iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

It looks like I may be completely wrong about this thread I posted not long ago — and that the Chinese characters are correct and Pulmuone is in fact putting wood vinegar in their chicken feed. I'm reviewing comments from a few readers and will post an update!

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Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 | Gabriel Corsetti on Zev Handel's 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎 (University of Washington Press): "... an accessible and informative book that thoroughly debunks these and other misconceptions about the nature of Chinese writing." chajournal.com/2026/06/14/c... 。。

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

The University of Washington Press has a huge sale twice a year. The Summer Book Sale begins Monday, June 1 and runs through July 11. All titles on the UW Press website are 40% off with free domestic shipping—use the code WARM26 at checkout. uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

uwapress.uw.edu

Chinese Characters across Asia

A fascinating story of writing across cultures and timeWhile other ancient nonalphabetic scripts—Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Mayan hierog...

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Ordered this for dinner the other night. It made me think of …

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

For years I walked past this sign and assumed it said "Sip Lounge". Then one day recently I walked past and thought, Wait. Could that second word be "house"? Now I'm sure it's "house". There's nothing that could be construed as the "n" in "Lounge". So why was I initially so sure it said "Lounge"?

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

This café/bar is on my daily walking route to work. I’ve passed it dozens, maybe hundreds, of times over the years since it opened. I’m beginning to suspect that I’ve been misreading the sign this whole time.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

If the state of Hán 韓 had somehow managed to conquer all the other Warring States and establish the first dynasty instead of the state of Qín 秦, the modern character for 'horse' would look something like 目.

An image showing the evolution of the Chinese character 馬 'horse', from early oracle-bone to various Warring States forms, then to seal script, clerical script, and modern script

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

My 2019 book Sinography: The Borrowing and Adaptation of the Chinese Script has just been published in Korean. I'm deeply grateful to Prof. LEE Yong 이용 (University of Seoul) and his team for the incredible effort that went into translating this work with care and accuracy. 동아시아의 한자: 중국 준자의 차용과 변용

Korean cover of 동아시아의 한자: 중국 준자의 차용과 변용, a translation of Sinography: The Borrowing and Adaptation of the Chinese Script, by 제브 핸델 (Zev Handel)

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

This is one of the slides from my upcoming book talk at Barnes & Noble in the U District, Seattle (this Tuesday, 5:00pm). I often use the English ampersand as an example to help those with no knowledge of Chinese understand how Chinese characters function in Standard Written Chinese.

Image of a Powerpoint slide. The slide title is "Chinese characters are like The Ampersand &".

The slide content is:

The ampersand’s use in English to write “and” is exactly analogous to the use of Chinese characters in Chinese writing:
XI’m going together & you.
XThe book was written by Zev H&el.
✓This talk is at Barnes & Noble.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Wow, 小篆 seal script (based on Shuō wén jiě zì 說文解字) is going to be separately encoded for inclusion in Unicode 18.0! Proposal document here: www.unicode.org/wg2/docs/n53...

unicode.org

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

If you are in the Seattle area, come see me on February 3 at the Barnes and Noble UW Book Store. I'm holding a talk, reading, and book signing for my book Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. stores.barnesandnoble.com/event/978006...

stores.barnesandnoble.com

UW Author Zev Handel discussing his book Chinese Characters Across Asia

Join us for an in-store event, UW Author Zev Handel discussing his book Chinese Characters Across Asia, on Tuesday, February 03, 2026.

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Tiro Typeworks @tirotypeworks.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

Just finished reading _Chinese Characters Across Asia_ by @zevhandel.bsky.social l. It’s the clearest introduction I have read about how the Chinese writing system works—dispelling common, long-held misunderstandings—, and how the script was adapted to Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Zhuang.

Front cover of Zev Handel’s book _Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese_.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

We've just enjoyed the bright harvest moon of Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋, 추석 秋夕, 月見, Trung Thu, etc.), so how about a moon-related linguistics thread? We'll look at an unusual Chữ Nôm graph and recover some lost 17th-century Vietnamese sounds, among other things. 🌕 🇵🇹 🇻🇳 1/🧵

Black-and-white photo of the full moon, showing a lot of detail of the surface of the moon.

