Sat. Aug 22nd, 2026
VS in PS Verbal Substantives in Proto-Semitic 9 min read

Verbal Substantives in Proto-Semitic

Matthew Saunders April 13, 2026
TL;DR: This post explores several Proto-Semitic verbal substantive patterns and argues that vowel quality was associated with distinct semantic tendencies (active, passive/resultative, stative/resultative). Tracing their reflexes across daughter languages, it situates these forms along a continuum of nominality, from participles and agent nouns to gerunds and infinitives.... Read More
Strasbourg PPT, First Slide An Academic Pilgrimage: Germany Summer 2025 13 min read

An Academic Pilgrimage: Germany Summer 2025

Matthew Saunders June 26, 2025
TL;DR: For the past few weeks, I’ve traveled to Stuttgart, Tübingen, Berlin, Wittenberg, Erfurt, Heidelberg, Strasbourg, Göttingen, and Hamburg, including the following three conferences: Semitic Dialectology (Berlin); Studying Hebrew in Sixteenth-Century Strasbourg (Strasbourg); and Current Research and Challenges in Ugaritic Studies (Göttingen). Here's an overview of the talks I attended.... Read More
PTS Image 2025 JHU-PTS Doctoral Symposium 3 min read

JHU-PTS Doctoral Symposium

Matthew Saunders February 23, 2025
One week ago, I presented a lecture at the first annual Johns Hopkins-Princeton Theological Seminary Doctoral Symposium for Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and Northwest Semitics. My lecture focused on Aramaic-based code-alternation in the Hebrew Bible, categorizing its motivations and functions. It was an honor to engage with faculty like Mark S. Smith and F.W. “Chip” Dobbs-Allsopp and to share insights from my ongoing dissertation research. A more focused version of this talk is in progress for a future conference.... Read More