Tag: podcast

Omniglot News (11/10/26)

By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Bowili (Tuwuli), a Kwa language spoken in the Volta Region in southeastern Ghana.
  • Alagwa (Alaagwa’isa), a South Cushitic language spoken in the Dodoma Region in central Tanzania.
  • Lela (c’Lélà), a Northwest Kainji language spoken in the northwest of Nigeria.

New constructed script: Phoenixian, which was created by Dave Kos to write the constructed Phoenixian language, and also English.

Phoenixian Script

New constructed script: Dual Tone, which was invented by Grace Sanon as a colour-based alphabet that can be used English and other languages.

Sample text in Dual Tone

New numbers pages:

  • Kulango (Nkuraeng), a Gur language spoken in Ivory Coast and Ghana.
  • Musi (Basé Musi), a Malayic language spoken mainly in South Sumatra province in Indonesia.
  • Mortlockese (kapsen Mwoshulók) a Micronesian language spoken mainly in the Mortlock Islands in Micronesia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Furnished Performance, we find out what connects the words furnish and perform.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week we find out what connects pillows to dust in a post called Dusty Pillows, 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 Gagauz (Gagauz dili / Gagauzça), a Western Oghuz Turkic language spoken mainly in Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Seaweed 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.

Omniglot News (04/10/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Kanembu (Kanembou / كَنٜݦُ), a Western Saharan language spoken in southeastern Chad.
  • Teda (Tedaga), a Western Saharan language spoken in Chad, Libya and Niger.
  • Afade (Afaɗə), a Chadic language spoken in northern Cameroon and northeastern Nigeria.

New numbers page: Bowili (Tuwili), a Kwa language spoken in the Volta Region in southeastern Ghana.

New: Time, Family words and Colours pages in Plains Cree (ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐍᐏᐣ / nēhiyawēwin), an Algonquian language spoken in Canada and the USA.

New colours page: Polish (polski), a Western Slavic language spoken mainly in Poland.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Tasteful Taxis, we find out what connects the words taxi, task, tax and taste.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week we find out what links the European wryneck (a type of bird) with spells and charms in a post called Birds of Ill Omen, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly in Moldova, Ukraine and Bulgaria.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Suwawa, a Philippine language spoken in Gorontalo Province on Sulawesi Island in Indonesia.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Barley 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 – Tasteful Taxis

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what connects the words taxi, task, tax and taste.

London Taxis

A taxi [ˈtaksɪj / ˈtæksi] is a vehicle, usually a car, that may be hired for single journeys by members of the public, particularly one with an automated meter to calculate the fare.

As a verb, to taxi means to move an aircraft on the ground under its own power, or to travel or transport by taxi. The aircraft moving sense comes from a slang term for training aircraft practicing ground operations, which appeared to move around like taxis.

Taxi is an abbreviation of taximeter cab from French taximètre (taximeter), from German Taxameter (taximeter), from Medieval Latin taxa (tax, charge) and -meter (device to measure a certain property) [source].

A taximeter is a device installed in a taxi that calculates the fare based upon distance travelled and waiting time. It is often abbreviated to meter [source].

Taxa comes from Latin taxō (to feel, charge, rate, judge), from PIE *teh₂g- (to touch, grasp, take with the hand) [source].

Cabriolet !
A cabriolet (carriage)

Cab is a clipping of cabriolet (a car or carriage with a retractable or folding top), which comes from French cabriolet (a convertible car, a cabriolet carriage), from Italian cabriola (horse caper), from Latin capreolus (a roe deer), from PIE *kápros (billy goat [source].

Words from the PIE root *teh₂g- (to touch, grasp, etc) possibly include tage (to take, get, catch, charge) in Danish, taxeren (to evaluate, appraise) in Dutch, taxa (fee, tax, rate) in Portuguese, teimlo (to feel, touch) in Welsh, and tack, tact, take, tangent, task, taste, tax and thwack in English [source].

Words from the PIE root *kápros (billy goat) possibly include gafr (goat) in Welsh, gabhar (goat) in Irish, hafur (billy goat) in Icelandic, kauris (deer) in Finnish, chevron (rafter) in French, and haver (to talk foolishly, to chatter) in Scots [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.




