Swahili Ajami

Last updated
Swahili Ajami
herufi za Kiarabu
حٖرُوفِ زَ كِعَرَبُ
Script type
Time period
c. 16 c. to the present
DirectionRight-to-left
Languages Swahili
Related scripts
Parent systems
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.For the distinction between [ ], / / and  , see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Swahili Ajami script refers to the alphabet derived from Arabic script that is used for the writing of Swahili language. [1]

Contents

Ajami is a name commonly given to alphabets derived from Arabic script for the use of various African languages, from Swahili to Hausa, Fula, and Wolof.

In the 2010s, there has been work on creating new Unicode characters, on keyboard mapping, and on coding script conversion programs, so that typing in Swahili Ajami Script can become as accessible as typing in Latin Script, so that texts from either script can easily and accurately be converted to the other, and to have a tool digitize and upload historic texts and manuscripts in Swahili for the sake of their preservation. Dr. Kevin Donnelly of SOAS has worked on that and on digitizing historic Swahili manuscripts. [2] [3]

History

Up until the latter half of the 19th century, there was no specific "Swahili script". It was Arabic script with no modification that was used. [1]

Adapting the Arabic script to Swahili phonology

Starting from the later half of the 19th century, continuing into the 20th century, and going on in the 21st century, a process of "Swahilization" of the Arabic script has been under way by Swahili scribes and scholars. The first of such attempts was done by Mwalimu Sikujua, a scholar and poet from Mombasa. Below are Mwalimu Sikujua's innovations in the adaptation of Arabic script for Swahili phonology: [4]

  1. In his script, he distinguished alveolar [t] and [d] sounds from their dental counterparts which is the norm in Arabic phonology. He did so by adding 4 dots to the letters tāʼ (ت) and dāl (د), creating the letters ٿ and ڐ. This is the same as what was done in Urdu alphabet to denote retroflex consonants, where later, the 4 dots evolved into looking like the letter ṭāʾ (ط)
  2. The introduction of new letters to represent the sounds [p] and [v] by adding three dots to letters bāʼ (ب) and fāʼ (ف), same as what's been done in Persian alphabet, [5] creating the letters پ and ڤ.
  3. For representing aspirated consonants, Mwalimu Sikujua wrote a tiny letter hāʾ (ھ) on top of the aspirated letter. For example, an aspirated alveolar [t] would be written with ه on top of the four dots of the letter ٿ, producing "ٿ(ه)".
  4. For representing prenasalized consonants (sounds such as [ⁿd], [ⁿɡ], and [ᵐb]), Mwalimu Sikujua wrote a tiny letter mīm (م) or nūn (ن) on top or bottom of the letter. For example, the sound [ᵐb] would be written as "بۭ" and the sound [ⁿd] as "دۨ".
  5. As explained, Arabic only has vowels for [a], [i], and [u], whereas Swahili has five vowels, the three aforementioned ones and [e] and [o]. For showing the vowel [e], Mwalimu Sikujua modified the existing Kasrah diacritic used for showing [i] (◌ِ), by changing its angle slightly and by adding markings to modify its shape slightly, thus producing a shape resembling "◌̼ ". As for [o], Mwalimu Sikujua inverted the orientation of the existing Ḍammah diacritic used for showing u (◌ؙ), thus representing it with a diacritic resembling "◌ٗ".

The poetry and texts written by Mwalimu Sikujua were published by W.E. Taylor, a Swahili literature scholar of British origin, in the late 19th century. This was probably the first time ever that Swahili in Ajami script was printed and published as opposed to being handwritten. However, the spread of a standardized indigenous variation of Arabic script for Swahili was hampered by the colonial takeover of East Africa by the United Kingdom and Germany. The usage of Arabic script was suppressed in German East Africa and to a lesser extent in British East Africa. Nevertheless, well into the 1930s and 1940s, rural literacy rate in Arabic script as well as a local preference to write Swahili in this script was high. [4] But it's important to note that literacy at the time was in unmodified Arabic script, and not the modified scripts that were thus far proposed by the likes of Mwalimu Sikujua. [4]

In the mid 1940s, 3 prominent Swahili literature scholars of British origin noted on the writing of Swahili in the urban centre of Mombasa. They noted that at the time, a standardized reformed Arabic script had been adopted by writers of the city. While they only made use of the three original vowels, they had consistency in indicating the stressed syllable by writing Arabic long vowels using alif, wāw, and yāʼ (ا, و , ی). Colonial administrators as well as prominent Swahili scholars, despite recognizing the need for implementation of reform in the script, citing local opposition and conservativity, were anxious to do so and impose it on the populace in a top-down manner. [4]

Competing standards of the Swahili language

The process of standardization of Swahili Ajami script continued into the 20th century. However, scholars didn't always follow or propose the same standard. For example, Hajj Nur b. Muhammad Hajj Nur, being from Barawa in Somalia, worked based on the local Chimbalazi dialect of Swahili. In his proposal, he maintained the use of tiny letters for representing prenasalized consonants just as Mwalimu Sikujua had done. Whereas, Mu’allim Sheikh Yahya Ali Omar from Mombasa decided to do what is done in the Latin script, namely to just write the letters mīm (م) or nūn (ن) as part of the word. For example, the number two (mbili) will be written as مبِيلِ and بِۘيلِ respectively in either standard. [1] [4]

