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

New writing system: Novo Tupi, an alphabet created in the early 19th century as a way to write Old Tupi, a language that was spoken by the Tupi people in Brazil until about the 19th century, and which developed into Nheengatu.

New adapted script: Finnish Tengwar (Tengwar suomeksi), a way to write Finnish (and Estonian) with Tolkien’s Tengwar alphabet devised by Kuutti Saarivirta.

New language pages:

• Ikoma (Eghiikoma), a Northeast Bantu language spoken in the Serengeti District of the Mata Region in northern Tanzania.
• Old Tupi, a language that was spoken by the Tupi people in Brazil that developed into Nheengatu.
• Kakwa (kʊ́tʊ́ nà kákwà), an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and South Sudan.

New numbers page: Ki’che’ (Qatzijobʼal), a Mayan language spoken in central Guatemala.

On the Omniglot blog we find whether the word kitchen is related to the words apricot, pumpkin and melon in a post entitled Kitchen Fruit, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can guess what language this is:

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

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Caac (Caaàc), a New Caledonian language spoken on the northeast coast of Grande Terre island in the North Province of New Caledonia.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Grinding Pebbles, we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for gravel and other things in English and other languages.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Counting Numbers about words for number, to count and related things in Celtic languages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://x.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.

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.

In this episode of the Celtic Pathways podcast, we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for gravel in English and other languages.

Gravel [ˈɡɹævəl] is small fragments of rock, used for laying on the beds of roads and railways, and as ballast, and other things (other meanings are available).

It comes from Middle English gravel / gravail(le) (sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles), from Old French gravele (gravel), a diminutive of grave (gravel, seashore), from Medieval Latin grava, possibly from Gaulish grava, from Proto-Celtic grāwā (gravel, pebbles), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰroh₁weh₂, from *gʰreh₁w- (to grind) [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots in the modern Celtic languages include gro (gravel, shingle, gravelly shore, strand) in Welsh, grow (gravel) in Cornish, and grouan (gravel) in Breton [source].

For more details of words for gravel and related things in Celtic languages, see the Celtiadur post Gritty Gravel.

Words from the same Proto-Celtic roots in the non-Celtic languages include grava (gravel) in Catalan, grève (flat, sandy land along the sea or a large river) in French, grava (gravel) in Spanish, and grave (gravel, shore, gravelly ground) in Occitan [source].

Words from the same PIE roots in other languages include: grit, groat, grout and gruel in English, Grieß (semolina) in German, grjót (coarse stones, rubble) in Icelandic, gryt (a badger’s sett, a fox’s den) in Swedish, riutta (reef) in Finnish, and grúodas (frozen mud or earth) in Lithuanian [source].

Incidentally, one Old English word for gravel was ċeosol [ˈtʃeo.sol], which comes from Proto-West-Germanic *kesul (small stone, pebble). This became chisel and chessil (gravel or pebbles) in modern English, and is cognate with Kiesel (pebble) in German, kiezel (pebble, flint, silicon) in Dutch, and kisel (silicon) in Swedish [source].

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.

New language pages:

• Central ǃKung (ǃXun), a Kxʼa language spoken in northern Namibia.
• Ik (Icétôd), a Kuliak language spoken in Karamoja in the Northern region of Uganda.
• Markwet (Markweta), a Southern Nilotic language spoken in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in western Kenya.
• Sudanese Arabic (لهجة سودانية), a variety of Arabic spoken mainly in Sudan, and also in South Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia and other countries.

New numbers pages:

• Ik (Icétôd), a Kuliak language spoken in Karamoja in the Northern region of Uganda.
• Dagaare (Dàgáárè), a Gur language spoken in Ghana and Burkina Faso.
• Genoese (zeneise), a Gallo-Romance language spoken mainly in Genoa in Italy.

On the Omniglot blog there are new posts about the words Hire & Rent and Hat Tricks, and there’s the usual Language Quiz. See if you can 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 Mayo (Yoreme Nokki), an Uto-Aztecan language spoken in northern Mexico.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Weaving Text, we unweave the origins of the word text.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Teary Drops about words for tear, drop and related things in Celtic languages.

New song: Terms & Conditions, a song I wrote in October 2024 about all those pesky terms & conditions that we have to agree to, but few of us ever read, and even fewer understand.

Improved page: Turkish language page.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://x.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.

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.

In this Adventure in Etymology, we unweave the origins of the word text.

A text [tɛkst] is:

• A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences.
• A book, tome or other set of writings.
• A brief written message transmitted between mobile phones. (other meanings are available)

It comes from Middle English text, from Old French texte (text), from Latin textus (woven, texture, structure, tissue, connection), from texō (to weave, knit, plait, intertwine), from Proto-Italic *teksō, from Proto-Indo-European *tḗtḱ-ti (to create, produce, cut, hew) or *teḱ-se-t, both of which come from *teḱ- (to sire, beget) [source].

Words from the same roots include architect, context, subtle, technical, textile and texture in English, tisser (to weave, plait) in French, tessere (to weave, plot) in Italian, and tekst (text, lyrics) in Dutch [source].

