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Alexander Jabbari

@ajab.bsky.social
2.2K followers 445 following 646 posts

Professor of sundry Persianate things. I write about language, literature, history, philology, politics.

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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Honored to give a talk next week at the University of Chicago in the lecture series in memory of Frank Lewis
What Does Grammar Do? Some Answers from Persian Philology
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Palestinians living in tents in Gaza urgently need tarps for the coming winter. Please donate to the Gaza Support Network to purchase tarps and help families in Gaza stay warm and dry. chuffed.org/project/tarp...
chuffed.org
Urgent: In Gaza Now - Tarps Are Everything
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Palestinians living in tents in Gaza urgently need tarps for the coming winter. Please donate to the Gaza Support Network to purchase tarps and help families in Gaza stay warm and dry. chuffed.org/project/tarp...
chuffed.org
Urgent: In Gaza Now - Tarps Are Everything
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Philosemitism is the most cringe expression of antisemitism.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Weird gender agreement in Egyptian Arabic: قهوة تركي ahwa turkī "Turkish coffee", f. noun with m. adj. Same with "Arabic coffee," "French coffee" etc. Adding another adj to the noun phrase you can hear both قهوة تركي مضبوط and قهوة تركي مضبوطة. It's fem across the board in MSA. What's going on?
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Love to receive AI slop emails from my employer announcing steep budget cuts 🤬
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Congrats again! Come celebrate Static Forms and all the MSA Prize winners on Sept. 30 at 9 am EST by registering here:
tickettailor.com
Select tickets – Modernist Crossings - Teaching Modernism across the Curriculum, with MSA Prizes Announcement! – Zoom
Modernist Crossings - Teaching Modernism across the Curriculum, with MSA Prizes Announcement! – Zoom, Wed Sep 30, 2026 - All are welcome to join at the start of the event, when the MSA, and Second Vic...
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robin celikates @robin-c.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I’m so angry I wrote an article: In Germany, fascist majorities are a real possibility again, but the centrist merger of a revived Red Scare with open racism shows that mainstream media & politics are unable or unwilling to comprehend the seriousness of the crisis tribunemag.co.uk/2026/09/germ...
tribunemag.co.uk
Warning from Germany: It’s Socialism or Barbarism
Fascism is at the door, and liberals are ushering it in. Only the left offers hope.
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Philip Leventhal @philipleventhal.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Congratulations to Shir Alon, whose book, STATIC FORMS: WRITING THE PRESENT IN THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST is the winner of the 2026 Modernist Studies Association First Book Prize! bit.ly/46EHCFm #ModernistLatitudes @moderniststudies.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social
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CMA: Islamic Art @cmaislamic.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Illuminated Folio (recto) from a Gulistan (Rose Garden) of Sa'di (c. 1213-1291) clevelandart.org/art/2006.147.a
The <em>Gulistan, </em>completed around 1258, is one of the most celebrated works of Persian literature. The book’s name means “rose garden” in Persian; just as a rose garden is a collection of flowers, the contents are a collection of anecdotes. Written in both prose and verse, the <em>Gulistan </em>was used for centuries as a primer for schoolchildren in greater Iran, India, and Turkey. The text on these pages is written in <em>nastaliq </em>script and comes from the first chapter, “On the Conduct of Kings.”<br>The exquisite borders of these two folios show lions, dragons, foxes, and peacocks in a lush landscape, painted in gold and silver that has tarnished over time.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Camel fight Iran, 17th century Opaque watercolor on paper
Camel fight
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In the last decade, the IDF prosecuted one (1) soldier for unlawfully killing a Palestinian in the occupied territories. Elor Azaria served 9 months in prison. Today Israel's president, Yitzhak Herzog, pardoned him and expunged his criminal record. A clear message of 100% impunity.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Very excited for this «History and Revelation in the Qur'an: The Second Coming of Scripture» Mohsen Goudarzi global.oup.com/academic/pro...