Furthermore, on top of orthographic variations, it is noteworthy to mention the dialectical variation within Swahili. For example, traditionally, dialects from Lamu (on the Kenyan Coast) have been the basis for Swahili literary heritage, and dominates Swahili poetry. [6] This dialect was the basis for Swahili Ajami script. But this came to be challenged by Kiunguja dialect from Zanzibar City. This dialect was by Christian missionaries and British colonial officials to be the basis of the Latin Script. [1]

In the most recent and most widely acknowledged orthographic standard, devised by Mu’allim Sheikh Yahya Ali Omar, the dialect of his hometown Mombasa has been chosen as the basis. This is, according to Yahya Ali Omar himself, because this dialect has historically been affected by all vernacular varieties of Swahili and it has formed the basis of literary Swahili. This dialect is in his opinion, best fitted for accurate Swahili prose. [4]

Alphabet and orthographic convention

Letters

Letters in Yahya Ali Omar's orthography are based on the dialect of Mombasa. There are several consonants that represent sounds present in Mombasan dialect but not necessarily elsewhere in the Swahili-speaking world. There are 48 consonants in Swahili Ajami. Digraphs are counted as separate letters. [4]

Although the Roman orthography does not distinguish between syllabicity and prenasalized sounds, both Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts and Yahya Omar's convention make a distinction between a syllabic nasal followed by a voiced plosive (e.g. [m̩ɓ]) and a prenasalised voiced plosive (e.g. [ᵐb]). Both of these are written as mb in Roman orthography. The former is seen in Swahili noun class 1 (the M-wa class), and the first letter of the word is written as mīm (م), such as mbrazilمْبرَزِل (Brazilian person). The later is seen in Swahili noun class 9. For this class, in Roman script, either a prefix of m or n is used, reflecting pronunciation. In Ajami script, nūn (ن) is used all the time, reflecting grammatical consistency. An example being mbaziنْبَازِ (beans). [4] [2]

Aspirated as opposed to non-aspirated consonants are also marked in Swahili Ajami, with a "two-eyed" hāʾ (ھ) similar to what's done in the Urdu alphabet. This is not indicated in Swahili Roman script.

Dental as opposed to alveolar [t] and [d] consonants, sounds unique to Mombasa Swahili, are also marked in Swahili Ajami. The dental forms are represented with Arabic letters tāʼ (ت) for [t̪] and dāl (د) for [d̪], whereas the alveolar ones are represented with unique letters, similar in shape to Urdu letters Ṭe (ٹ) for [t] and Ḍal (ڈ‎) for [d]. Dental versus alveolar [t] and [d] are not distinguished in Swahili Roman orthography, nor in unmodified Arabic script.

Unfortunately, online script conversion tools are unable to distinguish between the above nuances unique to Ajami script, and they render all text as they'd correspond to Roman. Manual editing of text will be required. [2]

