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Regular expressions
The Princeton Geniza Project database allows for search expressions containing certain 'regular expressions'. Regular expressions are codes that can be inserted in search queries to match patterns of text.
| ^string | Matches the text at the beginning of the string |
| string$ | Matches the text at the end of the string |
| . | Matches any single character (including special characters) |
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| a+ | Matches the sequence of one or more of the specified character |
| a? | Matches zero or one occurrence of the specified character |
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| [abc] | Matches any one of the specified characters |
Boolean Search
The Princeton Geniza Project database uses a boolean full-text search. This type of search allows users to combine keywords with operators to refine searches. Possible operators and examples of their use:
| מולאנא מולאי | Search for rows that contain either of two words by simply typing them consecutively. In this case, the search will find documents that contain either מולאי or מולאנא. |
| כתאבי +מולאי+ | Use a + sign before word to search for rows that contain all of them (in this case the words כתאבי and מולאי) |
| כתאבי AND מולאי כתאבי OR מולאי | The keyword AND indicates that both search terms must be present in the results. OR matches either search term. |
| כתאב –כתאבה | Use a - sign to exclude a term from your results (in this case, the search will include כתאב but exclude כתאבה) |
| *כתאב ?כתאב |
Use an asterisk or a question mark as a wildcard. An asterix matches any number of characters. A question mark matches any single character |
ENA NS 35.27
Letter in Judaeo-Arabic from a man to a woman regarding the education of the writer's son, who either lives with or is merely the pupil of the addressee. He first thanks her for her care and attention that she has lavished on his son, which have fulfilled his hopes for this arrangment—and then transitions into his chief disappointment. He has tested his son several times and found that he cannot sing (fa-lam ajidhu yaʿrifu yulaḥḥin wa-lā ʿindahu khabar min al-laḥn) and that he can hardly even read (wa-lā yuḥsin yatahajjā ḥarf wa-lā ʿindahu khabar min al-hijā' ra'san). He states that he is not happy with this result, not least because of all the favor (karāma) and money (not only dirhams but dinars) that he has given her. "For the most important thing for me is a beautiful and correct melody and pronunciation (al-laḥn al-malīḥ al-ṣaḥīḥ wa-l-hijāya). Do not allow him to mingle with youths or walk with youths in the street." The writer concludes by demanding that she teach him how to sing a couple nice qinnot (?) with cantorship (qiṭʿatayn qīnā milāḥ bi-laḥn ḥazzānī malīḥ. . . . wa-yakūnū min aḥsan qawl wa-aḥsan laḥn). He must be prepared to recite them in front of al-Shaykh al-Kabīr. No bibliography. ASE
Library: JTS
Type: Letter
