David Mihalyfy 🇺🇦
@mihalyfy.bsky.social
🙋 Dayjobber
📚 PhD in Religion
☀ Obsessed with Egyptian-Coptic historical linguistics
Bylines on everything from cults to culture.
Low-volume posting (focusing on writing and research!).
www.mihalyfy.com
🇺🇲 Illinois, U.S.A.
📚 PhD in Religion
☀ Obsessed with Egyptian-Coptic historical linguistics
Bylines on everything from cults to culture.
Low-volume posting (focusing on writing and research!).
www.mihalyfy.com
🇺🇲 Illinois, U.S.A.
🚨🚨🚨 Reminder! 🚨🚨🚨
ARCE-MO virtual symposium this Saturday, on dealing with historic excavations with less-than-ideal record-keeping.
100% free, but registration required for Zoom link.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
ARCE-MO virtual symposium this Saturday, on dealing with historic excavations with less-than-ideal record-keeping.
100% free, but registration required for Zoom link.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
November 7, 2025 at 2:50 AM
🚨🚨🚨 Reminder! 🚨🚨🚨
ARCE-MO virtual symposium this Saturday, on dealing with historic excavations with less-than-ideal record-keeping.
100% free, but registration required for Zoom link.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
ARCE-MO virtual symposium this Saturday, on dealing with historic excavations with less-than-ideal record-keeping.
100% free, but registration required for Zoom link.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
It is so marvelous, that the flagship campus of the University of Illinois runs its own butcher shop.
It's also amazing just to see that fact nonchalantly written on the labels of all the meat products.
It's also amazing just to see that fact nonchalantly written on the labels of all the meat products.
November 3, 2025 at 4:05 AM
It is so marvelous, that the flagship campus of the University of Illinois runs its own butcher shop.
It's also amazing just to see that fact nonchalantly written on the labels of all the meat products.
It's also amazing just to see that fact nonchalantly written on the labels of all the meat products.
What do you do with excavations that aren't really published?
Experts discuss this on Nov. 8th, at the 7th Annual Missouri Egyptological Symposium.
Attend online for free (registration required).
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
Experts discuss this on Nov. 8th, at the 7th Annual Missouri Egyptological Symposium.
Attend online for free (registration required).
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
October 28, 2025 at 7:35 PM
What do you do with excavations that aren't really published?
Experts discuss this on Nov. 8th, at the 7th Annual Missouri Egyptological Symposium.
Attend online for free (registration required).
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
Experts discuss this on Nov. 8th, at the 7th Annual Missouri Egyptological Symposium.
Attend online for free (registration required).
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
This is my working translation.
Any thoughts?
The -ban / -ba difference between the title and the first line were also concerns of mine, and the phrase "végig az uton" (which is like "to the end of street"?).
This has been such a fun project.
Any thoughts?
The -ban / -ba difference between the title and the first line were also concerns of mine, and the phrase "végig az uton" (which is like "to the end of street"?).
This has been such a fun project.
October 22, 2025 at 6:56 PM
This is my working translation.
Any thoughts?
The -ban / -ba difference between the title and the first line were also concerns of mine, and the phrase "végig az uton" (which is like "to the end of street"?).
This has been such a fun project.
Any thoughts?
The -ban / -ba difference between the title and the first line were also concerns of mine, and the phrase "végig az uton" (which is like "to the end of street"?).
This has been such a fun project.
A local Hungarian doctor just gave me some translation homework, in honor of the start of fall...
A poem "Autumn Came in Paris," by Endre Ady. 🍂
A poem "Autumn Came in Paris," by Endre Ady. 🍂
October 21, 2025 at 8:40 PM
A local Hungarian doctor just gave me some translation homework, in honor of the start of fall...
A poem "Autumn Came in Paris," by Endre Ady. 🍂
A poem "Autumn Came in Paris," by Endre Ady. 🍂
Recognize anything?
October 5, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Recognize anything?
🚨 A new theory, just debuted at NACAL 48! 🚨
This pharaonic title is like "Exalted & Mighty."
1st bit = N + S-stem of '3 "great" (> Coptic ⲛⲉⲥⲱ "beautiful").
2nd bit = C1(V?)C2V(:)C2 adjective related to b3 "power" (cf. ⲕⲙⲟⲙ "black").
Blogpost to follow.
#Egyptology
#Linguistics
#AncientBlueSky
This pharaonic title is like "Exalted & Mighty."
1st bit = N + S-stem of '3 "great" (> Coptic ⲛⲉⲥⲱ "beautiful").
