Mark
@shjsat.bsky.social
Water, is taught by thirst.
Land by the Oceans passed.
Transport by throe
Peace by its battles told
Love, by Memorial Mold
Birds, by the Snow.
Emily Dickinson, poem 135
Land by the Oceans passed.
Transport by throe
Peace by its battles told
Love, by Memorial Mold
Birds, by the Snow.
Emily Dickinson, poem 135
January 4, 2026 at 8:53 AM
Water, is taught by thirst.
Land by the Oceans passed.
Transport by throe
Peace by its battles told
Love, by Memorial Mold
Birds, by the Snow.
Emily Dickinson, poem 135
Land by the Oceans passed.
Transport by throe
Peace by its battles told
Love, by Memorial Mold
Birds, by the Snow.
Emily Dickinson, poem 135
Emily Dickinson, "Our lives are Swiss", translated by Alessandro Quattrone
January 4, 2026 at 8:44 AM
Emily Dickinson, "Our lives are Swiss", translated by Alessandro Quattrone
sitting in the cold rain reading Emily Dickinson because Italy
January 4, 2026 at 8:40 AM
sitting in the cold rain reading Emily Dickinson because Italy
a sequel book to Grit but it's about Grits?
January 4, 2026 at 8:17 AM
a sequel book to Grit but it's about Grits?
*to the room* brb guys i gotta make a few calls
And yes palm trees are absolutely swarming with demons, live with it
January 4, 2026 at 6:09 AM
*to the room* brb guys i gotta make a few calls
Annual Christmastide reminder:
The idea that Jesus was born in a "stable" is anachronistic and adds an element of neglected hospitality that is not really present in the New Testament text.
Matthew 2:11 says the wise men came "into the house" (εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν) (cf. Luke 2:7) and found Jesus there.
The idea that Jesus was born in a "stable" is anachronistic and adds an element of neglected hospitality that is not really present in the New Testament text.
Matthew 2:11 says the wise men came "into the house" (εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν) (cf. Luke 2:7) and found Jesus there.
January 3, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Annual Christmastide reminder:
The idea that Jesus was born in a "stable" is anachronistic and adds an element of neglected hospitality that is not really present in the New Testament text.
Matthew 2:11 says the wise men came "into the house" (εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν) (cf. Luke 2:7) and found Jesus there.
The idea that Jesus was born in a "stable" is anachronistic and adds an element of neglected hospitality that is not really present in the New Testament text.
Matthew 2:11 says the wise men came "into the house" (εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν) (cf. Luke 2:7) and found Jesus there.
Putting the baby to sleep to this today, wish me luck
January 3, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Putting the baby to sleep to this today, wish me luck
I didn't even realize that siempre could do this.
Somewhat related: here’s an old thread between me and @yvanspijk.bsky.social about “always” getting additional meanings
January 3, 2026 at 6:44 AM
I didn't even realize that siempre could do this.
Spanish-Italian false friends!
(Below I give Spanish with English gloss, then Italian with English gloss.)
barato cheap
barato deceived
burro donkey
burro butter
caldo soup
caldo hot
constipado having a cold
costipato constipated
camino road
camino fireplace
1/3
(Below I give Spanish with English gloss, then Italian with English gloss.)
barato cheap
barato deceived
burro donkey
burro butter
caldo soup
caldo hot
constipado having a cold
costipato constipated
camino road
camino fireplace
1/3
January 2, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Spanish-Italian false friends!
(Below I give Spanish with English gloss, then Italian with English gloss.)
barato cheap
barato deceived
burro donkey
burro butter
caldo soup
caldo hot
constipado having a cold
costipato constipated
camino road
camino fireplace
1/3
(Below I give Spanish with English gloss, then Italian with English gloss.)
barato cheap
barato deceived
burro donkey
burro butter
caldo soup
caldo hot
constipado having a cold
costipato constipated
camino road
camino fireplace
1/3
Reposted by Mark
Jazz will be replaced by Buzz
January 1, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Jazz will be replaced by Buzz
Reposted by Mark
This is what Fischer has to say about this. But well qarîb does not have passive semantics so... clearly that can't be the whole story.
January 2, 2026 at 2:21 PM
This is what Fischer has to say about this. But well qarîb does not have passive semantics so... clearly that can't be the whole story.
Reposted by Mark
Latin had six noun cases, but in all Romance languages except Romanian, nouns and adjectives only have one singular form and one plural form left. What happened?
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
January 1, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Latin had six noun cases, but in all Romance languages except Romanian, nouns and adjectives only have one singular form and one plural form left. What happened?
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
This extra large infographic tells you how the Latin case system collapsed – and why it's the accusative case that lives on in Romance.
Kid English word of the day
grind
≈ rind (e.g. of a fruit, or pandoro)
grind
≈ rind (e.g. of a fruit, or pandoro)
January 1, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Kid English word of the day
grind
≈ rind (e.g. of a fruit, or pandoro)
grind
≈ rind (e.g. of a fruit, or pandoro)
Italian-English false friends!
Ital Eng
attualmente currently
burro butter
camera room
eventualmente possibly
fattoria farm
libreria bookshop
manifesto poster
parenti relatives
sale salt
Ital Eng
attualmente currently
burro butter
camera room
eventualmente possibly
fattoria farm
libreria bookshop
manifesto poster
parenti relatives
sale salt
January 1, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Italian-English false friends!
