Radio Omniglot Simon Ager

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

There are new language pages about:



* Bhaca (isiBhaca) – a Southern Bantu language spoken in Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.

* Ulumandaʼ – a South Sulawesi language spoken in West Sulawesi Province in Indonesia.

* Bambam– a South Sulawesi language spoken in West Sulawesi Province in Indonesia.



New numbers pages in Ulumandaʼ and Bambam.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post called Buckling Swashes in which we learn about swashbucklers, and also pirates, privateers, buccaneers, freebooters and corsairs. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Kagoshima dialect (鹿児島弁), a variety of Japanese spoken in Kagoshima Prefecture in southern Japan. It is also known as Satsugū dialect (薩隅方言).

The recording comes from YouTube:



In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we look into the word Landlubber, and related words in English and other languages.



New Celtic Cognates page: Names – a collection of Celtic personal names from Celtic and non-Celtic roots.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Glens and Valleys and I made improvements to the post about words for Full and related things.

In other news, the Polyglot Gathering is currently taking place in Prague in the Czech Republic. I decided not to go this year for various reasons, but if any of you were there, I hope you had a good time. I may go to the Polyglot Conference in Valletta in Malta in November.

For more Omniglot News, see:

https://www.omniglot.com/news/

https://twitter.com/Omniglossia

https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/

https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117



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In this Adventure in Etymology we look into the word landlubber, and related words in English and other languages.



A landlubber [ˈlænd.lʌ.bə / ˈlænd.lʌ.bɚ] is:



* Someone unfamiliar with the sea or seamanship, especially a novice seaman.



It comes from lubber (a big, clumsy, stupid fellow who lives in idleness), from Middle English lobre (lazy lout) from lobbe (a lump), or from Old French lobeor (swindler, parasite), or from a Nordic word [source].

Related words include abbey-lubber (an able-bodied idler who grew sleek and fat from the charity of religious houses; a lazy monk), lubberly (clumsy, awkward, coarse), lubberland (a land of plenty), and lubberwort (a mythical herb that produces laziness) [source].

Landlubbers are also known as landsmen, land-lopers or fresh-water seamen in English.

Words in other languages for landlubber include landkrabbe (“land crab”) in Danish, landrot (“land rat”) in Dutch, and marin d’eau douce (“freshwater mariner”) in French [source].

Experienced sailors and seaman used to call themselves, and were called (Jolly) Jack Tars or Tars in English. The name Jack is/was used as a generic name, in the UK at least, and tar is probably related to the use of tar on ships to make things waterproof [source].

For more seafaring-related words, see this Omniglot blog post: Buckling Swashes, and this podcast, which inspired this post:



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

There are new language pages about:



* Teanu – an Oceanic language spoken on Vanikoro Island in Temotu Province in the east of the Solomon Islands.

* Nanggu (Engdewu) – an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Nendö in Temotu province in the east of the Solomon Islands.

* Uneapa (Uniapa) – an Oceanic language spoken on Unea Island in West New Britain Province of Papua New Guinea.



Uneapa happens to be the 2,000th language on Omniglot, by the way.

There’s a new adapted script, Turkorece (툴코레제), a way to write Turkish with the Korean Hangeul script created by Wojciech Grala.



New numbers pages:



* Nawat (Nāwat), an Uto-Aztecan language spoken mainly in western El Salvador.

* Classical Nahuatl (Nāhuatlahtōlli), an Uto-Aztecan language that was spoken in the Valley of Mexico and central Mexico until about the 17th century.

* Chakma (𑄌𑄋𑄴𑄟𑄳𑄦 𑄞𑄌𑄴 / চাাংমা ভাচ), an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of Bangladesh and India.



On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled 2,000 Languages!, in which I talk about some significant Omniglot-related moments from the past 26 years, including adding the 2,000th language to the site this week. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Japan, but isn’t (standard) Japanese.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Nambya, a Bantu language spoken in northwestern Zimbabwe and northeastern Botswana.



In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, we find some Celtic Brio behind some vigorous Romance and English words.



On the Celtiadur blog there are new posts entitled Bodies and Meaty Flesh, and I made improvements to the post about words for Horses and Strength.

For more Omniglot News, see:

https://www.omniglot.com/news/

https://twitter.com/Omniglossia

https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/

https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117



You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser,

In this episode we discover the Celtic power behind some vigorous Romance and English words.



The English word brio [ˈbɹiːoʊ] means vigour or vivacity. When used in musical directions, as con brio, it means with spirit, with vigour, vivciously [source].

