Lin, Chia-Wei
@chiaweilin.bsky.social
Assistante diplômée & doctorante @Université de Lausanne. Historical linguistics, language contact, indigenous grammatical traditions, Christian and Buddhist translations on the Silk Road. Working on Barlaam&Josaphat.
https://unil.academia.edu/chiaweilin
https://unil.academia.edu/chiaweilin
Georgian/Armenian word of the day:
Ge. ქურუმი kurumi 'pagan priest'
Arm. քուրմ kʿowrm 'pagan priest'
<- Syr. ܟܘܡܪܐ kūmrā 'pagan priest'
Ge. ქურუმი kurumi 'pagan priest'
Arm. քուրմ kʿowrm 'pagan priest'
<- Syr. ܟܘܡܪܐ kūmrā 'pagan priest'
November 26, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Georgian/Armenian word of the day:
Ge. ქურუმი kurumi 'pagan priest'
Arm. քուրմ kʿowrm 'pagan priest'
<- Syr. ܟܘܡܪܐ kūmrā 'pagan priest'
Ge. ქურუმი kurumi 'pagan priest'
Arm. քուրմ kʿowrm 'pagan priest'
<- Syr. ܟܘܡܪܐ kūmrā 'pagan priest'
Georgian compound words with ცა ca 'sky'
November 26, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Georgian compound words with ცა ca 'sky'
Sanskrit/Tibetan/Tangut quote of the day:
Bodhicaryāvatāra 6.10
(ed. Solonin 2025 www.academia.edu/144598049/Bo...)
Bodhicaryāvatāra 6.10
(ed. Solonin 2025 www.academia.edu/144598049/Bo...)
November 6, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Sanskrit/Tibetan/Tangut quote of the day:
Bodhicaryāvatāra 6.10
(ed. Solonin 2025 www.academia.edu/144598049/Bo...)
Bodhicaryāvatāra 6.10
(ed. Solonin 2025 www.academia.edu/144598049/Bo...)
Vietnamese word of the day:
đồng hồ ‘clock’, from Sino-Vietnamese 銅壺, literally ‘copper pot’, referring to the water clock used in premodern China.
(📷:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E9%90%98#/media/File:%E9%93%9C%E5%A3%B6%E6%BB%B4%E6%BC%8F.jpg)
đồng hồ ‘clock’, from Sino-Vietnamese 銅壺, literally ‘copper pot’, referring to the water clock used in premodern China.
(📷:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E9%90%98#/media/File:%E9%93%9C%E5%A3%B6%E6%BB%B4%E6%BC%8F.jpg)
October 28, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Vietnamese word of the day:
đồng hồ ‘clock’, from Sino-Vietnamese 銅壺, literally ‘copper pot’, referring to the water clock used in premodern China.
(📷:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E9%90%98#/media/File:%E9%93%9C%E5%A3%B6%E6%BB%B4%E6%BC%8F.jpg)
đồng hồ ‘clock’, from Sino-Vietnamese 銅壺, literally ‘copper pot’, referring to the water clock used in premodern China.
(📷:https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B0%B4%E9%90%98#/media/File:%E9%93%9C%E5%A3%B6%E6%BB%B4%E6%BC%8F.jpg)
"Zero" and its Indic origin in some Southeast Asian languages
October 13, 2025 at 11:20 AM
"Zero" and its Indic origin in some Southeast Asian languages
SEA doublets of the day:
Vietnamese bát 'bowl' < Chin. 缽 bō, clipping of 缽多羅 bō dō luó < Skt. pātra
Khmer : បាត្រ <pā.tra> [ɓaːt] 'alms bowl (of a Buddhist monk)' < Skt. pātra
Both words are ultimately from Sanskrit, but while Khmer borrowed it directly, the Vietnamese form entered through Chinese.
Vietnamese bát 'bowl' < Chin. 缽 bō, clipping of 缽多羅 bō dō luó < Skt. pātra
Khmer : បាត្រ <pā.tra> [ɓaːt] 'alms bowl (of a Buddhist monk)' < Skt. pātra
Both words are ultimately from Sanskrit, but while Khmer borrowed it directly, the Vietnamese form entered through Chinese.
September 19, 2025 at 3:24 PM
SEA doublets of the day:
Vietnamese bát 'bowl' < Chin. 缽 bō, clipping of 缽多羅 bō dō luó < Skt. pātra
Khmer : បាត្រ <pā.tra> [ɓaːt] 'alms bowl (of a Buddhist monk)' < Skt. pātra
Both words are ultimately from Sanskrit, but while Khmer borrowed it directly, the Vietnamese form entered through Chinese.
