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.
Here’s the latest news from the world of Omniglot.
New language pages:
Adhola (DhoPadhola), a Western Nilotic language spoken in the Eastern Region of Uganda.
Ntcham (ncam), a Northern Gur language spoken in Togo and Ghana.
Akha (A˯ka˯daw˯), a Southern Loloish language spoken in China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
New constructed script and language: Yufrabiz, which was created by Max Greiner.
New constructed script: Western Script, which was invented by Julius Alfred Cordova as an alternative way to write English and Spanish.
New numbers pages:
Adhola (DhoPadhola), a Western Nilotic language spoken in the Eastern Region of Uganda.
Akha (A˯ka˯daw˯), a Southern Loloish language spoken in China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Achang (Ngachang), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in Yunnan province in southern China.
On the Omniglot blog we find out whether the French word heurter (door knocker) is related to the English word hurt in a post entitled Battering Down the Door. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:
Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Alaska in the USA.
The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Maung (Mawng Ngaralk), an Iwaidjan language spoken on Goulburn Island in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory of Austalia.
In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we find out what the word Swan has to do with sonnets, sonatas and bells.
On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Leader in Chief about words for leader, chief, president and so on in Celtic languages.
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.
New adapted script: Italorussian (Италоруссо), a way of writing Italian with the Cyrillic alphabet devised by Walter Loi.
Тутти љи эссэри умани насконо либэри эд эгўали ин дињита̀ э диритти. Эсси соно дотати ди раджонэ ди кощэнца э дэвоно адзирэ љи уни вэрсо љи альтри ин спирто ди фратэлланца.
On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Rucksacks & Mistletoe, in which we find out how the Italian word zaino (rucksack, backpack) is related to the English word mistletoe. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:
Here’s a clue: this language was spoken in Oklahoma in the USA and is being revived.
The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Chamacoco (Ɨshɨr), a Zamucoan language spoken in northern Paraguay.
In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we find out what links the word Antique with words like eye, window and Antigua.
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 episode we are looking into words for new and year in Celtic languages.
One Proto-Celtic word for new is *nouyos, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *néw(y)os (new), from which most words for new in Indo-European languages are descended [Source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
nua [n̪ˠuə / n̪ˠuː] = new, fresh, recent, novel; newness, new thing in Irish
newydd [ˈnɛu̯.ɨ̞ð] = new, recent, newly-grown, modern, late, novel, changed, fresh in Welsh
nowydh = fresh, new, novel, newly, just in Cornish
nevez [ˈne.ve] = new in Breton
The town of Noia in A Coruña in Galicia in the northwest of Spain probably gets its name from the same Proto-Celtic root, possibly via the Celtiberian nouiza [Source].
Another Proto-Celtic word for new is *ɸūros, which comes from the Proto-Indo-European *puHrós (wheat), possibly from *pewH- (to be clean, pure) [Source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
úr [uːɾˠ] = fresh; free, liberal, moist in Irish
ùr [uːr] = new, fresh in Scottish Gaelic
oor = new, sweet, novel, sappy, crisp, span, fresh, hour, raw in Manx
ir [iːr] = verdant, green, juicy, sappy, moist, succulent in Welsh
yr [ɪ:r/iːr] = fresh in Cornish
Words from the same PIE roots include pure in English, პური (ṗuri – bread, wheat) in Georgian, and պուրի (puri – a type of Georgian bread) in Armenian [Source].
In Proto-Celtic words for year were *blēdanī/*bleido. which possibly come from the Proto-Indo-European *bʰloyd- (pale) [source].
Related words in modern Celtic language include:
bliain [bʲlʲiənʲ] = year in Irish
bliadhna [bliən̪ˠə] = year, vintage in Scottish Gaelic
blein = [blʲeːnʲ / blʲiᵈn] = year, twelvemonth in Manx
blwyddyn [ˈblʊɨ̯ðɨ̞n] = year, a long time, ages; lifetime, life in Welsh
bledhen = year in Cornish
bloavezh = year in Breton
Words from the same PIE root include бледный (pale) in Russian, бледен (pale, pallied, insignificant) in Bulgarian, and bledý (pale) in Czech [source].
More details of new and year-related words in Celtic languages can be found on the Celtiadur, a blog where I explore connections between Celtic languages in more depth. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.
Adventures in Etymology is a new series on Radio Omniglot that I started in March 2021. Each week I explore the origins of a word and find out which other words it’s related to. I make a short video each Sunday, and thought I’d post the audio and the script here.
