Benjamin Suchard
@bnuyaminim.bsky.social
Hebrew Bible, Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic, Comparative Semitics. Blog: bnuyaminim.wordpress.com
Pinned
Ordinal Numerals as a Criterion for Subclassification: The Case of Semitic
This article explores how ordinal numerals (like first, second and third) can help classify languages, focusing on the Semitic language family. Ordinals are often formed according to productive deriv....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
New #OpenAccess paper on what 'first', 'second', 'third' tell us about the #Semitic family tree, including new evidence for Aramaeo-Canaanite! Note that unfortunately, the names of Ethiopian scholars have been metathesized, something that will hopefully be remedied before the final print version. 🐦🐦
Looks like Levantine #Arabic ʕuṭle 'holiday' and ʕāṭil 'bad' are from the same root, probably in the sense of the Classical verb ʕaṭila 'to lack, be idle'.
November 17, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Looks like Levantine #Arabic ʕuṭle 'holiday' and ʕāṭil 'bad' are from the same root, probably in the sense of the Classical verb ʕaṭila 'to lack, be idle'.
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
"Nah, I'm a lifelong Greens supporter"
- Ancient Romans when asked if they're White
- Ancient Romans when asked if they're White
trying to explain "whiteness" to an ancient roman would be pure comedy
November 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM
"Nah, I'm a lifelong Greens supporter"
- Ancient Romans when asked if they're White
- Ancient Romans when asked if they're White
The debuccalization of *q and its consequences have been a disaster for the Levantine dialects.
November 17, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The debuccalization of *q and its consequences have been a disaster for the Levantine dialects.
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
I was today years old (the Swahili derivation).
November 16, 2025 at 12:19 PM
I was today years old (the Swahili derivation).
Maybe one month of hearing the guy in my Levantine Arabic course say 'again' and only now I realize that it's marra tānye 'a second time' and not some weird Classical nominative dual like marratāni 😭
November 16, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Maybe one month of hearing the guy in my Levantine Arabic course say 'again' and only now I realize that it's marra tānye 'a second time' and not some weird Classical nominative dual like marratāni 😭
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
"Daisy" comes from Old English dæġes ēage [ˈdæ.jes ˌæ͜ɑː.ɣe], which literally means "day's eye."
November 16, 2025 at 6:33 AM
"Daisy" comes from Old English dæġes ēage [ˈdæ.jes ˌæ͜ɑː.ɣe], which literally means "day's eye."
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
Buried the lede: "(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)"
The app Text With Jesus uses artificial intelligence and chatbots to offer spiritual guidance to users who are looking to connect with a higher power: on.nbc10.com/7XM8xrf
People can text with Jesus on a controversial new app. How does it work?
Artificial intelligence app Text With Jesus lets users chat with biblical figures and it is raising debate over faith and technology.
on.nbc10.com
November 15, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Buried the lede: "(Premium users can also converse with Satan.)"
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
A brilliant thread by my brilliant friend @bnuyaminim.bsky.social. But let's think about this circumstantial evidence a bit more. Are names really indicative of one's language or ethnicity (hard to pin that down actually)? This Nabataean from NW Arabia belongs to the clan of Banī Baʿlnatan...
So I'm adding Baalnathan (also a nice baby name) to my list of probably- or possibly-Aramaic Nabataean names, like Rabbel. Another minor piece of circumstantial evidence that the Nabataeans weren't just "Arabs that wrote Aramaic". (Discussion in this article 👇)
5/6
5/6
What can Nabataean Aramaic tell us about Pre‐Islamic Arabic?
Nabataean Aramaic contains a large number of loanwords from Arabic. Together with other evidence, this has been taken as an indication that the Nabataeans used Aramaic as a written language only, whi...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
A brilliant thread by my brilliant friend @bnuyaminim.bsky.social. But let's think about this circumstantial evidence a bit more. Are names really indicative of one's language or ethnicity (hard to pin that down actually)? This Nabataean from NW Arabia belongs to the clan of Banī Baʿlnatan...
@nathanielbdemiller.bsky.social look how pleased with himself he looks
Elephant bull leaves ARTIS | Two elephants pregnant
ARTIS Zoo elephant bull is travelling to WILDLANDS, while two female Asian elephants at ARTIS Zoo are pregnant. This is an important step for the European species conservation programme and the future...
www.artis.nl
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
@nathanielbdemiller.bsky.social look how pleased with himself he looks
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
Which ancient Egyptian was most modest about their views?
Imho tep
Imho tep
November 14, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Which ancient Egyptian was most modest about their views?
Imho tep
Imho tep
🗿NABATAEAN NEWS🗿
Recently (2024), Laïla Nehmé published four #Nabataean texts from a burial site in north-western Saudi Arabia. Three are very fragmentary, but the fourth is the longest Nabataean text on stone found so far! Two things that stood out to me:
1/6
Recently (2024), Laïla Nehmé published four #Nabataean texts from a burial site in north-western Saudi Arabia. Three are very fragmentary, but the fourth is the longest Nabataean text on stone found so far! Two things that stood out to me:
1/6
November 14, 2025 at 11:05 AM
🗿NABATAEAN NEWS🗿
Recently (2024), Laïla Nehmé published four #Nabataean texts from a burial site in north-western Saudi Arabia. Three are very fragmentary, but the fourth is the longest Nabataean text on stone found so far! Two things that stood out to me:
1/6
Recently (2024), Laïla Nehmé published four #Nabataean texts from a burial site in north-western Saudi Arabia. Three are very fragmentary, but the fourth is the longest Nabataean text on stone found so far! Two things that stood out to me:
1/6
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
Was there really an oral Hebrew Masora before the written one? My latest article questions this widely held assumption.