Vietnamese bát 'bowl' < Chin. 缽 bō, clipping of 缽多羅 bō dō luó < Skt. pātra
Khmer : បាត្រ <pā.tra> [ɓaːt] 'alms bowl (of a Buddhist monk)' < Skt. pātra
Both words are ultimately from Sanskrit, but while Khmer borrowed it directly, the Vietnamese form entered through Chinese.
Tangut word of the day:
𗍥𘟙 ghəh¹ ne² ‘diamond’ (per Gong Xun 202411), transcribed here as rgi ne, literally 'stone-king', a calque of Tibetan rdo rje '(lit.) stone-king; diamond'.
📷: British Library Or. 12380/1842: Tangut manuscript with phonetic glosses in Tibetan script
idp.bl.uk/collection/3...
𗍥𘟙 ghəh¹ ne² ‘diamond’ (per Gong Xun 202411), transcribed here as rgi ne, literally 'stone-king', a calque of Tibetan rdo rje '(lit.) stone-king; diamond'.
📷: British Library Or. 12380/1842: Tangut manuscript with phonetic glosses in Tibetan script
idp.bl.uk/collection/3...
September 18, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Tangut word of the day:
𗍥𘟙 ghəh¹ ne² ‘diamond’ (per Gong Xun 202411), transcribed here as rgi ne, literally 'stone-king', a calque of Tibetan rdo rje '(lit.) stone-king; diamond'.
📷: British Library Or. 12380/1842: Tangut manuscript with phonetic glosses in Tibetan script
idp.bl.uk/collection/3...
𗍥𘟙 ghəh¹ ne² ‘diamond’ (per Gong Xun 202411), transcribed here as rgi ne, literally 'stone-king', a calque of Tibetan rdo rje '(lit.) stone-king; diamond'.
📷: British Library Or. 12380/1842: Tangut manuscript with phonetic glosses in Tibetan script
idp.bl.uk/collection/3...
My presentation on Arabic–Old Georgian translations at the 35. Deutscher Orientalistentag in Erlangen. As always, I would really appreciate any suggestions, feedback, or critiques. 😊
www.academia.edu/129935394/Di...
www.academia.edu/129935394/Di...
September 12, 2025 at 2:16 PM
My presentation on Arabic–Old Georgian translations at the 35. Deutscher Orientalistentag in Erlangen. As always, I would really appreciate any suggestions, feedback, or critiques. 😊
www.academia.edu/129935394/Di...
www.academia.edu/129935394/Di...
Khmer word of the day:
អង្គរ [ʔɑŋ.ˈkɔː] Angkor in អង្គរវត្ត Angkor Wat is from Skt. nagara 'city', with metathesis of the first syllable (na > aṅ).
A doublet of this word, Khmer នគរ [nɔ.ˈkɔː] and Thai นคร [na˦˥.kʰɔːn˧]
1/2
📷 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_03...
អង្គរ
A doublet of this word, Khmer នគរ
1/2
📷 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_03...
September 1, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Khmer word of the day:
អង្គរ [ʔɑŋ.ˈkɔː] Angkor in អង្គរវត្ត Angkor Wat is from Skt. nagara 'city', with metathesis of the first syllable (na > aṅ).
A doublet of this word, Khmer នគរ [nɔ.ˈkɔː] and Thai นคร [na˦˥.kʰɔːn˧]
1/2
📷 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_03...
អង្គរ
A doublet of this word, Khmer នគរ
1/2
📷 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_03...
I don’t think I’ll ever find the right occasion to use this joke in my presentations, so I might as well put it here 😆
August 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I don’t think I’ll ever find the right occasion to use this joke in my presentations, so I might as well put it here 😆
The word is doubly translated into Georgian as ქადაგი kadagi 'herald' and მაუწყებელი mauc̣q̇ebeli 'messenger'.
მნებავს მე რათა ვემსაგავსო მათე მახარებელსა და ქადაგსა და მაუწყებელსა სიტყუათა ქრისტეს ღმრთისა ჩუენისათა
📷: Bodleian MS Georg. b. 1. f.124r
2/
მნებავს მე რათა ვემსაგავსო მათე მახარებელსა და ქადაგსა და მაუწყებელსა სიტყუათა ქრისტეს ღმრთისა ჩუენისათა
📷: Bodleian MS Georg. b. 1. f.124r
2/
August 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
The word is doubly translated into Georgian as ქადაგი kadagi 'herald' and მაუწყებელი mauc̣q̇ebeli 'messenger'.
