Omniglot News (02/11/25)

2nd November 2025 By Simon

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Ha (Igiha), a Bantu language spoken in the Kigoma Region in the northwest of Tanzania.
Fut (Bɨfɨɨ̀), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Maasina Fulfulde (مَاسِنَ ڢُلْڢُلْدٜ‎), a West Central Fula language spoken in Mali, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Tadaksahak (Tadáksahak‎), a Northern Songhay language spoken in southern Mali and western Niger.

New numbers pages:

Fut (Bɨfɨɨ̀), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the Northwest Region of Cameroon.
Bambalang (Chrambo), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in Cameroon.
Tadaksahak (Tadáksahak‎), a Northern Songhay language spoken in southern Mali and western Niger.

New constructed script: Sleep Token Alphabet, a cypher for English that appears on album artwork and merch for the band Sleep Token.

Sample text in English in the Sleep Token Alphabet

This week on the Omniglot blog we find out whether the words (ham)burger, burgher and burglar are related in a post called Burgling Burg(h)ers, 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 French Polynesia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Makaa (mǝ́kaá), a Bantu language spoken in the East Region of Cameroon.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we investigate the origins of the word Nemesis.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Sighing Groans about words for sigh, groan and related things in Celtic languages.

In other news, I started using the Ling App [affiliate link] to learn some more Cantonese this week. I’ve studied Cantonese before, and have forgotten a lot, but it’s now coming back to me. Ling is similar to Duolingo in the style of lessons, and offers courses in 60+ languages. You can get a free trial on the 1-year subscription, after which you have to pay. I may review it when I’ve spent more time on it, but so far I’m finding it useful and well-put together.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Nemesis

1st November 2025 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we investigate the origins of the word nemesis.

Nemesis [ˈnɛməsɪs] can mean:

An enemy, especially an archenemy.
A person or character who specifically brings about the downfall of another person or character, as an agent of that character’s fate or destiny, especially within a narrative.
The personification of the “fatal flaw” of a dramatic hero in the style of Greek tragedy.
Other meanings are available

It comes from Νέμεσῐς (Némesĭs – the Greek goddess of retribution), from Ancient Greek νέμεσις (némesis – distribution of what is due, righteous assignment of anger, wrath at anything unjust), from νέμω (némō – to deal out, distribute, dispense, count, hold, possess, pasture flocks), from Proto-Hellenic *némō from Proto-Indo-European *nem(h₁)- (to distribute, give, take) [source].

Words from the same roots include ņemt (to take, seize) in Latvian, nehmen (to take, hold, grasp) in German, nimma (to understand) in Swedish, nimble and number in English, nimh (poison, venom) in Irish and possibly nant (stream, brook) in Welsh [source].

The English word numb also comes from the same roots. It was originally the past participle of nim (to take, seize, steal – obsolete / archaic), which comes from Middle English nimen (to (under)take, draw, enter), from Old English niman (to take), from Proto-West Germanic *neman (to take), from Proto-Germanic *nemaną (to take), from PIE *nem(h₁)- (to distribute, give, take) [source].

The word nimps (easy – northern England) also possibly comes from the same roots, as do overnim (to take away, rob) and nimmer (a petty thief) [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.

Omniglot News (26/10/25)

26th October 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Bangolan (Bǎŋgulaŋ), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the Northwest Province of Cameroon.
Chopi (Cicopi), a Southern Bantu language spoken mainly in Inhambane Province in southern Mozambique.
Palembang (Baso Pelémbang / باسو ڤليمباڠ‎), a Malayic language spoken in Palembang in South Sumatra Province in Indonesia.

New constructed script: Neo Alfabet, a phonetic script created by François Toulot to write almost any language.

Sample texts in Neo Alfabet

New numbers pages:

Bangolan (Bǎŋgulaŋ), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the Northwest Province of Cameroon.
Arta, a Northern Luzon language spoken in northern Luzon in the Philippines.

New family words pages:

Gothic (𐌲𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰), an East Germanic language spoken in parts of Crimea until the 17th century.
Alsatian (Ëlsässisch), a West Germanic language spoken mainly in Alsace in northeastern France.

