{"id":4475,"date":"2026-06-06T15:47:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T15:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4475"},"modified":"2026-06-06T17:08:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T17:08:27","slug":"adventures-in-etymology-tongues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?p=4475","title":{"rendered":"Adventures in Etymology &#8211; Tongues"},"content":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Tongues\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-06-06T15:47:14+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M22S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the words tongue and language.\n\n\n\nA tongue [t\u028c\u014b] is a flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.5\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6188\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4475-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.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\/tongues.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4475-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"tongues.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the words <strong>tongue<\/strong> and <strong>language<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a data-flickr-embed=\"true\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/7317295@N04\/55129310037\/in\/photolist-2rZA8ct-6eZ6Fi-2oobAPd-aaf7P7-dfGHaB-2uU6Vf-9yiK1g-Jo8QL-BF3EAu-v2LP6Y-4waG8X-6KP22g-8HJBJ-cqQj8-pqx4kB-gjHCV7-pqx4PH-83Yky-np3Nvv-2fddnB-np66xG-pqA9Rt-WVue33-oLdYkK-pqzxeY-np3LCH-arJQYf-nqPqAR-7sFpCM-m9xRj-7M2jz-uadnv-nn1e7y-2jKKSA-2iCabvh-7RpMn-FvSTG-CGDan-m9y6o-5nWVmg-8ibMeq-URUbAm-TPHJyM-8oW2wk-c5GwWu-2quBp-2hovdk-5VhBNv-m9qCU-8UvdKX\" title=\"Tongue\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55129310037_87cc278d8a_z.jpg\" width=\"640\" height=\"528\" alt=\"Tongue\"\/><\/a><script async src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>A <strong>tongue<\/strong> [t\u028c\u014b] is a flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce different sounds in speech. It can also refer to a language. Other meanings are available.<\/p>\n<p>It comes from Middle English <em>tong(e) \/ tung(e)<\/em> (tongue, language, speech), from Old English <em>tunge<\/em> (a tongue, a language), from Proto-West Germanic <em>*tung\u0101<\/em> (tongue, speech, language), from Proto-Germanic <em>*tung\u01ed<\/em> (tongue, speech, language), from PIE <em>*dn\u0325\u01f5\u02b0w\u00e9h\u2082s<\/em> (tongue) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/gather#English\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words from the same roots include <strong>\u056c\u0565\u0566\u0578\u0582<\/strong> (lezu &#8211; tongue, language, speech, nation, people) in Armenian, <strong>lie\u017euvis<\/strong> (tongue) in Lithuanian, <strong>jazyk<\/strong> (tongue, language) in Czech, <strong>tunga<\/strong> (tongue, language, speech) in Swedish, and <strong>Zunge<\/strong> (tongue) in German [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European\/dn%CC%A5%C7%B5%CA%B0w%C3%A9h%E2%82%82s\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words such as <strong>lingua<\/strong> in Italian, <strong>lengua<\/strong> in Spanish and <strong>langue<\/strong> in French, all of which mean tongue or language, also come from the same roots, via Old Latin <em>dingu\u0101<\/em> (tongue, language, speech) and Proto-Italic <em>*dn\u0325\u0263w\u0101<\/em> (tongue) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/lingua#Latin\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>Words in Celtic languages, such as <strong>teanga<\/strong> (tongue, language) in Irish, <strong>tafod<\/strong> (tongue) in Welsh, and <strong>taves<\/strong> (tongue, language) in Cornish, share the same roots, via Proto-Celtic <em>*tang\u02b7\u0101ts<\/em> (tongue) [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic\/tang%CA%B7%C4%81ts\">source<\/a>].<\/p>\n<p>The English words <strong>language<\/strong>, <strong>linguist<\/strong> and <strong>lingual<\/strong> (related to the tongue) have the same PIE roots as well. <strong>Language<\/strong> comes from Middle English <em>lang(u)age<\/em> (language, tongue, speech), from Old French <em>language<\/em> (language), from Vulgar Latin <em>*lingu\u0101ticum<\/em> (language, manner of speaking), from Latin <em>lingua<\/em> (tongue, speech, language), etc. The other words were borrowed directly from Latin [<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wiktionary.org\/wiki\/language#English\">source<\/a>].<\/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<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n   crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<!-- Blog horizontal --><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\n   style=\"display:block\"\n   data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-5001128073855040\"\n   data-ad-slot=\"1685480124\"\n   data-ad-format=\"auto\"\n   data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n   (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/AudioObject\"><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Adventures in Etymology &amp;#8211; Tongues\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-06-06T15:47:14+00:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"encodingFormat\" content=\"audio\/mpeg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT2M22S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the words tongue and language.\n\n\n\nA tongue [t\u028c\u014b] is a flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow...\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\" \/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"2.5\" \/><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_6189\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-4475-2\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3?_=2\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.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\/tongues.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/?powerpress_pinw=4475-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/radio_omniglot\/www.omniglot.com\/soundfiles\/etymology\/tongues.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"tongues.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what links the words tongue and language. A tongue [t\u028c\u014b] is a flexible muscular organ in the mouth that is used to move food around, for tasting and that is moved into various positions to modify the flow of air from the lungs in order to produce [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,40,37,33,20,56,23,24,6,12,4,50,156,58,55,94,57,59,133,119,28,30,7],"tags":[90,9,440,438,439,437,436,15,88,8,435,103],"class_list":["post-4475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventures-in-etymology","category-armenian","category-cornish","category-czech","category-english","category-etymology","category-french","category-german","category-irish","category-italian","category-language","category-latin","category-lithuanian-lietuviu-kalba","category-middle-english","category-old-english-aenglisc","category-proto-celtic","category-proto-germanic","category-proto-indo-european","category-proto-italic","category-proto-west-germanic","category-spanish","category-swedish","category-welsh","tag-etymology","tag-language","tag-langue","tag-lengua","tag-lingua","tag-lingual","tag-linguist","tag-music","tag-omniglot","tag-podcast","tag-tongue","tag-words"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4475","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=4475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4479,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4475\/revisions\/4479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/radio\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}