2372: South Arabian Languages Jun 16, 2021

South Arabian languages, mainly confined to Oman, Yemen (including Soqotri) along with Kuwait. These were once thought to be descendents of Old South Arabian—a collection of four Yemenite languages—but were later reclassified as West Semitic along with Arabic, Hebrew, and Ethiopian Semitic languages: basically any living Semitic language. Still, these diverged from other Semitic languages early, and are closer related to Ethiopian Semitic languages rather than Arabic, though these are far from mutually intelligible. These languages (Bathari, Harsusi, Hobyót, Mehri–Soqotri, Shehri) are known for having certain archaic features, especially when it comes to phonology, lost in other Semitic languages.

2170: The Productivity of בן (Ben) Nov 23, 2020

The Hebrew בן (ben) or Aramaic בר (bar) both are used to mean 'son', but unlike in English it has other constructive uses, especially historically. For instance, it is still used to indicate age, with הוא בן שש (hu ben sheish) translating effectively as "he is 6 years old" but meaning literally "he is a son of six". Likewise, though it is no longer productive in Modern Hebrew, it was used to describe possession or ability, like ‏בן דעת‎ (ben da'at) literally "son of knowledge" to refer to someone who is logically competent.