მნებავს მე რათა ვემსაგავსო მათე მახარებელსა და ქადაგსა და მაუწყებელსა სიტყუათა ქრისტეს ღმრთისა ჩუენისათა
📷: Bodleian MS Georg. b. 1. f.124r
2/
მნებავს მე რათა ვემსაგავსო მათე მახარებელსა და ქადაგსა და მაუწყებელსა სიტყუათა ქრისტეს ღმრთისა ჩუენისათა
📷: Bodleian MS Georg. b. 1. f.124r
2/
(Christian) Arabic word of the day:
كاروز kārūz 'herald', from Syriac kārūz 'herold'
أنا أريد أتشبه بمتى صاحب الانجيل وكاروز كلام الله
'I wish to be like Matthew the evangelist and herald of God's words'
📷: Sinai Arabic 428 f.238r
cf. Garitte ed. 1973 Expugnationis Hierosolymae A.D. 614
/1
كاروز kārūz 'herald', from Syriac kārūz 'herold'
أنا أريد أتشبه بمتى صاحب الانجيل وكاروز كلام الله
'I wish to be like Matthew the evangelist and herald of God's words'
📷: Sinai Arabic 428 f.238r
cf. Garitte ed. 1973 Expugnationis Hierosolymae A.D. 614
/1
August 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
(Christian) Arabic word of the day:
كاروز kārūz 'herald', from Syriac kārūz 'herold'
أنا أريد أتشبه بمتى صاحب الانجيل وكاروز كلام الله
'I wish to be like Matthew the evangelist and herald of God's words'
📷: Sinai Arabic 428 f.238r
cf. Garitte ed. 1973 Expugnationis Hierosolymae A.D. 614
/1
كاروز kārūz 'herald', from Syriac kārūz 'herold'
أنا أريد أتشبه بمتى صاحب الانجيل وكاروز كلام الله
'I wish to be like Matthew the evangelist and herald of God's words'
📷: Sinai Arabic 428 f.238r
cf. Garitte ed. 1973 Expugnationis Hierosolymae A.D. 614
/1
Pelliot Tibétain 351 (an Old Tibetan divination text), l. 40:
myi khyod gi rogs ni lha qi śi myi śi ha źe bya ste
"Man, your companion is a god called Jesus Messiah."
cf. G. Uray 1995, "Tibet’s Connections with Nestorianism and Manicheism in the 8th–10th Centuries"
myi khyod gi rogs ni lha qi śi myi śi ha źe bya ste
"Man, your companion is a god called Jesus Messiah."
cf. G. Uray 1995, "Tibet’s Connections with Nestorianism and Manicheism in the 8th–10th Centuries"
August 21, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Pelliot Tibétain 351 (an Old Tibetan divination text), l. 40:
myi khyod gi rogs ni lha qi śi myi śi ha źe bya ste
"Man, your companion is a god called Jesus Messiah."
cf. G. Uray 1995, "Tibet’s Connections with Nestorianism and Manicheism in the 8th–10th Centuries"
myi khyod gi rogs ni lha qi śi myi śi ha źe bya ste
"Man, your companion is a god called Jesus Messiah."
cf. G. Uray 1995, "Tibet’s Connections with Nestorianism and Manicheism in the 8th–10th Centuries"
Iranian loanword inf Georgian and Armenian:
Georg. ტაძარი ṭazari 'temple'
Arm. տաճար tačar 'temple'
cf. Old Persian tacara 'palace', Manichaean Parthian ṯcr 'palace'
📷: Ezra 1:2 (Mcxeticaa and Zohrabian bible)
Georg. ტაძარი ṭazari 'temple'
Arm. տաճար tačar 'temple'
cf. Old Persian tacara 'palace', Manichaean Parthian ṯcr 'palace'
📷: Ezra 1:2 (Mcxeticaa and Zohrabian bible)
August 6, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Iranian loanword inf Georgian and Armenian:
Georg. ტაძარი ṭazari 'temple'
Arm. տաճար tačar 'temple'
cf. Old Persian tacara 'palace', Manichaean Parthian ṯcr 'palace'
📷: Ezra 1:2 (Mcxeticaa and Zohrabian bible)
Georg. ტაძარი ṭazari 'temple'
Arm. տաճար tačar 'temple'
cf. Old Persian tacara 'palace', Manichaean Parthian ṯcr 'palace'
📷: Ezra 1:2 (Mcxeticaa and Zohrabian bible)
Modern Vietnamese negator không is borrowed from Chinese 空 kōng 'empty' and then grammaticalized. It displaced the native negative morpheme chẳng.
