Omniglot News (01/02/26)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Wooi, an Eastern Malayo-Polynesian language spoken on Yapen Island in Papua Province in eastern Indonesia.
  • Adi, an Eastern Tani language spoken in Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India.
  • Bebe (Naami), an Eastern Beboid language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Louisiana Creole (kouri-vini), a French-basd creole language spoken mainly in southern Louisiana in the USA.

New numbers pages:

  • Nlakaʼpamux (Thompson), an Interior Salishan language spoken in Canada and in the USA.
  • Louisiana Creole (kouri-vini), a French-basd creole language spoken mainly in southern Louisiana in the USA.
  • Baure, a Southern Arawakan language spoken in northeastern Bolivia.
  • Saraiki (سرائيكى), a Lahnda language spoken in Pakistan and northern India.

New phrases pages:

  • Nlakaʼpamux, an Interior Salishan language spoken in Canada and in the USA.
  • Bonggi, a North Bornean language spoken mainly on Banggi Island in Sabah in East Malaysia.

New family words page: Bonggi.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Ideophones about ideophonic words in Bebe (Naami), Japanese, Korea, Tamil and Zulu, and there’s a new language quiz. Can you guess what language this is?

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in the Russian Far East region.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Ajië (Waawilûû), a New Caledonian language spoken on the east coast of New Caledonia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Strong Comfort, we get comfortable and investigate the word comfort and related things.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

There’s also a new post on the Celtiadur blog this week entitled Separation about words for to separate, to split 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/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 (25/01/26)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Pamona, a Celebic language spoken in Sulawesi in Indonesia.
  • Bawean (bhâsa Phêbiyên), a Madurese language spoken on Bawean Island in the Gresik Regency in East Java Province in southern Indonesia.
  • Wakasihu (Sou Rikedu), a Central Maluku language spoken on Ambon Island in Maluku Province in eastern Indonesia.
  • Maybrat, a language isolate spoken in Southwest Papua Province in eastern Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

  • Maybrat, a language isolate spoken in Southwest Papua Province in eastern Indonesia..
  • Ahanta (Ayɩnda), a Kwa language spoken in the Western Region of Ghana.
  • Ajië (Waawilûû), a New Caledonian language spoken on the east coast of New Caledonia.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Immersion about my adventures in China and my thoughts on language immersion, and there’s a new language quiz. Can you 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 Gumuz (ŋgiša baha), a Nilo-Saharan language spoken in the northwest of Ethiopia andthe southeast of Sudan.

This week’s Adventure in Etymology, Wholesome Health, examines the origins of the word health and related things.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

There’s also a new post on the Celtiadur blog this week entitled Change about words for change 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/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.

Adventures in Etymology – Wholesome Health

In this Adventure in Etymology we examine the origins of the word health and related things.

Healthy no QR

Meanings of health [hɛlθ] include:

  • The state of being free from physical or psychological disease, illness, or malfunction.
  • A state of well-being or balance, often physical but sometimes also mental and social.

It comes from Middle English helthe [ˈhɛlθ(ə)] (soundness, health, recovery, remedy), from Old English hǣlþ [xæːlθ] (health, healing, cure), from Proto-Germanic *hailiþō [ˈxɑi̯.li.θɔː] (wholeness, health), from *hailaz [ˈxɑi̯.lɑz] (whole, intact, entire, healthy), from PIE *kéh₂ilos (healthy, whole) [source].

Words from the same roots include heal, whole, wholesome, holy and hale in English, heel [ɦeːl] (complete, full, whole, very) in Dutch, hele (to heal) in Danish, целя [tsɛˈlʲa̟] (to heal, cure) in Bulgarian, cały [ˈtsa.wɘ] (whole, complete, entire) in Polish [source].

