The Saudi National Museum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

I enjoyed the Saudi National Museum (المتحف الوطني السعودي) in Riyadh [1] so much that I walked the two-story circuit several times, each time focusing on a different aspect. I was particularly interested in rock inscriptions, the development of Arabic script, and early astronomy. I can only offer a brief overview of these topics here.

The Saudi National Museum in Riyadh is a cultural history museum and part of the King Abdulaziz History Centre. It was completed in 1999 after 26 months of construction. The museum's website [2] provides information about its architecture. The architect, Raymond Moriyama, was particularly inspired by traditional Najdi architecture and the contours of the red sand dunes. “At sunset, they radiate shades of red, gradually fading as night falls, thus reinforcing the spirit of Riyadh and evoking its beginning commemoration.”

The museum showcases local and geological history. Among the exhibits are the large fragment of the meteorite that created the Wabar Crater, the skeletons of Platybelodon and an ichthyosaur, works of art, dioramas, stelae, manuscripts, the history of Arabic script, ceramics, celestial globes, early astronomical instruments, and much more. The 14 pre-Islamic kingdoms are also represented. Visitors can learn and enjoy a symbiosis of exhibits and educational information.

For the celestial globes, the astrolabs and other instruments, there is an very good and therefore also long article on Wikipedia [3]. Especially the influences of mainly but not exclusively Indian or Persian astronomy would take too much space on a blog like mine; besides it would not have come out of my knowledge or research, though i had been interested in stronomy since childhood as i even considered once to study astronomy.

The inscription of Raqush bint Abd-Manat, dating from 267 AD, was discovered in northwestern Saudi Arabia near Madain Saleh [4]. The text contains elements of Arabic in a late form of the Nabataean script. Around 900 BCE, the Aramaic script developed from the Phoenician script, later the Nabataean script from the West Aramaic form, and then the Arabic script from two forms of the Nabataean script (a monumental script for inscriptions and a more cursive script for papyrus) [5]. Various forms developed from these early scripts, some for calligraphy, others for cursive writing, and still others for block capitals (Kufic). Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is mostly written without vocalizations, meaning that interpretation is required when reading. There are two exceptions: the Holy Qur'an and children's books. Before you laugh, there are understandable reasons for this. The Qur'an must not be open to interpretation, and children cannot yet know the correct form. As an example, let's take the city of Jeddah. When it's written (جدّة), even someone unfamiliar with the city can understand that it's pronounced with two Ds. However, if Jeddah is written without the diacritic mark, i.e., (جدة), then the city's name could also be pronounced Jedah. 

I went a little off the topic, but then I took another stroll through this beautiful museum. Of course, it's highly recommended!

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalmuseum_von_Saudi-Arabien and 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_Saudi_Arabia 
[2] https://engage.moc.gov.sa/national_museum/about-museum/ 
[3] Astronomy in the medieval Islamic world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world 
[4] https://en.majalla.com/node/294381/culture-social-affairs/saudi-discoveries-are-rewriting-history-arabic-script 
[5] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_der_arabischen_Schrift and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Arabic_alphabet (contents not identical!)

.

Matenadaran, Mesrop Mashtots, Armenian Alphabet and Language

This title calls for lots of research, but it all fits together so well. Matenadaran (Մատենադարան) is ancient Armenian for library or repository of manuscripts. It is a central archive in Yerevan, Armenia. I was able to visit it on this trip and I was very fascinated. This library dates back to the holdings of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Echmiadzin. It was expropriated in 1920 and all manuscripts were transferred to Moscow, but in 1939 the collection was brought to Armenia, but now to Yerevan. The current building was built between 1945 and 1957 in neo-Armenian style. The warehouse is carved into the rock to be safe from atomic bombs, but today it suffers from water ingress.

In front of the building stands a statue of Mesrop Mashtots; he is a saint who invented the Armenian alphabet. The Matenadaran is actually called the “Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts” (Armenian: Մեսրոպ Մաշտոցի անվան հին ձեռագրերի ինստիտուտ). Its collection has been included in the register of the UNESCO Memory of the World program in 1997 [1].