This week on the Omniglot blog we find out when a forest is not a forest in a post called Sylvan Forests, 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 southern Cameroon.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Yerakula (ஏறுகள), a Dravidian language spoken in Andhra Pradesh, in the southeast of India.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology we search the ether for the elemental origins of the word Quintessence.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Pithy Marrow about words for (bone) marrow, pith and related things in Celtic languages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Quintessence

25th October 202525th October 2025 By Simon

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In this Adventure in Etymology we search for the elemental origins of the word quintessence.

Quintessence [kwɪnˈtɛs.əns] is:

A thing that is the most perfect example of its type; the most perfect embodiment of something; epitome, prototype
A pure substance.
The essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form.
(alchemy) The fifth alchemical element, or essence, after earth, air, fire, and water that fills the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere. (A)ether.
(physics) A hypothetical form of dark energy postulated to explain observations of an accelerating universe.

It comes from Middle English quint-essence (quintessence, the fifth essence or element), from Old French quinte essence (quintessence), from Medieval Latin quinta essentia (fifth essence, aether), from Latin quīntus (fifth) and essentia (the being or essence of a thing) [source].

Words from the same roots include quintillion (a billion billion, a million quadrillion, or an unspecified very large number), quintuplex (a collection of 5 things, a building divided in 5 residences or businesses) and quintet (a group of 5 musicians, or any group with 5 members) in English, cinque (5) in Italian, cinco (5) in Spanish, cinc (5) in French [source], and also essence and essential in English, esence (essence, extract) in Czech, essence (petrol, gasoline, essence, essential oil) in French, and ésser (to be, exist, be real) in Catalan [source].

Incidentally, I was inspired to investigate the word quintessence after learning the Welsh word mêr, which means marrow, the best or essential part, quintessence, essence, soul, heart, centre, middle, depth, and (source of) strength.

It’s related to the Irish word smior (marrow, pith, essential part, quintessence), to the English word smear, and to the Swedish word smör (butter – as in smörgåsbord) [more details].

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.

Omniglot News (19/10/25)

19th October 202519th October 2025 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New writing script: New Phonetic Character (上海土音字寫法), a script created by the Rev. Tarleton Perry Crawford in the 1850s to write Shanghainese.

Sample text in the New Phonetic Character

New constructed script: Evolved Alphabet, an experimental alphabet for a future form of English created by TheDankBoi69.

Sample text in the Evolved Alphabet

New language pages:

Kumam (Ikokolemu), a Southern Luo language spoken in the Eastern Region of Uganda.
Ki (tukí), a Mbam language spoken in the Central Region of Cameroon.
Gungu (Lugungu), a Northeast Bantu language spoken in the Western Region of Uganda.

New numbers pages:

Gungu (Lugungu), a Northeast Bantu language spoken in the Western Region of Uganda.
Saanich (SENĆOŦEN), a Salishan language spoken on Vancouver Island in Canada.

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled String Phones in which we find links between the Swahili word simu (phone) with words for string, semaphore and related things, 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 Andhra Pradesh in India.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Babine-Witsuwitʼen, a Northern Athabaskan language spoken in parts of British Columbia in Canada.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Fact & Fiction, we’re uncovering some facts about the words fact and fiction.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Hairy Manes about words for mane, hair and related things in Celtic languages.

I forgot to mention in the recording, but I wrote a new song this week called When The Cat’s Away based on the saying ‘when the cat’s away, the mice will play’, and similar sayings in other languages.

Simon Ager · When The Cat's Away

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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

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.

Adventure in Etymology – Fact & Fiction

18th October 202518th October 2025 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we’re uncovering some facts about the words fact and fiction.

Fact & Fiction

Meanings of fact [fækt] include:

Something actual as opposed to invented.
Something which is real.
Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.
An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed on by a substantial number of experts.

It comes from Old French fact, from Latin factum (fact, deed, act), from faciō (to do, make, construct), from Proto-Italic *fakjō (to make), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti (to put, place), from *dʰeh₁- (to do, put, place) [source].

