קָדִימָה

I'm living in Jerusalem at the moment and trying simultaneously to understand the ins and outs of Acanthamoeba genomics and master Hebrew.

Whilst here it seemed a good idea to dig a little deeper into some of the words being learning, perhaps see some patterns, draw some insight, and maybe even remember them for longer than it takes to say 'how do you say such and such again'. Ah the joys of short-term cognitive impairment.

To this end, we shall begin with the first word: קָדִימָה (ca-dee-ma). It means forward. The reason that this word was necessary will become apparent. For now more about the word. Hebrew is nice in the that the roots of the words reflect the underlying meaning. Thus, from קדמ (c-d-m) we can form מִתקַדֵם (mit-ca-dem) meaning advances, progressive or liberal thinking, קְדוֹמַנִי (ca-do-ma-ni), meaning predecessor or foregoer, קִדמִי (cad-mi) meaning anterior.

And so to going forward. I've been here nearly a week now, with a home to go to still an outstanding issue, but there's a lot to do, a lot to see, and an awful lot to learn.