Health should not be confused with health, an obsolete English word meaning a warrior, hero or man, which comes from Proto-Germanic *haliþaz [ˈxɑ.li.θɑz] (hero), and is related to words such as Held [hɛlt] (hero, protagonist) in German, held [ɦɛlt] (hero) in Dutch, and hjälte [ˈjɛlˌtɛ] (hero, main male protagonist in a work of fiction) in Swedish [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 (11/01/26)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Aghem (Aghɨ̀m), a Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
  • Kogi (Kággaba), a Chibchan language spoken in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains in northern Colombia..
  • Daai, a Southern Kuki-Chin-Naga language spoken in Chin State in western Myanmar.

New numbers pages:

  • Zigula (Chizigua), a Bantu language spoken mainly in Tanzania, and also Somalia.
  • Zenaga (Tuẓẓungiyya), a Berber language spoken Mauritania and Senegal.
  • Zaiwa (Zaiwa mying), a Northern Burmish language spoken in southwestern China and northeastern Myanmar.

New constructed script: Velikirillitsa (Великириллица), an alternative way to write English, Russian and Hungarian created by Murray Callahan,

Sample text in Velikirillitsa

Illustration of the Chinese and Japanese word 彼此

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled One Another about the Chinese word 彼此 (bǐcǐ) and related words in Japanese, and there’s a new language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Mnong (Bu Nong / ឞូន៝ង), a Southern Bahnaric language spoken in Vietnam & Cambodia.

Perilous Experiences

There’s a new Adventure in Etymology entitled Perilous Experiences, in which we find out what the word experience has to do with fear, peril and pirates.

Glowing Stars

There’s a new post on the Celtiadur blog this week entitled Glowing Stars about words for star, coal and other glowing things in Celtic languages.

In other news, I’ll be leaving Zhaoqing tomorrow (12th Janaury) and headed to Hong Kong. I’ll spend a week there, then fly back to UK. It’s been nearly 30 years since I was last in Hong Kong, and I’m looking forward to seeing it again.

Here are a few more photos of Zhaoqing showing parts of the city tourists might not necessarily visit.

Bamboo delivery in Zhaoqing
Bamboo is widely used as scaffolding, and this is one of the guys who delivers it on his high-tech cart

Garden on a building site in Zhaoqing
A building site next to the housing complex where I’m staying. Someone has made part of it into a little garden to grow vegetables – there’s no point in letting a bit of land sit idle after all.

Backstreet in Zhaoqing
A fairly typical backstreet in Zhaoqing.

A backstreet, still under construction, like many places here
A backstreet, still under construction, like many places here

Zhaoqing city wall / 肇庆古城墙
Zhaoqing city wall (肇庆古城墙), which was constructed in 1053 AD/CE during the Northern Song Dynasty. It was originally built of rammed earth, and looks like it’s changed a bit since then.

Me in front of Zhaoqing city wall
Me in front of Zhaoqing city wall

Piyun Tower on Zhaoqing city wall / 披云楼肇庆古城墙
Piyun Tower on Zhaoqing city wall / 披云楼肇庆古城墙

A view from the city wall
A view from the city wall

By the way, this happens to be the 5,000th post I’ve published on my blogs, and the 223rd episode of the Omniglot News. The majority of posts (3,942) are on the Omniglot blog (started in March 2006), and there are 546 on this blog (started in June 2018), and another 512 on the Celtiadur blog (started in September 2018). I think I’m starting to get the hang of this blogging lark.

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.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

Adventures in Etymology – Perilous Experience

In this Adventure in Etymology we find what the word experience has to do with fear, peril and pirates.

Perilous Experiences

Meanings of experience [/ɪkˈspɪə.ɹɪəns] include:

  • Event(s) of which one is cognizant.
  • An activity which one has performed.
  • A collection of events and/or activities from which an individual or group may gather knowledge, opinions, and skills.

It comes from Middle English expērience (observation; an event which has affected one; to test, try, learn), from Old French esperience (experiment, proof, experience), from Latin experientia (a trial, proof, experiment, experience), from experīrī (to try, put to the test, undertake, undergo), from ex- (out) and perīrī (to go through), from PIE *per- (to attempt, try, risk) [source].

