Old Hijazi: Difference between revisions

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== Main characteristics of Old Hijazi ==
== Main characteristics of Old Hijazi ==
The first five characteristics are proven by (a) the early Arabic scripts written in Greek and Hebrew letters, (b) the linguistic analysis of the Quranic consonantal text (QCT) which is the original text of the Quran that’s devoid of dots and signs that were added later.
'''1- Lack of nunation and final short vowels except in construct.'''  
'''1- Lack of nunation and final short vowels except in construct.'''  


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'''5- Lack of Hamzah (glottal stop) except when it’s a word-final Hamzah preceded by the long vowel ā.'''
'''5- The Alef Maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē.''' E.g. :
 
هدى
 
Classical Arabic: hudā
 
Old Hijazi:          hudē
 
 
'''6- Lack of Hamzah (glottal stop) except when it’s a word-final Hamzah preceded by the long vowel ā.'''
 
This characteristic is proven by (a) and (b) mentioned earlier. It’s also proven by early Arab grammarians’ description of the dialect of Quraysh which Muhammad belonged to.


A glottal stop naturally occurs in every language when the first word to be uttered begins with a vowel. The glottal stop in Arabic is called “Hamzah” and it has the symbol: ء . This symbol wasn’t invented yet at the time of Muhammad. The Hamzah can occur at the beginning, middle or end of a word.
A glottal stop naturally occurs in every language when the first word to be uttered begins with a vowel. The glottal stop in Arabic is called “Hamzah” and it has the symbol: ء . This symbol wasn’t invented yet at the time of Muhammad. The Hamzah can occur at the beginning, middle or end of a word.
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'''6- The Alef Maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē.''' E.g. :
'''7- The ض  letter is pronounced in a sound very similar to ظ  (ḍh) as apposed to the modern pronunciation ḍ (emphatic d).'''  
 
هدى
 
Classical Arabic: hudā
 
Old Hijazi:          hudē
 
 
'''8- The ض  letter is pronounced in a sound very similar to ظ  (ḍh) as apposed to the modern pronunciation ḍ (emphatic d).'''


This characteristic is proven by QCT analysis (specifically, evidence based on rhyme) and early Arab grammarians’ description of the dialect of Quraysh.
== Quranic Comparison between Classical Arabic and Old Hijazi ==
== Quranic Comparison between Classical Arabic and Old Hijazi ==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
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The QCT shows a number of differences from both the later interpretation of it in the Islamic tradition and later medieval norms around writing Arabic.
The QCT shows a number of differences from both the later interpretation of it in the Islamic tradition and later medieval norms around writing Arabic.


'''Final Yaa’'''
'''Final Yā’'''


Some Arabic words such as raʾā رأى and fatā فتى are spelled with a final “y” (ى) but pronounced as a long vowel ā. The ‘y’ that is pronounced as ā is called Alif Maqṣūrah and in modern spelling it doesn’t take the bottom two dots which are reserved for a genuine ‘y’ or ‘ī’, i.e: in modern prints of the Quran, a word-final ى is pronounced as ā, while a word-final ي  (with the two dots) is pronounced as ‘y’ or ‘ī’. The QCT analysis, particularly evidence based on rhyme, shows that the Alif Maqṣūrah in the Quran wasn’t pronounced as ā. Early Arabic texts written in Greek show that this letter was pronounced as ē. It’s also pronounced as ē in some canonical readings. When Arabic was Classicized, the ‘ē’ sound merged into ‘ā’.  
Some Arabic words such as raʾā رأى and fatā فتى are spelled with a final “y” (ى) but pronounced as a long vowel ā. The ‘y’ that is pronounced as ā is called Alif Maqṣūrah and in modern spelling it doesn’t take the bottom two dots which are reserved for a genuine ‘y’ or ‘ī’, i.e: in modern prints of the Quran, a word-final ى is pronounced as ā, while a word-final ي  (with the two dots) is pronounced as ‘y’ or ‘ī’. The QCT analysis, particularly evidence based on rhyme, shows that the Alif Maqṣūrah in the Quran wasn’t pronounced as ā. Early Arabic texts written in Greek show that this letter was pronounced as ē. It’s also pronounced as ē in some canonical readings. When Arabic was Classicized, the ‘ē’ sound merged into ‘ā’.  
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