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Never studied Syriac but if you know Arabic and Hebrew it's so transparent, like reading Italian after learning Spanish and French قم גבר, ܙܠ بشغلك And ܙܠ has cognates in both Arabic and Hebrew, though they don't work idiomatically here
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
"For investors concerned about the impending apocalypse or, more prosaically, whether the AI bubble might burst, a break from the whole topic might sound rather appealing. Consumers seem to feel the same way: journaling, sudoku, puzzle books and other non-digital pursuits are staging a comeback."
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Andrew Tan @andrewtanyongyi.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
In Singapore, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia, the Chinese word for market is 巴刹 (ba sha in Mandarin), which comes from Persian "bazaar" through Malay "pasar". That is in contrast with the more typical 市场 (shi chang in Mandarin) in Chinese elsewhere in the world.
biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg
No Longer “Dirty, Unhygienic, Crowded and Messy”: The Story of Singapore’s Changing Wet Markets
Wet markets have existed in Singapore since 1825. **Zoe Yeo** looks at how these markets have changed over time.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Some Thai words of Persian #etymology : Thai กุหลาบ gù-làap "rose", from Persian گلاب golāb "rosewater". (The Persian is also ultimately the source of English "julep", as in "mint julep".) Thai has borowed other words from Persian, including...
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
"In the film Air Bud (1997), a key plot point is enabled by the realization that there is “no rule says a dog can’t play basketball.” ... Such elements of legal trickery are an established field of discussion within the tradition of Islamic legal scholarship ... known by the Arabic term ḥiyal"
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Sitting in a cafe, deluding myself that I'm reading a book = Turkish listening practice
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Keith Edwards @kedwards.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
AI Investor: I have created the most dangerous machine in the world. It will wreck the economy, the environement, and the sanity of all who behold it. It doesn't have to be this dangerous, I just refuse to build in any safeguards or turn it off. I would like 1 Trillion American dollars please.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Sorry, doctor said I'm only allowed to eat donut peaches
Donut peaches
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Dana El Kurd @danaelkurd.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
By Mairav Zonszein www.nytimes.com/2026/09/06/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | It’s Not Just the West Bank Settlers. It’s Israel. (Gift Article)
Settler violence is reaching new heights.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Great example of how philosemitism is antisemitic
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The parties of the Likud, "Jewish Power", Religious Zionism, and the new "People of Israel" party are all running on an explicit, unabashed platform of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza as the "solution". Rabbi Kahane's racist legacy is the Israeli government's policy.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Found something really interesting while researching. Wow, I've never heard of this! Googled it and turned up one of my own articles in which I'd written about it in a footnote 😭
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Trump: I came for Iran's oil Pahlavists: you're lying, you came to save us!
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Really going to have to learn some Kurdish to make it here in Berlin
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Pressing the button til I can press no more
PRESS TO RESET YOUR LIFE
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
There's a solid comparison to be made between Azerbaijani in Iran, Punjabi in Pakistan, and to a lesser degree Javanese in Indonesia — largely lacking official status, even officially marginalized (in the case of the first 2) yet influential as the language of semi-dominant ethnicities
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Zach Weinersmith @zachweinersmith.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Solved
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
I am really enjoying the fact that a smear campaign is called a „Schmutzkampagne“ in German
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
It's funny that only the Arabic and Persian versions translated „Mitte“ rather than transliterating
Mitte ist Liebe in a bunch of languages
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
What a great German word
Schmontzette
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Assistant Professor, Assyriology (Cuneiform Cultures) Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures University of California, Berkeley aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05496
aprecruit.berkeley.edu
Assistant Professor -Assyriology (Cuneiform Cultures)- Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
University of California, Berkeley is hiring. Apply now!
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I wonder if Bühnendeutsch (which favored a trilled [r] in German) influenced the preference for the same in mid-20th century Hebrew radio
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
RIP Dolly 💔
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Dr. Nick Posegay @nposegay.northsky.social · 25/08/2026
A reversal of my previous post: this is the Arabic text of the Quran (al-Fatiha and start of al-Baqara) in Hebrew script. It appears in a longer Judaeo-Arabic work on popular magic. A number of medieval amulets show that medieval Jews invoked Islamic scripture to enhance magical effects.