Words from the same roots include expert, experiment, peril and fear in English, Gefahr (danger, risk, threat) in German, pericolo (peril, danger) in Italian, perygl (danger, peril, risk) in Welsh, experimentar (to experience, feel, experiment) in Spanish [source].

The English word pirate also comes from the same roots, via Old French pirate, Latin pīrāta (sailor, sea robber), and Ancient Greek πειρατής (peiratēs – pirate, “one who attacks (ships)”), from πεῖρα (peira – trial, attempt, plot) [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 (04/01/26)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Minica Huitoto (Mɨnɨka), a Bora-Witoto language spoken mainly in southern Colombia, and also in northern Peru (the 2,300th language page!)
  • Mfumte, an Eastern Grassfields language spoken mainly in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
  • Abon (Abɔn), a Southern Bantoid language spoken in Taraba State in Nigeria.
  • Vaiphei, a Northern Zo-Mizo language spoken mainly in Manipur in the northeast of India.
  • Mara (Mara Reih), a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the northwest of Guizhou Province in southern China
  • Caijia (Menni), a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in the northwest of Guizhou Province in southern China.

New numbers pages:

  • Minica Huitoto (Mɨnɨka), a Bora-Witoto language spoken mainly in southern Colombia
  • Avestan (𐬛𐬍𐬥 𐬛𐬀𐬠𐬌𐬫𐬭𐬵), an extinct Eastern Iranian language and the sacred language of Zoroastrianism.
  • Sidama (Sidaamu Afoo), a Cushitic language spoken in the Sidama Region in southern Ethiopia.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Quick Brown Foxes about pangrams, sentences that contain all the letters of a particular language, and there’s a new language quiz. See if you guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Usually I find recordings for language quizzes on YouTube, but since coming to China at the end of November last year, I haven’t been able to access YouTube due to the Great Firewall of China, and haven’t found any good alternative sources of recordings. So, I haven’t been posting any quizzes. However, during the past week or so, YouTube has been accessible some of the time, and I managed to find a suitable recording for this week’s quiz.

Code Trees

There’s a new Adventure in Etymology entitled Code Trees, in which we find out what the word code has to do with books and trees.

Pressing Squeezing

There’s a new post on the Celtiadur blog this week entitled Pressing Squeezes about words for press, squeeze and related things in Celtic languages.

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.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

Adventures in Etymology – Code Trees

In this Adventure in Etymology, we find what the word code has to do with books and trees.

Code Trees

Meanings of code [kəʊd / koʊd] include:

  • A short textual designation, often with little relation to the item it represents.
  • A body of law, sanctioned by legislation.
  • Any system of principles, rules or regulations relating to one subject.
  • A message represented by rules intended to conceal its meaning.
  • Instructions for a computer.

It comes from Middle English code (a system of law), from Old French code (a system of law), from Latin cōdex (tree trunk; book, notebook), from caudex (tree trunk, block of woord, book), possibly from cūdō (I beat, strike), from PIE *kewh₂- (to hit, strike, forge) [source].

Words from the same roots include codex, codicil (an addition or supplement modifying any official document) in English, código (code) in Spanish, code (code) in French, kodex (code [of laws]) in Czech, and kütük (log [tree/computer], official register) in Turkish [source].

In Latin, caudex originally meant a tree trunk or block of wood. Later it came to refer to the wax tablets Romans used for writing on. From about the 1st Century AD/CE, scrolls were gradually replaced by codices, books made of stacks of paper bound together along one edge. The word cōdex was used to refer to such books [source].

In English, the word codex refers to an early manuscript book, that is, one bound by joining pages, as opposed to a rolled scroll. Specifically, it refers to hand-writing books made using parchment, vellum or papyrus rather than paper. It can also mean an official list of medicines and medicinal ingredients. [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 – Absurdity

In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the origins of the word absurd.

