The refugee's heart often grows an outer layer. An assimilation. It cocoons the organ. Those unable to grow the extra skin die within the first six months in a host country.

Warsan Shire, Assimilation

Cadraddii ammaan lehe

Carshigii jamaalkaan

U caleemo saaraye

I praise her.

I crown her with garlands.

- Maxamad Xaashi Dhamac ‘Gaariye’

Natalie Osborne’s illustrated book cover for Warsan Shire’s Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head.

"How to Get Back to the Forest" is available to read here

“I wanted to show that we have agency and can tell our stories in our own way. We don’t need people speaking over us all the time,”

Inside a Groundbreaking Anthology That Sheds Light on 18 Queer Arab Voices

Part of me wonders if the new generation should be allowed some freedom from the dreams of the dead.

— Anthony Veasna So, "Somaly Serey, Serey Somaly," Afterparties

Something I've noticed when I write black OCs is that I get people referencing TV Tropes like it's a gotcha. "You're writing a black woman with water elemental powers. That's really cliche, here's a link to show what I mean." "Oh he has lightning abilities? That's super overdone, haven't you seen the page Electric Black Guy?" "That name sounds pretty stereotypical. It's what TV Tropes would call a Ghetto Name." "Him being into classical music has such "But Not Too Black" vibes."

I had a college professor who was super into TV Tropes. She was an adjunct who wore the same red cardigan and stained, smelly purple Uggs every day, who regularly rambled and went over the allotted time we had for class each day, one time by forty minutes. I got a lot of writing done in that Intro To Literature class, but it's given me a bias against TV Tropes. Particularly because none of those tropes are bad.

Black people having elemental superpowers in a setting where all superpowers are elemental? Not a bad thing, it'd be kind of weird if I broke the lore just for black people. Somali names like what I gave one character's family (bc they're Somali American) being "ghetto" is dependent on what we mean by "ghetto" but why would be it bad if, in fact, those were names people living in a ghetto had? And speaking as a harpist in my university's orchestra, I know for a fact that black people into classical music exist, not just because they're in the orchestra but because our orchestra director is a black man who's very passionate about multiple genres, including ones that are "not too black".

TV Tropes was fun in middle school. I get the appeal. But it doesn't dictate what can and cannot be written about. And just because a trope has a name doesn't mean it's racist/evil/bad/wrong and no one can ever write ever no matter what. Even TV Tropes says tropes are not evil.

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The real cliche here is the desire to police the fuck out of every single black character for not being literally all things to all people at the same time.

Somali migrants to the US/uk seem to have an elevated rate of autism diagnoses among their children. They are apparently about the same as among white children in the same communities (higher than non-Somali black and Hispanic), though the actual autism rate is likely higher given lower levels of access to diagnostic resources. So far so neutral

Dispiriting fact I learned when looking this up is that this seems to have birthed a small literature “centering the voices” of… westerner Somali autism moms. Ppl have talked before about the way in which “listening to marginalised identities” can elevate (often unusually privileged) subpopulations of those groups with better means and will to broadcast their particular opinions on what benefits the group as a whole; ig it had not occurred to me the extent to which this would apply when an especially vulnerable subpopulation is literally nonverbal

Do you have any literature on sound changes involving ejective consonants? Specifically ejective consonants changing into something else?

I don't know of any general surveys, but several individual cases are of course found in literature in more detail. It would be worthwhile to have some compiled data on this though! For a start I'll collect some examples in this post.

The best-described case might be Semitic, where any handbook (or even just the Wikipedia article) will inform you about *kʼ > q, tsʼ > (t)s etc. being attested in Arabic / Aramaic / Hebrew. Offhand I don't know if there is a particular locus classicus on the issue of reconstructing ejectives for Proto-Semitic, though.

