Talk:Arabic alphabet/from the French Wikipedia
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This is a copy of the French Wikipedia's "arabic alphabet" article, for translation into English, on which I have made a start.
See [1] (http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffr.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FAlphabet_arabe&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools) for a machine translation of the French article.
Please merge translated text into the English-language Arabic alphabet article as appropriate.
> I tried to translate a few paragraphs but I don't know linguistic so it's quite difficult. I hope my inputs can help a native english speaker to find a better formulation. PY 14:56, Mar 1, 2004 (UTC)
de:Arabisches Alphabet fr:Alphabet arabeeo:Araba alfabeto nl:Arabisch alfabet pl:Alfabet arabski zh:阿拉伯语字母表
The Arabic alphabet is the principal script used for writing the Arabic language.
As the alphabet of the language of the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, its influence spread with that of Islam and it has been, and still is, used to write other languages without any linguistic roots in Arabic, such as Persian, and Turkish (although Mustafa Kemal Atatrk imposed the use of the Latin alphabet in 1928), Kashmiri, Sindhi, Urdu and Kurdish. (All of these languages, except for Turkish, have Indo-European roots).
It is often necessary to add or modify certain letters in order to adapt this alphabet to the phonology of the target languages. Certain African languages, for example Hausa, have also used the Arabic alphabet, before adopting the Latin one.
The Arabic alphabet is composed of 29 basic letters and is written from right to left. There is no difference between written and printed letters; the concepts of upper and lower case letters does not exist (thus the writing is unicase). On the other hand, most of the letters are attached to one another, even when printed, and their appearance changes as a function of whether they are preceded or followed by other letters or stand alone (that is, there is contextual variation). The Arabic alphabet is an abjad, a term describing writing in which the vowels are not explicitly written; so the reader must know the language in order to restore them. However, in editions of the Qur'an or in didactic works a vocalization notation in the form of diacritic marks is used. Moreover, in vocalized texts, there is a series of other diacritics of which the most modern are an indication of vowel omission (sukūn) and the doubling of consonants (šadda).
This alphabet can be traced back to the Nabataean version of the Aramaic alphabet, itself descended from the Phoenecian (nearly all Western alphabets are descended from this one). The first example of a text in the Arabic alphabet appeared in 512 A.D. In the 7th century, marks were added above and below the letters to differentiate them, as Aramaic had fewer phonemes than Arabic. Thus, in the early writings a single letter might represent several phonemes.
The Arabic alphabet can be transliterated and transcribed in various ways. The prefered method in this document will be DIN-31635. It can be encoded using several character sets, including: ISO-8859-6 and Unicode, thanks to the "Arabic segment", entries U+0600 to U+06FF. However, these two sets do not indicate for each of the characters the in-context form they should take. It is left to the rendering engine to select the proper glyph to display for each character.
When one wants to encode a particular written form of a character, there are extra code points provided in Unicode which can be used to express the exact written form desired. The Arabic presentation forms A (U+FB50 to U+FDFF) and Arabic presentation forms B (U+FE70 to U+FEFF) contain most of the characters with contextual variation as well as the extended characters appropriate for other languages. It is also possible to use zero-width joiners and non-joiners. Note that the use of these presentation forms is deprecated in Unicode, and should generally only be used within the internals of text-rendering software, or for backwards compatibility with implementations that rely on the hard-coding of glyph forms.
Finally, the Unicode encoding of Arabic is in logical order, that is, the characters are entered, and stored in computer memory, in the order that they are written and pronounced without worrying about the direction in which they will be displayed on paper or on the screen. Again, it is left to the rendering engine to present the characters in the correct direction. In this regard, if the Arabic words on this page are written left to right, it is an indication that the Unicode rendering engine used to display them is out-of-date. For more information about encoding Arabic, consult the Unicode manual available at http://www.unicode.org/
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Presentation of the alphabet
The transcription and the transliteration mainly follow the DIN 31635 standard; the alternatives belonging to other standards are indicated after the oblique bar.
Notice that the superscript diacritic above the vowels can be easily replaced by a circumflex.
A transliteration from Arabic must clearly show the characters which are not pronounced or which are pronounced as others in order to avoid being ambiguous; a transcription indicates only the pronunciation. See below for more details. The phonetic transcription (somewhat simplified here) follows the conventions of the International Phonetic Alphabet: for more details concerning the pronunciation of Arabic, consult the article on Arabic pronunciation.
