Nostalgia, the Library, and Extrapolation

اِسْتِقْراء

root: ق-ر-ء / form X verbal noun / definition: extrapolation

The three-day conference I attended over the weekend and the start of the week meant that my readings and homework took a backseat—or, more accurately, fell out the boot of the metaphorical car I was taking for a joyride.

(Can something be more accurate and more metaphorical at the same time? Sounds like a question I don’t have time to answer right now.)

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Uncommon Arabic Words for Dates

تَطْريز

root: ط-ر-ز / form II verbal noun / definition: embroidery

September feels notably less hot and humid than August here, but maybe—just maybe—I’ve successfully acclimatised to Doha’s weather in these four short weeks.

Or maybe it’s that I’ve been keeping myself busy with things like the Palestinian embroidery (التطريز الفلسطيني) workshop I attended on Friday (and my other adventures), so I haven’t been paying much attention to the fog on my glasses.

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The Feminine Superlative in Arabic: When to Use It

سوق

root: س-و-ق / noun / plural: أَسْواق / definition: market, bazaar

It’s nearing midnight and I’ve just returned from Souq Waqif having mistakenly ordered a very sugary tea of which I could only drink half before succumbing to the headache and nausea that now strike whenever I consume sugar.

A cup of (very much sugar-free) aniseed tea is keeping me company as I write this post in hopes that it will dilute some of the sweetness clinging to the back of my throat.

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Arabic Headline Analysis #10 and an Invitation to Akkadian Class

دَعْوة

root: د-ع-و / noun / plural: دَعْوات / definition: invitation, call

There’s not much that lifts my spirits like an email from my enthusiastic Akkadian teacher, who reached out a few days back about resuming our language classes in October.

As I’m spending a semester here in Qatar (and drowning in the workload of compulsory and optional classes, plus conducting my PhD research), I’ll inevitably miss the first term. But as for you, well, you should sign up right now.

I’ll tell you why.

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Six Arabic Verbs Meaning “to Prefer”

حُبّ

root: ح-ب-ب / noun / definition: love

Deciding to spend the rest of my year studying in Qatar has come with many immediate benefits.

For one, it motivated me to finally address a major point of procrastination: sorting through the big bag of miscellanea at the foot of my bed which has been sat there for two years too long.

What a relief, at last, to show the door to this uninvited guest I’d been tiptoeing around in my own space.

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Form I Active Participles of Hollow Roots

فَراغ

root: ف-ر-غ / noun / definition: void, emptiness

I’m wrapping up my last week in London for the next few months on the emptiness of fallen-through plans and the urge to claw out a silent space to curl up in and calm my mind.

In the corner of my field of vision, I see my airport clothes laid out on the chair, and I wonder now if it was too soon to pack my pillowcases. (Probably.)

But you know what else is empty? Hollow roots.

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Dictionary Finds: فَوَّزَ

إنْجاز

root: ن-ج-ز / form IV verbal noun / definition: milestone

Have I really written five hundred posts on this blog? It seems so. I would reflect more deeply on this milestone, but there’s an open suitcase on the living room floor with a four-month supply of my various vitamins, four pairs of shoes, enough socks for probably four years—yet only a four-day supply of outfits.

My mind is flicking through my digitalised wardrobe on Indyx as we speak, reminding myself of all that I still need to pack.

I have to tell myself that now is probably not the best time to start researching new languages. (So, Tigrinya and Igbo are currently on pause.)

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Root Exploration: ع-ذ-ب

سِلْسِلة

root: س-ل-س-ل / noun / plural: سَلاسِل / definition: series, chain

Due to an unexpected series of events, I found myself this weekend somewhere I never thought I’d go: mini golf. As it turns out, I’m quite the pro (for a beginner, anyway).

But I bring myself back to more familiar territory now, as we prepare for another dive into the Hans Wehr dictionary.

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Prepositions and Pronoun Suffixes: Pronunciation Shifts

نُطْق

root: ن-ط-ق / noun / definition: pronunciation

We’re probably all aware that Arabic prepositions can take pronoun suffixes to denote the object. For example, we can add the suffix ـكَ (you) to مَعَ (with) to give us مَعَكَ (with you).

However, when we add (certain) pronoun suffixes to certain prepositions, the spelling and pronunciation of the combined form might be different to what we expected. Let’s take a look…

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Arabic’s Chameleon Words: حقّق

حَقّ

root: ح-ق-ق / noun / definition: truth

After I washed down the social anxieties of last week with a few Kalms‘, I woke up this Monday looking ahead to an empty social calendar for the next two weeks. Huh. Feels odd.

Well, it’ll give me some time to work on creating more content for this blog and beyond. And also to start packing for an ever-nearing trip.

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