Mesrop Mashtots (Armenian: Մեսրոպ Մաշտոց) was, among other things, theologian, linguist and composer [2]. He lived from 362-440. He is venerated as a saint in the Armenian Apostolic Church. He is particularly known for developing the Armenian alphabet, which dates back to 405.

Why was a separate alphabet necessary? It was explained to me on the trip that other letters had already been used to spread pagan/satanic contents. In the German alphabet there are 26 basic letters, three umlauts and the sharp s, written ß, which is actually a ligature of ss, but is now often written ss or sz. In total there are 30 letters. The English alphabet consists of 26 letters. The Armenian alphabet (Armenian: Հայոց գրեր) today has 39 letters, with և ev being a ligature [3], but like the German ß is counted as a letter. The English sh is rendered as sch in German, but other languages just have a letter for this sound (same applies to th). The further back in time we go, the more ligatures we can find. Therefore, the number 39 should not confuse us too much. The script looks elegant, but subjectively it seems to me to be insufficiently discriminatory, i.e. some letters look very similar to others. This is very subjective and does not do justice to the Armenians' attitude to their script. For Armenians, the Armenian alphabet is part of their national identity.

What does the Armenian language belong to? I would have thought it belonged to the Persian language area, because there are points of contact in history, but that is wrong. The Armenian language (endonym: հայերեն [hayeren]) is the only member of a separate branch of the Indo-European languages [4]. It is estimated that there are 5-7 million speakers worldwide. There are a number of loan words from ancient languages such as Hittite or especially Luwian, which I dealt with six months ago in a biblical context [5].

Now let us enter the museum. We had a tour with an elderly lady (certainly over 80 years old) who explained the exhibits to us with great enthusiasm and knowledge. She had a wooden stick with which she pointed to the objects. That reminded me of two things. I had a tour in North Korea where a pointer was used, namely a telescopic pointer (similar to what car antennas used to look like). Then I remembered that I had a telescopic pointer myself when we still gave lectures with an overhead projector and not presentations with a projector (which is called beamer in German by the way).

The Echmiadzin Gospel Book is particularly beautifully designed and dates from the year 989. You can find out more about it on Wikipedia or directly in an article in the museum [6]. Also interesting is a large-format Bible that had to be cut in half and was saved by two women on the run, but could only be put back together decades later, or rather, one half is on display and the other is kept in the storeroom under a constant climate. They are changed every six months. The manuscripts are kept behind glass and attempts are made to prevent them from drying out or becoming too damp (which could lead to mold). Thyme plays a major role in preventig both. There are also other linguistic monuments, such as palm leaf manuscripts from Sri Lanka or early Chinese prints. Incidentally, Armenians began printing on paper much earlier than Western Europe. I would have liked to have stayed there longer, but I hope I will have another opportunity to do so later. In the mean time I'll pay a virtual visit every now and then and you could do so, too [7].

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matenadaran and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matenadaran
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesrop_Mashtots
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_alphabet
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armenian_language
[5] Paulus und Barnabas in Lystra https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/02/paulus-und-barnabas-in-lystra.html  
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echmiadzin_Gospels and „The Etchmiadzin Gospel Is An Ancient Exhibit Of The Matenadaran With A Thousand-Year History“ https://matenadaran.am/en/2024/06/25/the-etchmiadzin-gospel-is-an-ancient-exhibit-of-the-matenadaran-with-a-thousand-year-history/
[7] https://matenadaran3d.am/ and I just looked at this: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=PuKQibNfPsd&ss=162&sr=-.62%2C-.05&tag=KL3cYIa09X2&pin-pos=-4.52%2C1.17%2C-11.26

.