Primary letters
| Stand-alone | Initial | Medial | Final | Name | Trans. | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ﺀ | أ ؤ إ ئ ٵ ٶ ٸ ځ, etc. | hamza | ʾ / ’ et ‚ | [ʔ] | ||
| ﺍ | — | ﺎ | ʾalif | ā / â | [aː] | |
| ﺏ | ﺑ | ﺒ | ﺐ | bāʾ | b | [b] |
| ﺕ | ﺗ | ﺘ | ﺖ | tāʾ | t | [t] |
| ﺙ | ﺛ | ﺜ | ﺚ | ṯāʾ | ṯ / th | [θ] |
| ﺝ | ﺟ | ﺠ | ﺞ | ǧīm | ǧ / j / dj | [ʤ] |
| ﺡ | ﺣ | ﺤ | ﺢ | ḥāʾ | ḥ | [ħ] |
| ﺥ | ﺧ | ﺨ | ﺦ | ḫāʾ | ḫ / ẖ / kh | [x] |
| ﺩ | — | ﺪ | dāl | d | [d] | |
| ﺫ | — | ﺬ | ḏāl | ḏ / dh | [ð] | |
| ﺭ | — | ﺮ | rāʾ | r | [r] | |
| ﺯ | — | ﺰ | zāy | z | [z] | |
| ﺱ | ﺳ | ﺴ | ﺲ | sīn | s | [s] |
| ﺵ | ﺷ | ﺸ | ﺶ | šīn | š / sh | [ʃ] |
| ﺹ | ﺻ | ﺼ | ﺺ | ṣād | ṣ | [sˁ] |
| ﺽ | ﺿ | ﻀ | ﺾ | ḍād | ḍ | [dˁ], [ðˤ] |
| ﻁ | ﻃ | ﻄ | ﻂ | ṭāʾ | ṭ | [tˁ] |
| ﻅ | ﻇ | ﻈ | ﻆ | zāʾ | ẓ | [zˁ], [ðˁ] |
| ﻉ | ﻋ | ﻌ | ﻊ | ʿayn | ʿ / ‘ | [ʔˤ] |
| ﻍ | ﻏ | ﻐ | ﻎ | ġayn | ġ / gh | [ɣ] |
| ﻑ | ﻓ | ﻔ | ﻒ | fāʾ | f | [f] |
| ﻕ | ﻗ | ﻘ | ﻖ | qāf | q / ḳ | [q] |
| ﻙ | ﻛ | ﻜ | ﻚ | kāf | k | [k] |
| ﻝ | ﻟ | ﻠ | ﻞ | lām | l | [l] |
| ﻡ | ﻣ | ﻤ | ﻢ | mīm | m | [m] |
| ﻥ | ﻧ | ﻨ | ﻦ | nūn | n | [n] |
| ﻩ | ﻫ | ﻬ | ﻪ | hāʾ | h | [h] |
| ﻭ | — | ﻮ | wāw | w | [w] | |
| ﻱ | ﻳ | ﻴ | ﻲ | yāʾ | y | [j] |
Letters lacking an initial or medial version are never tied to the following letter, even in a word. As to ﺀ hamza, it has only a single graphic, since it is never tied to a preceding or following letter. The hamza can also act as a diacritic (in this case it is said to have a carrier). For there is no Arabic word beginning with an ʾalif, hamza is actually the first letter of the alphabet.
Other letters
| Stand-alone | Initial | Medial | Final | Name | Trans. | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ﺁ | — | ﺂ | ʾalif madda | ʾā | [ʔaː] | |
| ﺓ | — | ﺔ | tāʾ marbūṭa | h et t / Ø / h / ẗ | [a], [at] | |
| ﻯ | — | ﻰ | ʾalif maqṣūra | ā / ỳ | [aː] | |
| ﻻ | — | ﻼ | lām ʾalif | lā | [laː] | |
Notes
Writing the hamza
Initially, the letter ʾalif indicated a occlusive glottal, or glottal stop, transcribed by [ʔ], confirming the alphabet came from the same Phoenician origin. Now ce que confirment les alphabets issus de la mme origine phnicienne. Now it is used in the same manner as in other abjads, with yāʾ and wāw, as a mater lectionis, that is to say a consonant standing in for a long vowel (see below). In fact, over the course of time its phonetic value has been obscured, since, ʾalif serves principally to replace phonemes or to serve as a graphic support for certain diacritics.
The Arabic alphabet now mainly uses the hamza to indicate a glottal stop, which can appear anywhere in a word. This letter, however, does not function like the others: it can be written alone or on a support in which case it becomes a diacritic:
- with a support : ء ;
- with a support : إ ,أ (above and under a ʾalif), ؤ (above a wāw), ئ (above a yāʾ 'without points or yāʾ hamza).
The details of writing of the hamza are discussed below, after that of the vowels and syllable-division marks, because their functions are related.
Ligatures
lām+ʾalif, etc.