Words from the same roots include affair, benefit, credit, deed, factory, family, perfect, thesis and tick in English, fare (to do, make, create) in Italian, hacer (to do, make) in Spanish, Ort (place, location, town) in German, дело (delo – affair, work, deed) in Russian, dáil (betrothal, legislature, Irish parliament) in Irish, and dadl (argument, debate, controversy) in Welsh [source].

Meanings of fiction [ˈfɪk.ʃən] include:

A type of literature using invented or imaginative writing, instead of real facts, usually written as prose.
A verbal or written account that is not based on actual events (often intended to mislead)

It comes from Middle English ficcioun [ˈfiksjun] (an invention or fabrication), Old French ficcion (dissimulation, ruse, invention), from Latin fictiō (fashioning, forming, fiction), from fingō [ˈfɪŋ.ɡoː] (to shape, fashion, form), from Proto-Italic *fingō / θingō (to knead, form), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰi-né-ǵʰ-ti, from *dʰeyǵʰ- (to knead, form, shape) [source].

Words from the same roots include dough, feign, feint, figment, figure and lady in English, Teig (dough, paste, pastry, batter) in German, देह (deh – body, person) in Hindi, and fingere (to pretend, feign, dissemble) in Italian [source].

Incidentally, in Old English one word for fiction, and also false news or a made-up story, was lēasspell [ˈlæ͜ɑːsˌspeɫ], which comes from lēas (false, vain, worthless, a lie, mistake) and spell (story, news, argument) [source].

Lēas lives on in the English dialect word lease (to tell lies, slander) [source], and spell in gospel and (to) spell [source].

The opposite was sōþspell [ˈsoːθˌspeɫ] (a true story, nonfiction, history), which comes from sōþ (true, real, truth) and spell (story, news, argument) [source].

The English word sooth (truth, augury, blandishment, reality, fact), as in soothsayer (one who attempts to predict the future using magic, intuition or intelligence) and forsooth (indeed, really, truthfully) comes from the same roots, as does sand (truth) in Danish, and sannur (true, authentic, real, genuine) in Icelandic [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.

Omniglot News (12/10/25)

12th October 202512th October 2025 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Baba (Supapyag), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Bamukumbit (Maŋkɔŋ), an Eastern Grassfields language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Sawai, a South Halmahera language spoken on Halmahera island in North Maluku Province in Indonesia.

New numbers pages:

Khowar (کھووار), a Dardic language spoken mainly in northern Pakistan, and also in India.
Baba (Supapyag), a Bantu language spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon.
Sawai), a South Halmahera language spoken on Halmahera island in North Maluku Province in Indonesia.

New idiom: When the Cat’s Away (the mice will play)

New constructed script: Atʼákaz bee yádeiiltiʼí, an alternative script for Navajo invented by Nicholas Fox.

Sample text in Navajo in the Atʼákaz bee yádeiiltiʼí script

On the Omniglot blog there’s a new post entitled Gluten Glue in which we find links between the words glue, gluten and clay, 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 British Colombia in Canada.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Dhao, a Sumba-Flores language spoken on Ndao, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands in East Nusa Tenggara Province in Indonesia.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find any words of Celtic origin in non-Celtic languages for this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, so after 94 episodes, I’ve decided to take a break. I’ll be back with more Adventures in Etymology next week.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post about words for Awls & Bodkins in Celtic languages.

Improved pages: Phoenician numbers and Khowar language pages

In other news, my Duolingo streak reached 3,000 days this week (3,004 at the time of writing). Or in other words, for the past 8 years or so, I’ve studied languages every single day. At the moment I’m learning Swahili, and maintaining my other languages, particularly Japanese, Spanish and Italian.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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

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.

Celtic Pathways – Announcement

12th October 202512th October 2025 By Simon

Celtic Pathways

I couldn’t find any words of Celtic origin in non-Celtic languages for this week’s Celtic Pathways podcast, so after 94 episodes, I’ve decided to take a break. I’ll be back with more Adventures in Etymology next week.

