In addition to her brilliant scholarship on Chinese Islam, Sachiko Murata (b. 1943) has led a fascinating life. A thread with autobiographical excerpts from her book The Tao of Islam. (1/5)
Murata began her education studying family law in Japan, then went on to complete a PhD in Persian literature at the University of Tehran, and nearly completed a second one in Islamic jursiprudence (fiqh) before the revolution broke out and she came to the US. (2/5)
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Quick thread 🧵 with my 10 favorite online resources for reading Arabic
Thread inspired by @deepcutiqtibas 's tool Ishtiqāq, which allows you to run a wildcard search for words when you aren't sure about one (or more) of the letters - very useful when reading hard-to-decipher manuscripts
Although designed for Ottoman Turkish, I use LexiQamus for the same thing (deciphering words in manuscripts). Since Ottoman has tens of thousands of Arabic loans, it can still be useful for reading Arabic (or Persian, etc.) lexiqamus.com/en
My translation of Mohammad-Taqi Bahār's introduction to his Sabkshenāsi (Stylistics, 1942) is out now in the Journal of Persianate Studies.
A short thread 🧵 about this massively influential work. 1/7
Stylistics was the first textbook for the new doctoral program in Persian literature at the University of Tehran. It was a groundbreaking work of philology, incorporating traditional knowledge + Orientalist linguistics. 2/7
It helped establish an 'Iranian' literary canon, including things written not only in New Persian but in Old Persian, Avestan, Middle Persian, Arabic, and other languages. 3/7
In India "hotel" often refers to a restaurant. This is not an innovation; it's actually preserved an older sense of the word. A thread 🧵on the #etymology of "hotel" in South Asia. 1/
English hotel is from French hôtel, from Middle French hostel. The Middle French word is also the source of English hostel. In French, the circumflex (eg. ô) usually marks the historic presence of a consonant like s. Another example is forêt, which was forest in Middle French. 2/
The French is from medieval Latin hospitāle "guesthouse" (think "hospitality"). All of these words—hotel, hostel, hospital—originally referred to inns or shelters for travelers to stay and rest. 3/
This extremely cool video features rappers from all 31 provinces of Iran, with many regional dialects and languages represented. A thread on the video and on the politics of language in Iran. 1/
First, the video itself: 39 rappers in total, took 2 years to make. The clip I posted features Azerbaijani, Balochi, Mazandarani, & Persian, but there are so many more in the full video. Watch it here (there are Persian & English subtitles available): 2/
Most rap in their native languages, dressed in both traditional regional clothing and contemporary streetwear. The music uses local instruments for each rapper, while the background images showcase the geography and architecture of their respective regions. 3/