Diacritics
Vowels
Generally, vowels (brief or long) are not written down, except in some holy or didactic texts where the latest are said to be voiced . A diacritic means brief vowel if it is located above or under the previous consonant in the syllabus, while long ones are noted by the diacritic of the equivalent brief one , followed by a consonnant (ʾalif for the extension of /a/, yāʾ for /i/ and wāw for /u/, i.e. aā = ā, iy = ī and uw = ū) ; non voiced texts, long vowels are shown by the corresponding consonnants (ā, y, w). While no arabian syllabus begin with a vowel (e.g there is an initial consonnant in first name like Ali, ʿAlī, or word like ʾalif), there is no independant representation.
Alphabet handles long vowels, written thanks to diagram, as a series of vowel+regular consonant, which requires the use of sukūn (Cf. thereafter) in a fully diacritical text.
For clarity's sake, vowles would be located over or below the letter ﺕ tāʾ ; thus you should read the results [ta], [ti], [tu], etc. However letters are not linked together: therefore a correct representation of ā is tā, written تَا instead of تَا.
| Simple vowels | Name | Trans. | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| تَ | fatḥa | a | [a] |
| تِ | kasra | i | [i] |
| تُ | ḍamma | u | [u] |
| تَا | fatḥa ʾalif | ā | [aː] |
| تَى | fatḥa ʾalif maqṣūra | ā / aỳ | [aː] |
| تِي | kasra yāʾ | ī / iy | [iː] |
| تُو | ḍamma wāw | ū / uw | [uː] |
Diphtongs [ay] & [au]
They are simply noted by a brief vowel, followed by a spirant consonnant [j] or [w]. Writing handle it like ī and ū, i.e. doesn't distinguish it from other series of vowels+consonants. You could classified among diphtongs those beginning with īy and ūw as well; however they aren't voweld followed by a consonant. Like before, t precedes diphtongs and letters are not liked.
| Diphtong | Name | Trans. | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| تَيْ | fatḥa yāʾ | ay | [ai] |
تَوْ | fatḥa wāw | aw | [au] |
Voyelles casuelles
Lors de la flexion nominale, les noms peuvent recevoir trois dsinences diffrentes, -a, -i, et -u. Celles-ci ne sont pas crites dans un texte non vocalis, sinon, les signes habituels sont employs. Cependant, si le mot est indfini (sans article ni complment du nom), il prend (sauf exceptions) les dsinences -an, -in, -un, nommes tanwīn. Celles-ci sont notes par des diacritiques spciaux qui remplacent la voyelle ainsi que la lettre -n attendue en fin de mot ; selon que le texte est vocalis ou non, la notation change :
- tanwīn -an (tanwīn al-fatḥa) : ــًـ ; un ʾalif est plac la suite du tanwīn, sauf si le mot se termine par ة tāʾ marbūṭa [a(t)] (suffixe de fminin), ou par un hamza, أ [aʔ] ou اء, [āʔ], auquel cas le tanwīn reste seul ; dans un texte non vocalis, seul le ʾalif est crit, si c'est possible :
- رَجُلًا raǧulan, homme (cas direct) ; non vocalis : رجلاً,
- عَادَةً ʿādatan, d'habitude (noter l'utilisation du tāʾ marbūṭa prononc ici [at] devant voyelle) ; non vocalis : عادة (pas d'ʾalif aprs ة),
- tanwīn -in (tanwīn aḍ-ḍamma) : ــٍـ ; il n'est pas crit dans les textes non vocaliss :
- رَجُلٍ raǧulin, homme (cas indirect) ; non vocalis : رجل ;
- tanwīn -in (tanwīn al-kasra) : ــٌـ (il existe une deuxime graphie, ressemblant ” suscrit) ; il n'est pas crit dans les textes non vocaliss :
- رَجُلٌ, homme (cas sujet) : non vocalis : دجل (le cas sujet et le cas indirect ne se distinguent donc pas).
Dans la pratique, le [n] des tanwīn n'est pas prononcs (sauf des expressions adverbiales figes). Il appartient la langue littraire de l'arabe classique.
Signes de syllabation et autres
De mme que pour les signes de vocalisation, les signes de syllabation ne sont pas obligatoirement crits. Ils permettent cependant une grande prcision et s'utilisent parfois quand le texte n'est pas vocalis.
Sukūn
An Arabic syllable can be open (ended by a vowel) or closed (ended by a consonant).
- open: C[onsonant]V[owel];
- closed: CVC(C).
Quand la syllabe est ferme, on peut indiquer que la consonne qui la ferme ne porte aucune voyelle en plaant au dessus un signe nomm sukūn, de la forme , pour lever tout ambigut, surtout quand le texte n'est pas vocalis : il faut se souvenir qu'un texte standard n'est compos que de suites de consonnes ; ainsi, le mot qalb, cœur , est crit qlb. Les sukūn permettent de savoir o ne pas placer une voyelle : qlb (قلب) pourrait en effet tre lu /qVlVbV/, mais crit avec un sukūn sur le l et sur le b, il ne peut tre interprt que sous la forme /qVlb/ (quant savoir quelle est la voyelle /V/, il faut pour cela connatre le mot) ; on crit donc قلْبْ (sans ligatures : قلْبْ). De fait, dans un texte vocalis le sukūn se semble pas ncessaire, puisque le placement des voyelles est sr : قِلْبْ est quelque peu redondant.