There are plenty of place names throughout Europe that have Celtic roots – see Celtic toponymy on Wikipedia. However, for the Celtic Pathways podcasts, I like to find words that have descendants in at least some of the modern Celtic languages, as well as words from the same Celtic roots in other languages. If I find any more like this, I will make more episodes of Celtic Pathways.

Omniglot News (05/10/25)

5th October 20255th October 2025 By Simon

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Omniglot News

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

New language pages:

Ushoji (اُݜوجو), an Eastern Dardic language spoken mainly in the Swat District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwest Pakistan.
Aer (آیر), a Western Indo-Aryan language spoken in Sindh in Pakistan and Gujarat in India.
Dameli (دمیلی), a Dardic language spoken in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwest Pakistan.
Wandala, a Chadic language spoken in northern Cameroon and northwestern Nigeria.

New numbers pages:

Ushoji (اُݜوجو), an Eastern Dardic language spoken in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwest Pakistan.
Dameli (دمیلی), a Dardic language spoken in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwest Pakistan.
Secoya (Paikoka), a Tucanoan language spoken in northern Ecuador and northern Peru.

New adapted script: Cyrilice (Цырилице), a way to write Czech with the Cyrillic script devised by Marc Mundet.

Вшиъхи лидеъ се родиъ свободниъ а собѣ ровниъ со до дуъстойности а праъв. Йсо̌ надаъни розумем а свѣдомиъм а майиъ сполу йеднат в духъу братрствиъ.

On the Omniglot blog there a new post entitled Shearing Scissors in which we find out why word scissors have a silent c in it, and whether it’s related to the word shears, 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 the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Gottscheerish (Göttscheabarisch), a West Germanic language spoken mainly in southern Slovenia, and in New York in the USA.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Fishing for Fish, we’re fishing for the origins of the word fish and related words.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Sticky Glue about words for glue, to stick and related things in the Celtic languages.

For more Omniglot News, see:
https://www.omniglot.com/news/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/omniglot/
https://www.facebook.com/Omniglot-100430558332117

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

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.

Adventures in Etymology – Fishing for Fish

4th October 20254th October 2025 By Simon

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In this Adventure in Etymology we fish for the origins of the word fish.

Fish [fɪʃ] can refer to:

A typically cold-blooded vertebrate animal that lives in water, moving with the help of fins and breathing with gills.
Any animal (or any vertebrate) that lives exclusively in water.
As a verb it can mean: To hunt fish or other aquatic animals in a body of water, or to collect coral or pearls from the bottom of the sea.

Other meanings are available, and some would say there’s no such thing as a fish.

It comes from Middle English fisch [fiʃ] (fish, and other animals that live in water), from Old English fisċ / fix / ᚠᛁᛋᚳ [fiʃ / fisk] (fish), from Proto-West Germanic *fisk, from Proto-Germanic *fiskaz [ˈɸis.kɑz] (fish), from Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (fish) [source].

Words from the same PIE root include vis (fish) in Dutch, fisk (fish, Pisces) in Swedish, peixe (fish) in Portuguese, pez (fish, idiot) in Spanish, pêcher (to fish) in French, pysgodyn (fish) in Welsh, iasc (fish) in Irish, and piscine (fishy, pertaining to fish) and piscatorial (pertaining to fish, fishing or fishermen) in English [source].

The Proto-Indo-European *peysk- (fish) only has descendents in the Germanic, Romance and Celtic languages. Another PIE root for fish is *dʰǵʰúHs, which became ձուկ (juk – fish, calf muscle) in Armenian, zivs (fish) in Latvian, žuvis (fish) in Lithuanian, and ιχθύς (ichthýs – fish) in Greek – (archaic) appears mainly in compounds such as χθυοπώλης (ichthyopólis – fishmonger) [source].

Some fish-related words in English also come from the same roots, via Ancient Greek ἰχθύς [ixˈθis] (ikhthús, fish, stupid person). These include: ichthyology (fish science), ichthyosaur (any fishlike marine reptiles of the extinct order Ichthyosauria), ichthyolatry (the worship of fish or fish-shaped idols), and ichthyophobia (fear of fish) [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.