Here’s a recording in a mystery language.
Do you know, or can you guess, the language?
Rice
One word I learnt recently in Swahili is wali, which means rice, or more specifically, cooked rice.
Wali (cooked rice)
Wali means cooked rice or cooked grain in Swahili. Other words for rice include mpunga (rice plant, raw unhusked rice), mchele (dehusked, uncooked rice), ubwabwa (ground rice), and mashendea (husked rice) [source].
mpunga (rice plant, raw unhusked rice)
Wali comes from Malagasy vary (uncooked rice), from Proto-Malayic *bəras (rice) amd Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *pajay (rice plant) [source].
Words from the same Proto-Malayic root include beras (uncooked rice, any grain) in Malay and Indonesian, and berau (raw rice) in Iban [source].
Words from the same Proto-Malayo-Polynesian root include palay (rice plant) in Tagalog, fary (sugar cane) in Malagasy, hare ([uncooked] rice, rice plant) in Tetum and padi (rice plant, paddy, unhusked grain) in Malay and Indonesian [source].
The English word paddy also comes from the same roots via Malay. As well as referring to a paddy field or rice paddy (an irrigated or flooded field where rice is grown), it can also mean rough or unhusked rice, either before it is milled or as a crop to be harvested [source].
Japanese also has different words for rice in different states, which include:
- ご飯 (gohan) is cooked rice or a meal
- 飯 (meshi) is cooked rice, meal, food, one’s living or livelihood, or steamed rice
- ライス (raisu) is rice (especially when served on a plate)
- 米 (kome) is husked grains of rice, or a staple (product) or necessity
- 玄米 (genmai) is unpolised rice, unmilled rice or brown rice
- 稲 (ine) is a rice plant [source].
As does (Mandarin) Chinese:
- 饭 [飯] (fàn) is cooked rice
- 米饭 [米飯] (mǐfàn) is cooked rice
- 白饭 [白飯] (báifàn) is plain cooked rice
- 白米 (báimǐ) is polished rice
- 大米 (dàmǐ) is husked rice
- 米 (mǐ) is uncooked rice
- 稻 (dào) is rice growing in a field or a rice plant [source].
How about other languages?
Language Quiz
Hither & Thither
If someone is described as having come-hither eyes, it means their eyes are seducitve or alluring. If you tell a horse to come hither though, what would you expect it to do?
The word hither [ˈhɪðə / ˈhɪðɚ] is a literary or archaic word that means to this place, to here or over here. So if you tell a horse to come hither, you’d expect it to come towards where you are, but this command actually means move to the left, apparently [source].
Hither comes from Middle English hider / hither (to here), from Old English hider (to here), from Proto-Germanic *hidrê (to this place, to here, hither), from *hiz (this) and *-drê (directional suffix) [source].
Related expressions include:
- behither = on this side of (rare, obsolete)
- hither and thither = to here and to here, one place after another, in different directions, in a disorderly manner
- hither and yon = in, at or to various places (dated, literary)
- hithermost = nearest to this side (archaic)
- hithertofore = heretofore, so far, thus far (rare)
What about thither? It means to that place, or to that point, end or result, and is used mainly in the expression hither and thither, and in legal language [source].
There’s also whither, which means to what place, where, to what cause, to which place, in or to any place to which [source].
Language Quiz
Numbering Houses
When is a number not a number? Let’s find out.
The Swahili word nymba [ˈɲu.ᵐbɑ] looks and sounds a bit like the English word number, but actually means house.
It comes from Proto-Bantu *njʊ̀mbá (house) and is related to words such as nyumba (house) in Chichewa, Mwani and Tumbuka, and enyumba (house) in Kabwa [source].
Swahili words derived from nyumba include: nyumbani (home, at home, in the house), chumba (room) and kijumba (small house, cottage), which are diminutives of nyumba, jumba (mansion, large building), an augmentative of nyumba, uchumba (courtship, engagement), mchumba (lover, fiancé(e), partner), nyumba ya uzazi (womb, uterus, lit. “birth room”), nyumba ya dawa (pharmacy, drugstore), and unyumba (marital relations, married life) [source].
