𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

English "bellows" and "belly" come via Anglo-Saxon beliġ and Proto-Germanic *balgi- from Proto-Indo-European *bʰólǵʰ- "bag", perhaps something like this (listen):

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/bellows-from-PIE-bholgh.wav

This simulation of *bʰólǵʰ- has initial [b], not [bʱ], as it's computed from recordings of Irish bolg, "bag", also a cognate.

The same PIE root developed into Persian بالش bālish "pillow", like this:

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-bholgh-to-Persian-balesh.wav

Related words are found in other Iranian languages, e.g. Pashto بالښت balacht, Ossetian baʒ/baz, as well as in Slavic, e.g. Slovenian blazina.

When I originally posted about this in November 2021, the linguist Magnus Pharao @magnuspharao.bsky.social pointed out that Danish bælg (seed pod of legumes and bellows) is also a cognate!

@linguistics #linguistics #etymology #EnglishLanguage #AcousticPhonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

The English word “barrow”, i.e. a burial mound, comes via Proto-Germanic *berga from a Proto-Indo-European ancestor *bʰerǵʰ-os, meaning “height” and by extension “hill, mountain”.

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/barrow-from-PIE-bherghos.wav

The same Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerǵʰ- also developed into Persian برج borj “tower”:

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-bhergh-to-Persian-borj.wav

The Arabic word برج burj “tower”, as in the name of the Burj Khalifa tower, is not a Semitic word but is a loan-word from Persian.

Kurdish برج berdz (Kurmani birc), Balochi برز ئه borza “height”, and English “borough” (originally referring to a town with raised fortifications), are also descended from *bʰerǵʰ-.

@linguistics #linguistics #etymology #EnglishLanguage #AcousticPhonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian #Arabic #Kurdish #Balochi

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

The word "khaki" is a loan from Urdu خاکی‎ xākī, a loan from Persian, from خاک xâk "earth", from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₂s [ħaχs], something like this (listen):

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/khaki-from-PIE-h2eh2s.wav

English "ash" (the grey-coloured burnt substance) also descends from *h₂eh₂s:

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/ash-from-PIE-h2eh2s.wav

In most Indo-European languages, *h₂ usually developed into [a], but in Iranian it's sometimes [x]. If you want a more detailed but much more technical explanation of the Proto-Indo-European "laryngeals" and how they were possibly or probably pronounced, try this: https://www.ancientsounds.net/laryngeals.html

(The image used below is from an Iranian wood industry supplier's site, venonwood.biz, which currently seems to be still working in spite of the general internet blackout in Iran right now.)

@linguistics #linguistics #etymology #englishlanguage #acousticphonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian #Urdu

The Aussie accent is between cringe and funny in this video, but more funny cause he's embracing those vowels so much 😆 https://youtube.com/shorts/1b0ymOrXQb4?si=WrX9MzNS62pdIDy3

#Australia #EnglishLanguage #TaylorSwift #music #linguistics

𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗼 𝗘𝘁𝘆𝗺𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘆, 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀

The English word "ankle" comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eng-ul- [aŋgʊl], the stem *h₂eng- meaning perhaps "joint". Listen:

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/ankle-from-PIE-h2eng.wav

In Persian *h₂eng- developed into انگشت angusht, "digit" i.e. finger or toe:

🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-h2eng-to-Persian-angusht.wav

@linguistics #linguistics #etymology #englishlanguage #acousticphonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian

Audio Etymologies of the Day, illustrating how Persian and English are related languages

The Persian word for border, marz ( مرز ), comes from Proto-Indo-European *morǵ-eh₂, something like this:
🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/PIE-morgeh2-to-Persian-marz.wav

The somewhat archaic English word march, meaning "frontier region", comes from same root *morǵ-eh₂:
🔊 https://www.ancientsounds.net/eastern-origins/march-from-PIE-morgeh2.wav

This sense of "march" survives in the phrase "the Welsh Marches", the name of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, George Eliot's title "Middlemarch", and Tolkien's imagined "Red Book of Westmarch".

@linguistics #linguistics #etymology #englishlanguage #acousticphonetics #phonetics #ProtoIndoEuropean #Iranian #Persian

Wit, unker, git: The lost medieval pronouns of English intimacy https://share.google/FDWi7xTyTpmNuOj12

#GUMmyStuff #EnglishLanguage

I always wondered what happened to "thee". Also, I absolutely love the concept of "wit".

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260408-the-extinct-english-words-for-just-the-two-of-us

#Linguistics #EnglishLanguage #history

American in the UK baffled by common 3-letter word with 'multiple meanings'

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/american-uk-baffled-common-3-36993073