#hebrewed

[ikuzeminna]

I need your help with a hypothesis!

For context: My linguistics professor and I got into a discussion after a test she did with us, and I was of the opinion that the reason for the results was different from the one she offered, so she encouraged me to test my theory.

What I need

All you need to do is draw a coffee cup (with a handle, not the disposable stuff) and then answer three questions.

I don't need to see the coffee cup. You can draw it wherever you like; on a piece of paper, digitally, in the sand, on a foggy window. Anything works. It does not have to be good. A doodle is fine.

You have to draw the coffee cup before you see the questions. This is very important. If you decide to help me with this, please doodle the coffee cup before you keep reading.

Assuming you have drawn the coffee cup, I now need you to answer these three questions:

On which side did you draw the handle?

Are you right-handed or left-handed?

Do you primarily write using the Latin alphabet or a different one? (please specify which)

More context

Most people will draw the handle on the right side. My professor says it's because most people are right-handed, so they draw the handle in the direction that would be comfortable for them to pick up.

I said drawing it on the right side just felt more comfortable to my hand and argued it's probably because we write a bunch of letters like that. B, b, D, P, p, R all look like a tiny "handle on the right side" and are all a straight line followed by a round one (so "cup first, handle second," like most people draw cups). The Latin alphabet doesn't have letters like that that face the other way, except maybe d, depending on how you write it, so it makes sense to me that people writing mostly Latin letters would go with the handle on the right side.

Which means that I need to know what Asians, Arabs and Greeks do and if the distribution of left and right sides of handles differs from the Latin alphabet group. Cyrillic seems to favor right, too, though it'd be interesting to see if there are differences.

If there are, my theory is right. Doubly so if there is a sizeable increase in a group whose alphabet has letters that benefit the left side choice.

So feel free to spread this to as many people as you like and put the answers in the comments or the tags of a reblog. The more answers I get, the better I can assess whose theory is better.

Thank you for your help!

[blvvdk3ep]

I love you people going into "useless" fields I love you classics majors I love you cultural studies majors I love you comparative literature majors I love you film studies majors I love you near eastern religions majors I love you Greek, Latin, and Hebrew majors I love you ethnic studies I love you people going into any and all small field that isn't considered lucrative in our rotting capitalist society please never stop keeping the sacred flame of knowledge for the sake of knowledge and understanding humanity and not merely for the sake of money alive

[artifacts-and-arthropods]

Child's Writing Exercises and Doodles, from Egypt, c. 1000-1200 CE: this was made by a child who was practicing Hebrew, creating doodles and scribbles on the page as they worked

This writing fragment is nearly 1,000 years old, and it was made by a child who lived in Egypt during the Middle Ages. Several letters of the Hebrew alphabet are written on the page, probably as part of a writing exercise, but the child apparently got a little bored/distracted, as they also left a drawing of a camel (or possibly a person), a doodle that resembles a menorah, and an assortment of other scribbles on the page.

This is the work of a Jewish child from Fustat (Old Cairo), and it was preserved in the collection known as the Cairo Genizah Manuscripts. As the University of Cambridge Library explains:

For a thousand years, the Jewish community of Fustat placed their worn-out books and other writings in a storeroom (genizah) of the Ben Ezra Synagogue ... According to rabbinic law, once a holy book can no longer be used (because it is too old, or because its text is no longer relevant) it cannot be destroyed or casually discarded: texts containing the name of God should be buried or, if burial is not possible, placed in a genizah.

At least from the early 11th century, the Jews of Fustat ... reverently placed their old texts in the Genizah. Remarkably, however, they placed not only the expected religious works, such as Bibles, prayer books and compendia of Jewish law, but also what we would regard as secular works and everyday documents: shopping lists, marriage contracts, divorce deeds, pages from Arabic fables, works of Sufi and Shi'ite philosophy, medical books, magical amulets, business letters and accounts, and hundreds of letters: examples of practically every kind of written text produced by the Jewish communities of the Near East can now be found in the Genizah Collection, and it presents an unparalleled insight into the medieval Jewish world.

Sources & More Info:

Cambridge Digital Library: Writing Exercises with Child's Drawings

Cambridge Digital Library: More About the Cairo Genizah Manuscripts

[charlesoberonn]

[thefoilguy]

Pieta by Michelangelo - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

[eretzyisrael]

[parsabad]

Mollayaghoub Synagogue/ Isfahan/ Iran

Photography: Saeed amini

[prickly-porcupine-memes]

[thismoleculeisacomedian]

Both the NIJC and the HIAS are matching all donations right now (the NIJC for their emergency fund specifically), so this is an *extra* good time to donate whatever you can to them. Both help immigrants, refugees/asylum seekers, undocumented persons, and detainees in the US immigration system. (HIAS also does assorted other things worldwide, and is suing the Trump administration right now.)

[agam-shel-barvadim]

today i learned that back in the 70s, Wales took inspiration from Zionism and the ravitalization of Hebrew and made Wlpans (in reference to the Israeli Ulpans) to teach the Welsh language and prevent it from dying out.

which i honestly think is so beautiful

[fibey234]

Let's learn some Hebrew quotes! (^_^)

Haver (חבר) = Friend.

Okev (עוקב) = Follower.

Reshatot hevratiot (רשתות חברתיות) = Social media

Shalom (שלום) = Hello.

Lehitra'ot (להתראות) = See you soon.

Boker tov (בוקר טוב) = Good morning.

Tzhaoraim tovim (צהריים טובים) = Good afternoon.

Erev tov (ערב טוב) = Good evening.

Layla tov (לילה טוב) = Good night.

Halom (חלום) = Dream.

Halomot mitgashmim (חלומות מתגשמים) = Dreams come true.

Toda (תודה) = Thank you.

Bevakasha (בבקשה) = You are welcome // Please.

Slicha (סליחה) = Sorry.

Ken (כן) = Yes.

Lo (לא) = No.

Kamuvan! (כמובן) = Of course!

Atem col-cach metukim (אתם כל כך מתוקים) = You are so sweet.

Atem madhimim (אתם מדהימים) = You are amazing.

Mehamem (מהמם) = Stunning.

Hibuk (חיבוק) = Hug.

Ahahava (אהבה) = Love.

Ahot (אחות) = Sister.

Ah (אח) = Brother.

Aba (אבא) = Father.

Ima (אמא) = Mother.

Ahim (אחים) = Siblings.

Mishpaha (משפחה) = Family.

Hamud (חמוד) = Cute // Lovely.

Oy vey zmir! (אוי-ויי זמיר) = Oh my goodness!

Be'ezrat Hashem (בעזרת השם) = With the help of G-D.

Baruch Hashem (ברוך השם) = Thank G-D.

[faygelehh]

(old art backlog) joy to be a jew! <3

[episyn]

I think one of the funnier things is when english speakers use language symbols/characters/etc. as decor or use them to arrange into an English word if the symbol looks enough like an English letter. I hate to break it to you but you just typed "eight hand mountain no" and I can't read it as anything but that

[upennmanuscripts]

I'd like to introduce you to LJS 57, a compendium of Astronomical text in Hebrew, written in Spain around 1391. It's an interesting combination of astronomy and astrology, and illustrates how the division between "science" and "not science" was not nearly so clear in the past as it is today. It has some fantastic illustrations of constellations!

🔗:

[mysharona1987]

Lady, you are literally admitting to a war crime on tv.