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Cushitic, which I've been recently talking about, has open questions remaining especially in what exactly to reconstruct for various correspondences involving ejective affricates, but at least the development of the ejective stops seems to be well-established. Going first mainly per Sasse (1979), The Consonant Phonemes of Proto-East Cushitic, Afroasiatic Linguistics 7/1, three developments into something else appear across East Cushitic for *tʼ:

*tʼ > /ɗ/ (alveolar implosive): Oromo, Boni, Arboroid (Arbore, Daasenech, Elmolo), Dullay, Yaaku and, at least word-internally, Highland East Cushitic.

*tʼ >> /ᶑ/ (retroflex implosive): Konsoid (Konso, Dirasha a.k.a. Gidole, Bussa). (As per Tesfaye 2020, The Comparative Phonology of Konsoid, Macrolinguistics 8/2. Some other descriptions give these too as alveolar /ɗ/.)

*tʼ >>> /ɖ/ (retroflex voiced plosive): Saho–Afar, Somali, Rendille.

Presumably these all happen along a common path *tʼ > ⁽*⁾ɗ > ⁽*⁾ᶑ > ɖ. Note though that Sasse reconstructs *ɗ and not *tʼ — but comparison with the case of *kʼ, the cognates elsewhere in Cushitic, and /tʼ/ in Dahalo and word-initially in Highland East Cushitic I think all point to *tʼ in the last common ancestor of East Cushitic. (As per other literature, I don't think East Cushitic is necessarily a valid subgroup and so this last common ancestor may also be ancestral to some of the other branches of Cushitic.)

For *kʼ there is a wide variety of secondary reflexes:

Saho–Afar: *kʼ > /k/ ~ /ʔ/ ~ zero (unclear conditions).

Konso: *kʼ > /ʛ/ (no change in Bussa & Dirasha).

Daasenech: *kʼ > /ɠ/ word-initially, else > /ʔ/.

Elmolo: *kʼ > zero word-initially, else > /ɠ/.

Bayso: *kʼ > zero.

Somali: *kʼ > /q/, which varies as [q], [ɢ] etc.; merges in Southern Somali into /x/). Before front vowels, > /dʒ/.

Rendille: *kʼ > /x/.

Boni: *kʼ > /ʔ/.

though some of them again could be grouped along common pathways like *kʼ > *q > *χ > x, *kʼ > *ʔ > zero.

*čʼ > /ʄ/ happens at minimum in Konso (corresponds to /tʃʼ/ in Bussa & Dirasha). Proposed developments of a type *čʼ >> /ɗ/ in some other languages could go thru a merger with *tʼ first of all.

No East Cushitic *pʼ seems to be reconstructible, but narrower groups show *pʼ > /ɓ/ in Konsoid (corresponds to Oromo /pʼ/) and maybe *pʼ > /ʔ/ in Sidaamo (corresponds to Gedeo /pʼ/; mainly in loans from Oromo).

There is also an unpublished PhD from University of California at LA: Linda Arvanites (1991), The Glottalic Phonemes of Proto-Eastern Cushitic. I would be interested if someone else has access to this (edit: has been procured, thank you!)

Secondary developments of *tʼ and *kʼ in the rest of Cushitic, per Ehret (1987), Proto-Cushitic Reconstruction, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika 8 (he also reconstructs *pʼ *tsʼ *čʼ *tɬʼ, but I'm less trustful of their validity):

Beja: *tʼ > /s/, *kʼ > /k/.

Agaw: *tʼ > *ts (further > /ʃ/ in Bilin and Kemant), *kʼ > *q (further word-initially > /x/ in Xamtanga and Kemant, /ʁ/ in Awngi)

West Rift: *kʼ > *q (and *tʼ > *tsʼ).

(The tendency for assibilation of *tʼ is interesting; although plenty of Cushitic languages get rid of ejectives entirely, none seems to have a native sound change *tʼ > /t/.)

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The historical phonology of the largest Afrasian branch, Chadic, is much more of a work in progress, but I would trust at least the following points as noted e.g. by Russell Schuh (2017), A Chadic Cornucopia:

*tʼ > *ɗ perhaps already in Proto-Chadic (supposedly all Chadic languages have /ɗ/);

*kʼ > /ɠ/ in Tera (Central Chadic);

/tsʼ/ in Hausa and some other languages corresponds to /ʄ/ or /ʔʲ/ in some other West Chadic languages, not entirely clear though which side is more original.

