Reading Peter Roach's 'English Phonetics and Phonology', I was charmed by this table of possible tri-consonant combinations at the start of English syllables – specifically, by its gaps. Surely poets and wordsmiths have a duty to fill in the gaps by creating words starting stl-, spw- and stw-.

The dauntedness derives in part from the mass of relevant literature on Homer, and partly from a difficulty in keeping track of chronology – much like watching some Christopher Nolan films. The feeling was validated by an insightful (and damning?) comment that arrived shortly after posting:

Now back from a few days in lovely Lübeck, the Hanseatic city that perfected beauty out of brick. There I got asked whether the Czech for 'brick', cihla, is connected to the German, Ziegel. The Czech was indeed an early acquisition from High German. Its Old English cousin is tigele – today, 'tile'.

Thanks to Hippocrates, Galen and other leading lights, medicine in the Roman Empire was closely associated with Greek culture and language, even across the Latin-dominated west. Through this, we have this lovely altar dedication by the doctor Antiochos, written entirely in Greek, dug up in Chester!

Yes, I do a lot of interviews, and yes, I listen back to most of them. Partly for self-criticism and self-improvement, partly for ego.

I've had my fun with 'Why Q Needs U'. Now for another kind of fun, writing its sibling.

Outside of Roman histories, the great Carthaginian general Hannibal makes a surprise appearance in an Etruscan tomb. This epitaph from the 2nd century BC (for a man who lived to 106!) mentions "hanipaluscle" at the end. Yet, being in Etruscan, we're not sure what this man did for/against Hannibal!

Greetings from the Chalke History Festival, where this morning I put on a performance like never before and then signed and sold all stocked copies of my book. Perhaps I was only so on form because I'd spent the previous half hour chatting with the (eighth) Doctor.

Friends and linguonerds in the Cambridge/west Essex area: I'm en route to the unfairly gorgeous town of Saffron Walden, there to be in conversation at Hart's Books this evening. Maybe see you there? The event will offer: - linguistics - jokes - cold drinks - air-conditioning - shelter from the sun

Noticed on this 17th-century map the spelling "mershe" for 'marsh' – this is the older spelling, before the 'ER > AR' sound change that affected 'starboard', 'darling' and the pronunciation of 'sergeant' too. The change obscures the etymology of 'marsh': as literally 'mere-ish', a lake-like thing.

Six visits to Český Krumlov now, and six times that I’ve taken a photo of the same C16th memorial (left), thinking I could post/write about it. It’s an early witness to the typically Bohemian ‘ej’ sound (“VROZENEY”, “SLATINSKEY”), and as such is featured on the Wiki article for the Czech language.

Having just picked up a 2kg punnet of strawberries for only 230 crowns, I find myself wondering about the word 'punnet' – where it comes from (possibly related to 'pound'), and whether anything else but strawberries gets put in a punnet.

Today I got the chance to say "ďakujem, že ste prišli na môj Ted Talk" ('thank you for coming to my Ted Talk')

Working section titles: (Eagle-eyed readers will spot which history festival it is)

My interest is most piqued by Oscan's use of double letters for long vowels, here in "aamanaffed" (third line, maybe meaning 'ordered'). English has made use of this technique (e.g. 'meet', 'moon'), and it was an option for the Romans too – see Latin "naatam" around the corner in the same gallery.

First visit to the British Museum for me in ten years, and now of course I'm most interested in its samples of the ancient alphabet, like this lovely text from Pompeii in the Oscan language. It's a product of a Pompeii's pre-Roman and pre-Latin days – its very name coming from the Oscan for 'five'.

Wow!! I can confirm, and I'm impressed. Was it simply memory recall on your part?

A nice historical detail at the Pilsner Urquell brewery: the signature of Franz Joseph I in the visitors' book, with a visible correction halfway through – the emperor remembering that he's also King of Bohemia, and currently in Bohemia, so he ought to write the Czech version 'František Josef'.

Yours truly has been in deepest Moravia, sampling local wines and morphology, and straying into Austria – the country that appears to be shocked when people approach its border.

Can't believe I now get to reshare this 'meme' that I made for this purpose on ye olde Twittere back in 2020

Yours truly is the guest on the latest episode of the Time Team podcast. A subset of British Millennials will understand the feelings evoked by that old theme music, followed by my voice.

American friends, lend me your eyes: 'Why Q Needs U' is due for US release later this year, available in all good bookshops. Barnes & Noble are including in their preorder offer for three days, and preorders can *really* make a difference to a book's fortunes. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-q-need...

Series 3 of ALILI ends with this smashing episode about Chitimacha, an indigenous language of Louisiana! My guest @linguisticdiscovery.com and I discuss the language's history, revitalisation, grammar, and even the part it's played in the story of linguistics. Listen here: pod.link/1703401848/e...

This is as close as I could get on Sunday to the lonely ruins of Ostrov Monastery, on its island in the Vltava. The monastery was active between the 10th and 16th centuries, and in the 13th century produced the Ostrov Song – among the oldest texts in Czech, and likely the oldest spiritual writing.

In ancient southern Italy, there was a settlement known as something like Malies in the local Oscan language, rendered in Greek as Malioenton. This became Maleventum to the Romans, but that by accident sounded unlucky (like 'evil-wind'). So, it got renamed Beneventum – today, the city of Benevento.

If you're wondering why there would be Czechs speaking German in northern Italy, bear in mind: the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With a long train journey now ahead of me, I have time to come to turns with three facts: a) that yesterday I was interviewed in Oxford by Susie Dent, b) that she is a supremely lovely person, and c) that she said some very complimentary things about my book.

Budapest was created out of the cities of Buda and Pest (and the oft-forgotten Óbuda). The place-name Pest likely comes from a Slavic word meaning 'oven, furnace' – compare Slovak pec. I find it strange that one of the cities had the alternative German name Ofen (literally 'oven'), but it was Buda!

SOLD OUT! is an example of an English phrasal verb written in capital letters, both of which are concepts that could well crop up in an upcoming public conversation between me and Susie Dent, for which a few tickets are still available. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/danny-bate...