📷: Nguyễn, Phú Phong. 1996. “Negation in Vietnamese and in some of the VietMuong languages."
📷: Nguyễn, Phú Phong. 1996. “Negation in Vietnamese and in some of the VietMuong languages."
July 30, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Modern Vietnamese negator không is borrowed from Chinese 空 kōng 'empty' and then grammaticalized. It displaced the native negative morpheme chẳng.
📷: Nguyễn, Phú Phong. 1996. “Negation in Vietnamese and in some of the VietMuong languages."
📷: Nguyễn, Phú Phong. 1996. “Negation in Vietnamese and in some of the VietMuong languages."
New arrival at BCU Lausanne!
May 2, 2025 at 12:28 PM
New arrival at BCU Lausanne!
Mistranslation of the day:
“Countries Berlin/Brandenburg.” Probably a direct translation from German “(Bundes)land.”
I've always felt that Berlin is culturally quite different from the small university towns I'm familiar with, but I never imagined the separatist sentiment to be so strong. 😂
“Countries Berlin/Brandenburg.” Probably a direct translation from German “(Bundes)land.”
I've always felt that Berlin is culturally quite different from the small university towns I'm familiar with, but I never imagined the separatist sentiment to be so strong. 😂
April 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Mistranslation of the day:
“Countries Berlin/Brandenburg.” Probably a direct translation from German “(Bundes)land.”
I've always felt that Berlin is culturally quite different from the small university towns I'm familiar with, but I never imagined the separatist sentiment to be so strong. 😂
“Countries Berlin/Brandenburg.” Probably a direct translation from German “(Bundes)land.”
I've always felt that Berlin is culturally quite different from the small university towns I'm familiar with, but I never imagined the separatist sentiment to be so strong. 😂
In Bern:
"Solange du dich auf das Patriarchat stützt, bin ich Feminist:in."
"Solange du dich auf das Patriarchat stützt, bin ich Feminist:in."
April 18, 2025 at 9:09 PM
In Bern:
"Solange du dich auf das Patriarchat stützt, bin ich Feminist:in."
"Solange du dich auf das Patriarchat stützt, bin ich Feminist:in."
Tangut word of the day:
𗙌𗠭
kie1 kiə1
'to call, 呼喚'
The binome consists of two characters whose left and right components are swapped in position.
📷Ma Xiaofang, A new function of Tangut verb directional prefix
www.academia.edu/128817755/A_...
𗙌𗠭
kie1 kiə1
'to call, 呼喚'
The binome consists of two characters whose left and right components are swapped in position.
📷Ma Xiaofang, A new function of Tangut verb directional prefix
www.academia.edu/128817755/A_...
April 16, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Tangut word of the day:
𗙌𗠭
kie1 kiə1
'to call, 呼喚'
The binome consists of two characters whose left and right components are swapped in position.
📷Ma Xiaofang, A new function of Tangut verb directional prefix
www.academia.edu/128817755/A_...
𗙌𗠭
kie1 kiə1
'to call, 呼喚'
The binome consists of two characters whose left and right components are swapped in position.
📷Ma Xiaofang, A new function of Tangut verb directional prefix
www.academia.edu/128817755/A_...
I think people often forget the practical aspect of pronouns.
Using pronouns is not only the smallest effort I can do to make the world safer for the trans and non-binary community, but it's also very practical for people like me with gender-neutral or non-European names to avoid being misgendered.
Using pronouns is not only the smallest effort I can do to make the world safer for the trans and non-binary community, but it's also very practical for people like me with gender-neutral or non-European names to avoid being misgendered.
April 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I think people often forget the practical aspect of pronouns.
Using pronouns is not only the smallest effort I can do to make the world safer for the trans and non-binary community, but it's also very practical for people like me with gender-neutral or non-European names to avoid being misgendered.
Using pronouns is not only the smallest effort I can do to make the world safer for the trans and non-binary community, but it's also very practical for people like me with gender-neutral or non-European names to avoid being misgendered.