Light brown, fragmentary paper folio with about 20 lines of semi-cursive Hebrew script in black ink. The fragment sits on a blue background. The classmark at the bottom (in pencil) reads T-S Ar.51.62 (more images here: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-AR-00051-00062/2).
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Dr. Nick Posegay @nposegay.northsky.social · 25/08/2026
These two pages are the Hebrew book of Numbers written in Arabic script (~11th century). You read that right: it's Hebrew language transliterated using the Arabic alphabet for Arabic-speaking Jews. Manuscripts like this have proven vital to reconstructing medieval Hebrew pronunciation traditions.
Light brown paper bifolium with 9 lines of messy brown-black Arabic script pointed with a combination of Arabic consonantal diacritic dots and Hebrew vowel dots. The manuscript sits on a blue background next to a yellow label that reads T-S Ar.52.242 P1 (images and metadata here: https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/MS-TS-AR-00052-00242/1)
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Very telling, on the uses of "decoloniality" for Erdoğan newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
newleftreview.org
Jeremy F. Walton, National Bricolage — Sidecar
The Turkish ‘saga’.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Give It Up! Franz Kafka
It was very early in the morning, the streets clean and deserted, I was walking to the station. As I compared the tower clock with my watch I realized that it was already much later than I had thought, I had to hurry, the shock of this discovery made me unsure of the way, I did not yet know my way very well in this town; luckily, a policeman was nearby, I ran up to him and breathlessly asked him the way. He smiled and said: “From me you want to know the way?” “Yes,” I said, “since I cannot find it myself.” “Give it up! Give it up,” he said, and turned away with a sudden jerk, like people who want to be alone with their laughter.
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WIRED @wired.com · 17/08/2026
Platforms are finally recognizing that people don’t want to consume AI slop. A growing number of sites and apps now have tools and policies to flag, label, and ban AI-generated content.
wired.com
The AI Slop Backlash Is Actually Having an Impact
Platforms are finally recognizing that people don’t want to consume AI slop. A growing number of sites and apps now have tools and policies to flag, label, and ban AI-generated content.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
So many restaurants in Berlin use AI slop images on their signs and menus. I never saw this in the US.
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Middle East Research and Information Project @merip.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
NEW ISSUE: Art at Work--People, Power and Cultural Production Issue 319 of Middle East Report explores culture not as an escape from politics, but as a space where struggles over power, identity and belonging are continually negotiated. READ NOW buff.ly/Iq7N4yV
merip.org
Art at Work—People, Power and Cultural Production
Summer 2026
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Markˣ @shjsat.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Ruus Al Jibal Arabic wotd شنجوب، جـ. شنوجيب šanǧūb, pl. šanōǧīb 'ghost crab' cf. Kumzari šangaw 'crab', Emirati Ar. šanyūb The etymology is discussed here: bsky.app/profile/shjs...
Picture of an unidentified species of ghost crab
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404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026
SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
404media.co
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The mercenaries fighting in Africa’s forgotten war Hundreds of Colombian fighters were brought to Sudan by a shadow network. At the end of the journey lay a city of corpses www.ft.com/content/3259...
ft.com
The mercenaries fighting in Africa’s forgotten war
Hundreds of Colombian fighters were brought to Sudan by a shadow network. At the end of the journey lay a city of corpses
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
French #etymology of the day: récif "reef", from Arabic رصيف raṣīf (via either Spanish arrecife or Portuguese recife) The Arabic is from raṣafa "to pave", cognate with Hebrew רצפה ritspa "floor"
Reef
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
I can't resist the opportunity to share the Evliya Çelebi story about eating honey in a Circassian village again
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Alexander Jabbari @ajab.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Israel has had more people leaving the country than immigrating since 2023, with 150,000 leaving in the last 3 years www.ft.com/content/7a83...
ft.com
The exodus from Israel
Immigration is at the heart of the country’s self-image. But people have been leaving
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Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Settlers have been laying siege on a family house in Kusra for several days now, trying to make the family flee in order to take over the house. www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-sur...
timesofisrael.com
Settlers surround Palestinian family’s West Bank home in ongoing days-long siege
Homeowner tells ToI settlers built makeshift structure in front of house on Sunday, blocking entry and exit; soldiers came to pray with group and left without removing them
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