Tera /ɠ/ alas does not seem to be discussed in detail in the Leiden University PhD thesis by Richard Gravina (2014), The phonology of Proto-Central Chadic; he e.g. asserts /ɠəɬ/ 'bone' to be an irregular development from *ɗiɬ, while Schuch takes it as a cognate of e.g. Hausa /kʼàʃī/ 'bone'. (Are there two etyma here, or might the other involved Central Chadic languages have *ɠ > /ɗ/?)

If Olga Stolbova (2016), Chadic Etymological Dictionary is to be trusted (I've not done any vetting of its quality) then Hausa /tsʼ/ is indeed already from Proto-Chadic *tsʼ, and elsewhere in Chadic often yields /s/, sometimes /ts/ or /h/. Her Proto-Chadic *kʼ mostly merges with /k/ when not surviving. (She also has an alleged *tʼ with no ejective reflexes anywhere, and alleged *čʼ and *tɬʼ which mostly fall together with *tsʼ, but also show some slightly divergent reflexes like /ʃ/, /ɬ/ respectively.)

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Moving on, a few other examples I'm aware of OTTOMH include the cases of word-medial voicing in several Koman languages and in some branches of Northeast Caucasian (Chechen and Ingush in Nakh; *pʼ in most Lezgic languages). Also in NEC, the Lezgic group shows complicated decay of geminate ejectives, broadly:

> plain voiceless geminate in Lezgian, Tabassaran & Agul (same also in Tindi within the Andic group);

> voiceless singleton (aspirated) in Kryz & Budux;

Rutul & Tsaxur show some of both of the previous depending on the consonant, as well as word-initially *tsʼː > /d/ and *tɬʼː > /g/ — probably by feeding into the more general shift *voiceless geminate > *unaspirated > voiced (which happens in almost all of Lezgic).

in Udi, both short and geminate ejectives > plain voiceless geminates (plus a few POA quirks like *qʼʷ > /pː/, even though *qʷ > /q/).

Again I don't know if this has been described in better detail anywhere in literature, this is pulled just from the overviews in the North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary plus some review of the etymological data by myself.

Ejectives in Kartvelian are mostly stable in manner of articulation, but there's a minor sound correspondence between Karto-Zan *cʼ₁ (probably = /tʃʼ/) versus Svan /h/ that newer sources like Heinz Fähnrich (2007), Kartwelisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch for some reason reconstruct as *tɬʼ or *tɬ. The Svan development would then probably go as *tɬ⁽ʼ⁾ > *ɬ > /h/, after original PKv *ɬ > /l/.

I do not know very much about the historical phonology of any American languages, including if there's anything interesting happening to ejectives there; if someone else around here does, please do tell!

Heyyy so your bio says you like cats, classic literature and castles, I was wondering if you would like to post your top 3 of each? I would love to know and I think it would be a lovely change of pace with the circus that is the fandom right now ❤️ (for cats id say top 3 breeds unless you ofc want to do it differently)

hope you’re having a good day and I think the marriage conversation is also really interesting bc as I’m heading towards 30 it’s something I often think about

This is such a fun question, thank you, anon!

I’m only gonna consider the castles I’ve actually visited to give an “informed” opinion:

1. Alhambra (Granada, Spain). I visited it eight years ago and it’s still sealed in my brain as if I’d visited it yesterday (and Granada as a whole is a gorgeous city).

2. Mont Saint-Michel (Le-Mont-Saint-Michel, France). This is such a banal answer but it’s just that breath-thanking!

3. Castello di Miramare (Trieste, Italy). I don’t have my pics on my phone anymore but it’s just gorgeous! The whiteness of the castle and the rocks, the blue of the sea and the green of the trees just create the perfect image, it’s a treat for the eyes!

