Tag Archives: roots

Arabic-Akkadian Roots: ء-ك-ل ,ع-ل-و, and ب-ك-ي

دَجاج root: د-ج-ج / collective noun / definition: chicken Have you ever roasted a chicken upside down? Well I have. Twice. Well, it was one time—but two chickens. No questions, please. This was a cathartic confession, blurted out in a fluster of shame, and no more than that. Thank God for the antidote of blushing:Continue reading “Arabic-Akkadian Roots: ء-ك-ل ,ع-ل-و, and ب-ك-ي”

Arabic-Akkadian Roots: q-b-l, k-l-m, and m-l-k

كَلام root: ك-ل-م / noun / definition: speech Since I stopped attending Akkadian evening classes, I’ve been feeling a little detached from this language I’d started falling in love with. And I miss learning and writing about the connections between Arabic and Akkadian—so here we are today. I’ve previously explored some lexical similarities between theContinue reading “Arabic-Akkadian Roots: q-b-l, k-l-m, and m-l-k”

Root Exploration: ء-ر-ب

مُسْتَشْفى root: ش-ف-ي / form X passive participle / plural: مُستَشفَيات / definition: hospital Four hours is how long we spent in A&E yesterday. And it’s interesting how the brain keeps itself busy during those drawn-out periods of waiting on seemingly uncomfortable-by-design chairs. My mind, for example, kept wandering between Subway sandwiches and the spacingContinue reading “Root Exploration: ء-ر-ب”

Seven Arabic Terms for “Twilight”

غائِب root: غ-ي-ب / form I active participle / definition: absent, third person (gramm.) Writing about yourself in the third person always feels strange. And when I think of “third person”, I always think of Attila İlhan’s poem and then I feel even stranger. But I had to set that strangeness aside and rewrite myContinue reading “Seven Arabic Terms for “Twilight””