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: phd
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”
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 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”
The Taste of Language
لِسان root: ل-س-ن / noun / plural: أَلسِنة، أَلسُن / definition: tongue, language I’m on day 3 of a five-day run of meetings and meet-ups. TfL continues to fleece me, my average step count continues to rise, and I continue to wonder what kind of rehab my introverted self will need after this. Popping intoContinue reading “The Taste of Language”
Writer’s Grief and Closing a Chapter
كاتِبة root: ك-ت-ب / form I active participle, feminine form / definition: writing, a writer I get emotionally attached to plans. I’ve been gathering quotes, ideas, and notes for months—only to realise there’s not enough word count (or time) to include everything in the chapter I’m writing. So I save bullet points of brain clutterContinue reading “Writer’s Grief and Closing a Chapter”
10:27, Baghdad, Page 63
مَقْهًى root: ق-ه-و /noun / plural: مَقاهٍ / definition: café I can’t help but notice that, beyond my screen, my تبغدد top is drying on the heater upside down. . I’m normally the most unobservant person—my friends can tell you that. But there are some things, especially in times of stress, that I’ll notice toContinue reading “10:27, Baghdad, Page 63”
Date Syrup, the Ocean, and Nuts
دِبْس root: د-ب-س / noun / definition: syrup, molasses It’s a blissfully slow morning. I roll out of bed and into my rocking chair. I send off a funding application and set up a new website. I make a plan for the day. I still need to send some emails, prepare work for my supervisorContinue reading “Date Syrup, the Ocean, and Nuts”
Reading Arabic Literature: Endings and Never-Endings
نِهائيّ root: ن-ه-ي / nisba adjective / definition: final, definitive It’s becoming a pattern in my life, I’ve noticed, that things end in winter. I can’t wait to bid farewell to this season of goodbyes, some of which have felt final. What feels endless, on the other hand, is having my head buried in literature.Continue reading “Reading Arabic Literature: Endings and Never-Endings”
Academic Arabic: Some Form II Verbal Nouns
ضَجَر root: ض-ج-ر / noun / definition: restlessness I’ve been feeling a little unsettled for the past week. I can’t seem to sit still and write, despite “sitting still and writing” equating to approximately half of my to-do list. So, in an attempt to offset this restlessness, or—perhaps more accurately—appease it, I’ve decided to startContinue reading “Academic Arabic: Some Form II Verbal Nouns”
Reading Arabic Literature: Thinking Back
التَّمْر root: ت-م-ر / collective noun / definition: dates Akkadian class flew by this week as we ate dates and drank (only mê, water, not karān-am, wine) all in order to learn new vocabulary and begin talking about our daily routines. I noted how the Akkadian word for “star”, kakkab-um, mirrors the Arabic كَوكَبٌ, kawkab-un,Continue reading “Reading Arabic Literature: Thinking Back”
Two Other Ways to Refer to the Arabic Language
يَقْطين root: ق-ط-ن / noun / definition: pumpkin Somehow, and I really don’t know how, I managed to submit my PhD work earlier today despite it not being due until mid next week. I really thought I’d be last-minuting it on Wednesday until the midnight clock struck and I’d turn into a pumpkin… or howeverContinue reading “Two Other Ways to Refer to the Arabic Language”
The Sabaic Language and a Much Awaited Deadline
إعادة التَّأطير root: ع-و-د and ء-ط-ر / phrase / definition: reframing Solitudinous sahoors and attempts at staying up as late as I can handle in my mid-twenties (my failings in which remind me I’m well past my teen years) have been left behind in Ramadan, and my PhD chapter that I abandoned in the secondContinue reading “The Sabaic Language and a Much Awaited Deadline”
Reading Arabic Literature: Struggling to Connect
جَهْد root: ج-ه-د / noun / plural: جُهود / definition: effort, struggle Procrastination is an odd thing. You see, I’ve been busy with the academic reading I need to get through in order to write my PhD literature review, but I’ve partially busied myself with that because reading the second novel I’m supposed to analyseContinue reading “Reading Arabic Literature: Struggling to Connect”
Night-time Ramblings of an Arabic PhD Student
إنتاجيّة root: ن-ت-ج / noun / definition: productivity Ten thousand words. Of notes. I think it was easier to understand that one A-Level Physics class I had when my teacher was explaining how light moves, yes, in straight lines but, oh no, it actually takes every possible route to reach anything (I still don’t getContinue reading “Night-time Ramblings of an Arabic PhD Student”
Strangeness and a Summer of Reading
غَريب root: غ-ر-ب / adjective / definition: strange Orhan Pamuk’s A Strangeness in My Mind has been sitting on the tiny, just-enough-space-for-tea-and-a-book shelf beside my bed, having remained unopened for far too long after I’d got into it and read a decent amount. I’m not sure why it’s hard for me to pick it backContinue reading “Strangeness and a Summer of Reading”
The End, the Middle, and the Beginning
أُفُق root: ء-ف-ق / noun / plural: آفاق / definition: horizon Today, I was conducting the Arabic oral exams for my second-year students and it became apparent that I have some residual anxiety from my undergraduate days as I felt nervous for them. They seemed chilled in comparison, which I’m happy about. This sort ofContinue reading “The End, the Middle, and the Beginning”
Distance and Perspective
بُعْد root: ب-ع-د / noun / plural: أَبْعاد / definition: distance, dimension So I’m back from my one-week solo trip to Istanbul which was perfect on all fronts. To feel so immersed in history, culture, spirituality… and to be there with my thoughts alone… was simply unbeatable. With every step I took through the palaces,Continue reading “Distance and Perspective”
A Dissertation, More Poetry, and Moving Forward
نِهاية root: ن-ه-ي / noun / definition: end, finish This year has felt long in many ways, but as I approach my dissertation’s September deadline, I feel as though I’m being outpaced by time. I’ll admit I’ve been a bit too laid-back about my dissertation until now (as panic starts to tap urgently on myContinue reading “A Dissertation, More Poetry, and Moving Forward”
The Arabic Pages 