Marijn van Putten
@phdnix.bsky.social
Historical Linguist; Working on Quranic Arabic and the linguistic history of Arabic and Tamazight. Game designer for Team18k
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
#OCIANA #Top_10_in_2025 : The #OCIANA team inserted more than 1500 new inscriptions into the database. Here are our top ten (with a three-way tie at #10) of the year, just in case you missed them! From Nabonidus to Dahr, let us known what you think!
www.academia.edu/145461821/OC...
www.academia.edu/145461821/OC...
December 18, 2025 at 8:08 AM
#OCIANA #Top_10_in_2025 : The #OCIANA team inserted more than 1500 new inscriptions into the database. Here are our top ten (with a three-way tie at #10) of the year, just in case you missed them! From Nabonidus to Dahr, let us known what you think!
www.academia.edu/145461821/OC...
www.academia.edu/145461821/OC...
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
essential 🧵 for Quranic studies
So my translations of al-Dani's Taysir is out! So what is this text about?
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
February 5, 2026 at 2:12 AM
essential 🧵 for Quranic studies
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
“The phonetics of Tarifit: variation and change in a Moroccan Amazigh language” by Mohamed Afkir and Georgia Zellou (Feb. ’26) [free until Feb. 18] www.cambridge.org/core/element...
The Phonetics of Tarifit
Cambridge Core - Phonetics and Phonology - The Phonetics of Tarifit
www.cambridge.org
February 4, 2026 at 11:44 PM
“The phonetics of Tarifit: variation and change in a Moroccan Amazigh language” by Mohamed Afkir and Georgia Zellou (Feb. ’26) [free until Feb. 18] www.cambridge.org/core/element...
So my translations of al-Dani's Taysir is out! So what is this text about?
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
February 4, 2026 at 7:53 PM
So my translations of al-Dani's Taysir is out! So what is this text about?
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
It is a description of seven canonical reading traditions of the Quran authored by the Andalusi polymath ʾAbū ʿAmr ʿUṯmān b. Saʿīd al-Dānī (371/981–444/1053).
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
NEW BOOK: Our first title in February is an addition to the Cambridge Semitic Languages & Cultures series, al-Dānī's al-Taysīr fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ: A Translation with Linguistic Commentary by Marijn van Putten!
Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/L2oMcBN
#OAbooks #SemiticSeries #OpenAccess
Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/L2oMcBN
#OAbooks #SemiticSeries #OpenAccess
February 4, 2026 at 1:20 PM
NEW BOOK: Our first title in February is an addition to the Cambridge Semitic Languages & Cultures series, al-Dānī's al-Taysīr fī al-qirāʾāt al-sabʿ: A Translation with Linguistic Commentary by Marijn van Putten!
Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/L2oMcBN
#OAbooks #SemiticSeries #OpenAccess
Read freely online or buy a copy: buff.ly/L2oMcBN
#OAbooks #SemiticSeries #OpenAccess
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Today my translation of al-Dani's Taysir has come out! I hope to write a little bit more about this later, but for now here is a link. And it's Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
February 4, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Today my translation of al-Dani's Taysir has come out! I hope to write a little bit more about this later, but for now here is a link. And it's Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Interesting secondary reading in Codex Amrensis 192 (Arabe 359c, 82v, Q14:17):
mā huwa bi-māʾitin "he will not die" instead of standard bi-mayyitin.
I havn't found such a reading in the literature, but especially with the future-tense verbal sense a participial form makes sense.
mā huwa bi-māʾitin "he will not die" instead of standard bi-mayyitin.
I havn't found such a reading in the literature, but especially with the future-tense verbal sense a participial form makes sense.
February 2, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Interesting secondary reading in Codex Amrensis 192 (Arabe 359c, 82v, Q14:17):
mā huwa bi-māʾitin "he will not die" instead of standard bi-mayyitin.
I havn't found such a reading in the literature, but especially with the future-tense verbal sense a participial form makes sense.
mā huwa bi-māʾitin "he will not die" instead of standard bi-mayyitin.
I havn't found such a reading in the literature, but especially with the future-tense verbal sense a participial form makes sense.
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Dang, if I'd know this would be a hit I would have made a better post.
You Are Reviewer 2
A solo d6-based "game" to discover why you're so bad at giving academic feedback and why none of your colleagues like you.
midnitelibrary.itch.io/you-are-revi...
You Are Reviewer 2
A solo d6-based "game" to discover why you're so bad at giving academic feedback and why none of your colleagues like you.
midnitelibrary.itch.io/you-are-revi...
January 23, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Dang, if I'd know this would be a hit I would have made a better post.
You Are Reviewer 2
A solo d6-based "game" to discover why you're so bad at giving academic feedback and why none of your colleagues like you.
midnitelibrary.itch.io/you-are-revi...
You Are Reviewer 2
A solo d6-based "game" to discover why you're so bad at giving academic feedback and why none of your colleagues like you.
midnitelibrary.itch.io/you-are-revi...