About cat breeds, I think my faves are the British Shorthair (I have two, my mum bought them ten years ago, although I HIGHLY suggest adopting!!!), the Norwegian Forrest cat and the Somali cat (they’re so gorgeous it hurts!).

And about classics it’s too difficult to just choose three 🙈. Besides the eternal ones (Les Miserables, Anna Karenina…), which are eternal for good reason, I’d say that my favorites are Notes from the underground (Dostoevsky), Imaginary lives (Marcel Schwob), and Howard’s End (E. M. Forster).

What about you, anon? Tell me a bit about your taste!

I'll rewrite this whole life and this time there'll be so much love, you won't be able to see beyond it.

Warsan Shire, Backwards

Anna ubaxyo kuu keenay

Adna odaxda ii dhiibtay

I brought you flowers,

you handed me the thorns.

- Xasan Dahir Ismail ’Weedhsame’

Events 10.3

2457 BC – Gaecheonjeol, Hwanung (환웅) purportedly descended from heaven. South Korea's National Foundation Day. 52 BC – Gallic Wars: Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls, surrenders to the Romans under Julius Caesar, ending the siege and battle of Alesia. 42 BC – Liberators' civil war: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight to a draw Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius in the first part of the Battle of Philippi, where Cassius commits suicide believing the battle is lost. 382 – Roman Emperor Theodosius I concludes a peace treaty with the Goths and settles them in the Balkans. 1392 – Muhammed VII becomes the twelfth sultan of the Emirate of Granada. 1574 – The Siege of Leiden is lifted by the Watergeuzen. 1683 – Qing dynasty naval commander Shi Lang receives the surrender of the Tungning kingdom on Taiwan after the Battle of Penghu. 1712 – The Duke of Montrose issues a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor. 1739 – The Treaty of Niš is signed by the Ottoman Empire and Russia ending the Russian–Turkish War. 1789 – George Washington proclaims Thursday November 26, 1789 a Thanksgiving Day. 1792 – A militia departs from the Spanish stronghold of Valdivia to quell a Huilliche uprising in southern Chile. 1863 – The last Thursday in November is declared as Thanksgiving Day by U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. 1873 – Chief Kintpuash and companions are hanged for their part in the Modoc War of northern California. 1912 – U.S. forces defeat Nicaraguan rebels at the Battle of Coyotepe Hill. 1918 – Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria accedes to the throne. 1919 – Cincinnati Reds pitcher Adolfo Luque becomes the first Latin American player to appear in a World Series. 1929 – The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is renamed to Yugoslavia by King Alexander I. 1932 – The Kingdom of Iraq gains independence from the United Kingdom. 1935 – Second Italo-Abyssinian War: Italy invades Ethiopia. 1942 – A German V-2 rocket reaches a record 85 km (46 nm) in altitude. 1943 – World War II: German forces murder 92 civilians in Lingiades, Greece. 1946 – An American Overseas Airlines Douglas DC-4 crashes near Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, killing 39. 1949 – WERD, the first black-owned radio station in the United States, opens in Atlanta. 1951 – Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San pits Commonwealth troops against communist Chinese troops. 1952 – The United Kingdom successfully tests a nuclear weapon in the Montebello Islands, Western Australia, to become the world's third nuclear power. 1957 – The California State Superior Court rules that the book Howl and Other Poems is not obscene. 1962 – Project Mercury: US astronaut Wally Schirra, in Sigma 7, is launched from Cape Canaveral for a six-orbit flight. 1963 – A violent coup in Honduras begins two decades of military rule. 1981 – The hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland ends after seven months and ten deaths. 1985 – The Space Shuttle Atlantis makes its maiden flight, carrying two DSCS-III Satellites on STS-51-J. 1986 – TASCC, a superconducting cyclotron at the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada, is officially opened. 1989 – A coup in Panama City is suppressed and 11 participants are executed. 1990 – The German Democratic Republic is abolished and becomes part of the Federal Republic of Germany; the event is afterwards celebrated as German Unity Day. 1991 – Nadine Gordimer is announced as the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature. 1993 – An American attack against a warlord in Mogadishu fails; eighteen US soldiers and over 350 Somalis die. 1995 – O. J. Simpson murder case: O. J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. 2008 – The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 for the U.S. financial system is signed by President George W. Bush. 2009 – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkey join in the Turkic Council.