Ital Eng
attualmente currently
burro butter
camera room
eventualmente possibly
fattoria farm
libreria bookshop
manifesto poster
parenti relatives
sale salt
Ital Eng
attualmente currently
burro butter
camera room
eventualmente possibly
fattoria farm
libreria bookshop
manifesto poster
parenti relatives
sale salt
Reposted by Mark
even some non-geminates are geminate!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntact...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntact...
Syntactic gemination - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 31, 2025 at 4:15 PM
even some non-geminates are geminate!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntact...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syntact...
I will have to remember this if I decide to start a tech tutorial YouTube channel
I don't think that anyone would bother with this but it's pretty easy to do TTS with some non-native accents
January 1, 2026 at 8:08 AM
I will have to remember this if I decide to start a tech tutorial YouTube channel
Italian is the Oops! All Geminates of the Romance languages I've studied
December 31, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Italian is the Oops! All Geminates of the Romance languages I've studied
Hearing a foreign accent on YouTube is now a positive point for me because it means they recorded their own narration, and didn't use a text-to-speech narration ("genAI voiceover").
If I could tune out the fine details, I am sure the ai voiceover would not bother me.
If I could tune out the fine details, I am sure the ai voiceover would not bother me.
December 31, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Hearing a foreign accent on YouTube is now a positive point for me because it means they recorded their own narration, and didn't use a text-to-speech narration ("genAI voiceover").
If I could tune out the fine details, I am sure the ai voiceover would not bother me.
If I could tune out the fine details, I am sure the ai voiceover would not bother me.
Ruus Al Jibal Arabic word of the day
عون
ʔ̰ɨwɨn [ʔ̰ʊwɪn]
‘a very old, very tall date palm tree’
cf. Fujairah Arabic ʕawān (same meaning but plural)
عون
ʔ̰ɨwɨn [ʔ̰ʊwɪn]
‘a very old, very tall date palm tree’
cf. Fujairah Arabic ʕawān (same meaning but plural)
December 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Ruus Al Jibal Arabic word of the day
عون
ʔ̰ɨwɨn [ʔ̰ʊwɪn]
‘a very old, very tall date palm tree’
cf. Fujairah Arabic ʕawān (same meaning but plural)
عون
ʔ̰ɨwɨn [ʔ̰ʊwɪn]
‘a very old, very tall date palm tree’
cf. Fujairah Arabic ʕawān (same meaning but plural)
I think people thought that this was serious but "narrowed down" was tongue in cheek. I basically have not had language goals since my first son was born.
I've narrowed down my language learning goals.
Maintain/improve conversational level:
Spanish
Arabic
Gain conversational level:
Italian
Dutch
American Sign Language
Maintain/improve reading proficiency:
Greek
Latin
Hebrew (ehhhh)
Gain reading proficiency:
Maaaaybe Syriac?
Maintain/improve conversational level:
Spanish
Arabic
Gain conversational level:
Italian
Dutch
American Sign Language
Maintain/improve reading proficiency:
Greek
Latin
Hebrew (ehhhh)
Gain reading proficiency:
Maaaaybe Syriac?
Today on a whim I signed (in ASL) everything I could at bedtime reading, and my son was so into it. I asked if I was signing too much and he was like, no way. He even reminded me of a sign I had forgotten.
It was great because some of my passive ASL from years even started coming back.
It was great because some of my passive ASL from years even started coming back.
December 31, 2025 at 7:17 AM
I think people thought that this was serious but "narrowed down" was tongue in cheek. I basically have not had language goals since my first son was born.
Here's me and the wee babe on top of Rittnerhorn* at sunset.
* Although we love the mountains, we are not a ski family; 5k of sledding was plenty of adventure for us (baby excluded)
* Although we love the mountains, we are not a ski family; 5k of sledding was plenty of adventure for us (baby excluded)
December 31, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Here's me and the wee babe on top of Rittnerhorn* at sunset.
* Although we love the mountains, we are not a ski family; 5k of sledding was plenty of adventure for us (baby excluded)
* Although we love the mountains, we are not a ski family; 5k of sledding was plenty of adventure for us (baby excluded)
brb gonna to put Rome in a bottle and bring it with me to Sharjah
December 31, 2025 at 4:39 AM
brb gonna to put Rome in a bottle and bring it with me to Sharjah
Many moons ago, my dad was up for promotion, and the boss responsible didn't know him at all. So at a formal event, he described my dad's accomplishments and work ethic at great length, all the while calling my dad "Al" because his given name is Albert. But he has never, ever gone by his first name.
Forget insults, what’s the most unhinged *compliment* you’ve ever received?
December 31, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Many moons ago, my dad was up for promotion, and the boss responsible didn't know him at all. So at a formal event, he described my dad's accomplishments and work ethic at great length, all the while calling my dad "Al" because his given name is Albert. But he has never, ever gone by his first name.
ICYMI there is a free dictionary of Ethiopian Sign Language (came out in 2023).
It is great to see that a number of countries have new, recent efforts to support Deaf learning and Deaf community!
et.usembassy.gov/free-digital...
It is great to see that a number of countries have new, recent efforts to support Deaf learning and Deaf community!
et.usembassy.gov/free-digital...
Free Digital Ethiopian Sign Language Dictionary Widens Access for Ethiopia’s Deaf Community with U.S. Government Support - U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia
et.usembassy.gov
December 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM
ICYMI there is a free dictionary of Ethiopian Sign Language (came out in 2023).
It is great to see that a number of countries have new, recent efforts to support Deaf learning and Deaf community!
et.usembassy.gov/free-digital...
It is great to see that a number of countries have new, recent efforts to support Deaf learning and Deaf community!
et.usembassy.gov/free-digital...