Round one: Otucha vs Fwomaj
(poll at the end)
Otucha (Polish)
[ɔˈtu.xa]
Translation: encouragement, uplift
Polish is an Indo-European language belonging to the Slavic branch. It’s spoken by 36,7 million people in Poland where it is the national language. It is written with a Latin alphabet due to church influence, adapted with the addition of nine letters (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż) and removal of three (x, q, v).
Motivation: I just really really like the way it sounds tbh
Fwomaj (Haitian Creole)
[fwomaʒ]
Translation: Cheese
Haitian Creole is a French based Creole spoken by 11 million people in Haiti that emerged in the 17th and 18th century as a result of slave trade. Outside of 17th century French it has linguistic influences from a variety of languages, mostly West African ones including Wolof, Fon and Éwé but also Taino, the now extinct indigenous language spoken in Haiti before colonisation. It’s a national language and taught in most schools, as well as being the main language. Only 15% of Haitians are fluent in French, which is the second national language and has had a higher social status.
Motivation: Fwomaj comes from the French word fromage, and is spelled in a way that makes me laugh. Also cheese is a good food.
Which is the best word?
Otucha
Fwomaj