The Very Basic Guide to Mongolian

 

Mongolian is spoken in Mongolia and still in what is called Inner Mongolia in the People's Republic of China. China once has been ruled my Mongolians (Yuan Dynasty). Mongolian isn't an easy language. However, as any language, one can learn Mongolian, too. Mongolian uses the  Cyrillic alphabet, but there are more scripts for Mongolian, which had been or are still in use [1]. It is a good idea to learn the Cyrillic alphabet if only to read direction signs. In the transcription double vowels are long vowels, as you might remember from your studies in Finnish.

Thank you –  баярлалаа (bayarlalaa)
Yes – тийм (tiim)
No – үгүй (ugui)
Do you speak English? – Та англиар ярьдаг уу? (Ta angliar yaridag uu?)
I can't speak Mongolian. – Би монголоор ярьж чадахгүй. (Bi mongoloor yarij chadakhgüi.)
I don't understand. – Би ойлгохгүй байна. (Bi oilgokhgüi baina.)
Please – Гуйя (Guiya)
Excuse me / Sorry – уучлаарай (uuchlaara)
Good morning – өглөөний мэнд (öglöönii mend)
Good evening – оройн мэнд (oroin mend)
Good night – сайхан амраарай (saikhan amraarai)
Hello – сайн байна уу (sain baina oo)
Goodbye – баяртай (bayartai)
How are you? – Юу байна? (Yuu baina?)
Fine –  сайн сайн (sain sain)
I would like ...  –  Би хүсч байна ... (Bi khüsch baina ...)
How much is it? – Энэ ямар үнэтэй вэ? (Ene yamar ünetei ve?)
Please write it down! – Үүнийг бичнэ үү! (Üüniig bichne üü!)
Where is ... – Хаана байна ... (Khaana baina ...)
Where's the nearest ...  – Хамгийн ойрын газар хаана байна ... (Khamgiin oiryn gazar khaana baina ...)
Where is the toilet? – Бие засах газар хаана байдаг вэ?  (Biy zasakh gazar haan baidag ve?) I advise you to learn this phrase thoroughly because otherwise you won't make it to the toilet.
I'm lost. – Би төөрчихлөө. (Bi töörchikhlöö.)
What is your name? –  Таны нэр хэн бэ? (Tany ner khen be?)
My name is ... – Миний нэрийг Лотар  гэдэг. (Minii neriig ... gedeg.)
Left – зүүн (züün)
Right – зөв (zöv)
I need a doctor. – Надад эмч хэрэгтэй. (Nadad emch kheregtei.)
Please call a doctor quickly! – Эмчийг яаралтай дуудаарай!
(Emchiig yaaraltai duudaarai!)

Mistakes are all mine.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Mongolia – Different Writing System on Banknotes https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/10/mongolia-different-writing-system-on.html
[2] I also used two German-Mongolian books:
Paul Metzler, Enkhzaya: Eldevdorj: Kleiner Mongolisch-Kurs. Engelsdorfer, Leipzig 2012. ISBN: 978-3-86268-618-6.
and:
Arno Günther: Reise Know-How Sprachführer Mongolisch - Wort für Wort: Kauderwelsch-Band 68. Peter Rump Verlag, Bielefeld 2017. ISBN: 978-3-8317-6499-0.

.

Mongolia – Different Writing System on Banknotes

Though I took photographs of the 100 Tögrög or Tugrik (₮100), banknotes or the currency are only a secondary topic. This banknote is worth around 0.03 US$ or €. If you want to buy these notes or even smaller denominations via internet, you might pay quite some money [1]. Wikipedia: „Currently, the lowest denomination in regular use is the 10-tögrög note and the highest is the 20,000-tögrög note.“ [2] Coins are no longer in use.

I've marked scripts on the pictures of the banknote:

No. 1 is written vertical in the folded mongolian script.

No. 2 is the number 100 (both latin an cyrillic alphabeths the same).

No. 3 is the number 100 in Mongolian numerals, which have been developed from Tibetan numerals [3]. You can see that the writing/reading direction is left to right. In the traditional vertical writing the columns are also left to right, whereas in Japanese or classical Chinese the columns go right to left.