Still image of the performer Psy from the music video for Gangnam Style, captioned "LET'S DO THIS CHỮ NÔM STYLE"

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to hear me talk about the cool stuff in my book.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Today! www.thirdplacebooks.com/event/zev-ha...

thirdplacebooks.com

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

My book talk at Third Place Books in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle is next Tuesday! Below in thread is an excerpt from *Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese*. I'll be reading more at the book event.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Are you in the Seattle area? Come see me at Third Place Books in Ravenna on Sept 16, 7pm. I'll be talking about and reading from my new book, followed by Q&A and a book-signing session. Would love to see you there. Check out the link for more info, to RSVP, and to pre-order a book for signing.

thirdplacebooks.com

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

1/ Geodude is a tough-looking little rock-type guy with balled-up fists 🤛😠🤜. Despite the crusty form and threatening pose, it looks more cute than dangerous. At least to me. Time for a #Pokenomastics thread! We'll look at Geodude's names in a whole bunch of languages. 🇺🇸🇯🇵🇰🇷🇭🇰🇨🇳🇩🇪🇫🇷 #langsky

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

The Korean-language translation of my 2019 book Sinography has just been published! This is not an easy book to translate; I'm grateful to the team of scholars, led by Prof. Lee Yong (이용 교수님) who worked on it. The Korean title is: 동아시아의 한자 −중국 문자의 차용과 변용− www.aladin.co.kr/shop/wproduc...

aladin.co.kr

동아시아의 한자 | 동아시아 한국학 번역총서 11 | 제프 핸델

중국 주변국에서 한자를 차용하고 변용하여 중국어 외의 언어를 표기하는 방식이 각 언어의 유형론적 특징에 깊은 영향을 받는다는 것을 주된 내용으로 담고 있다. 거시적 관점을 요구하는 이 작업은 한자권 전역의 ...

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 20/08/2025

I posted this quoted thread, on the 20th-century history of Chinese gendered written pronouns, in November. I've just come across a very nice 2024 article on this topic by Janet Davey in the journal Image [&] Narrative. I'll describe it briefly and put a link to the free pdf in thread below.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.

I've now been allowed and asked to share more details about what's going down at the University of Oregon, which involves imminent announcement of firings, among others, of tenure-track and tenured faculty. Given the units impacted (see below), please share this with your professional networks in related disciplines and start getting ready to put pressure (or begin putting pressure already) on the University of Oregon upper admin to abandon this alleged plan before they finalize it.

It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion and Classics (two separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, German & Scandinavian, Judaic Studies, Arabic Studies, and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is "financial exigency" -- upper administrations of several universities across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the context of Trump attacks on higher ed to dismantle the humanities.

Faculty at OU won a faculty union not long ago; this may be, in part, a retaliation for that, I've been told. The union is working with AAUP, etc.; my understanding is that the maximum spotlight is needed at this point.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

Thanks for this reference! Looks like the various terms are: - typographic mimicry - faux font - pseudoscript - ethnic typeface - simulation typeface - "foreign look" font I really dislike “ethnic font”.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

I took this photo at Lumen Field in Seattle, when I went to see the Seattle Sounders FC play in a FIFA Club World Cup game ⚽️. The sign is of typographic and linguistic interest. Let’s take a closer look. 1/🧵

A sign over a gated entrance onto the grounds of Lumen Field in Seattle. This grassy area just outside the stadium proper is called Muckleshoot Heritage Plaza. A number of people are wandering around inside the plaza.

The sign is topped by a black-and-white design with two leaping salmon. The center portion of the sign reads "muckleshoot HERITAGE PLAZA". To the left of this words is written "Cedar River" and to the right "txʷədaʔu"

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

If you are in the UK or Europe and want a massive 40% off and free shipping on my book Chinese Characters Across Asia, see the link below.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) was an Italian Jesuit who lived in China for decades, pursuing his order’s goal of spreading the Catholic faith. He mastered both spoken Chinese and the classical written language. Ricci was well positioned to explain Chinese writing to his fellow Europeans. 1/🧵字

Portrait of Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Ricci#/media/File:Ricciportrait.jpg

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

July 26 is Esperanto Day! Did you know that Esperanto was a major player in the Chinese language reform movement of the early 20th century? It was tied to internationalist sentiment, and particularly anarchism, in the 1910s through 1930s. 1/4

the Esperanto Flag, a field of green with a green star (Verda Stelo) against a white background in the top left corner

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Herewith, a short thread on what I learned from this book, Yóuzhèngzhì Luómǎ Pīnyīn 郵政制羅馬拼音 (Postal Romanization), published in 1961 by the Directorate General of Posts in Taiwan. (Check out the prices in NT$, US$, and HK$. Books were cheap then.)

Chinese title page of the book Yóuzhèngzhì Luómǎ Pīnyīn 郵政制羅馬拼音 (Postal Romanization)

English title page of the book Yóuzhèngzhì Luómǎ Pīnyīn 郵政制羅馬拼音 (Postal Romanization)

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Andrew West, a brilliant and generous scholar, has died. corp.unicode.org/pipermail/un...

corp.unicode.org

Andrew C. West 魏安 1960–2025

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

The European Association for Chinese Studies is holding an Autumn School titled "字 and the Search for Universalism", for students and junior scholars working on the history of the Chinese script and the “sinographic sphere”. Dates: 14–16 November Location: Nürnberg sites.google.com/view/eacsaut...

sites.google.com

EACS Autumn School

Welcome to the EACS Autumn School 2025

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

I took these photos in the Barcelona metro. The raised dot seen in the station name Paral·lel appears to be a feature of Catalan orthography. It has an interesting function.

