{"id":3557,"date":"2024-09-21T14:07:05","date_gmt":"2024-09-21T14:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2024-09-21T14:26:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-21T14:26:55","slug":"adventures-in-etymology-swan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=3557","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Etymology &#8211; Swan"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Swan\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2024-09-21T14:07:05+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M42S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we're looking into the origins of the word swan.\n\n\n\nA swan [sw\u0252n\/sw\u0251n] is:\n\n\nAny of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage.\nOne whose g...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.8\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5590\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3557-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=3557-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"swans.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we&#8217;re looking into the origins of the word <strong>swan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/videos\/swans2.jpg\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" alt=\"Swan\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>swan<\/strong> [sw\u0252n\/sw\u0251n] is:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus <em>Cygnus<\/em> (bird family: <em>Anatidae<\/em>), most of which have white plumage.<\/li>\n<li>One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>swan<\/em> [swan] (swan, swan meat), from Old English <em>swan<\/em> [sw\u0251n] (swan), from Proto-West-Germanic <em>*swan<\/em> (swan) from Proto-Germanic <em>*swanaz<\/em> [\u02c8sw\u0251.n\u0251z] (swan, literally &#8220;the singing bird&#8221;), probably Proto-Indo-European <em>*swenh\u2082-<\/em> (to sound) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/swan#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same roots include <strong>sound<\/strong>, <strong>sonnet<\/strong> and <strong>sonata<\/strong> in English, <strong>zwaan<\/strong> [z\u028ba\u02d0n] (swan) in Dutch, <strong>Schwan<\/strong> [\u0283va\u02d0n] (swan, the constellation Cygnus) in German, <strong>sonar<\/strong> [so\u02c8na\u027e] (to sound, ring) in Spanish, <strong>suon\u00e0re<\/strong> [swo\u02c8na.re] (to play [an instrument], to sound, to ring) in Italian, and possibly <strong>dzwon<\/strong> [dzv\u0254n] (bell) in Polish [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/seh%E2%82%82-\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Incidentally, the English word <strong>sonar<\/strong>, as in a device that uses hydrophones to locate objects underwater, is an acronym of <strong>So<\/strong>und <strong>N<\/strong>avigation and <strong>R<\/strong>anging, and was coined by <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Frederick_Vinton_Hunt\">Frederick Vinton Hunt<\/a>, an American inventor, scientist and professor of acoustic engineering at Havard University in 1942. <\/p>\n<p>Initially, the name &#8216;bearing and deviation indicator&#8217; (BDI) was used for the system developed by Hunt and his team at the Harvard Underwater Sound Laboratory in 1941. The Navy Bureau of Ships asked him to come up with a more interesting name to make the job of an acoustic ranging technician sound more glamorous. He suggested <strong>SONAR<\/strong>, and said that it stood for <strong>So<\/strong>und <strong>N<\/strong>avigation and <strong>R<\/strong>anging &#8211; so it is in fact a backronym (an acronym based on an existing word) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/sonar#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>By the way, an adult male swan is a <strong>cob<\/strong>, which comes from Middle English <em>cobbe<\/em> (male swan, gang leader, bully) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/cob#English\">source<\/a>]. An adult female swan is a <strong>pen<\/strong>, the origins of which are uncertain [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/pen#English\">source<\/a>], and a baby swan is a <strong>cygnet<\/strong>, which comes from Middle English <em>signet<\/em> (a young swan), from Anglo-Norman <em>cignet<\/em>, a diminutive of Old French <em>cigne<\/em> (swan), from Latin <em>cycnus<\/em> [ky.knus] (swan, [singing] poet), from Ancient Greek <em>\u03ba\u03cd\u03ba\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2<\/em> (k\u00faknos &#8211; swan, a type of ship) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/cygnet#English\">source<\/a>]. Baby swans are also known as <strong>swanlings<\/strong> [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/swanling#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>You can also listen to this podcast on: <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/radio-omniglot\/id1432641094\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/music.amazon.com\/podcasts\/8b1b1d1b-b39e-4277-b28d-479a3b5043b3\/radio-omniglot\">Amazon Music<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/podcasts\/Education-Podcasts\/Radio-Omniglot-p1154145\/\">TuneIn<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.podchaser.com\/podcasts\/radio-omniglot-716327\">Podchaser<\/a>, <a href=\"<a href=\"https:\/\/podbay.fm\/p\/radio-omniglot\">Podbay<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/podtail.com\/da\/podcast\/radio-omniglot\/\">Podtail<\/a> and other pod places.<\/p>\n<p>If you would like to support this podcast, you can make a donation via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/uk\/cgi-bin\/webscr?cmd=_flow&amp;SESSION=aLjPfXL-vP_1gQ_U23Iz8_hSWLlhzLHPMFZrt32dIEfG8htoNFLYaPoWkv8&amp;dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8def8934b92a630e40b7fef61ab7e9fe63\">PayPal<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/omniglot\">Patreon<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/donations.htm\">contribute to Omniglot in other ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Radio Omniglot podcasts are brought to you in association with <a href=\"https:\/\/blubrry.com\/services\/podcast-hosting\/?code=omniglot\">Blubrry Podcast Hosting<\/a>, a great place to host your podcasts. Get your first month free with the promo code <strong>omniglot<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.japanesepod101.com\/member\/go.php?r=759259&amp;i=b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/images\/banners\/banner_japanesepod.jpg\" alt=\"The Fastest Way to Learn Japanese Guaranteed with JapanesePod101.com\" width=\"630\" height=\"83\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/\">Omniglot Blog<\/a>, and I explore etymological connections between Celtic languages on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/celtiadur\/\">Celtiadur<\/a> blog.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/my.kualo.com\/uk\/go\/00572\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.kualo.com\/rewards\/uk-unlimited-728x90.gif\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" border=\"0\"\nalt=\"Unlimited Web Hosting - Kualo\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Swan\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2024-09-21T14:07:05+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M42S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we're looking into the origins of the word swan.\n\n\n\nA swan [sw\u0252n\/sw\u0251n] is:\n\n\nAny of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage.\nOne whose g...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.8\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_5591\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-3557-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=3557-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/swans.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"swans.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we&#8217;re looking into the origins of the word swan. A swan [sw\u0252n\/sw\u0251n] is: Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus (bird family: Anatidae), most of which have white plumage. One whose grace etc. suggests a swan. It comes from Middle English swan [swan] (swan, swan meat), [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,124,47,20,56,24,12,4,50,58,55,109,1,63,57,59,119,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ancient-greek-","category-anglo-norman-norman","category-dutch","category-english","category-etymology","category-german","category-italian","category-language","category-latin","category-middle-english","category-old-english-aenglisc","category-old-french-franceis","category-podcast","category-polish-polski","category-proto-germanic","category-proto-indo-european","category-proto-west-germanic","category-spanish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3563,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions\/3563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}