Tag Archives: language

Dictionary Finds: The Thursday Before الخميس

خَميس root: خ-م-س / noun / definition: Thursday Last Thursday marked my move into my twenty-ninth year of life, which makes me twenty-eight in some cultures and twenty-nine in others—and makes me closer to twenty-one in my head. But it’s not like numbers really matter. Except in the case of the days of the weekContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: The Thursday Before الخميس”

Reading Arabic Literature: Settling in and Heading Back

اِسْتِقْرار root: ق-ر-ر / form X verbal noun / definition: settling down, stability For the past month, studying productively (and at all) has been a struggle. I’ve been settling into a new life and trying to settle back into a study routine—at a time that my annual, late-autumn sleepiness lulls me into cognitive numbness. I’mContinue reading “Reading Arabic Literature: Settling in and Heading Back”

Arabic Observations: Reflections on حصحص and the Truth

اِستِطْراد root: ط-ر-د / form X verbal noun / definition: digression I was browsing my notes on Notion, seeking inspiration for today’s post, when one little word pulled at my eyelashes and demanded attention. So the title thus began to take form, and I headed to the dictionary where my semantics addiction took hold andContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Reflections on حصحص and the Truth”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Future”

اللّامَعْنى root: ع-ن-ي / compound abstract noun / definition: meaninglessness The clocks went back the day before yesterday and, like every year, it feels like someone somewhere switched off the warming daylight and left us in a cold, dark wintertime. I think about how a shift of just an hour changes so much, and IContinue reading “Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Future””

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”

Arabic Headline Analysis #11

صَديقة root: ص-د-ق / feminine noun / plural: صَديقات / definition: friend Has it really been over a year since I last wrote an Arabic headline analysis? My archives nod “yes” and guilt sinks me into my chair. I think of my friend who was the inspiration behind both the headline analysis and literature translationContinue reading “Arabic Headline Analysis #11”

Seventeen Arabic Words for Peace

سَبْعة root: س-ب-ع / noun / definition: seven Only seven days to go, I remind myself, willing away the days but craving more hours. I’m restless with the wait, yet overwhelmed by all I need to get done before next Tuesday. Despite the dull pangs of stress in my head, my heart is at peaceContinue reading “Seventeen Arabic Words for Peace”

Journeys with Arabic: Mohammed N.

خَريف root: خ-ر-ف / noun / definition: autumn It’s that time of year, as September dips into the mid-autumn of October, that I start worrying about the narrowing window of daylight and almost-inevitable wintery mood that draughts in through closed curtains. And if I weren’t so distracted by the spring of a new season inContinue reading “Journeys with Arabic: Mohammed N.”

Arabic Observations: Solace Through Forgetting

التَّأَمُّل root: ء-م-ل / form V verbal noun / definition: reflection, contemplation I’ve been in a reflective mood lately. And it’s the type of reflection that is directly opposed to productivity rather than one that drives it: consuming, daydreamy, paralysing. As such, it made sense for me to write a reflective post today, adding toContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Solace Through Forgetting”

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”