The word namba also exists in Swahili, means number, and was borrowed from English. It is a form of nambari (number), and appears in expressions such as namba hasi (negative number), sio na namba (numberless), and nambari ya simu (phone number) [source].
Language Quiz
Fording Fjord Ports
Are the words ford, fjord and port related? Let’s find out.
A ford [fɔːd / fɔɹd] is a location where a stream is shallow and the bottom has good footing, making it possible to cross from one side to the other with no bridge, by walking, riding, or driving through the water.
It comes from Middle English fōrd (ford, watering place, a spring, passage, path), from Old English ford (ford), from Proto-West Germanic *furdu (ford), from Proto-Germanic *furduz (ford), from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (crossing) [source].
Words from the same Proto-Germanic root include Förde (firth, fjord) and Furt (ford) in German, voorde (ford) in Dutch, ffordd (road, distance, way) in Welsh, and fordh (road, way, manner) in Cornish [source].
A fjord [ˈfiːɔːd / fiˈɔɹd] is a long, narrow, deep inlet between cliffs, and was borrowed from Norwegian.
The Norwegian word fjord [fjuːr] comes from Old Norse fjǫrðr (firth, fjord), from Proto-Germanic *ferþu(z) (inlet, fjord), from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (crossing) – so the same PIE root as ford, but a different Proto-Germanic root [source].
Words from the same Proto-Germanic root include fjörður (fjord) in Icelandic, fjørður (fjord, firth) in Faroese, fjord (firth, fjord, inlet) in Danish, and firth (an arm or inlet of the sea; a river estuary) in English [source].
Meanings of port [pɔːt / poɹt] include: a place on the coast at which ships can shelter, or dock to load and unload cargo or passengers; a town or city containing such a place, and the left-hand side of a vessel, including aircraft, when one is facing the front.
It comes from Middle English port (harbour, haven), from Old English port (port, harbour, haven, town, harbour town), from Latin portus (harbour, port, haven, refuge, warehouse), from Proto-Italic *portus (harbour), from Proto-Indo-European *pértus (crossing) – so the same PIE root as ford and fjord [source].
Words from the same PIE root include porto (port, harbour) in Italian, puerto (port, harbour) in Spanish, port (port) in French, and port (harbour, port, river bank, mound, refuge, haven) in Irish, porth (port, harbour, haven, estuary, landing-place) in Welsh and پل (pul – bridge, sound post) in Persian [source].
Language Quiz
Nearly Nigh
Which is nearer, near or nigh? Let’s find out.
The word nigh [naɪ] means near, close by, kindred, closely allied or intimate. It is used mainly in particular phrases, such as the end is nigh and is considered archaic and poetic.
It comes from Middle English neygh (near, adjacent), from Old English nēah (near, close), from Proto-West Germanic *nāhw (near, close), from Proto-Germanic *nēhw (near, close), from *nēhwaz (near, close), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂neḱ- (to reach, attain)
Nigh was originally the word for near, while near was the comparative form meaning nearer, and next was the superlative form, meaning nearest [source].
Related words include:
- nighen = to come near, approach, bring near, appropriate
- nigh-hand = nearby, nearhand
- nigh on = almost, nearly, approaching, not quite
- nighness = the quality or state of being nigh, or near
These are all archaic, with the exception of nigh on, which is still used.
Words that come from the same roots may include near, enough and bring in English, nach (after, past, behind, to) and nahe (near) in German, na (after) and genoeg (enough, plenty) in Dutch, nog (enough, sufficient, probably) in Swedish, cyfoeth (wealth, riches) in Welsh, and cumhacht (power, might) in Irish [source].
The English word neighbour / neighbor also comes from the same roots, via Middle English neyghbour (neighbour), from neygh (near, adjacent) and bour (house, dwelling). Also from the same roots are Nachbar (neighbour) in German, nabo (neighbour) in Danish, naapuri (neighbour) in Finnish (via Old Swedish nabo), and nàbaidh (neighbour) in Scottish Gaelic (via Old Norse nábúi) [source].
Incidentally, in Middle English the word neyghbour replaced the word prome (neighbour), which was borrowed from Old French proeme (neighbour), from Latin proximus (nearest, next).