In Old English, one word for text was traht [trɑxt], which also means passage, exposition, treatise or commentary. It comes from traht(n)ian (to treat, comment on, expound, consider), from Proto-West-Germanic *trahtōn (to consider, think of, strive for, seek, discuss), from Latin tractō (to tug, drag, handle, discuss) [source]. The modern English word tract (A small booklet such as a pamphlet, often for promotional or informational uses; a treatise or discourse on a subject) comes from the same roots [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.

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.

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

New language pages:

• Kwasengen (Hanga Hundi), a Sepik language spoken in East Sepik Province in the northwest of Papua New Guinea.
• Dirasha (D’iraassh), a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken in southwestern Ethiopia.
• Saho (Saahot Af), a Lowland East Cushitic language spoken mainly in Eritrea and Ethiopia.

New constructed script: Bocsys, an alphabet I created for no particular reason that can be used to write most western European languages.

New numbers pages:

• Kryts (Khaput dialect), a Northeast Caucasian spoken in northeastern Azerbaijan.
• Sakizaya, an East Formosan language spoken mainly in Hualien County on the east coast of Taiwan.
• Rukai, a Formosan language spoken in Pingtung, Kaohsiung and Taitung counties in the south of Taiwan.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Pans of Cream about words for cream in Italian, and related words in 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 northern Mexico.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tswa (xiTswa), a Southern Bantu language spoken in southern Mozambique.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Oaken Larches, we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for larch (tree) in various non-Celtic languages.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post called Sufficiently Enough about words for enough, sufficient and related things.

I also made improvements to the Oak (trees) Celtiadur post.

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.

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.

In this episode we discover the possible Celtic roots of words for larch (tree) in various non-Celtic languages.

A larch [ˈlɑːtʃ/ˈlɑɹtʃ] is a confierous tree of the genus Larix having deciduous leaves in fascicles (bundles). The most common type of larch tree in Europe is the European larch (Larix decidua), which is native to northern Italy. Other types of larch are availble.

The English word larch comes from early modern German Larche/Lärche, from Middle High German larche, from Old High German larihha, from Latin larix (larch), from Ancient Greek λάριξ (lárix – larch, Venice turpentine*), possibly from Gaulish *devro (oak?) from Proto-Celtic *daru (oak), from PIE *dóru (tree) [source].

*Venice turpentine = A thick substance made from the tree resin of the European larch (Larix decidua), formerly used as a component in the oil paintings to create glossy, translucent glazes [source].

Words in the modern Celtic languages from the same Proto-Celtic root include: dair [d̪ˠaɾʲ] (oak) in Irish, dair [darʲ] (oak) in Scottish Gaelic, darragh (oak) in Manx, dâr [ˈdaːr] (oak tree, leader, mighty lord) in Welsh, dar [daːr / dæːr] (oak) in Cornish, and dar [dɑːr] (oak) in Breton [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root in other languages include: làrix in Catalan, lariks in Dutch learag in Scottish Gaelic, larch in English, Lärche in German, and lærk in Danish, all of which mean larch (tree) [source].

Incidentally, the French word mélèze (larch) has doubly Celtic roots: it comes from Franco-Provençal (Dauphinois) melèzo (larch tree), from Vulgar Latin *melice (larch), from Gaulish *mel- (larch) and Latin larix (larch). The Gaulish word *mel- comes from Proto-Celtic *meli (honey) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include δόρυ (dóry – spear) in Greek, terva (tar) in Finnish, dearbh (sure, certain) in Irish, tree, trim, and trough and true in English, and trä (wood) in Swedish [source].

See the Celtiadur post Oak (trees) for more details of words for oak and related things in Celtic languages. 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.

New language pages:

• Kamasau, a Torricelli language spoken in East Sepik Province in the northwest of Papua New Guinea.
• Bukiyip (Bukiyúp), a Torricelli language spoken in East Sepik Province in the northwest of Papua New Guinea.
• Mufian, a Torricelli language spoken in East Sepik Province in Papua New Guinea.
• Wiyot (Soulatluk), an Algic language that was spoken in Humboldt Bay in northwestern California, and which is being revived.

New numbers pages:

• Wiyot (Soulatluk), an Algic language that was spoken in Humboldt Bay in northwestern California.
• Yurok (Puliklah), an Algic language that was spoken in northern California, and which is being reivived.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Trigraphs about the rather unusual orthography used by the Yurok language. 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 Mozambique.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Lahu (Ladhof) , a Lolo-Burmese language spoken in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Terminal Boundaries, we determine the limits of the word term, and find out how it’s connected to the Daleks in Dr Who.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about some Deeply Profound words, and I made improvements to the post about words for Fish.

I also made improvements to the Yurok and Betawi language pages, and the Unifon con-script 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

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

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.

In this Adventure in Etymology, we determine the limits of the word term, and find out how it’s connected to the Daleks in Dr Who.