2nd bit = C1(V?)C2V(:)C2 adjective related to b3 "power" (cf. ⲕⲙⲟⲙ "black").
Blogpost to follow.
#Egyptology
#Linguistics
#AncientBlueSky
September 27, 2025 at 11:10 PM
🚨 A new theory, just debuted at NACAL 48! 🚨
This pharaonic title is like "Exalted & Mighty."
1st bit = N + S-stem of '3 "great" (> Coptic ⲛⲉⲥⲱ "beautiful").
2nd bit = C1(V?)C2V(:)C2 adjective related to b3 "power" (cf. ⲕⲙⲟⲙ "black").
Blogpost to follow.
#Egyptology
#Linguistics
#AncientBlueSky
This pharaonic title is like "Exalted & Mighty."
1st bit = N + S-stem of '3 "great" (> Coptic ⲛⲉⲥⲱ "beautiful").
2nd bit = C1(V?)C2V(:)C2 adjective related to b3 "power" (cf. ⲕⲙⲟⲙ "black").
Blogpost to follow.
#Egyptology
#Linguistics
#AncientBlueSky
Halloween + Sukkot =
September 24, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Halloween + Sukkot =
Do we finally know what this part of the Ancient Egyptian royal titulary means...? 🤔
I'll be sharing some hunches as part of my talk at the 48th North Atlantic Conference on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, 9/27 at Ohio State!
As far as I know, this idea is NEW.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
#Linguistics
I'll be sharing some hunches as part of my talk at the 48th North Atlantic Conference on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, 9/27 at Ohio State!
As far as I know, this idea is NEW.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
#Linguistics
September 21, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Do we finally know what this part of the Ancient Egyptian royal titulary means...? 🤔
I'll be sharing some hunches as part of my talk at the 48th North Atlantic Conference on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, 9/27 at Ohio State!
As far as I know, this idea is NEW.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
#Linguistics
I'll be sharing some hunches as part of my talk at the 48th North Atlantic Conference on Afro-Asiatic Linguistics, 9/27 at Ohio State!
As far as I know, this idea is NEW.
#Egyptology
#AncientBlueSky
#Linguistics
Btw just thought of the Peribsen text (like 2800 BCE)...
It includes *both* the auxiliary verb and the benefactive, each of which must have already grammaticalized from 'the mother verb."
But that's already like 400+ years into unification and creolid formation?
It includes *both* the auxiliary verb and the benefactive, each of which must have already grammaticalized from 'the mother verb."
But that's already like 400+ years into unification and creolid formation?
August 14, 2025 at 5:01 AM
Btw just thought of the Peribsen text (like 2800 BCE)...
It includes *both* the auxiliary verb and the benefactive, each of which must have already grammaticalized from 'the mother verb."
But that's already like 400+ years into unification and creolid formation?
It includes *both* the auxiliary verb and the benefactive, each of which must have already grammaticalized from 'the mother verb."
But that's already like 400+ years into unification and creolid formation?
Btw I don't know if you know this, but like 600 years ago English "can" meant "know."
There is a famous example in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Prologue to the Miller's Tale.
chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/miller...
There is a famous example in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Prologue to the Miller's Tale.
chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/miller...
August 9, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Btw I don't know if you know this, but like 600 years ago English "can" meant "know."
There is a famous example in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Prologue to the Miller's Tale.
chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/miller...
There is a famous example in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, in the Prologue to the Miller's Tale.
chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/miller...
@sleepylinguist.bsky.social is this a grammatical sentence in Hungarian, or is this AI-generated gobbledygook?
I'm not sure anymore, with Duolingo! 😭
I'm not sure anymore, with Duolingo! 😭
May 24, 2025 at 8:08 PM
@sleepylinguist.bsky.social is this a grammatical sentence in Hungarian, or is this AI-generated gobbledygook?
I'm not sure anymore, with Duolingo! 😭
I'm not sure anymore, with Duolingo! 😭
Learning Italian to access pockets of Classics scholarship has had an unexpected side benefit:
I can read Italian-language Conclave coverage that a friend sends me!
I was so proud of myself, that I got almost 100% of this on 2 quick reads. 💪🇮🇹
I can read Italian-language Conclave coverage that a friend sends me!
I was so proud of myself, that I got almost 100% of this on 2 quick reads. 💪🇮🇹
May 7, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Learning Italian to access pockets of Classics scholarship has had an unexpected side benefit:
I can read Italian-language Conclave coverage that a friend sends me!
I was so proud of myself, that I got almost 100% of this on 2 quick reads. 💪🇮🇹
I can read Italian-language Conclave coverage that a friend sends me!