It's open access, and you can read it here:
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
It's open access, and you can read it here:
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Was There Ever an Oral Hebrew Masora?
The essay challenges the existence of an oral Hebrew Masora that purportedly preceded the written Masora. The concept of an oral Masora originated in the 16th century, when Jacob ben Hayyim and Elías ...
www.openbookpublishers.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:53 AM
Was there really an oral Hebrew Masora before the written one? My latest article questions this widely held assumption.
It's open access, and you can read it here:
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
It's open access, and you can read it here:
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
sorry but you met me at a very don't do peer reviews time in my life
November 14, 2025 at 8:01 AM
sorry but you met me at a very don't do peer reviews time in my life
Jews think of an original boy's name challenge, Biblical edition
Entry:
נָתָן
n.pr.m.
- a son of David
- the prophet of David’s time
- father of one of David’s heroes
- father of officers of Solomon
- name in Judah
- companion of Ezra from Babylon
- one of those who took strange wives
- head of a family
נָתָן
n.pr.m.
- a son of David
- the prophet of David’s time
- father of one of David’s heroes
- father of officers of Solomon
- name in Judah
- companion of Ezra from Babylon
- one of those who took strange wives
- head of a family
November 14, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Jews think of an original boy's name challenge, Biblical edition
Cool, I mean, 𐢓𐢞𐢓𐢇
Nabataean Keyboard Online • Lexilogos
Nabataean Alphabet - Online keyboard to type a text with the Nabataean script
www.lexilogos.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Cool, I mean, 𐢓𐢞𐢓𐢇
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
Ever wonder where the name Gaylord comes from? I did.
It's from the Old French surname Gaillard (from gaillard (“strong”)), brought to England by the Normans. The spelling is the result of folk etymology.
It's from the Old French surname Gaillard (from gaillard (“strong”)), brought to England by the Normans. The spelling is the result of folk etymology.
November 12, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Ever wonder where the name Gaylord comes from? I did.
It's from the Old French surname Gaillard (from gaillard (“strong”)), brought to England by the Normans. The spelling is the result of folk etymology.
It's from the Old French surname Gaillard (from gaillard (“strong”)), brought to England by the Normans. The spelling is the result of folk etymology.
What's up with #Arabic adjectives like suḫn 'hot', ḥulw 'sweet'? Normally, *CuCC- adjectives shouldn't be reconstructible. They look like abstract nouns; was there a development like 'food of sweetness' > 'sweet food', with reanalysis?
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM
What's up with #Arabic adjectives like suḫn 'hot', ḥulw 'sweet'? Normally, *CuCC- adjectives shouldn't be reconstructible. They look like abstract nouns; was there a development like 'food of sweetness' > 'sweet food', with reanalysis?
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
The deadline for the Incoming and Outgoing Mobility Grants, the Conference Grant and the Student Research Assistant funding is coming up soon: the 15th of November.
For more information, see the NINO funding page: buff.ly/gwxlsvl
For more information, see the NINO funding page: buff.ly/gwxlsvl
Funding
NINO initiates, supports, and conducts scholarly research in the civilizations of the Near East from the ancient to the early modern period. In particular, it concentrates on the archaeology,…
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 9:34 AM
The deadline for the Incoming and Outgoing Mobility Grants, the Conference Grant and the Student Research Assistant funding is coming up soon: the 15th of November.
For more information, see the NINO funding page: buff.ly/gwxlsvl
For more information, see the NINO funding page: buff.ly/gwxlsvl
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
It’s that day, y’all. Time to do some Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald posting…
November 10, 2025 at 4:17 PM
It’s that day, y’all. Time to do some Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald posting…
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
genuinely curious: what, according to my academic followers, are characteristics of good doctoral supervision?
November 10, 2025 at 9:15 PM
genuinely curious: what, according to my academic followers, are characteristics of good doctoral supervision?
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
Today in linguistic example sentences 🍅
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
November 10, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Today in linguistic example sentences 🍅
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
(Source: Gueche Fotso's 2024 illustration of resumptive pronouns for left-dislocated topics in Nda'Nda')
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
I offer you the turkeytail mushrooms in our back garden
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I offer you the turkeytail mushrooms in our back garden
Hot take: if you post something nice and then go on to explain how crucial it is to find some distraction from the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad state of the world these days, that second part kind of ruins your post's distraction potential.
November 10, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Hot take: if you post something nice and then go on to explain how crucial it is to find some distraction from the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad state of the world these days, that second part kind of ruins your post's distraction potential.
Reposted by Benjamin Suchard
I am loving the layout of Ben's latest abecedarium! 😁 Kind of Ancient North Arabian style, what do you think?
November 10, 2025 at 12:16 PM
I am loving the layout of Ben's latest abecedarium! 😁 Kind of Ancient North Arabian style, what do you think?