No. 4 is written in the Soyombo script. The Soyombo script is an abugida [4] created by Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar [5]. It is used more for ceremonial and decorative purposes, not only on banknotes but also on the Mongolian flag.

No. 5 shows the traditional Mongolian script. It has been derived from the Uyghur alphabet, which is a descendant of the Sogdian and therefore of the Syriac alphabet. With modifications it was later used to write Manchu, a language that is endangered nowadays, but once had been the language of the ruling Manchu during the Qing-Dynasty in China [6]. Some of my classmates in Sinology had studied Manchu at the East Asian Seminar (University of Cologne).

No. 6 is a variant of No. 5 (I first thought of 'Phags-pa).

No. 7 is written in Cyrillic script, both print form and handwriting. You might note, that Mongolian needed additional letters, these are Өө Öö and Үү Üü.

Tungalagbaatar Zagdaa, whom I know from my recent travels, had written on Facebook: Түргэн шуурхай их зүйл үзэж өгөөж арвин нутагтаа зочлоод буцлаа. Аялалд нэгдсэн та бүхэндээ баярлалаа (Visited my home country and back again. Thank you for joining the journey. Automatic translation) [7]. And he got an answer written in Roman letters: „1 udriin zunduu olon goy gazar uzej yostoi goy ayallaa. Binder sum saikhan sum bn. Hool und amtat idee undaa ihtei goy yumaa.“ So, nowadays also the Roman script is in use, but only inofficially and the current automatic translation systems cannot translate Mongolian written in Roman letters (at least I didn't find any system).

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://www.mongolia-travel-advice.com/mongolia-money.html I can't vouch for this site, but interestingly Cam is also from Melbourne like Tony and Maureen Wheeler (Lonely planet). Not only the information on Mongolian currency is interesting.
https://www.ma-shops.de/mjim/item.php?id=580 The Mongolia Banknotes Set 5,10,20,50 Tugrik 2000 is worth around 0.03 €, but you pay including „shipment“ 20.00 €.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_t%C3%B6gr%C3%B6g
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_numerals
[4] An abugida or alphasyllabary uses units of consonant plus vowel
[5] I've already mentionened Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar in another blogpost:  https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/09/mongolia-erdene-khambiin-khiid-or.html. Excerpt: Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (өндөр гэгээн Занабазар) lived from 1635 to 1723 and was the religious leader of Lamaism, more specifically of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia [5a], and he also has been the secular leader. Zanabazar is known for his bronze sculptures or the development of the Soyombo script [5b]; overall he was a prodigious sculptor, painter, architect, poet, costume designer, scholar and linguist.
[5a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanabazar   
[5b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyombo_script  You can see the script on the Mongolian flag.
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchu_language
[7] https://www.facebook.com/tungalagbaatar.zagdaa/posts/pfbid0Vk82DfuApaLmkVymwvKjzg8cLk4EQW4VaQh6A8SQQa7cKW4ghpGh9hx4cPXPy8GKl  


.

On Learning a Foreign Language

I've just gone through some notes of mine concerning how to acquire a foreign language. It isn't a kind of linguistic school, which I want to present, just some ideas. Maybe something like an old rutter, which may show how someone shipped from A to B, but still has lots of unanswered questions.

One might ask: why learn a foreign language? Why learn a dead language? Why not use a modern translating tool?

Google has Google Translator, which is quite helpful. We used it, when we tried to rent a car in Arkhangelsk [1]. While waiting for pregnant Larissa, Alexej hat the idea to translate some sentences from Russian into English, and we used the PC to do so the other way round, but still talking to Larissa was much better.

Let's try Tang poetry. If you type in this line:
牛渚西江夜，青天無片雲. [2]
You get:
Niuzhuxijiang night, blue sky without clouds.
And I have to admit that we didn't get far. One has to know that 牛渚 (Niuzhu) is an old place name, the name of a mountain or better a hill. 西江 (xijiang) means the westbank of the Yangtze River [correct: Chang Jiang 长江). The second part is correct.
So a readable translation could be:
Spending the night at the westbank near Mount Niuzhu, the blue sky is without a cloud.
So, internet translators are a two edged sword – don't cut yourself.

