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Alex West

@ajw87.bsky.social

Philologist. Hobby calligrapher. Cosmopolitan. Middle Ages in Afro-Eurasia; Columbian exchange. Old site: https://indomedieval.medium.com/ New site: https://medium.com/@WestsWorld he/him Book: https://brill.com/display/title/68202

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Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · 4d ago

If you're interested in Old Sundanese: I started writing an introduction to it as a series of blogposts a few years ago. I've considered writing a short book(let) on the language, but I don't know if it's worth the effort. indomedieval.medium.com/old-sundanes...

Old Sundanese 101: Part I — Background

This is the first part in a series on the Old Sundanese language, which will provide the rudiments of a course in reading Old Sundanese…

indomedieval.medium.com

Andrea Thompson@andreatweather.bsky.social · last wk.

My colleague @jackiefmogensen.bsky.social got some extra photos of newly discovered geoglyphs in the Amazon from the researchers. They estimate there are tens of thousands still to be found. 🧪

Hundreds of never-before-seen ancient ‘earthworks’ discovered in the Amazon

Many of these structures date to around C.E. 100–300, during the time of the Aquiry civilization, and may have been used for ceremonial purposes

scientificamerican.com

will pooley@willpooley.bsky.social · 5d ago

“so you’ve spent decades becoming the world expert in this topic and instilling a love of it in students, we understand. but there’s no box for “inspiring” on the spreadsheet and honestly a unit with only 30 students taking it doesn’t sound v efficient you know”

will pooley@willpooley.bsky.social · 5d ago

debates about academic meritocracy arent new. but astonishing to see so many dynamics that involve literally penalizing success. when the consultants tell a university to fire everyone above X grade. when good teachers are rewarded with… more teaching. +specialists are ordered NOT to specialize

Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · 6d ago

Last night a mosquito bit me on my eyebrow, which is more annoying than it sounds. So here are the words for "mosquito" in some languages I like. Chinese (Wenyan): 蚊 (pinyin: wén, Middle Chinese: mjun) Malay: nyamuk (from proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ñamuk) Tupi: nhatiʻũ (compare Guarani "ñati'ũ")

Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · 6d ago

Last night a mosquito bit me on my eyebrow, which is more annoying than it sounds. So here are the words for "mosquito" in some languages I like. Chinese (Wenyan): 蚊 (pinyin: wén, Middle Chinese: mjun) Malay: nyamuk (from proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ñamuk) Tupi: nhatiʻũ (compare Guarani "ñati'ũ")

Putri Prihatini@putriprihatini.bsky.social · last wk.

Pa'tedong (tedong: water buffalo) is one of the motifs carved on tongkonan houses in Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi. It represents prosperity and honor since buffalos indicate wealth. The numbers of horns displayed on these old tongkonan houses give you the clue to the family's standing. #WyrdWednesday

A photo of a black water buffalo head carving with long horns attached on the front part of a wooden tongkonan house. It is surrounded by colorful carved wooden panels. There are multiple buffalo horns attached near the head carving and on a pole in front of the house.A picture of a woodcarving panel depicting a black water buffalo with curved horns and tall red, black, yellow, and white crown.A photo of a tongkonan house wall filled with wooden panels, adorned by carvings of water buffalo heads, roosters, and geometric spirals and curves. One of the windows is open, and two little girls can be seen inside.A photo of a row of tongkonan houses. They are old and the roofs are covered by overgrown plants. The roofs are shaped like boats or buffalo horns.
Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · last wk.

Blowguns don't appear all that often in carvings and reliefs at other sites, but a blowgunner has been cast into the copper alloy section of the "Knaud" keris, the oldest dated keris (a type of dagger of Javanese origin), which was made in the late fourteenth century.

A colour image of part of a blade, part of which is iron and the rest of which is copper alloy. Several figures have been cased into the copper alloy section, including a man drawing a bow and another smaller man next to him with a blowgun or blowgun. They are both aiming at an animal in a tree.A slightly more detailed black-and-white image of the same blade. A pair of hunting dogs and a man leading them on a leash can be seen to the right of the blowgunner.
Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · last wk.

A couple more pictures of details from the Borobudur reliefs. One shows a man wearing an earspool about to shoot a blowgun/blowpipe—a Southeast Asian invention. The second is of an umbrella with a chowry (or flywhisk), known in Sanskrit and Old Javanese as "camara" (which also meant 'yak').

A bas-relief showing a jumble of armed men and some animals in various positions with a many-armed deity at the top. The man with the blowgun is about halfway up.
Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · last wk.

Blowguns don't appear all that often in carvings and reliefs at other sites, but a blowgunner has been cast into the copper alloy section of the "Knaud" keris, the oldest dated keris (a type of dagger of Javanese origin), which was made in the late fourteenth century.

A colour image of part of a blade, part of which is iron and the rest of which is copper alloy. Several figures have been cased into the copper alloy section, including a man drawing a bow and another smaller man next to him with a blowgun or blowgun. They are both aiming at an animal in a tree.A slightly more detailed black-and-white image of the same blade. A pair of hunting dogs and a man leading them on a leash can be seen to the right of the blowgunner.
Alex West@ajw87.bsky.social · last wk.

A couple more pictures of details from the Borobudur reliefs. One shows a man wearing an earspool about to shoot a blowgun/blowpipe—a Southeast Asian invention. The second is of an umbrella with a chowry (or flywhisk), known in Sanskrit and Old Javanese as "camara" (which also meant 'yak').

A bas-relief showing a jumble of armed men and some animals in various positions with a many-armed deity at the top. The man with the blowgun is about halfway up.