Radio Omniglot

• Neo-Brittonic (Brettica), a reconstructed version of Common Brittonic, a Celtic language once spoken in southern England.
• Ngomba (cú mbɔ́ndaa), a Bamileke language spoken mainly in the Bamboutos Department in the West Region of Cameroon.
• Ngombale (Ngeombale), a Bamileke language spoken in the Bamboutos Department in the West Region of Cameroon.
• Hachijō (島言葉 / shima-kotoba), a Japonic language spoken mainly in the Izu Islands, part of Tokyo Prefecture in Japan.
• Tày (Tiểng Tày), a Central Tai language spoken mainly in northeastern Vietnam, and also in northern Laos.

New constructed script: Hedhgadē, a script for Proto-Indo-Euopean created by Hebrejinia.

New phrases page: Föhr North Frisian, a West Germanic language spoken in North Frisia in northern Germany.

New numbers page: Jamaican (Jimiekn / Patwah), an English-based creole spoken mainly in Jamaica.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled Oceanic Lutes about some words for Chinese and Western instruments, and related things.

There’s a new post entitled Shady Shadows on the Celtidur blog about words for shadow, shade and related things in Celtic languages.

The gateway to the road up Jiangjun Mountain

In other news, this week I explored part of Jiangjun Mountain (将军山 – jiāngjūnshān) and got some great views of Zhaoqing from up high. There is a temple on the mountain that is lit up at night, and since coming here, we’ve been planning to visit it. We found a way up yesterday. The electric scooters had a hard time climbing up the steeper parts of the road, but we got there eventually, and it was well worth the effort. The temple itself is impressive, and the views from it are spectacular. Unfortunately, it was rather wet, cold and windy up there, but we survived.

The temple on Jiangjun Mountain

A view of Zhaoqing from Jiangjun Mountain

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• Ngaʼka (Mungaʼka), a Grassfields language spoken in Bali Nyonga, a town in the Nortwest Region of Cameroon.
• Ngiemboon (Ngiembɔɔn), a Grassfields language spoken in Bali Nyonga, a town in the Nortwest Region of Cameroon.

This week there’s a new blog post entitled No Fierce Action about some questionably translated text I’ve spotted here.

There’s a new post entitled Telling Tales on the Celtiadur blog about words for story, tale, news etc in Celtic languages.

Improved page: Mandarin phrases

This week my adventures in Zhaoqing (肇庆) took me to the big lake in the centre of the city, known as Star Lake in English, or 星湖 (xīnghú) in Chinese. You can take boat trips around it, and there are quite a few islands to visit, some of which have temples on them. If you go to one of the cafés or restaurants overlooking the lake, be prepared for much higher prices than elsewhere.

I also went to the Guangdong Business and Technology University (广东工商职业技术大学), a private university not far from here with some rather elaborate architecture.

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• Ndemli, a Grassfields language spoken in the Littoral Region in the southwest of Cameroon.
• Johor Malay, a Malayic language spoken in the state of Johor in the south of the Malay Peninsula.

New constructed script: Avo, an alternative way to write English invented by Toonmaker.

New constructed script: Faciagram, an alternative script for English invented by Toonmaker and based on facial expressions.

This week is travelled to China to visit friends. I’m staying in Zhaoqing (肇庆) in Guangdong Province in the south of the country, and plan to stay here until January next year. You can find out more about my experiences in China Adventures on the Omniglot blog. This is why there isn’t as much new material as usual due to the Great Firewall of China.

There’s no language quiz this week as it seems difficult to find suitable recordings here due to internet restrictions. The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Tuparí, a Tupian language spoken mainly in the state of Rondônia in the North Region of Brazil.

Improved page: Shanghainese phrases page

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

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

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• Kwaʼ (Bakwa’), a Bamileke language spoken in the southwest of Cameroon.
• Ndau (ChiNdau), a Bantu language spoken mainly in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
• Ndonga (OshiNdonga), a Bantu language spoken mainly in the north of Namibia, and also in southern Angola.
• Arammba (Aramba), a Tonda language spoken in the Morehead area in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

New numbers pages:

• Ndonga (OshiNdonga), a Bantu language spoken in northern Namibia and southern Angola.
• Arammba (Aramba), a Tonda language spoken in the Morehead area in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea.

New Tower of Babel translation: Ndau (ChiNdau)

New constructed script: Enjay, an alternative way to write English invented by Toonmaker.

New adapted script: Thaana-Wayuu (ތާނަ ޥަޔޫ), was devised by Pablo Villa Uhia as a way to write Wayuu, an Arawakan language spoken in Venezuela and Colombia, with the Thaana script, as used for the Maldivian language.

On the Omniglot blog this week there’s a new post entitled A Complete Canard!, which looks at the various meanings of the word canard in French and English, 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 northwest of Brazil.

The mystery language in last week’s language quiz was Goral (Górolski), a West Slavic language (or dialect) spoken in southern Poland, northern Slovakia and northeastern Czechia.

In this week’s Adventure in Etymology, Burning Focus, we focus on what links the words focus, fuel, focaccia and curfew.

It’s also available on Instagram and TikTok.

On the Celtiadur blog there’s a new post entitled Nettles about words for nettle and related things in Celtic languages.

In other news, I’m going to China in a few days after recording this news. I’ll be staying with friends in Zhaoqing / Shiuhing (肇庆), a city in Guangdong Province in the south of China for nearly two months. In preparation for this trip, I’ve been brushing up my Mandarin and Cantonese, and I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to use both languages while I’m there. I may visit other parts of China, and maybe nearby countries. I haven’t been to Zhaoqing before, but did spend a few months travelling in southern China back in 1991. It’s probably changed a little since then. I’ll try to keep Omniglot ticking over while I’m away, but may not have as much time as usual for that.

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.

Focus [ˈfəʊ.kəs / ˈfoʊ.kəs] as a noun can mean:

• A point at which reflected or refracted rays of light converge.
• The quality of the convergence of light on the photographic medium.
• Something to which activity, attention or interest is primarily directed.

As an verb, focus can mean:

• To cause (rays of light, etc) to converge at a single point.
• To adjust (a lens, an optical instrument) in order to position an image with respect to the focal plane.
• To direct attention, effort, or energy to a particular audience or task.
• To concentrate one’s attention.

It comes from Latin focus (fireplace, hearth, brazier, house, family), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (to shine), or from PIE *dʰegʷʰ- (to burn) [source].

Words from the same roots include fuoco (fire, torment) in Italian, feu (fire, lighter) in French, fogo (fire, house, family, flame) in Portuguese, φουφού (foufoú – brazier) in Greek, Fokus (focus) in German, and curfew in English [source].

The English word fuel, also comes from the same Latin root, via Middle English fewell (fuel), Old French fouaille (firewood, kindling), and f(o)u / foc (fire), and Late Latin focus (fire) [source].

The Italian flatbread, focaccia, also gets its name from the same roots, via Late Latin focācia, the plural of focācium (bread baked under ash), from (panis) focācius ((bread) of the hearth), as does hogaza (loaf) in Spanish and pogača (cake) in Slovenian [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.