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Lin, Chia-Wei

@chiaweilin.bsky.social

710 followers 800 following 80 posts

Assistante diplômée & doctorante @Université de Lausanne. Historical linguistics, language contact, indigenous grammatical traditions, Christian and Buddhist translations on the Silk Road. Working on Barlaam&Josaphat. https://unil.academia.edu/chiaweilin

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · Apr 4

Inspired by amazing @acbm.bsky.social and @lcbmphd.bsky.social, I am planning an online Pali jātaka reading group. We will begin with the ten best-known jātaka stories in the Southeast Asian tradition.(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mah%C4%...)

Anyone with a basic knowledge of Sanskrit or Middle Indic

Mahānipāta Jātaka - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 1d

Coptic (L4) word of the day
ⲧⲥⲉⲃⲟ, ⲧⲥⲉⲃⲁ/ⲟ⸗
"teach"

as in CBKph 423.26-27 (ed. Gardner, BeDuhn, Dilley)
ⲁⲩⲧⲥⲉⲃⲁⲩ ⲁⲧⲭⲱⲣⲁ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲁⲓ̈ⲛⲉ ⲧϩⲉ ⲉⲧⲉⲥϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲥ
ⲁⲩⲧⲥⲉⲃⲁⲩ ⲁⲛ ⲁⲉⲙⲛⲧⲉ ⲙⲛ̅ⲡⲙⲁ ⲉⲧϥ̅ϣⲟⲟⲡ ⲛ̅ϩⲏⲧϥ̅

"they taught them what the land of light is like;
they taught them, too, about hell and where it is"

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 2d

Old Uyghur word of the day
/kıdıg/
"shore, bank"

as in Diam. Sutra, ed. Zieme, A₂ 18-19

/köŋüllärin amırtgurup nırvanlıg ıntın kıdıgka ärtgäli uyur/

"they will be able to give their hearts rest to cross over to nirvana's shore on the other side."

ms image: turfan.bbaw.de/dta/u/images...

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 8d

Dr. Krisztina Szilágyi is teaching a short course on Christian Arabic texts & manuscripts, January 6-15, 2026 (Westminster College, Cambridge)

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Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · 8d

Weekly Georgian Etymology: კალათა ḳalata 'basket', from late Old Georgian ႩႠႪႠႧႨ ḳalati, from Greek κάλαθος basket, probably from Akkadian 𒄭𒆷𒌅 ḫallatum basket for transporting goods, from Sumerian 𒂁𒄬 hal pot, basket.

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Lydia Bremer-McCollum @lcbmphd.bsky.social · 16d

Late Antiquity Friends:
Came across a curious detail in Martyrdom Victor. Angels wrap Victor's soul in a fine-linen-cloth before ascent. Do you know of other examples?
"ⲁϥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲧⲉⲯⲩⲭⲏ ⲛⲁⲡⲁ ⲃⲓⲕⲧⲱⲣ ⲉⲁⲩⲥⲟⲩⲉⲗⲟⲩⲱⲗⲥ ϩⲛϩⲉⲛⲙⲁⲡⲡⲁ ⲛϣⲛⲥ/He saw that they wrapped the soul of Apa Victor in a linen cloth"(89.8)

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 18d

Old Georgian word of the day
ფურცელი
leaf

as in Hippolytus, Comm. Song of Songs (ed. Garitte), 62.17-18

არღარა ფურცელი ლეღჳსაჲ მისა სამოსელ, არამედ სულისა წმიდისა მიერ შემოსილ

"a fig leaf is no longer her garment: rather, she's clothed by the holy spirit"

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 19d

Old Georgian word of the day
განზავებული mixed (განზავება mix)

as in Hippolytus, Comm. Song of Songs (ed. Garitte), 62.8-9
სუ ვითარცა ღჳნოჲ … ახალი სასუმელი განზავებული
"like wine, drink … a new mixed drink"

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 19d

SEA doublets of the day:

Vietnamese bát 'bowl' < Chin. 缽 bō, clipping of 缽多羅 bō dō luó < Skt. pātra

Khmer : បាត្រ <pā.tra> [ɓaːt] 'alms bowl (of a Buddhist monk)' < Skt. pātra

Both words are ultimately from Sanskrit, but while Khmer borrowed it directly, the Vietnamese form entered through Chinese.

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 20d

cf. Tai Chung Pui 2008, 西夏文佛经残片的藏文对音研究, Fragment 17.

Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 20d

Tangut word of the day:

𗍥𘟙 ghəh¹ ne² ‘diamond’ (per Gong Xun 202411), transcribed here as rgi ne, literally 'stone-king', a calque of Tibetan rdo rje '(lit.) stone-king; diamond'.

📷: British Library Or. 12380/1842: Tangut manuscript with phonetic glosses in Tibetan script
idp.bl.uk/collection/3...

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 23d

Old Georgian word of the day
ცადება let, allow, grant

Limonarion, ed. Abuladze, 4.22
მაცადეთ უკუე სამ დღე
"okay, give me three days"

მ-ა-ცად-ე-თ aor imv 2p O1

For more, including a Lynyrd Skynyrd reference and a cool painting by Nicholas Roerich, see here:

Gimme three days: a procrastinating monk (in Georgian) | fringe philology

www.patreon.com

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 26d

My presentation on Arabic–Old Georgian translations at the 35. Deutscher Orientalistentag in Erlangen. As always, I would really appreciate any suggestions, feedback, or critiques. 😊

www.academia.edu/129935394/Di...

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 27d

Gəʕəz word of the day
ገፍዐ፡
/gäfʕä/
"press, push"

as in BL Or. 686, ff. 170vc-171ra
መጽአኒ፡ኃይል፡ዘይገፍዓኒ፡ወያገብአኒ፡ድኅረ፡እስከ፡ኢይክል፡በዊአ፡
"a force met me and was pushing me, turning me back, so that I couldn't go in"

NB: *ʔi-ʔəkəl (neg 1s) > /ʔiyəkəl/ ኢይክል፡, which looks and sounds just like /ʔi-yəkəl/ (3ms)

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · 29d

Gəʕəz word of the day
ሀፍ፡
/häf/
"sweat"

as in the life of Mary of Egypt, ed. Pereira, 9.5-6
ውስተ፡ምድር፡እንዘ፡ያንጸፈጽፍ፡ሐፉ፡ወኢይክል፡ነቢበ፡
"with his sweat dripping onto the ground, and he couldn't speak"

Also note the verb ያንጸፈጽፍ፡ /yanṣäfäṣṣəf/, anQ dur 3ms √ṣfṣf (cogn. w/ Heb לטפטף, etc.).

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · 28d

I gave a presentation this week at the Deutscher Orientalistentag in Erlangen on the orthography of Indic loanwords in Mainland Southeast Asian languages. Suggestions, feedback, and critiques are most welcome!

www.academia.edu/143880454/To...

Towards a typology of orthography of Indic loanwords in Mainland Southeast Asian Languages (35. Deutscher Orientalistentag, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen, 10.09.2025)

Mainland Southeast Asian languages have been greatly influence from Pali and Sanskrit through the spread of Buddhism. This is reflected both in the writing systems — the major writing systems (Mon, Bu...

www.academia.edu

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Sep 6

This week I finished typesetting the next 4T book, Fabien Muller on Porphyry's Letter to Anebo & Philosophy from Oracles: Greek & Latin fragments, Eng. translations, glossaries, and short commentary.

Stay tuned if you're interested in gods and daemons, theurgy, and oracles in dactylic hexameter!

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Aug 30

Old Armenian word of the day
կշռեմ
"weigh, measure, calculate"

Arm. tr. of Evagrius's letters (ed. Young & Karapetyan) 16.5
թէ խաւսի՝ կշրէ զխաւսսն
"if the monk talks, the demon weighs his words"

կշռեմ derives from կշիռ, կշռոց "balance, scale(s)" (distantly, cf. Akk /gišrinnu/ and Sum /ŋešrin/)

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Sep 1

Syriac word of the day
ܣܟܪ
/sḵar/
"close up, block off, shut"

as in Vat. sir. 160, f. 93rb

ܣܟܘܪ ܦܘܡܟ ܪܫܝܥܐ ܘܒܥܠܕܒܒܗ ܕܐܠܗܐ ܘܠܐ ܬܘܣܦ ܬܘܒ ܦܬܓܡܐ ܗܢܐ ܣܢܝܐ ܠܡܡܠܠܘ

"Shut your trap, you god-hating degenerate, and don't drag out the diatribe!"

Manuscript images here
digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat...

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Thomas Wier @trwier.bsky.social · Sep 1

Weekly Georgian Etymology: მაყალი maq̇ali 'open coal fire, grill', from late Middle Georgian, from colloquial Ottoman Turkish منقل ma(n)qal brazier, from Arabic مِنْقَل minqal brazier, from Proto-Semitic *NQL transfer, move. Originally referred to a portable light/heat source.

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · Sep 1

appears in the full names of both Bangkok and Phnom Penh (Khmer មហានគរ / Thai มหานคร), from Skt. mahānagara ‘the great city’.

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · Sep 1

Khmer word of the day:

អង្គរ [ʔɑŋ.ˈkɔː] Angkor in អង្គរវត្ត Angkor Wat is from Skt. nagara 'city', with metathesis of the first syllable (na > aṅ).

A doublet of this word, Khmer នគរ [nɔ.ˈkɔː] and Thai นคร [na˦˥.kʰɔːn˧]

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📷 www.persee.fr/doc/befeo_03...

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Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Aug 28

Old Uyghur word of the day
/yinčü/ (< 真珠 zhēnzhū)
"pearl"

U 1880, side 1, ll. 5-6 (cf. Zieme, "Poor Man in Byzantium," p. 41)

/sansız sakıš-sız a[l]kınčsız tälim ärdini yinčü/
"their many countless, endless jewels and pearls"

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · Aug 28

Imagine that in 2000 years philologists rediscover this book and attempt a decipherment😂

Reposted by Lin, Chia-Wei

Adam Bremer-McCollum @acbm.bsky.social · Aug 26

Old Georgian word of the day
ფუტკარი
bee

Jn Mosch, Limon., ed. Abuladze, 2.4-6
ვითარცა ფუტკარმან რაჲ შეკრიბის მრავალფერთა ყუავილთაგან სიტკბოებაჲ და შექმნის იგი გოლად ჭურჭელსა შინა ერთსა
"like a bee when it gathers sweetness from multicolored flowers and makes it into a cell in a single receptacle"

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Lin, Chia-Wei @chiaweilin.bsky.social · Aug 25

Love the Chinese parallels! I assume we can do our next Georgian reading group in Chinese now? 😉

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