Also TIL that 逝心 is a translation for Skt. brāhmaṇa, as from the verb bāheti 'to expel', which is an etymological interpretation already seen in the Pali canon:
(Dīghanikāya iii.94)
pāpake akusale dhamme bāhentī’ti kho Vāseṭṭha brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇā tveva
/3
(Dīghanikāya iii.94)
pāpake akusale dhamme bāhentī’ti kho Vāseṭṭha brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇā tveva
/3
April 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Also TIL that 逝心 is a translation for Skt. brāhmaṇa, as from the verb bāheti 'to expel', which is an etymological interpretation already seen in the Pali canon:
(Dīghanikāya iii.94)
pāpake akusale dhamme bāhentī’ti kho Vāseṭṭha brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇā tveva
/3
(Dīghanikāya iii.94)
pāpake akusale dhamme bāhentī’ti kho Vāseṭṭha brāhmaṇā brāhmaṇā tveva
/3
Nattier 2024 Once More on "Double Translations" includes many interesting examples of what she calls "overlapping translations", in which one word is a a complete translation of Indic, and the other translates part of the Indic. 1/
www.academia.edu/128573091/On...
www.academia.edu/128573091/On...
April 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Nattier 2024 Once More on "Double Translations" includes many interesting examples of what she calls "overlapping translations", in which one word is a a complete translation of Indic, and the other translates part of the Indic. 1/
www.academia.edu/128573091/On...
www.academia.edu/128573091/On...
That's a "Brahmi-r like" alaf! 😂 (I can't stop seeing things this way since moving to Lausanne and have an epigraphist as my Doktorvater.)
indoskript.org/letters
indoskript.org/letters
March 27, 2025 at 12:31 AM
That's a "Brahmi-r like" alaf! 😂 (I can't stop seeing things this way since moving to Lausanne and have an epigraphist as my Doktorvater.)
indoskript.org/letters
indoskript.org/letters
March 27, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Some Khmer/Thai loanwords from Teochew:
Kh. ថៅកែ [tʰaw ˈkae], Th. เถ้าแก่ [tʰaw˥˩.kɛː˨˩] 'owner of a store', fr. Te. 頭家 tao5 gê1
Kh. ចាប់ឆាយ [cap ˈcʰaːj], Th. จับฉ่าย [t͡ɕap̚˨˩.t͡ɕʰaːj˨˩] 'mixed vegetables', fr. Te. 雜菜 zab8 cai3
Kh. ស៊ីអ៊ីវ [siː.ˈʔiːw], Th. ซีอิ๊ว [siː˧.ʔiw˦˥/] 'soy sauce', fr. Te. 豉油 si7 iu5
Kh. ថៅកែ [tʰaw ˈkae], Th. เถ้าแก่ [tʰaw˥˩.kɛː˨˩] 'owner of a store', fr. Te. 頭家 tao5 gê1
Kh. ចាប់ឆាយ [cap ˈcʰaːj], Th. จับฉ่าย [t͡ɕap̚˨˩.t͡ɕʰaːj˨˩] 'mixed vegetables', fr. Te. 雜菜 zab8 cai3
Kh. ស៊ីអ៊ីវ [siː.ˈʔiːw], Th. ซีอิ๊ว [siː˧.ʔiw˦˥/] 'soy sauce', fr. Te. 豉油 si7 iu5
March 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Some Khmer/Thai loanwords from Teochew:
Kh. ថៅកែ [tʰaw ˈkae], Th. เถ้าแก่ [tʰaw˥˩.kɛː˨˩] 'owner of a store', fr. Te. 頭家 tao5 gê1
Kh. ចាប់ឆាយ [cap ˈcʰaːj], Th. จับฉ่าย [t͡ɕap̚˨˩.t͡ɕʰaːj˨˩] 'mixed vegetables', fr. Te. 雜菜 zab8 cai3
Kh. ស៊ីអ៊ីវ [siː.ˈʔiːw], Th. ซีอิ๊ว [siː˧.ʔiw˦˥/] 'soy sauce', fr. Te. 豉油 si7 iu5
Kh. ថៅកែ [tʰaw ˈkae], Th. เถ้าแก่ [tʰaw˥˩.kɛː˨˩] 'owner of a store', fr. Te. 頭家 tao5 gê1
Kh. ចាប់ឆាយ [cap ˈcʰaːj], Th. จับฉ่าย [t͡ɕap̚˨˩.t͡ɕʰaːj˨˩] 'mixed vegetables', fr. Te. 雜菜 zab8 cai3
Kh. ស៊ីអ៊ីវ [siː.ˈʔiːw], Th. ซีอิ๊ว [siː˧.ʔiw˦˥/] 'soy sauce', fr. Te. 豉油 si7 iu5