On today’s adventure we are following the word shanty down the etymological rabbit hole. Sea shanties seem to be quite popular at the moment, and the word shanty, as in a rhythmical work song original sung by sailors, comes from the French word chantez (sing), the imperative form of the verb chanter (to sing), from the Old French chanter (to pray, sing, retell or recount), from the Latin cantāre (to enchant, bewitch, forwarn, play (music, roles), recite, sing), from canō (I crow, foretell, play, sing, celebrate, chant), from the Proto-Italic *kanō (to sing), from the Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- (to sing).
Words in many European languages for to sing come from the same root, including cantar (to sing) in Spanish and Portuguese, cantare (to sing) in Italian, canu (to sing) in Welsh and canadh (to sing) in Irish, and such English words as accent, chant, enchant, incantation, recant.
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].
In this episode I talk about how learning silly, obscure and weird words and phrases, and playing with words can actually help you to learn languages.
Here are some screenshots of phrases I’ve collected in Czech, Danish, Esperanto, Romanian, Russian, Spanish and Swedish, mainly from Duolingo. Many of these phrases are rather silly, which is what makes them memorable:
In this episode I talk about Solresol, a musical language invented by François Sudre in the early 19th century. It is designed to be a simple language for international communication with just seven basic syllables based on the Western major musical scale (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si).
Solresol was the first constructed language to be taken seriously as an international auxiliary language (IAL), and the only musical language that gained much of a following.
I look at the history of the language, and its structure, and will play with it to see how it works.
Here are the Solresol words and phrases I use during this episode:
Simi re domi dosolfala misol fa lalaresi refafa lasi la lamisolsi solresol lasolfado. Hello and welcome to episode five of the Omniglot podcast.
The appears to be no word for welcome in Solresol so I used domi dosolfala misol (you come well), and for Omniglot podcast I used lamisolsi solresol lasolfado (all language show).
There is no word for radio either, but maybe you could use resolrefa solfasimi fasidola resisido (“send sound far device”). I came up with lasirela sifamire lasi dofadofa (“international network of knowledge”) for internet. So another way of translating Radio Omniglot Podcast might be lamisolsi solresol lasolfado lare la lasirela sifamire lasi dofadofa (“All language show on the international network of knowledge”).
doredomi = body, physical
domilafa = rationality, reason, sense, reasonable
sofamisol = wisdom, wise, sage, wisely
dolasoldo = meat, steak, beef
redoredo = clothes, outfit, effects
remifala = home, house, hut, cottage, hotel
remisolla = room, lounge, dining room
residoso = family, kinship, relative
solremifa = to sing
sôlremifa = song
solrêmifa = singer
solremîfa = songlike
solremifâ = singingly
sôlremifa’ / sôlremifaa = songs
sôlremifa’a = female singer
dolmîfado = man; dolmîfadô = woman
sisol = Mr; sisôl = Mrs
dore = I, me, myself; dorê = we, us, ourselves
misol = well, good
solmi = wrong, evil
fala = good, tasty, delectable, exquisite, delicious
dore mimi domilado = I will speak, I will have spoken
dore fafa domilado = I will speak, I will have spoken
solsol domilado = Speak!
Sire misolredo doredore famido re misolla, re famisol dosila re refasi. Dofa midomido midodosi dofasifa re domilafa, re falado fasolfa miladomi midodosi simisila.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Dore lala domilado solresol re solremisol lasisol. Domi mifare? I am speaking Solresol with vocal punctuation. Do you like it?
Solsi mido dosollado re simi. Thanks for listening and good afternoon.
There appears to be no word for goodbye in Solresol so I used simi, which is a general greeting meaning hello, good morning, good afternoon.
In this episode I talk about Italian, and specifically about the Italian words used in Western classical music. I investigate why Italian is used, look at some of the words, and find out what they mean and how they are used in Italian.
Here are the words featured:
Words for musical compositions and parts of them
Word
Musical meaning
Other meanings
opera
a drama set to music with singing and orchestral accompaniment
work, action, deed, piece of work
concerto
a work for one or more solo instruments accompanied by an orchestra
concert, performance, gig, show
cadenza
a florid solo at the end of a performance
cadence, rhythm, intonation, frequency
aria
an accompanied, elaborate melody sung by a single voice
air, look, manner
Words for tempo (time)
Word
Musical meaning
Other meanings
adagio
slow
slowly, with care, gently; adage, saying; easy does it
