Tag: omniglot

Omniglot News (26/04/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Mundabli-Mufu (Ngɔ Njan), a Western Beboid language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Wamey (Wameỹ / Koñagi), a Senegambian language spoken in Senegal and Guinea.
  • Faiwol, a Mountain Ok language spoken in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

  • Wamey, a Senegambian language spoken in Senegal and Guinea.
  • Fataluku, a Trans-New Guinea language spoken on the island of Timor in East Timor and Indonesia.

New constructed script: Chivabwe, an alternative way to write Shona and other languages of Africa created by Duncan Junior Kutya.

Sample words in Chivabwe

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Entangled Perplexity, we untangle the perplexing roots of the word perplexity.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Losing Marbles about ways to say that someone has lost their marbles (gone crazy) in English and French, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Itzaʼ, a Yucatec Mayan language spoken in the Petén Department in northern Guatemala.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Brittle Fragility about words for brittle, fragile and related things in Celtic languages.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Entangled Perplexity

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we untangle the perplexing roots of the word perplexity.

Perplexity

Perplexity [pəˈplɛksɪti / pəɹˈplɛksəti] is:

  • The state or quality of being perplexed (puzzled, confused, bewildered)
  • Something that perplexes.
  • (information theory) A measure of how well a probability distribution or model predicts a sample.

It comes from Middle English perplexite ([a state of] doubt, confusion), from Middle French perplexite (perplexed, uncertain), from Latin perplexitās (perplexity, state of bewilderment, obscurity), from perplexus (entangled, involved, intricate, confused, complicated), from per- (very) and plectēre (to weave, twist), from Proto-Italic *plektō, from PIE *pleḱ- (to fold, weave), from *pel- (to wrap) [source].

Words from the same roots include πλέκω (pléko – to knit, weave, tangle) in Greek, plést (to braid, plait, knit) in Czech, fläta (braid, plait) in Swedish, vlak (flat, place) in Dutch, and flax and flay in English [source].

The English suffix -plex, as in complex, duplex, multiplex, possibly comes from the same roots [source].

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 (12/04/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Razihi (Lahjah Rāziḥīt), a South Semitic language spoken in Razihi in the Sa’adah District in northwestern Yemen.
  • Mbuʼ, a Southern Bantoid language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Seimat, an Oceanic language spoken in the Ninigo Islands in Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea.
  • Waskia, a Madang language spoken in Madang Province in the north east of Papua New Guinea.

New numbers pages:

  • Seimat, an Oceanic language spoken in Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea.
  • Umatilla (Tamalúut), a Sahaptin language spoken on the Umatilla Reservation in Oregon in the USA.

New idioms page: Throw in the Towel and other ways to say to give up or quit in a variety of languages.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology, Material Matters, uncovers the maternal and woody roots of the words material and matter.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

This week on the Omniglot blog we consider the usefulness or otherwise of Chocolate Teapots, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Mali, Niger and Nigeria.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Soqotri (ماتڸ دسقطري), a South Semitic language spoken in the Socotra Archipelago in Yemen.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Thrusting Throws about words for thrust, throw and related things in Celtic languages.

Incidentally, I completed another trip around the sun this week (on Thursday), so I’m now LIV years old, or seksoghalvtreds in Danish.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Material Matters

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This Adventure in Etymology uncovers the maternal and woody roots of the words material and matter.

Central, Hong Kong / 香港中環

Meanings of material include:

  • A basic matter from which the whole or the greater part of something physical is made.
  • Fabric, which can be made into a garments, etc, especially, woven fabric.
  • The elements, constituents or substance of which something is composed of or can be made of.

It comes from Middle English material (material, worldly), from Latin māteriālis (material – made of matter), from māteria (matter, material, substance, timber), from māter (mother, matron, woman), from PIE *méh₂tēr (mother) [source].

Words from the same roots include mattter, maternal, matrix, and mother in English, madre (mother) in Italian, matière (material, matter, subject) in French, madeira (wood) in Portuguese, motër (sister) in Albanian, and modryb (aunt) in Welsh [source].

