Transcribing Classical Arabic
When it comes to transcription of languages I can be very pedantic. Decisions that are made need to 1. be consistent 2. actually be a reflection of how the language is to be pronounced. This strike me...
View ArticleTranscribing Quranic Reading Traditions
In the previous post, I highlighted some common pitfalls encountered in transcribing Classical Arabic. This post will discuss several of the specific issue that occur when talking about the Quranic...
View ArticleProto-Berber: *a-săwwas pl. *i-səwwas-ăn 'year'
Ghd. aẓăggas pl. ẓăggasăn 'year'Awj. ašəwwáša 'this year'Siwa asəggasa 'this year'Foq. saggasa 'this year'Tu. (Ah) ăsv̆ggas'time, epoch'Kb. a-səggʷas pl. i-səggʷasən 'year'PKb. asəggʷas'year'CMB...
View ArticleProto-Berber *aḍəβ pf. *uḍắβ impf. *ətt-aḍăβ 'to fold'
Ghd. oḍəβ 'to fold'Niger Tuareg (WY) aḍu 'to fold'Ahaggar Tuareg aḍ 'to fold'Zng. yaḏ̣īh'to fold'CMB aḍu 'to fold'Tashl. aḍu 'come back'Mzab aḍi 'to fold'Notes:Ghadamsi initial o usually corresponds to...
View ArticleProto-Berber: *aʔβu 'smoke'
West-Moroccan/KabyleTashl. aggu, awwu 'smoke'CMB aggu 'id.'Kb. abbu 'id.' LibyanGhd. oβu'smoke'Awj. avu'id.'TuaregAh. ăhu 'smoke'W ăhu, əhu 'id.'Y ăẉẉa 'id.'Ghat ahu 'id.'Southern:Zng. oʔbih...
View ArticleProto-Berber *ăβdəd pf. *əβdắd impf. *əβăddăd 'to stand up'
Western/KabyleKb. ḇədd impf. yəţţaddəḏ/yəţ̨ṭəḇdaḏ/ḇəddəḏTashl. bdd impf. add'dCMB bədd impf. bəddaZenaticRif bəddFig. bəddMzab bəddOuar. bəddSiwa əbdədFoq. bdədTuaregAh. əbdədWY əbdədGhat əbdədMali...
View ArticleProto-Berber *te-βădd-e 'height, stature'
Western/KabyleKb. tiddiTashl. tiddiCMB tiddiZenaticRif tiddiFig. tiddiOuar. tiddiTuaregAh. téhəddéWY téddéGhat čiddiMali tehăddeSouthernZng. tīddihNotesA typical te-CăCC-e abstract verbal noun from the...
View ArticleProto-Berber *a-năβdu 'summer'
Western/KabyleKb. a-nəḇduTashl. anbduCMB anebduZenaticRif anəbduFig. anəbduFoq. nəbduLibyanGhd. anăβduNef. nuduSouthernZng. tnäwḏəḏ 'dry season, summer' pl. tnūḏan 'years'NotesAs pointed out by...
View ArticleProto-Berber *ăβdər pf. *əβdắr impf. *əβăddăr 'to mention'
Western/KabyleKb. ḇḏər, impf. ttadər 'mention'Tashl. bdr, impf. addra 'cite, mention'CMB bdər impf. bəddarZenaticRif idar 'evoke'Fig. bdər 'mention'Mzab bdər 'evoke, cite'Ouar. bdər 'evoke, cite,...
View ArticleProto-Berber *eβăḍ/*e-βăḍ 'night'
Western/KabyleTashl. iḍ pl. aḍanCMB iḍ pl. iḍanKb. iḍ pl. uḍan, aḍanZenaticFig. iḍ pl. iḍanRif. iḍa 'currently'Mzab iḍ pl. iyḍanOuar. iḍ pl. iyḍanFoq. ayyəḍLibyanGhd. eβăḍ pl. eβăḍawănNef. iṭ pl....
View ArticleProto-Berber *ăβd~zəg pf. *əβd~zắg impf. *əβădd~zzăg 'to get wet'
Western/KabyleTashl. bzg, bdg impf. azzgCMB bzəg, bzəyKb. ḇzəḡ impf. ttāzəḡZenaticFig. bzəyRif. bzəgMzab bzəǧOuar. bzəg[Siwa səbzig][Foq. səbdig]TouaregAh əbdəǵWY əbdəgGhat əbǧəǧ LibyanGhd. ăβǧəǧ...
View ArticleProto-Berber: *ăbbəḱ pf. *əbbắḱ impf. *əttăbbăḱ 'to pinch'
Western/KabyleKb. bbi 'to pinch, sting'Tashl. bbi'to bite, sting, cut'CMB bbəy 'to cut, pluck'ZenaticRif bbi 'to pinch'Fig. ppəy 'to pick up one after the other'Mzab bbi 'to grab and take along,...
View ArticleThe Recitation of the Heart Sutra in Japan
I've written before about how Japanese Buddhist recitation of Classical Chinese imposes a metrical equivalent on bisyllabic Chinese readings of words, e.g. 色 shiki is pronounced twice as fast as 自 ji,...
View ArticleSome more thoughts on Buddhist Japano-Chinese recitation
Thinking some more on the recitation, I realize that while in modern Japanese lengthening the CV syllables to CV̄ causes massive mergers of C(y)o with Cō syllables, C(y)u with C(y)ū syllable and Ce...
View ArticleSome musings on Japanese onbin changes
Japanese is a weird language. In its modern form it is surprisingly regular and nice, but to compensate its historically attested linguistic history seems to be utterly filled with irregular sound...
View ArticleLength alternation between go-on and kan-on readings
Japanese doesn't have many long vowels in native vocabulary, but in Sino-Japanese it has many. But as with the native ones, these are almost invariably the result of contractions of bi-moraic...
View ArticleIssues with Lexical Comparison of Berber within Afroasiatic
I have just finished a really inspiring and interesting course at the Leiden Summer School named "Reconstructing Afro-Asiatic" together with Benjamin Suchard, Marwan Kilani, Ahmed Sosal and Maarten...
View ArticleProto-Berbero-Semitic Primae Waw Verbs
So after our Summerschool course Benjamin Suchard and I were excited to finally get working on a paper together, something we've always wanted to do but somehow the stars never aligned. We had a cool...
View ArticleProto-Berber Primae Waw: Is it really a /w/?
Last time I talked a bit about an interesting possible connection of how Berber and Semitic treat verbs with initial w as the first root consonant, both of them notably seem to lack the w in the...
View ArticleMore Proto-Berber Primae Waw
After my previous blogpost, Maarten Kossmann pushed back in the comments on Twitter on the idea that *əw really yields *u, which is something that would be needed to derive *əssuɣəd from *əssəwɣəd....
View Article