I was so proud of myself, that I got almost 100% of this on 2 quick reads. 💪🇮🇹
The Tiffany dome room in the Chicago Cultural Center has mosaics of quotes in different languages -- including Egyptian!
The line division is off with "your mother," however. I wonder where that problem arose during design & installation.
#Egyptology
The line division is off with "your mother," however. I wonder where that problem arose during design & installation.
#Egyptology
January 10, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The Tiffany dome room in the Chicago Cultural Center has mosaics of quotes in different languages -- including Egyptian!
The line division is off with "your mother," however. I wonder where that problem arose during design & installation.
#Egyptology
The line division is off with "your mother," however. I wonder where that problem arose during design & installation.
#Egyptology
Oops, misread your tweet & I'm being sloppy again with distinctions (I need better concise vocab for this point).
The Egyptian has gender w/pronouns, but there's zero marking for full nouns... Somali has zero marking in 3rd person.
Re: both, maybe I should say "3rd person-associated zero marking"?
The Egyptian has gender w/pronouns, but there's zero marking for full nouns... Somali has zero marking in 3rd person.
Re: both, maybe I should say "3rd person-associated zero marking"?
November 20, 2024 at 5:28 AM
Oops, misread your tweet & I'm being sloppy again with distinctions (I need better concise vocab for this point).
The Egyptian has gender w/pronouns, but there's zero marking for full nouns... Somali has zero marking in 3rd person.
Re: both, maybe I should say "3rd person-associated zero marking"?
The Egyptian has gender w/pronouns, but there's zero marking for full nouns... Somali has zero marking in 3rd person.
Re: both, maybe I should say "3rd person-associated zero marking"?
Is there any other serious candidate for something else AA akin to the Egyptian suffix conjugation?
It's true, Egyptian could have something unique.
But, that also fits into the "old weird Egyptian" mindset that I've found inaccurate 3x before with other research (image from my 9/21/24 talk).
It's true, Egyptian could have something unique.
But, that also fits into the "old weird Egyptian" mindset that I've found inaccurate 3x before with other research (image from my 9/21/24 talk).
November 19, 2024 at 11:41 PM
Is there any other serious candidate for something else AA akin to the Egyptian suffix conjugation?
It's true, Egyptian could have something unique.
But, that also fits into the "old weird Egyptian" mindset that I've found inaccurate 3x before with other research (image from my 9/21/24 talk).
It's true, Egyptian could have something unique.
But, that also fits into the "old weird Egyptian" mindset that I've found inaccurate 3x before with other research (image from my 9/21/24 talk).
I bought some works by Rabindranath Tagore.
I've decided that I need to read him, since he lived for a short while in a house like a block away from me
I'm so excited.
I've decided that I need to read him, since he lived for a short while in a house like a block away from me
I'm so excited.
November 19, 2024 at 8:26 PM
I bought some works by Rabindranath Tagore.
I've decided that I need to read him, since he lived for a short while in a house like a block away from me
I'm so excited.
I've decided that I need to read him, since he lived for a short while in a house like a block away from me
I'm so excited.
So, I bought some works of Rabindranath Tagore.
I had decided that I needed to read more of him, since he lived a short while like a block away from me.
I'm very excited.
I had decided that I needed to read more of him, since he lived a short while like a block away from me.
I'm very excited.
November 19, 2024 at 8:13 PM
So, I bought some works of Rabindranath Tagore.
I had decided that I needed to read more of him, since he lived a short while like a block away from me.
I'm very excited.
I had decided that I needed to read more of him, since he lived a short while like a block away from me.
I'm very excited.
The comparison with the possessive pronouns (Banti 2001: 19) also seems reasonable.
Stuff like the variance around the 2nd person forms can be explained through analogy (Banti 2001: 20), and the Egyptian 1pl is actually probably /nu/ per my recent independent research. So, it looks more alike!
Stuff like the variance around the 2nd person forms can be explained through analogy (Banti 2001: 20), and the Egyptian 1pl is actually probably /nu/ per my recent independent research. So, it looks more alike!
November 18, 2024 at 10:37 PM
The comparison with the possessive pronouns (Banti 2001: 19) also seems reasonable.
Stuff like the variance around the 2nd person forms can be explained through analogy (Banti 2001: 20), and the Egyptian 1pl is actually probably /nu/ per my recent independent research. So, it looks more alike!
Stuff like the variance around the 2nd person forms can be explained through analogy (Banti 2001: 20), and the Egyptian 1pl is actually probably /nu/ per my recent independent research. So, it looks more alike!