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
... next week's talk: krc.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-hi...
The KRC don't bother with blurbs but it's what it says on the tin and will be good! In my experience you can just turn up if interested.
PS: Looks like I'm officially an independent scholar 😆
The KRC don't bother with blurbs but it's what it says on the tin and will be good! In my experience you can just turn up if interested.
PS: Looks like I'm officially an independent scholar 😆
The hidden life of Kūfī scripts: practice-based insights and theories
krc.web.ox.ac.uk
January 23, 2026 at 11:01 AM
... next week's talk: krc.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-hi...
The KRC don't bother with blurbs but it's what it says on the tin and will be good! In my experience you can just turn up if interested.
PS: Looks like I'm officially an independent scholar 😆
The KRC don't bother with blurbs but it's what it says on the tin and will be good! In my experience you can just turn up if interested.
PS: Looks like I'm officially an independent scholar 😆
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Once again, people, this is what you get if you do peer reviewing double-blind.
However, it is utterly ridiculous that the editors communicated this feedback to the author.
However, it is utterly ridiculous that the editors communicated this feedback to the author.
January 23, 2026 at 9:12 AM
Once again, people, this is what you get if you do peer reviewing double-blind.
However, it is utterly ridiculous that the editors communicated this feedback to the author.
However, it is utterly ridiculous that the editors communicated this feedback to the author.
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Some things are truly bipartisan.
January 23, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Some things are truly bipartisan.
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
私've 決ed to 始t 書iting 私y 英語 with some 漢字 in it, just to 見ee 何 起ens. The 振ri仮名 will be a bit 恣意的 at 一st, but that's 大丈夫. Nothing 始ts 完璧. 個人的ly, I 思ink it's not too 悪, I 出来n 読ead 何 私've 書itten here without much 難ty, but some 人 might not 好e it.
October 15, 2024 at 8:37 PM
私've 決ed to 始t 書iting 私y 英語 with some 漢字 in it, just to 見ee 何 起ens. The 振ri仮名 will be a bit 恣意的 at 一st, but that's 大丈夫. Nothing 始ts 完璧. 個人的ly, I 思ink it's not too 悪, I 出来n 読ead 何 私've 書itten here without much 難ty, but some 人 might not 好e it.
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Something else from the realm of "2-in-1(.5) texts" that is also pretty cool and deserves more attention. 🔽🤓
Attested throughout a couple of decades, but little noticed or even studied. (And yes, also works in the other direction!)
Can you think of anything similar with other pairs of languages? 🧐
Attested throughout a couple of decades, but little noticed or even studied. (And yes, also works in the other direction!)
Can you think of anything similar with other pairs of languages? 🧐
January 17, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Something else from the realm of "2-in-1(.5) texts" that is also pretty cool and deserves more attention. 🔽🤓
Attested throughout a couple of decades, but little noticed or even studied. (And yes, also works in the other direction!)
Can you think of anything similar with other pairs of languages? 🧐
Attested throughout a couple of decades, but little noticed or even studied. (And yes, also works in the other direction!)
Can you think of anything similar with other pairs of languages? 🧐
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Dit lijkt mij echt interessant, voor een nerd als @richardkroes.bsky.social en ook voor een rare snijboon als ikzelf, maar eigenlijk voor iedereen met belangstelling voor de geschiedenis van de islam en/of middeleeuws Andalusië.
If all goes well, February 4th will be the day that my translation of al-Dani's Taysir comes out (and if not then, very very soon). It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with the end result.
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
January 16, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Dit lijkt mij echt interessant, voor een nerd als @richardkroes.bsky.social en ook voor een rare snijboon als ikzelf, maar eigenlijk voor iedereen met belangstelling voor de geschiedenis van de islam en/of middeleeuws Andalusië.
If all goes well, February 4th will be the day that my translation of al-Dani's Taysir comes out (and if not then, very very soon). It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with the end result.
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
January 16, 2026 at 1:54 PM
If all goes well, February 4th will be the day that my translation of al-Dani's Taysir comes out (and if not then, very very soon). It was a lot of work, but I'm very happy with the end result.
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
And best of all: It'll be Open Access!
www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Excited to finally have the official cover of my forthcoming book, which will be in Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures Series (Open Book Publishers). For a blurb, see link below. No official date for publication yet, but hopefully within a month or so!
January 16, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Excited to finally have the official cover of my forthcoming book, which will be in Cambridge Semitic Languages and Cultures Series (Open Book Publishers). For a blurb, see link below. No official date for publication yet, but hopefully within a month or so!
Call me weird, but the fact that li-'an is spelled morphophonemically لان but the negative li-'an-lâ is spelled phonetically ليلا in Hijazi/Classical Arabic orthography is something that keeps me up at night.
I would've been okay with لان and لان لا OR لين and ليلا, but this is killing me.
I would've been okay with لان and لان لا OR لين and ليلا, but this is killing me.