Incidentally, in Old and Middle English, one word for material (and matter) was andweorc, which comes from and- (against, back, fully), and weorc (work, labour, pain) [source].

This is partially related to the Modern English word handiwork, which comes from Old English handġeweorc (manual labour, something made with the hands) [source].

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 (05/04/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Mwesen (M̄ēsēn), a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Vanua Lava Island in northern Vanuatu.
  • Wuvulu-Aua, an Oceanic language spoken on Wuluvu and Aua islands in Manus Province of Papua New Guinea.

New constructed script: Vsrc, an alternative way to write English inspired by the Arabic script created by Juan Euskalduna.

Sample text in the Vsrc script

New numbers page Quiripi, an Eastern Algonquian language that was spoken in Connecticut and Long Island in the USA.

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Yexing, about the word yex, which means a hiccough / hiccup, burp or belch, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Patamona, a dialect of Kapóng, a Cariban language spoken in Guyana.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Roses and related things in Celtic languages.

Castell Biwmares / Beaumaris Castle
Castell Biwmares / Beaumaris Castle, one of the places I visited this week

Incidentally, if you’re wondering why there’s less new material on Omniglot this week, it’s because some friends came to visit me, and I didn’t have as much time to work on Omniglot. With one friend from the Netherlands I spoke a mixture of English, Dutch, Welsh, French and Scottish Gaelic, and with another friend I spoke Welsh and English. We also sang songs in Welsh, English, German, Dutch and Scottish Gaelic. So it was a linguistically rich week.

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 (29/03/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Liangmai (Lianglad), a Zemeic language spoken in Manipur and Nagaland in northeast India.
  • Besermyan (бесерман көл), a Permic language spoken in northern Udmurtia in the Russian Federation.
  • Mbe (M̀bè), a Southern Bantoid language spoken in southeastern Nigeria.
  • Yipma (Yɨ’ayagaala), a Trans-New Guinea language spoken in Morobe Province in eastern Papua New Guinea.

New constructed script: Pallawa Hasti, an alternative way to write Indonesian, Malay and other languages created by Reza Sumanda, and based on the Pallawa script.

Sample text in Malay in the Pallawa Hasti script

New numbers pages:

  • Northern Tepehuán (Ódami), an Uto-Aztecan language spoken in northern Mexico.
  • Nancowry (Mūöt), a Nicobarese language spoken in the Central Nicobar Islands, part of the Indian Union territory of the Anadaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • Waorani (Wao Terero), a language isolate spoken mainly in eastern Ecuador, and also in Peru.

New phrases page: Liangmai (Lianglad).

New family words page: Liangmai (Lianglad).

New Tower of Babel translation: Mbe (M̀bè).

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Bread Vans, in which we investigate the Chinese word 面包车 (van, minibus – lit. ‘bread cart / vehicle’), and related words in Chinese and other languages, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Caijia (Menni), a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Guizhou province in southern China.

Omniglot blog - Adventures in the world of words and language - 20 years old

Incidentally, Thursday of this week (26th March) marks the 20th anniversary of the Omniglot blog. I started the blog on 26th March 2006 with three separate posts, a welcome to the blog post, a post about language and memory and a post about the Spanish word ringorrango, which means a flourish or frill. At first, I tried to post as often as possible, but soon settled to a couple of posts per week, which I’ve continued with ever since. There are currently 3,964 posts on the Omniglot blog (and 567 on the Radio Omniglot blog).

In celebration of the 20th anniversary / blogiversary of the Omniglot blog, this week’s Adventure in Etymology is all about Bloggery and other blog-related words.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Swallowing about words for to swallow and related things in Celtic languages.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Bloggery

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re looking into bloggery and other blog-related words.

Omniglot blog - Adventures in the world of words and language - 20 years old

As this week marks the 20th anniversary, or blogiversary of the Omniglot Blog, which I started on 26th March 2006, I thought I’d explore some blog-related words.