Siyaad Barre era in SOMALIA

Mohamed Abdi Osman, The National UN Volunteer-Somaliland

During the Siyaad Barre era in SOMALIA (1969-1991), there were significant efforts made to expand and reform the education system. Siyaad Barre, who came to power through a military coup in 1969, launched a series of policies aimed at modernizing the country, and education was a key area of focus.

Therefore, the education system underwent significant changes. The government placed a strong emphasis on education as part of its nation-building efforts and attempted to modernize and centralize the education system in order to create a unified Somali identity.

One of the key features of the education system during this time was the promotion of the Somali language. Siyaad Barre declared Somali as the official language, which was previously unrecognized by the colonial administrations. This decision aimed to foster national unity and cultural pride among Somalis.

The government invested heavily in educational infrastructure, with the construction of schools, universities, and vocational centers across the country. This expansion of educational facilities was aimed at increasing access to education for all Somalis, regardless of their socioeconomic background.

Efforts were made to train and recruit more teachers to meet the growing demand for education. The government established teacher training colleges to enhance the quality of instruction and ensure that teachers were equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge.

The curriculum underwent revision during this period to reflect the socialist ideology embraced by Siyaad Barre's regime. The focus was on developing a curriculum that aligned with the government's vision of a socialist, self-reliant society. Courses on Somali history, culture, and political ideology were integrated into the curriculum, alongside traditional subjects like mathematics, science, and literature.

Women's education also saw advancements during this time. The government actively encouraged girls' education and worked to overcome cultural barriers that limited female access to schooling. Girls' schools were established, and efforts were made to promote gender equality in education.

However, the education system was highly centralized and tightly controlled by the government. The curriculum and teaching materials were heavily influenced by the ruling regime's ideologies, leading to limited intellectual freedom and critical thinking. Special attention was given to ideological indoctrination, aiming to promote loyalty to the government and its ideals.

The Siyaad Barre done the following area's in the education sector of Somalia. But collapsed now and not yet reform still.

1. Free Education: One of the most notable achievements during the Siyaad Barre era was the introduction of free public education at all levels. This policy aimed to increase access to education for all Somalis, regardless of their socio-economic background.

2. Curriculum Reform: Siyaad Barre's government introduced a new national curriculum that emphasized Somali nationalism, pan-Arabism, and socialism. The curriculum sought to promote civic education, national identity, and the socialist ideology of the ruling Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party (SRSP).

3. Rural Education Program: The government initiated a program to improve access to education in rural areas, particularly for nomadic communities. Schools were established in remote areas and efforts were made to recruit teachers from local communities.

4. Vocational and Technical Training: To address the country's economic needs, vocational and technical education received special attention. The government established vocational schools and trained teachers to equip students with practical skills in various trades.

5. Elimination of Tribal Education: The Barre regime aimed to eliminate tribal education system, which was seen as divisive, and replaced it with a centralized education system emphasizing national unity. This policy aimed to foster a sense of national identity and integration among diverse Somali communities.

6. University Expansion: The government invested in the expansion of higher education institutions, including the establishment of new universities and technical colleges. Scholarships were provided to encourage students to pursue higher education.

Despite these efforts, the quality of education during the Siyaad Barre era was inconsistent. Limited resources, inadequate infrastructure, and political instability affected the implementation of educational policies. Additionally, the government's heavy hand in controlling the education system led to a lack of academic freedom and creativity. Nonetheless, education was emphasized as a priority, and literacy rates increased during this period.

Finally, during the Siyaad Barre era, the education system in Somalia underwent significant changes with a focus on modernization, increased access, promotion of the Somali language, and ideological alignment. While there were advancements, the system's centralized nature limited intellectual freedom and independent thinking.

I thank you to read it.