What reasons might there be? I have collected a few:

• just for the fun of it
• to talk to people in a foreign country (vacation, work, studies)
• to read texts
• to write texts
• to listen to the radio
• to watch TV or movies
• to have conversations on the phone
• to twitter
• and more

Each reason involves other requirements to your approach. Maybe you plan to have a guided tour through Italy, then relax, just learn a few words and that's it. Don't use books that try to teach you Italian in a hurry, because you'll fail. Try to learn only the very basic words. I have written several very basic guides, try the Italian one [3]. If you travel on your own, you might wish to expand your knowledge of Italian in our example. I have started to learn some Italian half a year ago, before I went to Italy. I have listened to CDs with vocabulary and radio broadcasts in Italian (Radio Colonia* is based in Cologne, my hometown, which is said to be Italy's most northern city, and has half an hour of news and interviews in the evening on five days of the week. And I try to read a page of a monthly paper each day. It isn't as difficult as you think. O.K. I am cheating as I have learned Latin, French and Spanish before, but I'll show you that you know more than you imagine.

Even if you haven't learned a foreign language before you know some words that are nearly the same in other languages. These might act a lighthouses in the darkness of a foreign text.

Radio -: it's the same in lots of languages; it doesn't surprise that Dutch, German, Yiddish use radio as well, but it's the same in Hungarian, Turkish, and Indonesian.

Industry -: not as many languages as with radio, but you find a dozen of common languages, which are written with letters, which includes cyrillic, индустрия – is Russian and pronounced industriya. So, don't panic if you see a cyrillic text. Before I learned some Russian, I chanced upon a medical report of a patient. My colleague said: „But we cannot read it, it's in Russian“. But knowing the medical terminology and the Greek letters did the trick. Of course I could not read all, but the part that told us, that they had found a gastic ulcer by means of a fiberoptic examination. So, be confident and try!

Coffee -: have you been to a café? Yes, café also means coffie as koffie, Kaffee, kávé, kahvé, or kopi, which is Indonesian, a loan word from the Dutch koffie. Indonesian is quite interesting concerning loan words. Ambulan is the word for ambulance, not difficult, isn't it. Apotik is pharmacy, which was derived from apotheek (Dutch, German has Apotheke). Grape in Indonesian is anggur. Yes, great, but I happen to know that it's anguur in Hindi and angur in Farsi; and I looked this up right now: it's also angur in Bengali and the Thai word is close to „angun“. Kafsigar is a loan word from Hindi kafsh-gar meaning shoe seller, whereas the variant kapsigar has been borrowed from kapasgar, Farsi for shoemaker [4]. O.K. I stop before I'll get carried away.

When I had been working, I noticed that I could not find the time to concentrate on whole lessons of a language text book. So I decided to do it with a low impact approach, which means in principle achieve more with doing less, which come close to: 「逐二兔不得一兔」孔子 [5]:

• going through vocabulary cards
• twitter, also reading foreign language tweets
• reading a page or an article in a foreign languge
• listen to the radio – nearly without limit on internet
• you might watch TV in a foreign language – I eschew TV (as lofty as said), which I did long ago as I have watched soap operas in Taiwan, BTW it's a good idea, you hear only slightly different variations of the same dialogue every second evening (哎，我們該怎麼辦？) [6]
• I listen to CDs while driving, not only vocabulary but also songs in foreign languages

It is the little by little approach. You train better running 6 km per day than 42 km once a week.

Have more fun during your travels. Learn the very basic words.

I learned quite a lot after having read „The Word Brain“ [7]. I agree that learning languages isn't easy, it needs some discipline and perseverance, but still it should be fun.
Get started!