L'on peut faire de mme pour l'criture des voyelles longues et des diphtongues, puisque celles-ci sont notes par une voyelle suivie d'une consonne : ainsi mūsīqā, musique , s'crit de manire non vocalise mwsyqā (موسيقى avec un ʾalif maqṣūra en fin de mot) ; pour viter une lecture /mVwVsVyVqā/, il est possible d'indiquer que w et y ferment leur syllabe respective : موْسيْقىْ (noter que ʾalif maqṣūra est considr comme une consonne et qu'il porte donc aussi le sukūn). Le mot, entirement vocalis, est crit مُوْسِيْقَىْ. De mme pour les diphtongues : le mot zauǧ, mari , peut tre crit simplement zwǧ : زوج, avec sukūn : زوْجْ, avec sukūn et voyelle : زَوْجْ. Dans la pratique, le sukūn n'est pas plac au-dessus des lettres servant indiquer l'allongement de la voyelle qui prcde : mūsīqā sera plus simplement crit مُوسِيقَى. De mme, il n'est que rarement plac en fin de mot quand la dernire syllabe est ferme.
Šadda
Ce signe, de forme ّ sert faire l'conomie d'une lettre quand deux consonnes identiques se suivent : c'est le cas lorsqu'une syllabe ferme termine par une consonne X prcde une autre syllabe dbutant par cette consonne X. On place la šadda au-dessus d'une des consonnes, tandis que l'autre n'est pas crite : ainsi, le mot šadda lui-mme est orthographi شدّ au lieu de شدد ; le mot, vocalis, donne شَدَّ. Il n'y a donc plus besoin d'utiliser un sukūn ; sinon, l'on crirait *شَدْدَ.
La šadda se rencontre trs frquemment dans les cas d'assimilation de la consonne [l] de l'article devant consonne solaire : ainsi, la lune s'crit أَلْقَمَر ʾal-qamar, mais le soleil est not أَلشَّمْس ʾaš-šams (il est crit en ralit ʾalššams).
Noter le placement des signes de vocalisation :
- fatḥa [a] et ḍamma [u] sont crits au-dessus de la šadda tandis que kasra est crite soit rgulirement sous la consonne qui la porte, soit sous la šadda : il ne faut donc pas confondre ﳲ et ﳴ ;
- les tanwīn [an] et [un] suivent les mmes principes (au-dessus de la šadda), mais le tanwīn [in] ne se place qu'au-dessous de sa lettre (et non sous la šadda).
Writing of the hamza
On l'a dit, la hamza peut se prsenter sans ou avec support. Les rgles d'critures dpendent en fait du vocalisme et de la syllabation. It is necessary to consider the place of the word where the hamza appears::
1. hamza l'initiale :
- elle a toujours le support ʾalif et elle est toujours suivie d'une voyelle ;
- elle se place au-dessous du ʾalif si la voyelle qui suit est /i/, long ou bref, que le texte soit vocalis ou non : إِ et إ notent tous deux ʾi, comme dans le prnom ʾIbrāhīm, crit إِبْرَاهِيم ou إبراهيم ;
- elle se place au-dessus du ʾalif dans les autres cas : ʾa est noté أَ ou أ, tandis que ʾu est crit أُ ou أ, par exemple ; ainsi أَنْتَ ou أنت ʾanta, toi (masculin) ; أُسْبُوع ou أسبوع ʾusbūʿ, semaine ; أَيْنَ ou أين ʾayna, o ? , etc.
2. Hamza la finale :
- son support varie selon le timbre de la voyelle qui prcde ;
- si c'est /a/, /i/ ou /o/ suivis de hamza, les supports sont respectivement ʾalif, yāʾ hamza (sans points), wāw : مُبْتَدَأ "mubtadaʾ, commencement ;
- dans les autres cas (avant sukūn, lettre d'allongement, etc.), hamza n'a pas de support : شَيْء šayʾ, chose ; بَاْء bāʾ, lettre B , ضَوْء ḍawʾ, lumire .
Letters used for other languages
- to be written
Regarding transliteration
- to be written
See also
Arabic pronunciation ~ writing system ~ alphabet ~ Arabic language
External links
- Arabic calligraphy website (http://www.islamicart.com/main/calligraphy/)
- Arabic alphabet Unicode encoding chart (.pdf format) (http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0600.pdf)