Photo taken inside the Barcelona metro, showing the platform and wall. On the wall is an ad for the new Superman movie and the station name Paral·lel.

Photo taken inside the Barcelona metro. On the wall is the station name Paral·lel.

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Asian Review of Books @asianreviewofbooks.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Drops today: on this week's ARB @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast, Nicholas Gordon talks to @zevhandel.bsky.social about his book “Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese” @uwapress.bsky.social asianreviewofbooks.com/podcast-with...

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

A review of my book Chinese Characters Across Asia has come out in the LA Review of Books, alongside Uluğ Kuzuoğlu’s Codes of Modernity: Chinese Scripts in the Global Information Age. lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

lareviewofbooks.org

The Undying Chinese Writing System | Los Angeles Review of Books

Colin Marshall reviews two books about the past and present of the Chinese writing system.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 28/06/2025

A store name that includes a metalinguistic reference to its own spelling.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

🎙️ I'm on a podcast! 🎙️ I was interviewed about my book Chinese Characters Across Asia for the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social , you can find the episode here: newbooksnetwork.com/chinese-char... . My first time ever on a podcast. I was nervous at first, but Miranda Melcher was a great host.

newbooksnetwork.com

Zev J. Handel, "Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese" (U Washington Press, 2025) - New Books Network

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Axel Jagau @yraneac.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

After Amazon initially declined to send the book to Estonia it finally arrived today 😊 @zevhandel.bsky.social

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

To be clear, this had a pedagogical purpose. I was illustrating the challenges of determining Old Chinese rime groups through analysis of Shījīng 詩經 rhyming patterns when you don't know for sure (1) which words were intended to rhyme; (2) whether the rhymes are perfect or approximate.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

A day when I sing a Belle & Sebastian song to my graduate seminar in Old Chinese phonology, is a good day.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

There is a big sale going on at the University of Washington Press all month (April, 2025). It's 40% off and free US shipping, if you use discount code WSPRING25. The paperback cover price is $35, so with the code it's $21 + tax and free domestic shipping. uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295... 38/end

uwapress.uw.edu

Chinese Characters across Asia

A fascinating story of writing across cultures and timeWhile other ancient nonalphabetic scripts—Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Mayan hierog...

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Dr. Wes Robertson @scriptingjapan.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Hey Bluesky! I somehow ended up with an extra copy of @zevhandel.bsky.social's new book Chinese Characters Across Asia so I'm giving it away. Details in video.

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Looks like my book has finally penetrated to every corner of the globe! 🌏

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

🅻🄰🅽🅶🆄🄰🅶🅴 🆀🆄🅸🆉 Way back in late 2020, I posted a "language quiz" on Twitter. I showed seven sentences written in Chinese characters. None of them was Chinese. I invited readers to identify which languages were represented by each written sentence. Only one of those sentences was invented by me:

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Thanks for the glowing recommendation!

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Timmy O'Danaos @odanaos.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

Yesterday the bookstore called that they had received @zevhandel.bsky.social's book and now I finally have it in my hands! 🥳

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VIEWS project @viewsproject.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Look what arrived in the post today! Can't wait to read this @zevhandel.bsky.social

A picture of the book Chinese Characters Across Asia by Zev Handel.

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Brendan O’Kane @bokane.org · 13/03/2025

new @zevhandel.bsky.social jawn just arrived 🀄️📚

Pierogi, a small cream and grey cat who is strongly against romanization and all other phonetic scripts, investigates a new copy of ‘Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese’ by Zev Handel

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Greg B @btdgreg.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

@zevhandel.bsky.social I just got your book and I'm excited to read it.

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Justin R. Leung 梁路明 @justinrleung.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Finally received a copy of Chinese Characters Across Asia by @zevhandel.bsky.social ! Looking forward to reading it!

A copy of Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese by Zev Handel

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Zev Handel @zevhandel.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

A 🧵 on dǎdī 打的. The Mandarin word dǎdī 打的 meaning ‘hail a cab’, ‘ride in a taxi’ is strange, right? It sounds strange. It looks strange. What’s up with this word? 1/

cartoon image of anthropomorphized yellow taxi smiling and giving a thumbs-up with one large white hand

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University of Washington Press @uwapress.uw.edu · 11/03/2025

In the newly released CHINESE CHARACTERS ACROSS ASIA, @zevhandel.bsky.social tells a fascinating story of writing across cultures and time. Learn more: uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...

Book cover of Chinese Characters Across Asia by Zev Handel. The cover features a background of vertical strips of manuscripts with handwritten Chinese characters in shades of blue, beige, and gray. A large white circle in the center contains the book's title in bold teal letters and the subtitle in smaller brown text: 'How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese.' The author's name appears in white capital letters at the bottom

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