Time for the Periodic Obscure Linguistics Post

It seems like over the last couple of months we've spent so much time talking about Egyptian elections, Tunisian governments, Naguib Mahfouz' centenary, Bashar with Barbara Walters, banning bikinis (and in counterpoint, the "nude Egyptian blogger" affair and its aftermath and imitators), that I've really neglected to post very much on extremely obscure linguistic points about Middle Eastern languages you've never heard of, for which I apologize. I realize of course that profound historical change, literary genius, and revolution, all interest some of my readers, but for the frustrated pedants among you, relax: I've got links on two languages from two completely distinct language families on different continents: Libyco-Berber (Afro-Asiatic) and Hazaragi (Indo-European). Happy now?

Though these links (which are other people's work of course, not mine) do not quite reach the sublime obscurity of my post on (possible) Punic and Berber influences on Etruscan last June, those of you who need a respite from the contemporary may find them useful.

For Libyco-Berber, the linguist/blogger Lameen Souag, he of the Jabal al-Lughat blog, has posted two pieces on Libyco-Berber at the MNAMON website, one on the writing system, and the other on the language itself. It's obvious not much is known of the latter.(If the second and third links act up, as they're doing for me, you can access them via Jabal al-Lughat.)

Hazaragi lies at the other end of our region, where it is spoken by the Hazaras of Afghanistan. Closely related to Persian, Dari, and Tajik, though it has other influences, including Turkic and Mongolian loanwords, in keeping with the tradition that the Hazara are of Mongol origin. (They're also Shi‘ites in heavily Sunni Afghanistan. This post discusses both their language and their history.

A Quick Primer on Some Iranian Terms

As more and more people seem to be following Iranian bloggers, Twitterers, and YouTube posters, I've noticed many are referring to the security forces using their Persian names, and thought perhaps I should add a few notes for those who aren't familiar with them. An emerging story seems to be that the Army is clearly holding back, the Guards Corps is often doing so as well, and most of the violence is coming from the Basij, who are little more than street militia.

Basij (collective) or Basiji (individual) refers to the Mobilization, a popular militia recruited during the Iran-Iraq war. They are under the command of the Guards Corps, but without the elite training of the Corps proper. They're the enforcers, so far.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is the elite force, separate from the regular armed forces and a major constituent in the support of Ahmadinejad. Although Western analysts most often refer to them as the Pasdaran (Guards), Iranians often use the word translated as "Corps" to refer to them: Sepah (collective) or Sepahi (individual).

The regular Armed Forces have remained aloof so far, although there are some reports that some officers have been arrested (similar reports relating to the Guards Corps have also circulated). Reading Iranian posters you may see the regular Army referred to as Artesh, the Persian word for Army.

Persian isn't actually one of my languages, but I've spent some time dealing with their military forces in earlier incarnations.