Adventures in Etymology – Wending One’s Way

By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we wend our way through the origins of the word wend.

Trudging along

Wend [wɛnd] means to direct (one’s way or course), to pursue one’s way, or to proceed upon some course or way, and used to mean to turn, to change, to adapt, to veer, to pass away, to disappear, to depart or to vanish.

It usually appears in phrases like ‘to wend one’s way’, for example, We wended our weary way westward. The modern past tense form of wend is wended, however it used to be went, which became the past tense of the verb to go.

Wend comes from Middle English wenden (to walk, to travel, to move, to leave, to sail), from Old English wendan (to turn, change, translate, go, depart, happen), from Proto-West Germanic *wandijan (to turn), from Proto-Germanic *wandijaną (to turn), from *windaną (to wind, wrap) from PIE *wendʰ- (to wind, turn) [source].

Words from the same roots include wandern (to hike, migrate, wander) in German, vende (to invite, call, welcome) in Danish, wędrować (to wander, roam) in Polish, vanne (hoop, band, rim) in Finnish, and guantlet, wand, to wander, to wind and possibly and vandal in English [source].

The word vandal (a person who needlessly destroys, defaces, or damages things, especially other people’s property), comes from the Vandals, a group of Germanic peoples who are known for sacking Rome in 455 AD/CE [source].

Their name comes from Proto-Germanic *wandilaz (to wander, a Vandal), from *wandōną (to wander), from PIE *wendʰ- (to wind, turn) [source]. Alternatively, Vandal may come from PIE *wanđ- (water), which is also the root of Old English name for the Mediterranean Sea: Wendelsǣ (“Vandal sea”) [source].

Andalusia, a region in southern Spain, might also get it’s name from the Vandals. It comes from Medieval Latin Andalusia, from Arabic الأندلس [al.ʔan.da.lus], possibly from Vulgar Latin *Vandalicia (“land of the Vandals”) or from Vandalic *Wandalitia / *Vandalitia (“land of the Vandals”) [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 (20/09/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Ahwai (indùn), a Plateau language spoken in Kaduna State in central Nigeria.
  • Gokana (Gòkánà), an East Ogoni language spoken in Rivers State in southern Nigeria.
  • Hasha (Hàshà), an Alumic language spoken in Nasarawa State in the North Central region of Nigeria.

New constructed script: Aksara Varadun, an alternative way to write Indonesian created by Zafran Al Fathan.

Sample text in Aksara Varadun

New numbers page: Gokana (Gòkánà), an East Ogoni language spoken in Rivers State in southern Nigeria.

New phrases page Nyamwezi, a Bantu language spoken in western Tanzania.

New Tower of Babel translations:

  • Mongo (Ngiembɔɔn), a Bamileke language spoken in the West Region in southwestern Cameroon.
  • Hanunoo (Hanunó’o), a South Mangyan language spoken in Mindoro in the Philippines.
  • Loma (Löömàgòòi), a Southwestern Mande language spoken in northern Liberia
  • Maiadomu, a Western Oceanic language spoken in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea.
  • Makhuwa (Emakhuwa), a Bantu language spoken in Mozambique and Tanzania.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Gracefully Pleasing, we uncover the gratefully pleasing roots of the word grace.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week we find out links a New World monkey, a type of cloak, an order of friars and a type of coffee in a post entitled Monks, Monkeys & Coffee, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Canada and the USA.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tacana, a Western Tacanan language spoken in La Paz Department in northwestern Bolivia.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for Service 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 – Gracefully Pleasing

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the gratefully pleasing roots of the word grace.

Graceful...

As a noun grace [ɡɹeɪs] can mean:

  • Charming, pleasing qualities.
  • A short prayer of thanks before or after a meal.
  • Elegant movement; elegance of movement; balance or poise.
  • Favor, sanction or beneficence.

As a verb to grace can mean:

  • To adorn; to decorate; to embellish and dignify.
  • To dignify or raise by an act of favour; to honour.
  • To supply with heavenly grace.