In regards the lack of 3sg gender distinction, his reconstruction (Banti 2001: 21) seems reasonable:
The shared Egyptian-East Cushitic situation resembled that of Egyptian, and East Cushitic generalized the lack of 3sg gender distinction with full noun as 3sg pronoun forms.
The shared Egyptian-East Cushitic situation resembled that of Egyptian, and East Cushitic generalized the lack of 3sg gender distinction with full noun as 3sg pronoun forms.
November 18, 2024 at 10:34 PM
In regards the lack of 3sg gender distinction, his reconstruction (Banti 2001: 21) seems reasonable:
The shared Egyptian-East Cushitic situation resembled that of Egyptian, and East Cushitic generalized the lack of 3sg gender distinction with full noun as 3sg pronoun forms.
The shared Egyptian-East Cushitic situation resembled that of Egyptian, and East Cushitic generalized the lack of 3sg gender distinction with full noun as 3sg pronoun forms.
Per Banti 2001: 14 and 18, the 1st singular in East Cushitic and the absence of gender distinction on the 3sg seem like very telling points to compare the East Cushitic forms to the Egyptian suffix conjugation (but not the stative, with its 1sg velar & 3sg gender distinctions).
This seems correct.
This seems correct.
November 18, 2024 at 10:31 PM
Per Banti 2001: 14 and 18, the 1st singular in East Cushitic and the absence of gender distinction on the 3sg seem like very telling points to compare the East Cushitic forms to the Egyptian suffix conjugation (but not the stative, with its 1sg velar & 3sg gender distinctions).
This seems correct.
This seems correct.
My thinking starts from Egyptian (image from Banti 1987).
The info is *not* currently ideal (e.g. what *are* the "w" and "y" transcribed for the 1st & 2nd pl stative?).
But, the Egyptian suffix conjugation & stative do look different (1st sg, the "no gender with full nouns" thing with the 3rd SC).
The info is *not* currently ideal (e.g. what *are* the "w" and "y" transcribed for the 1st & 2nd pl stative?).
But, the Egyptian suffix conjugation & stative do look different (1st sg, the "no gender with full nouns" thing with the 3rd SC).
November 18, 2024 at 10:24 PM
My thinking starts from Egyptian (image from Banti 1987).
The info is *not* currently ideal (e.g. what *are* the "w" and "y" transcribed for the 1st & 2nd pl stative?).
But, the Egyptian suffix conjugation & stative do look different (1st sg, the "no gender with full nouns" thing with the 3rd SC).
The info is *not* currently ideal (e.g. what *are* the "w" and "y" transcribed for the 1st & 2nd pl stative?).
But, the Egyptian suffix conjugation & stative do look different (1st sg, the "no gender with full nouns" thing with the 3rd SC).
Quite interestingly, several of these N-stems were hiding in misparsed and obscure sections of another major Egyptian literary text.
I detailed 3 examples in a recent article (FYI I'm not fully committed to my 2nd reading, but the 1st and 3rd readings seem sound).
I detailed 3 examples in a recent article (FYI I'm not fully committed to my 2nd reading, but the 1st and 3rd readings seem sound).
November 11, 2024 at 5:17 AM
Quite interestingly, several of these N-stems were hiding in misparsed and obscure sections of another major Egyptian literary text.
I detailed 3 examples in a recent article (FYI I'm not fully committed to my 2nd reading, but the 1st and 3rd readings seem sound).
I detailed 3 examples in a recent article (FYI I'm not fully committed to my 2nd reading, but the 1st and 3rd readings seem sound).
2 short articles from my larger "transformed Afroasiatic N-stems survived in Egyptian through Coptic" project just got published!
It is lovely that they're in a JSSEA memorial volume for James Hoch, whose marvelous Middle Egyptian Grammar introduced me to the language.
#Egyptology
#LangSky
It is lovely that they're in a JSSEA memorial volume for James Hoch, whose marvelous Middle Egyptian Grammar introduced me to the language.
#Egyptology
#LangSky
March 14, 2024 at 9:55 PM
2 short articles from my larger "transformed Afroasiatic N-stems survived in Egyptian through Coptic" project just got published!
It is lovely that they're in a JSSEA memorial volume for James Hoch, whose marvelous Middle Egyptian Grammar introduced me to the language.
#Egyptology
#LangSky
It is lovely that they're in a JSSEA memorial volume for James Hoch, whose marvelous Middle Egyptian Grammar introduced me to the language.
#Egyptology
#LangSky