Suboptimist
I’m not quite a pessimist. I’m more of a suboptimist.

I am greatly ambivalent on the topic of capital punishment. Sadam Hussein was hanged at dawn in Baghdad (about 10 PM here), during the morning call to prayer. Hussein was hanged before the beginning of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha, in which Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael. An angel appeared to Abraham, ordered him to stop, and Abraham sacrificed a goat instead, which is commemorated by the sacrifice of a goat today. Today, Hussein is taking the place of that goat.

I feel that if anybody deserves to die, it was the deposed Iraqi leader. Perhaps he got off easy, considering he was never tried for his actions against the Kurds and his actions in Kuwait. On the other hand, I can’t help but feel we’ve done a terrible wrong by allowing Hussein to be executed, perhaps knowing that in doing so, we paved the way for more bloodshed in the country. Then again, it isn’t my choice, the Iraqi people’s choice.

Hussein’s death, perhaps ironically, was intended to symbolize the end of a dark era in the history of Iraq, an era symbolized by long wars, oppression, and autocratic control. In reality, his execution will go down in history as a small part of the long war we are a part of today, one which may result in more blood being shed than perhaps would have in 20 more years of Hussein’s lifetime. What was supposed to close this chapter of Iraq’s history has only opened another, more bloody chapter.

First off, I should mention that my grades are in. I recall being terrified the middle of the semester about how my grades would turn out. I really shouldn’t have worried, as everything is okay. I’m still on the Dean’s List, and my grades are exactly as I had predicted. So, Merry Christmas to Rob.

History has shown that people who come into the world with a message of radical change from the norm, peace, love, and truth, are often met with a terrible end. Such was the fate of Jesus Christ. Even further, as is so often the case, the message was lost with the messenger, as millions were slaughtered in his name, as we forget that Jesus healed his enemy and oppressor’s ear, that had been severed by the sword of his companion.

That’s kind of depressing, really. Perhaps celebrating Christmas on an old Pagan holiday (Yule), one which symbolizes a hope and rebirth, is what we need to remind us that we still have a chance to save the world. Anyway, I suck at saying meaningful things. Here is something more fun:

ZOMG!

I got a B+ in Syntax!  I’m free!

Thus far, I have spent my [insert winter holiday of choice here] break pleasure reading, working on some Arabic, playing in the evenings, and being a temporary tangerine delivery boy. A Santa Claus of citrus, if you will. I have engaged in every activity imaginable, except socializing and Christmas shopping. I also haven’t seen my grades, since I haven’t received any grades, except for the CR (credit in a credit/non-credit class) in my cycling class. If anyone would like to do something while I have this break, feel free to contact me.

If anyone is curious, here is what next semester looks like:

Islamic theology and philosophy. I’m excited for this class. Dr. Bernard Weiss is teaching two classes in the Spring, the other being:

Islamic law. This should afford me an opportunity to read some hands on experience with old Islamic legal texts.

Shi`ism. If I wasn’t fascinated by Shi`ism, I wouldn’t take this class. It’s being taught by a professor, whom I love, but is too old to teach. We’ll see how this goes. This, along with the other Middle East Studies classes I am taking in the Spring should about wrap up my Middle East Studies degree.

Phonology 2. As much as I bitched about theory the past semester, I grew to love phonetics and phonology. This should be fun, and in a remarkable twist of events, is being taught be a real phonologist.

Historical linguistics. As much as I talk about how interesting I find historical linguistics, this will be the first formal class I will have taken in the subject. Dr. Lyle Campbell, whom some of you may be familiar with, is teaching this.

Linguistic structure of Arabic. I want to be excited for this class, considering all the Clive Holes I’ve been reading lately. However, if it turns out like my Arabic sociolinguistics class, which was half filled with theoreticians and half with students who thought they were getting an upper level Arabic class, I will likely lose my mind.

The next semester of Arabic is in limbo. We will have to see when it is being taught. I hope I can at least audit again. I am thinking no syntax.

Not a lot to say, since I don’t feel like saying much.

Here is how I presume the semester went, judging by test rounds:

Round 1: 1/3 I got off to a rocky start. Syntax, of course, was miserable, and anthropology was less than stellar. Preformed very well in phonetics.

Round 2: 2/2 Nailed this round. Great syntax score and a full A on the anthropology test.

Round 3: TBD. I personally think it’s going to be 3/3 here. Syntax may be the only letdown. I felt comfortable with my anthropology final, and all the problem sets on the phonology final were Arabic and Biblical Hebrew. My anthropology ‘essay’ may piss off the professor. I spent the first half talking about how awesome alphabetic writing is, and the second half talking about what a load of shit alphabetic writing is. I’m exaggerating, of course, but still.

I read over a few Hadiths the other day. One in particular caught my eye. It was given in the context of after Friday prayer, when Muhammad got up to thank everyone for coming, etc. Here it is in Arabic and English:

و حدثني محمد بن رافع و عبد بن حميد قال عبد اخبرنا و قال ابن رافع حدثنا عبد الرزاق اخبرنا معمر عن الزهري عن ابن المسيب عن ابي هريرة قال

قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم من اكل من هذه الشجرة فلا يقربن مسجدنا ولا يؤذينا بريح الثوم

Translation (excluding all the isnad):

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Whoever ate from this plant [raw onion and garlic and this case] should not approach our mosque, thus harming us with the smell of raw garlic.”