It comes from Middle English grace [ˈɡraː(t)sə] (the grace of God, luck, destiny, niceness, goodwill), from Old French grace (grace, favour, elegance), from Latin grātia (grace, thankfulness, thanks, influnce), from grātus (pleasing, dear, grateful), from Proto-Italic *gʷrātos (grateful, thankful) from PIE *gʷr̥H-tó-s (praised), from *gʷerH- (to praise, elevate) [source].

Words from the same roots include grazie (thank you) in Italian, grish (to invite, call, welcome) in Albanian, barn (opinion, view, judgement) in Welsh, bràth (judgement, destruction) in Scottish Gaelic, and agreement, bard, congratulate, grateful, gratitude and gratuity in English [source].

Incidentally, there were several other words for grace in Middle English, which included:

  • held(e) [ˈheːld(ə)] = favour, grace, good will, duty, which is related to the Dutch word houden (to keep, care for, hold, love, like), and hold in Modern English [source].
  • este [ˈɛːst(ə)] = grace, favour, pleasure, fun, delicacy, which is related to the Icelandic word ást (love) [source].
  • ore [ˈɔ̝ːr(ə)] (honour, respect, grace, favour, respite), which is related to the German word Ehre (honour, credit) [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.




Adventures in Etymology – Beaming Trees

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we discover what links the word beam with words for tree.

Puivert halle

Meanings of beam [ˈbiːm] include any large piece of timber or iron long in proportion to its thickness, and prepared for use; one of the transverse members of a ship’s frame on which the decks are laid; a ray or collection of approximately parallel rays emitted from the sun or other luminous body.

It comes from Middle English be(e)m [bɛ̝ːm] (beam, pole, antler, tree), from Old English bēam [bæɑːm] (tree, beam, gallows), from Proto-West Germanic *baum (tree, beam), from Proto-Germanic *bagmaz (tree, beam), possibly from PIE *bʰuH- (to become, grow, appear) [source].

Words from the same Proto-Germanic roots include Baum (tree, boom) and beamen (to beam, teleport, project) in German (borrowed from English, popularised by Star Trek), bom (bar, barrier, beam) in Danish, boom (tree, beam, mast) in Dutch, puomi (boom, barrier, pole) in Finnish, boom in English [source].

Incidentally, in Middle English there were several words for tree, including tre (tree, plants, wood), bem (beam, a set of scales, antler, tree) and arbre (tree). The first two come from Old English and Proto-Germanic, while arbre comes from Old French arbre (tree).

Related words in English include arboretum (a place where many varieties of tree are grown for research, educational, and ornamental purposes), arboreal (tree-like, relating to trees) [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 (06/09/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Firan (Fɨràn), a West-Central Plateau language spoken in Plateau State in central Nigeria.
  • Buli, a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region in northern Ghana.
  • Mpade (Mpadɨ), a Chadic language spoken in northern Cameroon and southwest Chad.

New numbers page:

  • Baoulé, a Kwa language spoken in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
  • Buli, a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region in northern Ghana.
  • Songe (Kisonge), a Bantu language spoken in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

New phrases page: Buli, a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region in northern Ghana.

New Tower of Babel translations:

  • Baoulé, a Kwa language spoken in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
  • Bilaspuri, a Western Pahari language spoken in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab in northern India.
  • Ambai, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken mainly on the Ambai Islands in Papua province in Indonesia.
  • Anuak, a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken mainly on the Ambai Islands in Papua province in Indonesia.
  • Apali, a Trans-New Guinea language spoken in Madang Province in Papua New Guinea.
  • Buli, a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region in northern Ghana.
  • Gourmanchéma (gùlmàncéma), a Gur language spoken in Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger and Benin.
  • Vidunda (Chividunda), a Bantu language spoken in southern Tanzania.
  • Medumba (Mə̀dʉ̂mbɑ̀), a Bamileke language spoken in the West Region in southwestern Cameroon.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, entitled Feeble Foibles, we discover what links the words feeble and foible with bleating and bells.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Omniglot blog this week we investigate various words for Rice in Swahili, Chinese and Japanese, and there’s the usual language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Lenakel (Netvaar), a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Tanna Island in southern Vanuatu.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for we, us and related pronouns entitled We Ourselves.