Links and Annotations:
[1] http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2013/02/on-renting-car-in-arkhangelsk.html
[2] It's the first line of the poem 夜泊牛渚懷古 by Li Bo/Bai (李白), which could be translated as „Nostalgic Thought from a night-mooring neat Mount Niuzhu“.
[3] The Very Basic Guide to Italian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-italian.html
[4] Russell Jones (general ed.), C.D. Grijns, J.W. de Vries (eds), Loan-words in Indonesian and Malay. Compiled by the Indonesian Etymological Project. Leiden: KITLV Press, 2007, xxxix + 360 pp., map, incl. DVD with Amoy dictionary and supplement.
[5] "The man who chases two rabbits, catches neither" ~~ Confucius
[6] Ah, what should we do?
[7] The Word Brain - A short guide to fast language learning, written by Bernd Sebastian Kamps. The homepage is under reconstruction, please google „The Word Brain“ later.
[8] If ever you want to read a book, which enlightens about learning Japanese, here it is:
Jack Seward: Japanese in Action. An Unorthodox Approach to the Spoken Language and the People Who Speak It. Weatherhill Inc; Revised, Subsequent Edition (1. Oktober 1983). ISBN: ‎ 0834800330. 
 
* The name of Radio Colonia has been changed to Cosmo Italiano recently - and regrettably. (01.02.2022)

Links for Very Basic Language Guides:
The Very Basic Guide to Catalan  http://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-catalan.html
The Very Basic Guide to German
http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2017/02/the-very-basic-guide-to-german.html
The Very Basic Guide to Esperanto http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2017/02/the-very-basic-guide-to-esperanto.html
The Very Basic Guide to Yiddish http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2016/12/the-very-basic-guide-to-yiddish.html
The Very Basic Guide to Portuguese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-portuguese.html
The Very Basic Guide to Italian  http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-italian.html
The Very Basic Guide to Afrikaans http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/04/the-very-basic-guide-to-afrikaans.html
The Very Basic Guide to Turkmenian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-languages-of.html
The Very Basic Guide to French http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-french.html
The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html
The Very Basic Guide to Japanese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/03/the-very-basic-guide-to-japanese.html
The Very Basic Guide to Mandarin Chinese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/the-very-basic-guide-to-mandarin-chinese.html
The Very Basic Guide to Spanish http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-spanish.html

.

Alghero and a Pageant

 

Alghero is the Italian name of a town in Sardinia, but perhaps I should better have used L'Alguer, the Name in Alguerese [1]. Alghero had been conquered by Catalans in 1354 and the town has retained the language since the end of the Middle Ages. Algherese or Alguerese [2] is a variety of Catalan. Catalan was replaced first by Spanish, then by Italian and is recognized as a minority language today. Quite an achievement! But the number of speakers is constantly diminishing. My guess is that Alguerese has deviated from Catalan, but is going back to Standard Catalan, especially after Catalan has been recognized in Spain as one of the languages of this country. On the other hand Alguerese has loanwords from both Italian and Sardinian [3]. Let's see how it develops in later time.

Alghero bit us welcome with a pageant, which was part of a festival of culture (Adifolk), which unites Alghero with Catalonia [4]. The old town of Alghero was literally flooded by folk groups from Catalonia with dances, music, songs, and costumes. The event is part of the Sant Miquel Festival 2021 (the celebrations in honor of the patron saint). We could see Bastoners (they were rhythmically beating clap sticks), Gitanes (Gypsies), Capogrossos (Bigheads), Gigants, and others.

 

 

Former Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont wanted to take part in the Catalan event, but had been arrested upon arrival [5]. He was released by an Italian judge and left the penal institution in the city of Sassari in Sardinia, which is bout 30 km away from Alghero.

Only after the unexpected vibrant and loud event we looked at the the old city, which showed a remarkable tranquil aspect.

Links and Notes:
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alghero
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algherese_dialect
[3] https://www.academia.edu/5492085/LAlguer_Alghero_a_Catalan_linguistic_enclave_in_Sardinia
[4] http://algherolive.it/2021/09/23/ladifolk-ad-alghero-la-festa-della-cultura-unisce-lisola-alla-catalogna-al-via-laplec-ecco-il-programma/
[5] https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000129934996/anhaenger-auf-sardinien-feierten-puigdemonts-freilassung

.

