Radio Omniglot Simon Ager

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

New language pages:



* Zeme, a Kuki-Chin-Naga language spoken in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in the northeast of India.

* Borong, a Western Huon language spoken in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.

* Boko, an Eastern Mande language spoken in northern Benin and northern and western Nigeria.

* Vatlongos, a Southern Oceanic language spoken mainly on Ambrym Island in Malampa Province in northern Vanuatu.



New numbers pages:



* Zeme, a Kuki-Chin-Naga language spoken in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in northeastern India.

* Northern Pomo, an extinct Pomoan language that was spoken in Lake County in California in the USA, and which is being revived.

* Lebanese Arabic, a variety of Levantine Arabic spoken mainly in Lebannon.



New Tower of Babel translations: Alur, Akha, Adhola, Dangme, Achi and Abua.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Speading Sweetness about how words for honey, mead and related things possibly spread throughout Europe and as far as China and Japan. There’s also the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

Here’s a clue: this language is spoken mainly in northern India, and also in eastern Nepal.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Forest Enets (Баи), a dialect of Enets (Онэй база), a Samoyedic language spoken in Krasnoyarsk Krai in Siberia in the Russian Federation.



In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Charming Witches, we look into the possible Celtic roots of words for witch in some Romance languages, such as bruja in Spanish.



On the Celtiadur blog there are a new posts about words for Mixed & Confused and Honey Wine and I improved the post about Magic and Spells.

I also improved the Maltese language page.

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 episode we look into the possble Celtic roots of words for witch in some Romance languages.



The Proto-Celtic word *brixtā means spell, magical formula or incantation. It possibly comes from PIE *bʰerHǵ- (enlighten) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:



* briocht = charm, spell, amulet in Irish

* lled(f)rith = magic, spell, charm, enchantment, apparition, spectre, phantom, illusion, delusion, fantasy, imagination in Welsh

* bre = incantation magic in Breton



Words that probably come from the same Proto-Celtic root, via the Celtiberian *bruxtia, include bruja (witch, crone, hag, owl) in Spanish, bruxa (witch, hex) in Galician, bruxa (witch) in Portuguese, and bruixa (witch) in Catalan [source].

Alternatively, bruja and similar words, might might be related to the Old Irish name Brigit [ˈbʲrʲiɣʲidʲ] (patron goddess of Druids), which comes from Proto-Celtic *Brigantī (high, elevated, an exalted person) [source].



The city of Bragança (Braganza) in northern Portugal gets its name from the same Celtic roots, as do the Welsh words brenin (king, monarch, sovereign) and braint (privilege) [source].

More about words for Magic and Spells 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.



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

New language pages:



* Lakon, a Southern Oceanic language spoken on Gaua Island in Torba Province of Vanuatu.

* Maléku (malécu jaíca) – a Chibchan language spoken in northern Costa Rica.

* Kadiwéu (Ejiwajigi) – a Guaicuruan language spoken in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in southern Brazil

* Mocoví (moqoit) – a Southern Guaicuruan language spoken in Chaco, Santa Fe and Formosa provinces in the northeast of Argentina.



New numbers pages:



* Bosnian (bosanski), a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

* Celtiberian – an extinct Celtic language that was spoken in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula until about the 1st century AD.



On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Super Brows about the word supercilious and other (eye)brow-related expressions in English and other languages. 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 Siberia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Blin (ብሊና), a Central Cushitic language spoken in and around the city of Keren in central Eritrea.



In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, we free ourselves by looking into the word Escape and related words.



On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Eyebrows and related things.

Finally, here’s my latest song, which I finished writing and recording this week. It’s in the style of a sea shanty called Off To Sea



Simon Ager · Off To Sea

You can hear more songs and tunes I’ve written on SoundCloud.

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, a href="https://player.

In this Adventure in Etymology we free ourselves by looking into the word escape.



Escape [ɪˈskeɪp / əˈskeɪp] can mean:



* To get free; to free oneself.

* To avoid (any unpleasant person or thing); to elude, get away from

* To avoid capture; to get away with something, avoid punishment

* To elude the observation or notice of; to not be seen or remembered by



It comes from Middle English escāpen (to free oneself, get away, avoid, elude), from Old Northern French escaper (to evade, avoid) from Vulgar Latin *excappāre (to escape) from ex- (out) and cappa (cape, cloak), or literally “to get out of one’s cape; to leave a pursuer with just one’s cape” [source].