It comes from Italian brio (vivacity, liveliness), from Spanish brío (vigour, mettle, zest, zeal), from Old Occitan briu (wild), from Gaulish *brīgos (strength), from Proto-Celtic *brīgos (power, worth), possibly from PIE *bʰerǵʰ- (to rise; high) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:



* brí [brʲiː] = strength, vigour; force, significance, influence or merit in Irish

* brìgh [brʲiː] = essence, gist, matter, pith, purport or substance in Scottish Gaelic

* bree = power, energy, stamina or vigour in Manx

* bri [briː] = honour, dignity, reputation, fame or prestige in Welsh

* bri = distinction, importance, relevance or reputation in Cornish

* bri [briː] = dignity or honour in Breton



Other words from the same Proto-Celtic roots include briu (energy, push, courage) in Catalan, brio (brilliance, panache) in French, and brio in Italian, brío in Spanish (as mentioned above).

Words from the same PIE roots possibly include barrow, burrow, bury, effort, force and fort in English, and brenin (king), bwrw (to hit, strike, cast) in Welsh [Source].

Incidentally, the musical direction forte (f), which indicates that a passage in music is to be played loudly or strongly, also comes from the same PIE roots, via Italian and Latin, as does the English word forte (strength, talent), though via Middle French [Source].

More about words for Strength and related things in Celtic languages.

You can find more connections between Celtic languages on the Celtiadur blog. I also write about words, etymology and other language-related topics on the Omniglot Blog.

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.

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

There are new language pages about:



* Sa’a (Tɛgɛ) – a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on South Malaita and Ulawa islands in Makira Ulawa Province of the Solomon Islands.

* Talise (ẽberã) – a Southeast Solomonic language spoken in the south of Guadalcanal Island in Guadalcanal Province of the Solomon Islands.

* Santa Cruz (Natqgu) – a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on the island of Nendö, one of the Santa Cruz Islands in Temotu province in the east of the Solomon Islands.



New numbers pages:



* Santa Cruz (Natqgu) – a Southeast Solomonic language spoken on the island of Nendö, one of the Santa Cruz Islands in Temotu province in the east of the Solomon Islands.

* Lepcha (ᰛᰩᰵᰛᰧᰵᰶ), a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

* Limbu (ᤕᤠᤰᤌᤢᤱ ᤐᤠᤴ), a Kiranti language spoken in mainly in Nepal, and also in northern India.



New phrases page: Dogri (डोगरी), a Western Pahari language spoken in northern India.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Chocolate Peanuts in which we find out what links words for chocolate and peanuts in French, and the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken in Zimbabwe and Botswana.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Wymysorys (Wymysiöeryś), a West Germanic language spoken in Wilamowice (Wymysoü), a small town in southern Poland.



In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we find out what the dickens a dinkus (***) is, and what to do with an asterism (⁂). Asterisks (*) and Asterix are also involved.



On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Meaty Flesh about words for meat, flesh and related things, and I made improvements to the post about words for Brown & Dun.

For more Omniglot News, see:

https://www.omniglot.com/news/

https://twitter.com/Omniglossia

https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/

https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117



You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Stitcher, TuneIn, Podchaser, PlayerFM or podtail.

In this Adventure in Etymology we find out what the dickens a dinkus is, and what to do with an asterism.



A dinkus is:



* A small drawing or artwork used for decoration in a magazine or periodical.

* A small ornament, usually a line of three asterisks (* * *), especially for the purpose of breaking up sections of a chapter, article, or other text



⁎⁎⁎

It comes from German Ding (thing), from Old High German thing [ðinɡ] (thing, object, matter, case), from Proto-West Germanic *þing (court session, lawsuit, affair, matter, thing, object), from Proto-Germanic *þingą (date, appointment, meeting, assembly, matter, issue) [source].

Words from the same roots include thing in English, ding (matter, thing) in Dutch, þing [θiŋk] (assembly, meeting, council, parliament) in Icelandic, and ting (thing, court of law, legislative assembly) in Swedish [source].

Dinkus should not be confused with dingus, which can refer to something whose name you’ve forgot, i.e. a thingamajig, whatchamacallit, etc in North American and South African. In the USA and Canada it can also refer to a foolish, incompetent, or silly person [source].

Dingus was possibly borrowed from Dutch and/or Afrikaans dinges (thingamajig, whatshisname) and ding (thing).

An asterism is:



* A rarely used typographical symbol (⁂, three asterisks arranged in a triangle), used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book (like a dinkus).

* An unofficial constellation (small group of stars that forms a visible pattern).



⁂

It comes from Ancient Greek ἀστερισμός [ˈæs.təˌɹɪz.əm] (a group of stars), from ἀστήρ [asˈtir] (star, planet, illustrious person, starfish) [source].

Asterism is also the name of a Japanese band:



The word asterisk (*) comes from the same roots, via Late Latin asteriscus (small star and Ancient Greek ἀστερῐ́σκος [as.teˈris.kos] (small star) [source].

Two asterisks on top of each other (⁑) are apparently used in texts to denote emphasis, comments, footnotes, corrections, or other similar annotations [source].



Incidentally, Asterix, the Gaulish hero of the comic books by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, gets his name from the French word astérisque (asterisk) combined with the Gaulish word *rīx (king) [source].

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