eastern Iranian language that was spoken from about 300 BC to 1000 AD in Bactria, an ancient Iranian civilisation in Central Asia, and which was written with a version of the Greek script.

Surkh Kotal inscription, 2nd century CE
Surkh Kotal inscription, 2nd century AD

New language pages:

  • Biak (wós Vyak / wós kovedi), a South Halmahera-West New Guinea language spoken in the Bial Islands in eastern Indonesia.
  • Nambya (chiNambya), a Southern Bantu language spoken in northwest Zimbabwe and northeast Bostwana.
  • Bariai, a Western Oceanic language spoken in West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.

New numbers page: Bariai, a Western Oceanic language spoken in West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Earthlings and Other Lings about words ending in -ling, such as earthling, and there’s a post about my trip to Ireland / Éire. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Angika (अंगिका), a Bihari language spoken mainly in the states of Bihar and Jharkhand in northern India, and also in eastern Nepal.

There’s no Adventure in Etymology this week as I’m on holiday in Ireland. I probably won’t have time to work on Omniglot during that time, and there’ll be no recorded newscasts.

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

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

JapanesePod101.com

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.

Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo

Omniglot News (30/04/2023)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot. This is in fact the news for the past two weeks as I was away at The Language Event in Edinburgh last weekend and didn’t have time to record a newscast. More on that later.

There are new language pages about:

  • Romanian Tatar (Tatarșa), a variety of Crimean Tatar spoken mainly in the Dobrogea region in eastern Romania.
  • Namakura (Namakir) a Southern Oceanic language spoken in the Shepherd Islands in Shefa Province of Vanuatu.
  • Tirax (Resan Tirax), a Southern Oceanic language spoken in the north east of Malakula Island in Vanuatu.
  • Lewo, a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Epi Island in Shefa Province of Vanuatu.
  • Tarama (たらまふとぅ), a Southern Ryukyuan language spoken on Tarama and Minna, two of Miyako islands in Okinawa Prefecture in southern Japan

There are new numbers pages in: Romanian Tatar, Namakura, Tirax, Kaska and Lewo.

There’s a new page about How to write dates in Japanese.

On the Omniglot blog there are new posts about The Language Event I went to in Edinburgh, and about words for Cupboards, Cabinets and Closets, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly in southern Iran.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tumak (bə̀g ɗə təmàgə́ə̀n), an East Chadic language spoken in the southwest of Chad.

The mystery language in the previous week’s language quiz was: Norman (Normaund), a Romance language spoken in Normandy in northern France.

There’s a new Celtic Pathways podcast about words for donkey and related beasts in Celtic and other languages.

On the Celtiadur blog there are new posts about Top Peaks and Scratching Scrapes, and improved posts about words for To Write, Book and Donkeys. I also made improvements to the Celtic cognates index page.

In other news, last weekend I had a good time at The Language Event in Edinburgh. There were some interesting talks about all sorts of language-related topics, I met old friends and made some new ones, and got to speak a variety of languages, including Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Danish, Japanese, German and Spanish.

The Language Event, Edinburgh

A reporter from BBC Alba (the Scottish Gaelic TV channel) was at the Event and filmed parts of it, including a short interview with me in Scottish Gaelic:

I forgot to mention in the recording, but I wrote a new song in Scottish Gaelic called Thoir An Aire! (Watch Out!), which was inpsired by my Gaelic lessons on Duolingo, and visits to Scotland. It goes something like this:

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.

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Korean with KoreanClass101

Christmas

By Simon

I’m taking a break from making podcasts and videos over Christmas. Radio Omniglot will return soon.

Silverdale School
Silverdale School, where my brother, sister and I all went

In the meantime, I’m spending Christmas with my mum, brother, sister and their families in the wilds of Lancashire in the north west of England. This is the first time I’ve seen them all for 3 years, and the first time I’ve been outside Wales.

A Multilingual Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it.

Adventures in Etymology – Fever

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Last weekend I went to Aberystwyth to see a friend, which was nice, and also why I didn’t manage to record a new Adventure in Etymology. Unfortunately one souvenir I brought back was a dose of Corona virus. I felt quite feverish earlier this week, so today we’re uncovering the origins of the word fever.

Promenâd Aberystwyth Promenade
Promenâd Aberystwyth Promenade

A fever [ˈfiːvə / ˈfivɚ] is:

  • A higher than normal body temperature of a person (or, generally, a mammal), usually caused by disease.
  • Any of various diseases, such as scarlet fever
  • A state of excitement or anxiety.
  • A group of stingrays.

It comes from the Middle English fever(e) (fever), from the Old English fefer / fefor (fever), from the Latin febris (fever), from the Proto-Italic *feɣʷris (fever), from the Proto-Indo-European *dʰegʷʰris from *dʰegʷʰ- (to burn, warm, hot) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include day in English, and words for day in other Germanic languages, daigh (flame, fire, pain, pang) in Irish, and possibly defio [ˈdəɨ̯vjɔ] (to scorch, singe, blast, blight) in Welsh [source].

In Old English the word for fever was hriþ [r̥iθ], which comes from the Proto-Germanic *hriþiz (trembling, the shakes, the shivers, fever) from the PIE *kret- (to shake, quiver, tremble) [source].

Words from the same PIE root possibly include cryd [krɨːd / kriːd] (shivering, trembling, fever) in Welsh, and crith (a/to shake, quiver, tremble) in Irish [source].

Here’s a video I made of this information:

Video made with Doodly [afflilate 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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com

Omniglot News (31/07/22)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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

This week there are new language pages about:

  • Hadza (Hadzane), a language isolate spoken around Lake Eyasi in northern Tanzania
  • Hejazi Arabic (حجازي), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.

There are new numbers pages in:

  • Budukh (Будад мез), a North East Caucasian language spoken in the northeast of Azerbaijan.
  • Tindi (Идараб мицци), a Northeast Caucasian language spoken in the southwest of Dagestan in the Russian Republic.
  • Hejazi Arabic (حجازي), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia.

On the Omniglot blog this week we have a post called Kenning, about the words ken and kenning, and related words in English and other languages, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the west of the Russian Federation.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Hlai, a group of Kam-Tai languages spoken in central Hainan Province in southern China.

There’s a new Celtiadur post are about words for Lamentation and related things in Celtic languages.

Here’s a song I released this week, though actually wrote back in April 2022:

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

The Polyglottals (Richard Simcott, Simon Ager and Chris Taylor)
Some friends who came to visit Bangor this week (Photo by Richard Simcott)

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.

The Fastest Way to Learn Korean with KoreanClass101