Words from the same roots include escapade (a daring or adventurous act; an undertaking which goes against convention) in English, scappare (to run away, flee, escape) in Italian, échapper (to escape, evade) in French, and escapar (to escape, get out, run away) in Spanish [source].

The English word scamper (to run lightly and quickly, especially in a playful or undignified manner) possibly comes from similar roots, via Middle Dutch schamperen (to insult, scorn, dishonour), Old French esc(h)amper (to break loose) and Vulgar Latin *excampāre, from ex- (out) and campō, from campus (field) [source].

Other interesting English word related to escaping include:



* absquatulate = to leave quickly or in a hurry, to depart, flee, abscond – a jocular mock-Latin word coined in the USA in the 1830s from abscond, squat and perambulate [source].

* skedaddle = to move or run away quickly – appeared in the USA in the 1860s. Possibly from scaddle, a UK dialect word meaning to run off in fright [source].

* vamoose = to run away, flee, hurry – from Spanish vamos (we go) or vámonos (let’s go) [source].



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

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

New writing system: Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo Script, which was created in 1956 by Sheikh Bakri Sapalo from Ethiopia, and is used to write Oromo, a Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Egypt.



New fictional script: Exception, which appears in the Netflix anime series “Exception”.



New constructed script: Formetta, an alternative way to write English invented by TCSenpai, and designed to be clear, simple, and easy to learn and reproduce.



There are new language pages about:



* Maká (mac’a) – a Matacoan language spoken in the Chaco region of Paraguay and Argentina.

* Wichí Lhamtés Nocten (‘weenhayek) – a Matacoan language spoken mainly in southeastern Boliva, and also in northwestern Argentina.

* Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay (Wiznay) – a Matacoan language spoken in Salta Province in northern Argentina

* Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz – a Matacoan language spoken mainly in northern Argentina and also in southern Bolivia.



New phrase pages in Taíno-Quisqueyanaíqui, a reconstructed language based on the Taíno that was spoken in the Dominican Republic created by Desmond Johnson Montes De Oca.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled A Little Alliteration about alliteration and other kinds of rhymes, and how they can be difficult to translate into other languages. 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 Eritrea.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Mocoví, a Southern Guaicuruan language spoken mainly in Santa Fe, Chaco, and Formosa provinces in Argentina.



In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Bills and Gouges, we find connections between Celtic beaks and bills, and chisels and gouges in other languages.



On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled The End about words for end, final, after and related things in Celtic languages.



I also made improvements to the Taíno language page.

In other news, I reached 2,500 days in my current streak on Duolingo this week. I’m still concentrating on Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Spanish and Japanese, and occasionally doing a bit of Dutch or Swedish.

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,

In this episode we find connections between Celtic bills and beaks, and chisels and gouges in other languages.



A gouge [ɡaʊdʒ] is a chisel with a curved blade for cutting or scooping channels, grooves, or holes in wood, stone, etc.

The word comes from Middle English gouge (gouge), from Old French gouge (gouge), from Late Latin goia / gu(l)bia (chisel, piercer), from Gaulish *gulbiā (beak, bill), from Proto-Celtic *gulbā / *gulbīnos (beak, bill) [source].

Related words in the modern Celtic languages include:



* gulba = beak, bill, tip, point, projection in Irish

* gulb [gul̪ˠub] = beak, nose in Scottish Gaelic

* gylf = sharp point, knife, bird’s beak or snout in Welsh

* gelvin = beak, bill in Cornish

* gwlib = curlew, whimbrel (?) in Breton



Other words from the same Proto-Celtic roots, via Gaulish and Latin, include gulbia (gouge) in Galician, gubia (gouge) in Spanish, gorbia (ferrule*) in Italian [source].

*A ferrule is band or cap (usually metal) placed around a shaft to reinforce it or to prevent splitting [source].



Incidentally, the word chisel comes from Old Northern French c(h)isel (cutting tool, chisel), from cisoir (cutting tool), from Late Latin cīsōrium (cutting instrument), from Latin caedō (to cut, hew, fell), from Proto-Italic *kaidō, from PIE *kh₂eyd- (to cut, hew) [source].

Words from the same roots include cement, concise, decide, excise, hit, incision, precise and scissors in English; and hitta (to find, locate) in Swedish [source].

More about words for Beaks and Snouts 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.



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