Bloggery is the act or practice of writing a blog, or blogging

The word blog [blɒɡ / blɔɡ / blɑɡ] comes from weblog, and was coined by Peter Merholz in 1999 on his blog Peterme.com, on which he used the phrase we blog. Not long after, others starting used blog as a noun and a verb.

The word blogger was coined in 1999 by Evan Williams of Pyra Labs, who produced a online content management system called Blogger to help people create blogs.

The word weblog was coined on 17th December 1997 by Jorn Barger, an American blogger, and combines web, as in wordwide web and log, as in a ship’s log (a written record of a ship’s navigation and speed) [source].

The world of blogs is apparently known as the blogoverse, the blogosphere, the blogdom or blogland.

Within the blogoverse there are many types of blog, including the blahgs (dull or uninteresting blogs), splogs (fake blogs full of link spam), a.k.a. flogs or spam blogs, and even metablogs (blogs about blogs) [source].

Blog-related words are collectively known as blogspeak or blargon (jargon of the blogosphere), and ever since I started this blog, I’ve kept my eyes and ears open for bloggable words and expressions to blog and/or blogcast about.

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 (22/03/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New adapted script: Asirilik (Асирилик), a way to write Tamazight with the Cyrillic alphabet devised by Xavier Merica

Sample text in Asirilik

New adapted script: Chukchi Latin Alphabet (Lyghorawetlhen Latinlhen Alfavit) – a way to write Chukchi with the Latin alphabet created by Dijacz.

New language pages:

  • Koshin (Kɔshin), a Western Beboid language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
  • Kung (Kuŋ), a Central Ring Grassfields language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
  • Mambila, a Northern Bantoid language spoken in southeastern Nigeria and northwestern Cameroon.
  • Anāl, a Northwestern Kuki-Chin language spoken in India and Myanmar.

New numbers pages:

  • Epele (Ẹkpeye), an Igboid language spoken in Rivers and Bayelsa states in southern Nigeria.
  • Ogba (Ọgbà), an Igboid language spoken mainly in Rivers State in southern Nigeria.
  • Kharia (कोरकू), a Munda language spoken mainly in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

New family words page: Lingua Franca Nova

This week on the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Mouchard, in which we investigate the French word mouchard (grass, snitch, informant), and related things, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Daasanach (Af Daasanach), a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan.

The recording comes from: YouTube

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we’re Holding It Together as we uncover the origins of the words content and content.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post entitled Rushy Sedges about words for sedge, rushes and related things in Celtic languages.

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Holding It Together

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology, we’re holding it together as we uncover the origins of the words content and content.

Contentment

As an adjective, content [kənˈtɛnt] means satisfied, pleased or contented, and as a noun, it can mean satisfaction, contentment or pleasure, or that which contents or satisfies. As a verb, to content means to give contentment or satisfaction to, to satisfy, or to make happy.

It comes from Middle English contenten [kɔnˈtɛntən] (to satisfy), from Old French contenter (to content, satisfy), from Latin contentus (contained, satisfied, enclosed), from contineō [kɔnˈtɪ.ne.oː] (to hold, keep, connect, contain), from con- (together) and teneō (to hold) [source].

A related word is content [ˈkɒn.tɛnt], which means that which is contained, subject matter, semantic information, or one or more creative works. This comes from the same roots as content, via Middle English content (things contained, contents), from Latin contentus etc [source].

Related words include contain, continent, continuous and countenance in English, contenir (to contain, hold) in French, contente (happy, content, satisfied) in Portuguese and continencia (continence, self-control) in Spanish [source].

Incidentally, the word contend [kənˈtɛnd] (to contest, dispute, quarrel) is not related to content or content even though it sounds similar. Instead, it comes from Middle English contenden (to engage in rivalry, compete), from Old French contendre, from Latin contendēre (to stretch out, strive after, contend), from con- (together) and tendere (to stretch) [source].

Related words include contention and contentious in English, contesa (quarrel, argument, dispute) in Italian, and cynnen (contention, discord) in Welsh [source].

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.