St Pancras International Station – a major railway terminus in London

A term [tɜːm/tɝm] is:

• That which limits the extent of anything; limit, extremity, bound, boundary, terminus.
• A chronological limitation or restriction, a limited timespan.
• Any of the binding conditions or promises in a legal contract.
• A word or phrase (e.g., noun phrase, verb phrase, open compound), especially one from a specialised area of knowledge.
• Part of a year, especially one of the divisions of an academic year.
• Duration of officeholding, or its limit; period in office of fixed length.
• With respect to a pregnancy, the period during which birth usually happens (approximately 40 weeks from conception).

It comes from Middle English terme (limit, end, goal, boundary), from Old French terme (limit, boundary), from Latin terminus (boundary, limit, end, period of time), from Proto-Italic *termenos (boundary stone), from Proto-Indo-European *térmn̥ (boundary, end), possibly from *ter(h₂)- (to pass through) [source].

Words from the same roots include terminal, terminus, determine, avatar, thorough and through in English, terme (conclusion, end, term [word, expression], deadline, rent) in French, término (end, terminus, finish, conclusion, period, term) in Spanish, and τέρμα (térma – conclusion, end, goal, finishing line) in Greek [source].

What links term with the Daleks*? Well, the Daleks’ favourite expression, Exterminate!, comes from the same roots, via Latin exterminātus (expelled, exiled, banished, abolished, destroyed) from exterminō (I expel, exile, banish, etc), from ex- (out, away) & terminō (I finish, close, end) [source].

*Dalek = A member of a species of extraterrestrial cyborg mutants who appear in the television programme Doctor Who and are known for travelling in metallic shells, having monotone, mechanically distorted voices, repeating a limited number of phrases, and their fanatical obsession with exterminating other, non-Dalek beings. The word Dalek either comes from the Kaleds, the beings they evolved from, or from Dals (gods) in their (fictional) language [source].

Incidentally, the word terminator also comes from the same roots, via Latin terminātor (he who sets bounds), from terminō (I finish, close, end), from terminus (end, limit) [source].

Here’s a little ditty I wrote in October 2024 called Terms & Conditions, which is about all those pesky terms & conditions that few of us ever read, and even fewer understand.

You can also listen to this podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Podchaser, Podbay or Podtail and other pod places.

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.

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.

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

New language pages:

• Djabugay, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken in Queensland in northeastern Australia.
• Lamalama, a Pama-Nyungan language spoken in Queensland in the northeastern Australia.
• Warao, a language isolate spoken in Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname.
• Kapóng, a Cariban language spoken in Guyana, Venezuela and Brazil.

New constructed script: Arkyn, an alternative way to write English created by Hanson Walker and designed for discreet and efficient communication.

New constructed script: Nyctography, a substitution cipher for English created by the author Lewis Carroll in 1891 to enable him to write in the dark when ideas came to him in the middle of the night.

New numbers pages:

• Arvanitic (arbërisht), a variety of Albanian spoken in southern Greece.
• Alur (Dho-Alur), a Southern Luo language spoken in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Jack Of All Trades about the origins of that saying, and related sayings 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 mainly in southwestern China and northeastern Myanmar.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Samogitian (žemaitiu kalba), an Eastern Baltic language spoken in the Samogitia region in western Lithuania.

In this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, Garters, we discover the Celtic roots of words for garter in English and French.

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

I also made improvements to the Guugu Yimithirr 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

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

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.

In this episode, we discover the Celtic roots of words for garter in English and French.

The English word garter refers to a band around the leg to hold up a sock or stocking. It comes from Old Northern French gartier (garter), from Old French garet (knee, leg), from Vulgar Latin *garra (shank, calf), from Gaulish *garrā (leg), from Proto-Celtic *garros (calf, shank), possibly from PIE *ǵʰes- (hand, to take) [source].

Words in the modern Celtic languages from the same Proto-Celtic root include: gar [ɡar] (leg, shank, thigh, ham) in Welsh, garr [ɡarː/ɡɒr] (leg, stem) in Cornish, and gar [ɡɑːr] (leg, paw) in Breton [source].

Words from the same Proto-Celtic root in other languages include: jarret (hock) and jarretière (garter) in French, and possibly garra (claw, talon, hand, paw, spirit) in Spanish, and garra (shank, tail, claw) in Catalan [source].

Words from the same PIE root include chiropractor, million and surgeon in English; dorë (hand) in Albanian; paže (arm) in Czech, and pažastis (armpit) in Lithuanian [source].

Chiropractor comes from Ancient Greek χείρ (kheír – hand) & πρᾶξις (prâxis – action, activity, practice) [source]; million comes ultimately from the PIE root *ǵʰéslom (thousand) or literally “full hand” [source]; and surgeon comes from Ancient Greek χειρουργός (kheirourgós – craftsman, surgeon), from χείρ (kheír – hand) & ἔργον (érgon – work) [source]

Incidentally, the English word hock [hɒk/hɑk] (also written hough) can refer to the hollow behind the knee, the tarsal joint of an animal such as a horse or pig, and the meat from that part of an animal. It’s also the name of a type of wine from the Hochheim region of Germany [source].

See the Celtiadur post Legs & Feet for more details of words for shank, calf, leg, foot and related things in Celtic languages. 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.