Absurdity

Absurd [əbˈsɜːd / æbˈsɚd] can mean:

  • Contrary to reason or propriety; obviously and flatly opposed to manifest truth; inconsistent with the plain dictates of common sense; logically contradictory; nonsensical; ridiculous; silly.
  • Having no rational or orderly relationship to people’s lives; meaningless; lacking order or value.

In the past in meant inharmonious or dissonant.

It comes from Middle French absurde, from Latin absurdus (incongruous, dissonant, harsh, silly, stupid), from ab- (away from, out), and surdus (deaf, inattentive, silent, indistinct), from PIE *swer- (to resound, speak loudly, ringing, whistling) [source].

Words from the same roots include chwerw (bitter) in Welsh, searbh (bitter, sour, acid) in Irish, sword in English, zwaard (sword) in Dutch, assurdità (absurdity, rubbish) in Italian, and sordo (deaf, dull, muted) in Spanish [source].

The English word surd also comes from the same roots, and refers to an irrational number, a voicelss consonant, unvoiced or voiceless, and used to mean deaf or unheard [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 (14/12/25)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Neo-Brittonic (Brettica), a reconstructed version of Common Brittonic, a Celtic language once spoken in southern England.
  • Ngomba (cú mbɔ́ndaa), a Bamileke language spoken mainly in the Bamboutos Department in the West Region of Cameroon.
  • Ngombale (Ngeombale), a Bamileke language spoken in the Bamboutos Department in the West Region of Cameroon.
  • Hachijō (島言葉 / shima-kotoba), a Japonic language spoken mainly in the Izu Islands, part of Tokyo Prefecture in Japan.
  • Tày (Tiểng Tày), a Central Tai language spoken mainly in northeastern Vietnam, and also in northern Laos.

New constructed script: Hedhgadē, a script for Proto-Indo-Euopean created by Hebrejinia.

Sample text in English in the Hedhgadē

New phrases page: Föhr North Frisian, a West Germanic language spoken in North Frisia in northern Germany.

New numbers page: Jamaican (Jimiekn / Patwah), an English-based creole spoken mainly in Jamaica.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Oceanic Lutes about some words for Chinese and Western instruments, and related things.

There’s a new post entitled Shady Shadows on the Celtiadur blog about words for shadow, shade and related things in Celtic languages.

The gateway to the road up Jiangjun Mountain
The gateway to the road up Jiangjun Mountain

In other news, this week I explored part of Jiangjun Mountain (将军山 – jiāngjūnshān) and got some great views of Zhaoqing from up high. There is a temple on the mountain that is lit up at night, and since coming here, we’ve been planning to visit it. We found a way up yesterday. The electric scooters had a hard time climbing up the steeper parts of the road, but we got there eventually, and it was well worth the effort. The temple itself is impressive, and the views from it are spectacular. Unfortunately, it was rather wet, cold and windy up there, so we didn’t stay long.

The temple on Jiangjun Mountain
The temple on Jiangjun Mountain

A view of Zhaoqing from Jiangjun Mountain
A view of Zhaoqing from Jiangjun Mountain

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.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

Omniglot News (30/11/25)

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

  • Ndemli, a Grassfields language spoken in the Littoral Region in the southwest of Cameroon.
  • Johor Malay, a Malayic language spoken in the state of Johor in the south of the Malay Peninsula.

New constructed script: Avo, an alternative way to write English invented by Toonmaker.

Sample text in Meadow Mari (олыкмарла)

New constructed script: Faciagram, an alternative script for English invented by Toonmaker and based on facial expressions.

Sample text in Faciagram

This week is travelled to China to visit friends. I’m staying in Zhaoqing (肇庆) in Guangdong Province in the south of the country, and plan to stay here until January next year. You can find out more about my experiences in China Adventures on the Omniglot blog. This is why there isn’t as much new material as usual due to the Great Firewall of China.

There’s no language quiz this week as it seems difficult to find suitable recordings here due to internet restrictions. The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tuparí, a Tupian language spoken mainly in the state of Rondônia in the North Region of Brazil.

Improved page: Shanghainese phrases page

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.




Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling