Haidar Abboud
@lawzinaj.bsky.social
This account is for my linguistics hobby. I'm interested in Semitic languages (Arabic dialectology, Aramaic (Classical Syriac or modern dialects), Hebrew).
What is the story of Lebanese surnames with ʔabi instead of ʔabu, like ʔabi raʕd?
One would hope it's a trace of the genitive “ibn ʔabī raʕd” but that sounds too cool to be true and would imply those names are old as F.
@quietstuff.bsky.social
One would hope it's a trace of the genitive “ibn ʔabī raʕd” but that sounds too cool to be true and would imply those names are old as F.
@quietstuff.bsky.social
December 20, 2025 at 7:05 PM
What is the story of Lebanese surnames with ʔabi instead of ʔabu, like ʔabi raʕd?
One would hope it's a trace of the genitive “ibn ʔabī raʕd” but that sounds too cool to be true and would imply those names are old as F.
@quietstuff.bsky.social
One would hope it's a trace of the genitive “ibn ʔabī raʕd” but that sounds too cool to be true and would imply those names are old as F.
@quietstuff.bsky.social
Random notes on the language of al-Kitāb al-ʔaqdas, the Bahāʔi holy scripture, written in literary Arabic in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Ongoing 🧵.
(1) nafs is treated as a masculine noun, even though it's feminine in Hebrew and typically in Arabic of course without having a feminine marker.
(1) nafs is treated as a masculine noun, even though it's feminine in Hebrew and typically in Arabic of course without having a feminine marker.
December 7, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Random notes on the language of al-Kitāb al-ʔaqdas, the Bahāʔi holy scripture, written in literary Arabic in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Ongoing 🧵.
(1) nafs is treated as a masculine noun, even though it's feminine in Hebrew and typically in Arabic of course without having a feminine marker.
(1) nafs is treated as a masculine noun, even though it's feminine in Hebrew and typically in Arabic of course without having a feminine marker.
What are the best takes on the etymology of the Arabic prepositions ladā and ladun? Are they related in some fashion? Is Wiktionary's suggestion of a connection with ליד a possibility or a hallucination?
December 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
What are the best takes on the etymology of the Arabic prepositions ladā and ladun? Are they related in some fashion? Is Wiktionary's suggestion of a connection with ליד a possibility or a hallucination?
Is the gemination in Maltese smewwiet ('skies') regular? Is it a literary coinage or a genuine reflex?
I wonder if the plural of 'sky' is attested in peripheral Arabic varieties. The only plural I know is samāwāt, which sounds too literary to me that I doubt it was native to my dialect.
I wonder if the plural of 'sky' is attested in peripheral Arabic varieties. The only plural I know is samāwāt, which sounds too literary to me that I doubt it was native to my dialect.
December 6, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Is the gemination in Maltese smewwiet ('skies') regular? Is it a literary coinage or a genuine reflex?
I wonder if the plural of 'sky' is attested in peripheral Arabic varieties. The only plural I know is samāwāt, which sounds too literary to me that I doubt it was native to my dialect.
I wonder if the plural of 'sky' is attested in peripheral Arabic varieties. The only plural I know is samāwāt, which sounds too literary to me that I doubt it was native to my dialect.
The Wikipedia article on the Aramaic Uruk incantation links to the Polish city of Warka (Warkāʔ is the Arabic name of Uruk).
December 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The Wikipedia article on the Aramaic Uruk incantation links to the Polish city of Warka (Warkāʔ is the Arabic name of Uruk).
In Levantine Arabic, /w/ (originally 'and') developed this new function:
bēt w ᵊštarayna
lit. 'house [indefinite] and we bought' = 'we did buy a house [so it isn't a problem any longer]'
Works with a definite noun too:
əl–bēt w ᵊštaraynā́
lit. 'the house and we bought it' = 'we did buy the house'
bēt w ᵊštarayna
lit. 'house [indefinite] and we bought' = 'we did buy a house [so it isn't a problem any longer]'
Works with a definite noun too:
əl–bēt w ᵊštaraynā́
lit. 'the house and we bought it' = 'we did buy the house'
December 3, 2025 at 2:09 PM
In Levantine Arabic, /w/ (originally 'and') developed this new function:
bēt w ᵊštarayna
lit. 'house [indefinite] and we bought' = 'we did buy a house [so it isn't a problem any longer]'
Works with a definite noun too:
əl–bēt w ᵊštaraynā́
lit. 'the house and we bought it' = 'we did buy the house'
bēt w ᵊštarayna
lit. 'house [indefinite] and we bought' = 'we did buy a house [so it isn't a problem any longer]'
Works with a definite noun too:
əl–bēt w ᵊštaraynā́
lit. 'the house and we bought it' = 'we did buy the house'
what is the tl;dr explanation of the τ
in Ἐλισάβετ seeing that it's from אֱלִישֶׁבַע, and is the /a/ etymological and if not then why is it there?
in Ἐλισάβετ seeing that it's from אֱלִישֶׁבַע, and is the /a/ etymological and if not then why is it there?
December 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
what is the tl;dr explanation of the τ
in Ἐλισάβετ seeing that it's from אֱלִישֶׁבַע, and is the /a/ etymological and if not then why is it there?
in Ἐλισάβετ seeing that it's from אֱלִישֶׁבַע, and is the /a/ etymological and if not then why is it there?
In Maṣlāwi Arabic (Mosul, Iraq), 'mulberry' is apparently tūθ, unlike literary Arabic tūt & other Iraqi dialects tukki. This /θ/ seems to reflect an Aramaic origin with spirantization <tūṯā, so the literary Ar form might perhaps be borrowed from sth else such as Persian or an older Aramaic branch?!
November 30, 2025 at 6:01 PM
In Maṣlāwi Arabic (Mosul, Iraq), 'mulberry' is apparently tūθ, unlike literary Arabic tūt & other Iraqi dialects tukki. This /θ/ seems to reflect an Aramaic origin with spirantization <tūṯā, so the literary Ar form might perhaps be borrowed from sth else such as Persian or an older Aramaic branch?!
Were Valencia & Murcia pronounced with -ah in Andalusian Arabic? It seems they appear with -at (Balansiy-at- & Murciy-at-) in Classical Arabic poetry from the era. It'd be rather weird to do that with the modern Arabic pronunciation of Valencia in MSA.
November 22, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Were Valencia & Murcia pronounced with -ah in Andalusian Arabic? It seems they appear with -at (Balansiy-at- & Murciy-at-) in Classical Arabic poetry from the era. It'd be rather weird to do that with the modern Arabic pronunciation of Valencia in MSA.
Can someone provide a transcription of the lyrics of this NENA-song? It's easy to recognize the obvious cognates based on the Arabic translation, but I miss a lot as I don't know any NENA. The singer has an Iranian Assyrian background, is this the Urmia dialect or another?
youtu.be/NdoXWy1EP-M?...
youtu.be/NdoXWy1EP-M?...
Evin Agassi (Khasade Qomo) إيوان اغازي خاصادن قومو
YouTube video by Robert Babawi
youtu.be
November 15, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Can someone provide a transcription of the lyrics of this NENA-song? It's easy to recognize the obvious cognates based on the Arabic translation, but I miss a lot as I don't know any NENA. The singer has an Iranian Assyrian background, is this the Urmia dialect or another?
youtu.be/NdoXWy1EP-M?...
youtu.be/NdoXWy1EP-M?...
My 6yo niece (German monolingual with good passive Arabic understanding) produces the Levantine Ar feminine ending [e] as [ə], e.g. būmə ('owl') as in Ger. [ˈt͡siːɡə] ('goat'). Kinda funny because Lev Ar speakers do the opposite, saying [ˈt͡siːɡe] when speaking German.
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 AM
My 6yo niece (German monolingual with good passive Arabic understanding) produces the Levantine Ar feminine ending [e] as [ə], e.g. būmə ('owl') as in Ger. [ˈt͡siːɡə] ('goat'). Kinda funny because Lev Ar speakers do the opposite, saying [ˈt͡siːɡe] when speaking German.
Fun listening to native Dutch speakers butchering final n when speaking German...
November 6, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Fun listening to native Dutch speakers butchering final n when speaking German...
I think this Egyptian speaker has pausal glottalization of -VC to -VʔC#, it can be heard in ṭamāṭeʔm# baṭāṭeʔs# ʔalwāʔn# lamūʔn# tōʔm# semseʔm# ħelwīʔn# (I hear it clearer in some than in others). This occurrence is also mentioned for western Syria on map N. 67 of Behnstedt's Sprachatlas von Syrien.
November 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I think this Egyptian speaker has pausal glottalization of -VC to -VʔC#, it can be heard in ṭamāṭeʔm# baṭāṭeʔs# ʔalwāʔn# lamūʔn# tōʔm# semseʔm# ħelwīʔn# (I hear it clearer in some than in others). This occurrence is also mentioned for western Syria on map N. 67 of Behnstedt's Sprachatlas von Syrien.
A Moroccan guy once told me he was going to ydīr ssardīn ('to cook sardines'), an odd form to me since it's definite despite not referring to any sardines we were both aware of (in my dialect it must be indefinite). I searched and found the same example (photo). Another instance I hear often is...
October 30, 2025 at 9:42 PM
A Moroccan guy once told me he was going to ydīr ssardīn ('to cook sardines'), an odd form to me since it's definite despite not referring to any sardines we were both aware of (in my dialect it must be indefinite). I searched and found the same example (photo). Another instance I hear often is...
For some reason, OpenStreetMap shows the name of the Ethiopian Amhara region in Arabic script (it doesn't do it for countries where the official lang(s) aren't written in it), and it writes it أمحرة instead of typical modern Arabic أمهرة. I'd never realized...
October 17, 2025 at 5:48 PM
For some reason, OpenStreetMap shows the name of the Ethiopian Amhara region in Arabic script (it doesn't do it for countries where the official lang(s) aren't written in it), and it writes it أمحرة instead of typical modern Arabic أمهرة. I'd never realized...
How did šħāl ('how much?') end up as šʕāl in some Algerian dialects?
I heard it in a famous Algerian song (that happens to be partially very difficult to understand for me), I saw it initially as شحال in the lyrics but I was hearing ʕ, then I found šʕāl attested in B & W.
I heard it in a famous Algerian song (that happens to be partially very difficult to understand for me), I saw it initially as شحال in the lyrics but I was hearing ʕ, then I found šʕāl attested in B & W.
October 15, 2025 at 8:14 PM
How did šħāl ('how much?') end up as šʕāl in some Algerian dialects?
I heard it in a famous Algerian song (that happens to be partially very difficult to understand for me), I saw it initially as شحال in the lyrics but I was hearing ʕ, then I found šʕāl attested in B & W.
I heard it in a famous Algerian song (that happens to be partially very difficult to understand for me), I saw it initially as شحال in the lyrics but I was hearing ʕ, then I found šʕāl attested in B & W.
Why is Nablus with /b/ in Arabic instead of /f/? Sounds a little surprising, I would've expected it to have entered the lexicon in the stage where foreign P's were still accommodated by Arabic's *p, like other place names.
October 4, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Why is Nablus with /b/ in Arabic instead of /f/? Sounds a little surprising, I would've expected it to have entered the lexicon in the stage where foreign P's were still accommodated by Arabic's *p, like other place names.
Bkərrāma, village in Latakia countryside, I suppose the b might be the shortened remnant of the construct state of *bayt (shows up also in several Lebanese villages), folk etymology associates kərrāma with Arabic 'generosity' but the attested Aramaic form karrāmā means vintner.
October 1, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Bkərrāma, village in Latakia countryside, I suppose the b might be the shortened remnant of the construct state of *bayt (shows up also in several Lebanese villages), folk etymology associates kərrāma with Arabic 'generosity' but the attested Aramaic form karrāmā means vintner.
How did Luxembourgish end up with its vowel of MAT ('with') unlike the related langs?
September 30, 2025 at 7:14 PM
How did Luxembourgish end up with its vowel of MAT ('with') unlike the related langs?
Fingerprint features of Ugaritic that set it apart from Canaanite, according to D. Sivan.
A š-causative can be seen in a few verbs in dialectal Arabic btw: šaqlab ('to turn upside down'). Al-Jallad says these ARB verbs are loans (I assume from Aramaic, which has some?). ARM...
A š-causative can be seen in a few verbs in dialectal Arabic btw: šaqlab ('to turn upside down'). Al-Jallad says these ARB verbs are loans (I assume from Aramaic, which has some?). ARM...
August 12, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Fingerprint features of Ugaritic that set it apart from Canaanite, according to D. Sivan.
A š-causative can be seen in a few verbs in dialectal Arabic btw: šaqlab ('to turn upside down'). Al-Jallad says these ARB verbs are loans (I assume from Aramaic, which has some?). ARM...
A š-causative can be seen in a few verbs in dialectal Arabic btw: šaqlab ('to turn upside down'). Al-Jallad says these ARB verbs are loans (I assume from Aramaic, which has some?). ARM...
Why is NW Syria considered in „the periphery of the Amorite language area“ here? One can see why Babylonia is, as the Amorite rulers governed Akkadian speakers. But if the Amroites ruled an area including Aleppo, Ebla (after its destruction), Antioch, then who did they rule over?
August 11, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Why is NW Syria considered in „the periphery of the Amorite language area“ here? One can see why Babylonia is, as the Amorite rulers governed Akkadian speakers. But if the Amroites ruled an area including Aleppo, Ebla (after its destruction), Antioch, then who did they rule over?
Regardless of whether חֲמָת is originally a Semitic name or not, did the name enter Arabic before -at/-āt shifted to -ah/-āh? In dialectal Arabic it's always pronounced without /t/. If the /t/ (or the allophonic θ) had persisted in the name AND Arabic had undergone the shift,...
August 11, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Regardless of whether חֲמָת is originally a Semitic name or not, did the name enter Arabic before -at/-āt shifted to -ah/-āh? In dialectal Arabic it's always pronounced without /t/. If the /t/ (or the allophonic θ) had persisted in the name AND Arabic had undergone the shift,...
This sounds eerily similar to the BÐR/BZR ('to sow') roots which both exist in Classical Arabic. What if BZR and ZRʕ are indeed ultimately from Canaanite or a Canaanite-like language?
August 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM
This sounds eerily similar to the BÐR/BZR ('to sow') roots which both exist in Classical Arabic. What if BZR and ZRʕ are indeed ultimately from Canaanite or a Canaanite-like language?
Somewhere in the back of my mind I was assuming Aleppo's name wasn't really Semitic despite its /ħ/ as it's rather northern & so damn old, but lately I looked at Wiki's etymology & it seems plausible it's the good old ĦLB root (nice parallel to LBNN if it referred to the color)?
August 10, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Somewhere in the back of my mind I was assuming Aleppo's name wasn't really Semitic despite its /ħ/ as it's rather northern & so damn old, but lately I looked at Wiki's etymology & it seems plausible it's the good old ĦLB root (nice parallel to LBNN if it referred to the color)?
Question to anyone in my bsky circle who studied some Akkadian: did you use Latin transcriptions only, or did you learn some cuneiform signs (if yes, about how many?)
August 10, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Question to anyone in my bsky circle who studied some Akkadian: did you use Latin transcriptions only, or did you learn some cuneiform signs (if yes, about how many?)