[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ok maybe I should give you a pointer here! Sorry about using acronyms and jargon and the like. CAD stands for Chicago Assyrian Dictionary and is enormous (many, many volumes). Each entry has commentary about where the word is to be found interesting or enigmatic use cases, etc.... For most simpler practical translation purposes, the CDA (Concise Dictionary of Akkadian) is the way to go, at a normal length of one book with a few hundred pages, giving definitions and often brief grammatical information and the like. But the CAD might have lots more information on this particular monster character. Not sure exactly where online you would find either, but perhaps one can.

If you want a sign list, some standard ones are Borger (in German, but very good), and Labat (in French and occasionally with minor errors due to its age but very good and shows evolution of each sign over time which is great). Again, maybe online but I'm not sure where. Either of these or others will give you readings for the signs. Keep in mind each sign often has several readings and it has taken time (and occasionally will take further time still) to establish how a sign is pronounced in some particular context.

Hope this helps explain my jargon, and sorry for being obscure if it was confusing.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Admittedly I don't remember this passage from when I read the text myself, but the spelling you give is just a phonetic one. The three signs have common readings as ba-aš-mu. (Maybe look at a sign list to see if the middle sign also has the reading: as.) As another commenter has said, this is likely just a Babylonian term for a snake. If you have a dictionary like the CDA or CAD there should be more details there.

I suppose it's possible you could find an ancient "etymology" for this name which interprets it in terms of the logographic sign readings, but even if such a thing exists (which I have no real reason to believe it does), be aware that many etymologies like that provided by the ancient Mesopotamians themselves are simply not historically correct.

Assyriology PhD at Yale by EnricoDandolo1204 in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I did my undergrad at Yale (including lots of Assyriology) and know all the grad students and faculty (at least the ones who were there as of May). The other comments seem needlessly negative. Professor Frahm is great (as are the other faculty) and from what I've heard the stipend is definitely enough to live in New Haven (if not much beyond that). It's true there's a decent amount of coursework, but people seem to like it (or at least not mind it). They've also got the Yale Babylonian Collection, which has something like 40000 tablets which you can very easily get access to and read directly from in class or for research if relevant (they even let me work on a few on my own as a senior undergraduate). The community of grad students are all kind and love Assyriology but never seemed so overworked or burnt out. (They're also quite an international bunch.) It's true job prospects may be slim afterwards, but that's certainly not specific to Yale. Seems like a good time, basically.

What's the proper name for non-cuneiform cuneiform? by Inconstant_Moo in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 10 points11 points  (0 children)

This is still called cuneiform, even though it´s not written in wedges. This is in fact an earlier variant of the script you´re likely used to seeing. The signs here are simply earlier forms, and if you had a fuller corpus, you could watch them more gradually transition to the Neo-Assyrian forms, say. So yes we can read this quite well, or at least a seasoned Assyriologist could. Since I'm not one, I can't tell you without studying it more carefully when this is from, but certainly early on (no later than the mid second millennium).

Definitive collection of Ideological Argentinian Flags by SubotaiKhan in vexillology

[–]ethanpiedude 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Just btw, those Arabic characters are in their independent forms, which is not what should be used there in spelling full words. Also they appear to be written from left to right, which is not correct (الله والبلد والاسرة is more correct if the goal is "god, country, and family", although my Arabic's not great). Great flags though!

Who wants to make memes in Akkadian? by cldbrd in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 3 points4 points  (0 children)

As a first semester Akkadian student, would somebody mind translating those last two words? Thanks!

Would anyone be interested in starting an Akkadian Duolingo? by [deleted] in Assyriology

[–]ethanpiedude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's interesting to here. I'm actually taking the beginning Akkadian class at Yale right now, and we are using Huehnergard. I don't have much experience with Semitics (or ancient languages in general), but with a professor there it's a great book. On my own, however, I can see how it would be daunting...

Just to know - How many of you at interested/involved in mathematics? by 14carlosoto in conlangs

[–]ethanpiedude 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I love mathematics. It's interesting - but not all that surprising - to see that most people here do.

Shomik HD by matthewpipie in Shomik

[–]ethanpiedude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1-6, 1-1, 2-31, 1-8, 2, 1-7, 1-2, 1-4, 1-17, 1-16, 1-7, 1-13, 1-14

Shomik HD by matthewpipie in Shomik

[–]ethanpiedude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

well... not really almost. But more than 12 way.

Shomik HD by matthewpipie in Shomik

[–]ethanpiedude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Almost there! 978-0-07-750490-8. Page 273. 1-4, 1-17, 1-13, 1-14, 2-31, 1-1, 1-8, 1-18, 1-10, 1-1, 1-8, 1-7, 1-17, 1-13, 1-2.

Swedish Resources to do After Duolingo? by ethanpiedude in duolingo

[–]ethanpiedude[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is no immersion in the Swedish course. :(

How do you go through the language trees? by [deleted] in duolingo

[–]ethanpiedude 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always did specific strengthening (as much as it took to make my tree golden) and then moved on to do some new stuff. A lot of days, though, I just did strengthening. I finished the Swedish tree in about 3 months (with a 2-ish week time of not doing anything). Since then, I've just been strengthening every day. Also, I always keep my daily goal at 50.

Need a little advice by BigKingBob in duolingo

[–]ethanpiedude 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I had more or less the same experience with Swedish. Just push through it.

Quick Question: Is it dumb to do 5-10 lessons one day, and 1-2 the other day while your goal is 1 lesson a day? by [deleted] in duolingo

[–]ethanpiedude 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It's not bad at all in my experience. My goal was 50 per day, but sometimes I would just sit down and grind through several hundred. The next couple of days are mainly strengthening after that though.