The Very Basic Guide to Farsi (Persian)

Farsi (فارسی) or Persian is spoken in Iran, but also in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Azerbaijan. The language belongs to the Indo-European languages. Farsi is written in the Arabic script, but needed some extra letters and adjustments. Persian added: Pe (پ), Che (چ), Zhe (ژ) und Gaaf (گ). Persian changed: Kaaf (ك) into (ک) and Ye (ي) into (ی). Some Arabic letter could have been omitted, but are still used in loan words though they don’t have a different sound.

You're welcome to look at these very basic words and expressions. I hope you’ll have a great time in Iran.

Hello – Dorud (درود), but even better and also used as any greeting is: Salaam (سلام)

Thank you – Mérci (مرسی)

You’re welcome – Khohesh mikonam (جواهش میکنم)

Yes – Aaré (آره) or bale (بله)

No – Na (نه)

Do you speak English? – Engelisi yaad daari? (انگلیسی یاد داری؟)

Please – Lotfan (لصفا)

Excuse me – Bebakhshit (ببجشیت)

Sorry – Bebakhshit (ببجشیت)

Good morning – Sobh bekheir (صبح بجیر)

Good evening – Asr bekheir (عصر بجیر)

Good night – Shab bekheir (شب بجیر)

Goodbye – Khoda negahdaar (خدانگهدار)

How are you? [plural, informal] - Khubid? (خوبید؟)

How are you? [singular, informal] - Khubi? (خوبی؟)

Fine, thank you - Khubam, sepaas (خوبم٫ سپاس)

Nice to meet you - Khoshvaghtam (خوشوقتم)

Help!  -Komak! (کُمَک)

Look out! - Bepaa! (!بپا)

How much is it? – … chand ast? (...چند است؟)

I don’t know – Nemidanam (نمی دانم)

I don’t understand – Nemifahmam (نمی فهمم)

Please speak more slowly – khohesh mikonam ahesteh tar sohbat konid (جواهش میکنم آهسته تر صحبت کنیت؟)

Where is – kojast? (کجاست؟)

Where is the toilet? – Dastshuyi kojast? (دستشویی کجاست؟)

Toilet – Dastshuyi (دستشویی)

Men – Mard (مرد)

Women – Zan (زن)

I'm lost – Gom shodeam (گم ششدهام)

What is your name? – Esmet Chie? (اسمت چیه؟)

My name is– My name is - (اسمی من - است)

Left – Chap (چث)

Right – Raast (راست)

I need a doctor – Be doktor ehtiyaaj daaram

(به دکتر احتیاج دارم)

I'm a vegetarian - Giaahkhaar hastam (گیاهجوار هستم) or: Man giaah kharam (من گیاهجوارم)

Please blame any mistakes on me.

Links:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_language

https://wikitravel.org/en/Persian_phrasebook

https://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/persian.php

http://www.jahanshiri.ir/fa/en/vocab-common-phrases   

https://app2brain.com/learn-languages/persian/conversations/

Links for more Basic Guides:

The Very Basic Guide to Esperanto http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2017/02/the-very-basic-guide-to-esperanto.html

The Very Basic Guide to Yiddish http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2016/12/the-very-basic-guide-to-yiddish.html

The Very Basic Guide to Portuguese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-portuguese.html

The Very Basic Guide to Italian   http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-italian.html

The Very Basic Guide to Afrikaans http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2015/04/the-very-basic-guide-to-afrikaans.html

The Very Basic Guide to Turkmenian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-languages-of.html

The Very Basic Guide to French http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-french.html

The Very Basic Guide to Russian http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2012/10/the-very-basic-guide-to-russian.html

The Very Basic Guide to Japanese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/03/the-very-basic-guide-to-japanese.html

The Very Basic Guide to Mandarin Chinese http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/04/the-very-basic-guide-to-mandarin-chinese.html

The Very Basic Guide to Spanish http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/05/the-very-basic-guide-to-spanish.html

.