Sally's Summer, Like A White Sword...

...rhymes in Arabic!

al-salaamu 3alaikum...

In my Arabic class we're now doing a unit that includes the names of the
seasons.  There are two interesting things that i have found out about
the seasons in Arabic:

1. the Arabic word for "Fall/Autumn", /xari:f/, means "hot sauce" in
Hebrew.  The Hebrew cognate of this root, with a different vowel pattern
[HorEf] is used for "Winter".

2. the only difference between the Arabic words for "Summer" and "sword"
is the pharyngealized emphaticness of the /s/ in "Summer" - /s.ajf/
"Summer" vs. /sajf/ "sword".

Therefore, the beginning of Sally's famous "Summer, like a white sword,
hangs over the land" quote begins alliteratively in Arabic:

_al-Sayf, ka-sayf abyaD..._
pronounced something like:
[As.s.Ajf k&s&jf abjAd.]


-Stephen (Steg), who has to go do his Arabic and Hebrew homeworks now
 "You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan, in the moment
  that you touch perfect speed.  And that isn't flying a thousand
  miles an hour, or a million, or flying at the speed of light.
  Because any number is a limit, and perfection doesn't have
  limits.  Perfect speed, my son, is being there."
                    ~ _jonathan livingston seagull_ by richard bach