صَحْن root: ص-ح-ن / noun / plural: صُحون / definition: bowl, dish In case any one of you hadn’t noticed that daylight hours have dwindled to their almost-minimum: it’s winter. (And if you actually hadn’t noticed, I apologise for being the bearer of this heavy news.) That is, of course, unless you’re over on theContinue reading “Winter, Visas, Bowl”
Tag Archives: blog
Uncontactable and Unread
اِختِفاء root: خ-ف-ي / form VIII verbal noun / definition: disappearance For those who have found me almost uncontactable—of whom I must mention: journal co-editors, my Akkadian teacher, and dear friends whose messages lie in wait in my Whatsapp unreads—I apologise for my unexplained disappearance. You see, there was an unexpected meeting. Then, a chosenContinue reading “Uncontactable and Unread”
A Useful Structure: ما إن ـــــ حتى ـــــ
إبْريق root: ب-ر-ق / noun / plural: أَباريق / definition: teapot, jug With the pouring of a never-emptying teapot and the stealing of smiling glances, another Sunday passed and this week has left me in unfamiliar but exciting territory. I served the dolma and wondered if any of the leaves had gotten stuck between myContinue reading “A Useful Structure: ما إن ـــــ حتى ـــــ”
A Final Call, a Third Year
نِداء root: ن-د-و / noun / plural: نِداءات / definition: call, public announcement If you saw four dishevelled passengers racing through Istanbul Airport to catch their transfer flight and making it just before their gate closed on Saturday evening… that was me and my family. Gate F1—why did you have to be so far. AContinue reading “A Final Call, a Third Year”
Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence
التَّدَرُّج root: د-ر-ج / form V verbal noun / definition: gradual advance or progression I’ve gone straight from floating to hitting the ground running. And between that landing and my approaching take-off, things have progressed unexpectedly quickly in the space of a week. I could get used to this pace. But Arabic’s form VI verbsContinue reading “Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence”
Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases
العَوْم root: ع-و-م / form I verbal noun / definition: floating I returned to London yesterday with my glasses broken, heart full, and mind a mess. Those four weeks in Majorca, in my childhood home and bedroom with the sea-blue curtains I’ve had for the past twenty years, felt like too little time to honourContinue reading “Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases”
From an Airport, into the Blur
مَطار root: ط-ي-ر / noun of place / plural: مَطارات / definition: airport I’m writing this from a quiet(er) corner of Gatwick’s North Terminal after arriving four hours early, burdened with overstuffed cabin bags and guilt from having to throw away an unopened pint of milk before I left home. Even after a sit-down matchaContinue reading “From an Airport, into the Blur”
A De-Forgotten Song, an Antidote, a Last Post
أَخير root: ء-خ-ر / adjective / definition: last Something usually goes wrong in the first few days of me living alone. This time? I almost got locked out of the house, thanks to a jammed lock (remedied with olive oil, what else?)—oh, and I almost poisoned myself. After messaging my sister to make sure sheContinue reading “A De-Forgotten Song, an Antidote, a Last Post”
The Arabic Pages 