Belarusian Arabic alphabet

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Kitab in Arabitsa, c. 1750-1800 Kitab.jpg
Kitab in Arabitsa, c. 1750-1800
Basic summary of the letters and the functioning of Belarusian Arabic alphabet Litary belaruskai arabitsy.svg
Basic summary of the letters and the functioning of Belarusian Arabic alphabet

The Belarusian Arabic alphabet [a] or the Belarusian Arabica [b] [1] was based on the Perso-Arabic script and was developed in the 15th or 16th century. It consisted of 28 graphemes, including several additions to represent Belarusian phonemes not found in the Arabic language.

Contents

The Belarusian Arabic alphabet was used by the Lipka Tatars, who had been invited to settle in the eastern territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—a region that now comprises modern-day Belarus. During the 14th–16th centuries they gradually stopped using their own language and started using the Ruthenian language (modern Belarusian and Ukrainian) rendered in the Belarusian Arabic alphabet. Books of that literary tradition are known in Belarusian as Kitab (Belarusian : Кітаб), which is Arabic for 'book' or 'written material'.

Example of text in Arabitsa Khamail Iakubouskaga, s. 389, vektar.svg
Example of text in Arabitsa

Some Polish texts were also written in the Arabic script in the 17th century or later. [2]

Additional graphemes

ژ چ پ
( Letter dal with three dots.png Letter sad with three dots.png )
These graphemes were used during the 16th–20th centuries to write Belarusian and Polish. [2]
و

Equivalence chart

Vowels

/a/ is consistently written long (that is, with a mater lectionis), while /e/ is consistently written short.

/o/ is most commonly written long. [3]

Consonants

CyrillicLatinArabic
Contextual formsIsolated
FinalMedialInitial
Б бB bـبـبـبـب
В вV vـوو
Г гH hـهـهـهـه
Ґ ґG gـغـغـغـغ
Д дD dـدد
Дж джDž džـجـجـجـج
Дзь дзьDź dźـࢮ ( Letter dal with three dots.png )
Ж жŽ žـژژ
З зZ zـضـضـضـض
Зь зьŹ źـزز
Й йJ jـىـىـىـى
К кK kـقـقـقـق
Кь кьKj kjـكـكـكـك
Л л, Ль льŁ ł, L lـلـلـلـل
М мM mـمـمـمـم
Н н, Нь ньN n, Ń ńـنـنـنـن
П пP pـپـپـپـپ
Р рR rـرر
С сS sـصـصـصـص
Сь сьŚ śـسـسـسـس
Т тT tـطـطـطـط
Ў ўŬ ŭـوو
Ф фF fـفـفـفـف
Х хCh chـحـحـحـح
Ц цC cـࢯـࢯـࢯـ ( Letter sad with three dots.png )
Ць цьĆ ćـتـتـتـت
Ч чČ čـچـچـچـچ
Ш шŠ šـشـشـشـش
ـعـ
ь

Ligature

CyrillicLatinArabic
Contextual formsIsolated
FinalMedialInitial
Ла ла, Ля ляŁa ła, La laـلالا

Sample text

Below is a sample text, Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. [4]

Belarusian Cyrillic alphabetУсе людзі нараджаюцца свабоднымі i роўнымі ў сваёй годнасці i правах. Яны надзелены розумам i сумленнем i павінны ставіцца адзін да аднаго ў духу брацтва.
Belarusian Latin alphabetUsie ludzi naradžajucca svabodnymi i roŭnymi ŭ svajoj hodnaści i pravach. Jany nadzieleny rozumam i sumlenniem i pavinny stavicca adzin da adnaho ŭ duchu bractva.
Belarusian Arabic alphabetاُوسَ ليُوࢮِى نَارَاجَايُوࢯَّا صْوَابَودْنِمِى اِى رَووْنِمِى وصْوَايَويْ هَودْنَاسْتِى اِى پْرَاوَاحْ. يَانِ نَاࢮَلَنِ رَوضُومَامْ اِى صُومْلَنَّمْ اِى پَاوِىنِّ صْتَاوِىࢯَّا آࢮِىنْ دَا آدْنَاهَو ودُوحُو بْرٰاࢯْطْوَا.
Belarusian IPA transcription[u̯sʲeˈlʲud͡zʲɪnərɐˈd͡ʐajʊt͡sːəsvɐˈbodnɨmʲɪiˈrou̯nɨmʲɪsvɐˈjojˈɦodnəsʲt͡sʲɪiprɐˈvaxjɐˈnɨnɐˈd͡zʲelʲɪnɨˈrozʊməmisʊˈmlʲenʲːɪmipɐˈvʲinːɨˈstavʲɪt͡sːəɐˈd͡zʲindaədnɐˈɦoˈduxʊˈbrat͡stvə‖]
English translationAll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

See also

Notes

  1. Belarusian: Беларускі арабскі алфавіт / بلاروسكى آرابسكى آلفاوىط, romanized: Biełaruski arabski ałfavit
  2. بلاروصقایا آرابیࢯا, Беларуская Арабіца, Biełaruskaja Arabica

References

  1. 1 2 Seveleu-Dubrovnik, Maxime. "The origin of the Belarusan Arabic alphabet". The Belarusian Arabic alphabet initiative at the FIAS. Archived from the original on 2023-04-10.
  2. 1 2 Ilya Yevlampiev; Karl Pentzlin; Nurlan Joomagueldinov (20 May 2011). "Revised Proposal to encode Arabic characters used for Bashkir, Belarusian, Crimean Tatar, and Tatar languages, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2" (PDF).
  3. "Антон Антановіч. Беларускія тэксты, пісаныя арабскім пісьмом". knihi.com (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2022-05-27.
  4. "Belarusian language, alphabet and pronunciation". Omniglot.

Further reading