5,407
edits
Arabic Transliteration: Difference between revisions
→The Arabic Letters: cleaning up language
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
(cleaning up intro) |
(→The Arabic Letters: cleaning up language) |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
==The Arabic Letters== | ==The Arabic Letters== | ||
The | The Arabic alphabet used for Arabic has 28 letters: | ||
*ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي (with spaces between letters) | *ا ب ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن ه و ي (with spaces between letters) | ||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
**Arabic letters don't have upper case and lower case forms. | **Arabic letters don't have upper case and lower case forms. | ||
The Arabic | The Arabic alphabet does not have a one-to-one correspondence with the Latin alphabet used by English. There are letters in English, which clack direct Arabic equivalents and vice versa. | ||
The word "alphabet" is derived from the words "'''a'''lpha" and "'''b'''eta", but Arabic doesn't have a letter like "a" (it has a letter "alif", which is however more complicated). Also many Arabic words consist of only consonant letters and the vowels are added by diacritics. So "alphabet" might not be the best way to describe the Arabic letters and abjad is used instead (الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة, ''al-abjadīyah al-ʻarabīyah'', the Arabic abjad). | The word "alphabet" is derived from the words "'''a'''lpha" and "'''b'''eta", but Arabic doesn't have a letter like "a" (it has a letter "alif", which is however more complicated). Also many Arabic words consist of only consonant letters and the vowels are added by diacritics. So "alphabet" might not be the best way to describe the Arabic letters and abjad is used instead (الأَبْجَدِيَّة العَرَبِيَّة, ''al-abjadīyah al-ʻarabīyah'', the Arabic abjad). | ||
Although there are letters which represent vowels, they are used only to represent long vowels. The short vowels in words are either indicated by (optional) diacritics, or just not indicated at all and the reader just has to know how to pronounce it. There are two "levels" of diacritics. The first is I‘jām (إِعْجَام), small dots which are considered to be a part of the letter. They were not present in the earliest Qur'anic manuscripts. They are absolutely important as they determine the consonant. For example: | Although there are letters which represent vowels, they are used only to represent long vowels. The short vowels in words are either indicated by (optional) diacritics, or just not indicated at all and the reader just has to know how to pronounce it. There are two "levels" of diacritics. The first is I‘jām (إِعْجَام), small dots which are considered to be a part of the letter. They were not uniformly present in the earliest Qur'anic manuscripts as they are today in modern Arabic typesets. They are absolutely important as they determine the consonant. For example: | ||
*ب b | *ب b | ||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
*ث th | *ث th | ||
Then there is the next "level" of diacritics, the harakat (حَرَكَات), which is optional and often not present in | Then there is the next "level" of diacritics, the harakat (حَرَكَات), which is optional and often not present in modern standard Arabic texts. The Arabic word "harakat" حَرَكَات without the harakat, would look like this: حركات. The three little lines above the letter determine the three "a" in h'''a'''r'''a'''k'''a'''t. | ||
===Missing Arabic letters=== | ===Missing Arabic letters=== | ||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
====G like in '''G'''abriel==== | ====G like in '''G'''abriel==== | ||
There is no letter g (like in '''g'''arden) in Arabic. So '''G'''abriel is '''J'''ibreel (جبريل). | There is no seperate letter for g (like in '''g'''arden) in Arabic as it is pronounced in most countries today. So '''G'''abriel is '''J'''ibreel (جبريل). | ||
*The Arabic letter ج (''jim'') is read as "g" in the Egyptian Arabic. | *The Arabic letter ج (''jim'') is read as "g" in the Egyptian Arabic (this was also likely the pronunciation of the letter in Muhammad's day). | ||
====CH like in '''Ch'''arles==== | ====CH like in '''Ch'''arles==== | ||
The "ch" letter is also missing in Arabic. But this sound can be emulated using a combination of the letters t (ت) and sh (ش). This sound is also described with two letters in English, but there is still a little difference between "ch" and "tsh", because "ch" really sounds like one letter. | The "ch" letter is also missing in Arabic. But this sound can be emulated using a combination of the letters t (ت) and sh (ش). This sound is also described with two letters in English, but there is still a little difference between "ch" and "tsh", because "ch" really sounds like one letter. Arabic dialects such as Iraqi use a special symbol چ for this sound which is not found in standard Arabic texts. | ||
===Arabic letters compatible with the English alphabet=== | ===Arabic letters compatible with the English alphabet=== | ||
| Line 82: | Line 82: | ||
There are Arabic pairs of letters which are pronounced a little differently, but they are transliterated into English as the same letter. For example the words سلام (''salaam'', peace) and صلاة (''salah'', prayer) start on a different kind of "s". | There are Arabic pairs of letters which are pronounced a little differently, but they are transliterated into English as the same letter. For example the words سلام (''salaam'', peace) and صلاة (''salah'', prayer) start on a different kind of "s". | ||
These letters (t, d, s) have two versions | These letters (t, d, s) have two versions. The best way to learn the difference would be to watch some videos on the Arabic alphabet and hear the difference. | ||
*d | *d | ||
| Line 290: | Line 290: | ||
The calligraphy often shows some common Islamic phrase, so if you know the Islamic Arabic phrases, you can guess what it is just from the first few letters. | The calligraphy often shows some common Islamic phrase, so if you know the Islamic Arabic phrases, you can guess what it is just from the first few letters. | ||
== | ==High Levels Notes== | ||
*The Arabic alphabet is not perfect. It cannot express some basic sounds, which can be pronounced. So considering the Arabic language to be the best or universal is not accurate, since it is limited from the beginning by its limited alphabet (abjad). | *The Arabic alphabet is not perfect. It cannot express some basic sounds, which can be pronounced. So considering the Arabic language to be the best or universal is not accurate, since it is limited from the beginning by its limited alphabet (abjad). | ||