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 – Feeble Foibles

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we discover what links the words feeble and foible with bleating and bells.

Feeble Foibles

Feeble [ˈfiːbəl] means deficient in physical strength; lacking force, vigour or effectiveness in action or expression, or faint.

It comes from Middle English feble [ˈfeːbəl / ˈfeːblə] (feeble, weak, insidious), from Anglo-Norman feble (weak, feeble), from Latin flēbilis (lamentable, doleful), from fleō (to weep, cry, lament), ultimately from PIE *bʰleh₁- (to bleat, cry), from *bʰel- (to sound, speak, roar, bark) [source].

Words from the same PIE roots include блеять (blejat’ – to bleat) in Russian, blaten (to bleat, to speak pointlessly) in Dutch, bjalla (bell, to be noisy, to call) in Icelandic, and bell, bleat and blatant in English [source].

Foible [ˈfɔɪbəl] means a quirk, idiosyncrasy, frailty or mannerism; an unusual habit that is slightly strange or silly, or a weakness or failing of character.

It comes from Early Modern French foible (feeble, weak), from Old French feble / foible (weak, feeble), from Latin flēbilis (lamentable, doleful), and so on – the same root as feeble [source].

Words from the same Latin roots include feble (weak, feeble) in Catalan, flébil (tearful, fragile) in Portuguese, fäbless (penchant, fondness) in Swedish, and Faible (soft spot, weakness, craze) in German [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 (30/08/26)

By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Leonese (Llionés), a Ibero-Romance language spoken mainly in the northwest of Spain.
  • Angaataha (Angaatɨha), a Trans-New Guinea language spoken in Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea.
  • Northwest Gbaya (Làì / Kàrà), an Atlantic-Congo language spoken in Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

New numbers page:

  • Angaataha (Angaatɨha), a Trans-New Guinea language spoken in Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea.
  • Nizaa (Nízɑɑ̀), a Mambiloid language spoken in the Adamawa Region in northern Cameroon.

New adapted script: Turkish Shavian (·𐑖𐑨𐑝𐑰 𐑑𐑳𐑮𐑒𐑗𐑧 / Şavi Türkçe), a way to write Turkish with the Shavian alphabet devised by Ethan Ikediashi.

𐑚𐑳𐑑𐑳𐑯 𐑰𐑯𐑕𐑨𐑯𐑤𐑨𐑮 𐑣𐑳𐑮, 𐑣𐑨𐑘𐑕𐑰𐑘𐑧𐑑 𐑝𐑧 𐑣𐑨𐑒𐑤𐑨𐑮 𐑚𐑨𐑒𐑦𐑥𐑦𐑯𐑛𐑨𐑯 𐑧𐑖𐑰𐑑 𐑛𐑪𐑙𐑨𐑮𐑤𐑨𐑮. 𐑨𐑒𐑦𐑤 𐑝𐑧 𐑝𐑰𐑡𐑛𐑨𐑯𐑨 𐑕𐑨𐑣𐑰𐑐𐑑𐑰𐑮𐑤𐑧𐑮 𐑝𐑧 𐑚𐑰𐑮𐑚𐑰𐑮𐑤𐑧𐑮𐑰𐑯𐑧 𐑒𐑨𐑮𐑖𐑦 𐑒𐑨𐑮𐑛𐑧𐑖𐑤𐑰𐑒 𐑟𐑰𐑣𐑯𐑰𐑘𐑧𐑑𐑰 𐑰𐑤𐑧 𐑣𐑨𐑮𐑧𐑒𐑧𐑑 𐑧𐑑𐑥𐑧𐑤𐑰𐑛𐑰𐑮𐑤𐑧𐑮.

New Tower of Babel translation: Abaza (абаза бызшва), a North West Caucasian language spoken in the Republics of Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygea in the southwest of Russia.

If someone is described as having come-hither eyes, it means their eyes are seducitve or alluring. If you tell a horse to come hither though, what would you expect it to do? Find out in this blog post Hither & Thither, 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 Vanuatu.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Umbundu (Úmbúndú), a Bantu language spoken in western Angola.

On the Celtiadur blog this week there’s a new post about words for I, me and related pronouns entitled Me, Myself & I.

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.