January 16, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Call me weird, but the fact that li-'an is spelled morphophonemically لان but the negative li-'an-lâ is spelled phonetically ليلا in Hijazi/Classical Arabic orthography is something that keeps me up at night.
I would've been okay with لان and لان لا OR لين and ليلا, but this is killing me.
I would've been okay with لان and لان لا OR لين and ليلا, but this is killing me.
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Have you ever noticed that ‘what’ rhymes with ‘lot’ but not with ‘that’?
Likewise, ‘car’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘war’, and neither do ‘trash’ and ‘wash’, ‘catch’ and ‘watch’, and ‘camp’ and ‘swamp’.
Why is that?
It’s all because of the /w/ sound.
Zoom in on my new graphic to learn more:
1/
Likewise, ‘car’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘war’, and neither do ‘trash’ and ‘wash’, ‘catch’ and ‘watch’, and ‘camp’ and ‘swamp’.
Why is that?
It’s all because of the /w/ sound.
Zoom in on my new graphic to learn more:
1/
January 13, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Have you ever noticed that ‘what’ rhymes with ‘lot’ but not with ‘that’?
Likewise, ‘car’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘war’, and neither do ‘trash’ and ‘wash’, ‘catch’ and ‘watch’, and ‘camp’ and ‘swamp’.
Why is that?
It’s all because of the /w/ sound.
Zoom in on my new graphic to learn more:
1/
Likewise, ‘car’ doesn’t rhyme with ‘war’, and neither do ‘trash’ and ‘wash’, ‘catch’ and ‘watch’, and ‘camp’ and ‘swamp’.
Why is that?
It’s all because of the /w/ sound.
Zoom in on my new graphic to learn more:
1/
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Here's something pretty cool that deserves more attention. 🤓
What exactly is happening here? 🤔🧐
(And can you think of an appropriate term to describe this?)
What exactly is happening here? 🤔🧐
(And can you think of an appropriate term to describe this?)
January 14, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Here's something pretty cool that deserves more attention. 🤓
What exactly is happening here? 🤔🧐
(And can you think of an appropriate term to describe this?)
What exactly is happening here? 🤔🧐
(And can you think of an appropriate term to describe this?)
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
In his Arabic, the Mabaan speaker I've been working with mostly uses the genitive particle
taan تان "of"
The final n is puzzling to me. Sudanese usually has bitaaʕ or ḥagg, Juba has ta/bitá. Has anyone seen this form before elsewhere?
taan تان "of"
The final n is puzzling to me. Sudanese usually has bitaaʕ or ḥagg, Juba has ta/bitá. Has anyone seen this form before elsewhere?
January 9, 2026 at 10:29 AM
In his Arabic, the Mabaan speaker I've been working with mostly uses the genitive particle
taan تان "of"
The final n is puzzling to me. Sudanese usually has bitaaʕ or ḥagg, Juba has ta/bitá. Has anyone seen this form before elsewhere?
taan تان "of"
The final n is puzzling to me. Sudanese usually has bitaaʕ or ḥagg, Juba has ta/bitá. Has anyone seen this form before elsewhere?
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
WTF?! 🫣 Is this a joke?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A religious quote, "primitive languages", and nonsense everywhere. Is Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications a scam journal?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A religious quote, "primitive languages", and nonsense everywhere. Is Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications a scam journal?
A cross-linguistic investigation of /h/ symbolism: the case of H2O - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - A cross-linguistic investigation of /h/ symbolism: the case of H2O
www.nature.com
January 8, 2026 at 8:59 AM
WTF?! 🫣 Is this a joke?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A religious quote, "primitive languages", and nonsense everywhere. Is Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications a scam journal?
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A religious quote, "primitive languages", and nonsense everywhere. Is Nature Humanities and Social Sciences Communications a scam journal?
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
Re: the AI slop paper shared by @thomaspellard.bsky.social and @lameensouag.bsky.social, I wrote to the editors — will update when I get a reply, and will be following closely what they do.
Key point is that we should hold the *journal* accountable for this mess
I have a few predictions...
1/n
Key point is that we should hold the *journal* accountable for this mess
I have a few predictions...
1/n
January 8, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Re: the AI slop paper shared by @thomaspellard.bsky.social and @lameensouag.bsky.social, I wrote to the editors — will update when I get a reply, and will be following closely what they do.
Key point is that we should hold the *journal* accountable for this mess
I have a few predictions...
1/n
Key point is that we should hold the *journal* accountable for this mess
I have a few predictions...
1/n
Reposted by Marijn van Putten
This paper is batshit insane. It also (of course) has A TON of bullshit references that do not exist. Hey @springernature.com retract this AI slop and fire the editor that let it pass. There is evidently no review or quality assurance process in place at this journal.
January 8, 2026 at 11:20 AM
This paper is batshit insane. It also (of course) has A TON of bullshit references that do not exist. Hey @springernature.com retract this AI slop and fire the editor that let it pass. There is evidently no review or quality assurance process in place at this journal.