Reading this Hadith was followed by a discussion of the practicality of some Ahadith, compared to the more contemplative nature of others. I mentioned isnad above. Isnad is basically a chain of narrator of Hadith, and was probably brought to the study of Hadith by Jewish converts to Islam.

I have one problem with the above citation:

man akala min haðihi ʃ-ʃajara fala: ya-qrabna masjidana:

Who ate.3MS from this the-plant don’t approach.3FP mosque-our

Whoever ate from this plant, don’t approach our mosque.

I am not sure why the verbs don’t agree. One being 3^rd person masculine singular, the other being 3^rd person feminine plural. If anyone has a clearer understanding of this, let me know.

Anyway, classwork is over, and I am now working on finals. I finished my phonology take-home final, in which all the data is Arabic and Biblical Hebrew (I have this test in the bag), and now have to work on a Syntax take-home, a translation, and a short essay for anthropology. Then, I have a month off. Alhamdulillah.

I know I posted a long-ass update yesterday, but this is worth of mention. I received an A- on my last syntax exam. Well, technically I received an A-/B+, but I won’t go into my professor’s method of grading.

Yeah, it’s been a while, but it’s also been a crazy while. In fact, it’s been so long that I had forgotten that I had changed the layout to a WP theme. If there is anything you would like to see as per the layout of the blog, let me know.  In fact, I may take some time over the upcoming break to re-engineer something of my own again.

For a while now, I have owned a copy of Clive Holes’ Modern Arabic: Structures, Functions and Varieties, but have never read it very thoroughly. For some reason, my Arabic sociolinguistics teacher had us buy it, since Holes in known in the realm of Arabic sociolinguistics, but she never had us read from it. It’s a shame, because the book is a wealth of information. It clarified a discussion I had with one of my clients (I decided to call the people I tutor clients) about the importance of case ending in Classical, specifically Qur’anic Arabic. Frankly, I couldn’t give her a clear answer, but Hole’s explanation makes the most sense. To understand it, it’s important to know that the Qur’an isn’t so much of a ‘read’ text, but a recited text (Qur’an, itself, means recitation). In fact, it wasn’t compiled into a codex until long after Muhammad’s death, and was generally only recited from memory. I quote an excerpt.

Recitation is a species of oral performance, and, like any other type, Muhammad’s would have been marked by the use of sentence stress, intonation, and possibly para-linguistic gestures in order to make his meaning clear. In other words, Koranic ‘i`ra:b [case markings] may well have been an appropriate stylistic feature, but was by no means an indispensable syntactic one, required for the unambiguous communication of meaning.

I find Holes’s explanation important from more than a pedagogical point of view. It has also been of concern to linguists whether ‘i`ra:b was spoken at the time the Qur’an was recorded. Perhaps, as Holes claims, it wasn’t the case. In fact, I haven’t seen evidence that it was so. Some claim that the occurrence of tanwi:n [indefinite case markings] in modern Bedouin dialects is evidence of the common use of ‘i`ra:b in common speech in early Arabic. However, Holes argues, the occurrence of such markings only occurs in formulaic utterances like poems, proverbs, etc. On the other hand, as far as I am aware, even in formulaic utterances tanwi:n occurs only in Bedouin dialects, not urban dialects. Perhaps that is meaningful. I will stew over that for a while.

In other Arabic news, I was going to post part of a translation of some stories from 1001 Nights and talk about some of the sentences I found interesting, as well as discuss the cultural importance of the text, which I think those of you with an anthropological streak may enjoy. I really don’t think the translation is very polished yet, so maybe I will post that next time.

Traditionally, I post a list of my top-ten albums of the preceding year. This year, I have decided not to do so. The reason for my decision is two-fold: it has become harder to find good music and I don’t really have time to look for it anyway. As such, I haven’t listened to much of anything worth mentioning. Nor, for that matter, have I seen many good movies, played many good games, or read many good books recently. Looking back at this, I was lead to think about my hobbies and hobbies in general.

I divide my hobbies into two categories, level one and level two, and they are divided by what the priority they fall into when I am not pursuing my regular vocations, i.e school, and other primary interests and pursuits. Note, I don’t include ‘interests’ in these categories. That would be for another discussion.

Level 1

· Reading.

· Music.

· Games.

· Writing.

Level 2

· Philately.

So level two is small, but I like collecting stamps, but I don’t do it whenever I have free time. You will also notice missing from the list is exercising. While it may be a hobby, I didn’t include this. Once upon a time, I would just run every day. That became too difficult, so now I just exercise because it feels normal. It’s just part of the daily routine, I guess.

I recall having something more to say about this, like something profound, but I can’t remember. Sorry about trailing off into nothingness. I am also amazed at how quickly I changed the subject.