@sibawayhi.bsky.social
Be careful what you ask for!
November 14, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Be careful what you ask for!
More explicitly: I don’t know what to make of “Nabatean Aramaic”.
November 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM
More explicitly: I don’t know what to make of “Nabatean Aramaic”.
Question from an ignoramus: is “Nabataean” a language? I thought it was a writing system.
November 14, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Question from an ignoramus: is “Nabataean” a language? I thought it was a writing system.
You need more Dave Barry: davebarry.substack.com/p/cooking
Cooking
It's not for everyone.
davebarry.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:56 PM
You need more Dave Barry: davebarry.substack.com/p/cooking
Fascinating indirect comment on form III (Sībawayhi ch. 73): ومعنى تثنية دوالَيْكَ أنّه فِعْلٌ من اثنَيْن لأنّي إذا داوَلْتُ فمِنْ كُلِّ واحدٍ مِنّا فِعْلٌ This ch. is on e.g. حنانَيْكَ etc.
November 14, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Fascinating indirect comment on form III (Sībawayhi ch. 73): ومعنى تثنية دوالَيْكَ أنّه فِعْلٌ من اثنَيْن لأنّي إذا داوَلْتُ فمِنْ كُلِّ واحدٍ مِنّا فِعْلٌ This ch. is on e.g. حنانَيْكَ etc.
Very interesting, but I wonder if it isn’t a stylistic/rhetorical device rather than grammar. Like using “i.e.” a lot. Arabic: بها بالدار meaning بها أيْ بالدار
November 14, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Very interesting, but I wonder if it isn’t a stylistic/rhetorical device rather than grammar. Like using “i.e.” a lot. Arabic: بها بالدار meaning بها أيْ بالدار
Sībawayhi slaps down Al-Khalīl: end of chapter 75, the latter says it’s ok to say هذا رجلٌ أخو زيدِ if you mean to say he’s similar (تُشبِّهه) to Zayd’s brother. Sib responds with a curt وهذا قبيح ضعيف “and that’s ugly and weak”. Ouch!
November 14, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Sībawayhi slaps down Al-Khalīl: end of chapter 75, the latter says it’s ok to say هذا رجلٌ أخو زيدِ if you mean to say he’s similar (تُشبِّهه) to Zayd’s brother. Sib responds with a curt وهذا قبيح ضعيف “and that’s ugly and weak”. Ouch!
(quibble: “conjugation” is probably not the right term)
November 13, 2025 at 11:18 PM
(quibble: “conjugation” is probably not the right term)
Or not. That’s a fascinating bit of language. Why would one do that?
November 13, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Or not. That’s a fascinating bit of language. Why would one do that?
Thank you. But, sorry, I don’t see the preceding discussion. You’re talking about a specific Arabic dialect?
November 13, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Thank you. But, sorry, I don’t see the preceding discussion. You’re talking about a specific Arabic dialect?
More generally: if I’m gonna learn a little Hebrew, should I start with ancient or modern?
November 13, 2025 at 11:02 PM
More generally: if I’m gonna learn a little Hebrew, should I start with ancient or modern?
Not a bad idea! Hebrew letters should be a little easier I think. I mean really a weekend should suffice. Except I’m old and lazy.
November 13, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Not a bad idea! Hebrew letters should be a little easier I think. I mean really a weekend should suffice. Except I’m old and lazy.
Ok but you’re pushing it! I can only take so many puns.
November 13, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Ok but you’re pushing it! I can only take so many puns.
Clearly etymologically related to “kermatzo”.
November 13, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Clearly etymologically related to “kermatzo”.
Sorry to be so dense, but what does “redundant prepositional conjugation” mean?
November 13, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Sorry to be so dense, but what does “redundant prepositional conjugation” mean?
Look on the bright side: you may be a loser, but you’re also a winner!
November 13, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Look on the bright side: you may be a loser, but you’re also a winner!
At least that’s what I think it means, and it seems like an insult to me, but who knows? The chapter discusses it in detail. Noteworthy: he uses مثال as a synonym of حال and seems to use تشبيه as “simile” or “metaphor”.
November 13, 2025 at 7:13 PM
At least that’s what I think it means, and it seems like an insult to me, but who knows? The chapter discusses it in detail. Noteworthy: he uses مثال as a synonym of حال and seems to use تشبيه as “simile” or “metaphor”.
“Your happiness” for سعادتك feels like weak tea for an honorific. Lane lists lots of سعد words related to stars. I wonder if the original sense was something like “your (celestial) highness”?
November 13, 2025 at 6:35 PM
“Your happiness” for سعادتك feels like weak tea for an honorific. Lane lists lots of سعد words related to stars. I wonder if the original sense was something like “your (celestial) highness”?
C’mon. A roiling boil is a thing on your foot that roils you.
November 12, 2025 at 8:53 PM
C’mon. A roiling boil is a thing on your foot that roils you.
I think he does have an answer to this, but his reasoning is pretty subtle.
November 12, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I think he does have an answer to this, but his reasoning is pretty subtle.
I mean, why would you start with له علمٌ if you didn’t mean it, given that علم is stable, like اليد or الرِجْل ?
November 12, 2025 at 8:45 PM
I mean, why would you start with له علمٌ if you didn’t mean it, given that علم is stable, like اليد or الرِجْل ?
Is this Sībawayhi channeling Chomsky, using made-up examples to “prove” a theoretical point?
November 12, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Is this Sībawayhi channeling Chomsky, using made-up examples to “prove” a theoretical point?
Which is fuzzy. It implies that له علمٌ does not have a stable meaning.
November 12, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Which is fuzzy. It implies that له علمٌ does not have a stable meaning.