Swahili Ajami Letters [4] [2]
NameFormsSound representedRoman equivalentExampleNotes
IsolatedFinalMedialInitialAjamiRomanMeaning
alifu
أَلِيفُ
اـاا/a/aأَنَسٖيمَ
سَاسَ
ڤِئَازِ
anasema
sas
viazi
he is speaking
now
potatoes
The alifu has two functions: first, to indicate the vowel [a] when stressed; second, to be the carrier of the hamzah as word initial and at vowel sequences.
bee
بٖئٖ
بـبـبـبـ/ɓ/bبُويُ
مْبرَزِل
buyu
mbrazil
fruit
Brazilian person
mbee
نْبٖئٖ
نْبـنْبـنْبـنْبـ/ᵐb/bنْبٖيلٖmbelein frontNot applicable to Swahili noun class 1 (the M-wa class) and other instances of syllabic "mb" consonant sequence. (meaning instances when "mb" is pronounced as [m̩ɓ] as opposed to [ᵐb])
pee
پٖئٖ
پـپـپـپـ/p/pكُپَاكَkupakapaint
p'ee
پھٖئٖ
پْھـپْھـپْھـپْھـ/pʰ/pپْھَاكَpakacatNot distinguished from [p] in Roman orthography.
tee
تٖئٖ
تـتـتـتـ/t̪/tهَتُؤَhatuaactionDental [t].
t'ee
تھٖئٖ
تْھـتْھـتْھـتْھـ/t̪ʰ/tتْھُوپَtupabottleDental aspirated [t]. Not distinguished from [t̪], [t], or [tʰ] in Roman orthography.
tee
ٹٖئٖ
ٹـٹـٹـٹـ/t/tٹُونْڈُtunduchicken coopAlveolar [t], unique to Mombasa Dialect. Not distinguished from [t̪], [t̪ʰ], or [tʰ] in Roman orthography.
t'ee
ٹھٖئٖ
ٹھـٹھـٹھـٹھـ/tʰ/tٹھُونْدُtundua holeAlveolar aspirated [t], unique to Mombasa Dialect. Not distinguished from [t̪], [t̪ʰ], or [t] in Roman orthography.
thee
ثٖئٖ
ثـثـثـثـ/θ/thثٖمَنِينِthemaninieighty
jimu
جِيمُ
جـجـجـجـ~dʒ/jجَانَjanayesterday
njimu
نْجِيمُ
نْجـنْجـنْجـنْجـ/ⁿd̥ʒ̊/njنْجٖيمَnjemagood
chimu
چِيمُ
چـچـچـچـ/tʃ/chچُونْڠوَchungwaorangeHistorically, some manuscripts used kafu with two dots ػ as well.
ch'imu
چھِيمُ
چھـچھـچھـچھـ/tʃʰ/chچھُونْڠوَch'ungwamedium-sized orangeNot distinguished from [tʃ] in Roman orthography.
hee
حٖئٖ
حـحـحـحـ/h/hحَسَن
وَسوَحِيلِ
hasan
waswahili
Name "Hasan"
Swahili people
Only used in loanwords from Arabic. As the original Arabic pronunciation doesn't exist in Swahili phonology, Swahili speakers pronounce it as [h].
khee
خٖئٖ
خـخـخـخـ~h/h (kh)خَبَارِhabarinewsOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Most Swahili speakers pronounce it as [h].
dali
دَالِ
دـدد/d̪/dدَنْڠَانْيَdanganyadeceiveDental [d].
ndali
نْدَالِ
نْدـنْدنْد/ⁿd̪/ndمْوٖينْدٖmwenḏegoPrenasalized Dental [nd].
dali
ڈَالِ
ڈـڈڈ/d/dڈُوduLarge bucketAlveolar [d], unique to Mombasa Dialect. Not distinguished from [d̪] in Roman orthography.
ndali
نْڈَالِ
نْڈـنْڈنْڈ/d/dنْڈَانِndaniInsidePrenasalized Alveolar [d], unique to Mombasa Dialect. Not distinguished from [nd̪] in Roman orthography.
dhali
ذَالِ
ذـذذ/ð/dhذَهَابُdhahabugold
ree
رٖئٖ
رـرر/ɾ/rكِرَاكَkirakapatch
zee
زٖئٖ
زـزز/z/zكُزِيمَkuzimato extinguish
zhee
ژٖئٖ
ژـژژ/ʒ/zhژِينَZhinaPersonal name "Zhina"Nonexistent in most Swahili dialects and in most literature. Only seen in vernacular of Northern dialects.
sini
سِينِ
سـسـسـسـ/s/sكُسِكِئَkusikiato hear
shini
شِينِ
شـشـشـشـ/ʃ/shكُشِيكَkushikato hold
sadi
صَادِ
صـصـصـصـ/s/sصَحِيبُsahibufriendOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Most Swahili speakers pronounce it as [s].
dhadi
ضَادِ
ضـضـضـضـ/ð/dhضِيكِdhikidistressOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Swahili speakers pronounce it as [dh].
tee
طٖئٖ
طـطـطـطـ/t/tكُطَهِرِيشَkutahirishato purifyOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Swahili speakers pronounce it as [t].
dhee
ظٖئٖ
ظـظـظـظـ/ð/dhأَظُهُورِadhuhurinoonOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Swahili speakers pronounce it as [dh].
aini
عَئِينِ
عـعـعـعـ/-/ (/ʕ/)-مَعَانَmaanameaningOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Not pronounced in Swahili. Vowel sequences in Roman orthography can correspond to this letter.
ghaini
غَئِينِ
غـغـغـغـ/ɣ/ghغَضَابُghadhabuangerOnly used in loanwords from Arabic.
gaini
ڠَئِينِ
ڠـڠـڠـڠـ~ɡ/gڠُنِئَguniasack
ngaini
نْڠَئِينِ
نْڠـنْڠـنْڠـنْڠـ/ᵑɡ/ngمْچَانْڠَmchangasand
ng'aini
نݝَئِينِ
نݝـنݝـنݝـنݝـ/ŋ/ng'نݝٗومْبٖng'ombecattle
fee
فٖئٖ
فـفـفـفـ/f/fفِيڠٗfigokidney
vee
ڤٖئٖ
ڤـڤـڤـڤـ/v/vكُڤِيمْبَkuvimbato swell
qafu
قَافُ
قـقـقـقـ/q/qوَقفُwaqfuendowmentOnly used in loanwords from Arabic. Swahili speakers pronounce it as [k].
kafu
كَافُ
كـكـكـكـ/k/kكُوكُkukularge hen
k'afu
كھَافُ
كھـكھـكھـكھـ/kʰ/kكھُوكُk'ukumedium-sized henNot distinguished from [k] in Roman orthography.
lamu
لَامُ
لـلـلـلـ/l/lكُلِيمَkulimato dig
mimu
مِيمُ
مـمـمـمـ/m/mمِيمِmimiI (first person singular pronoun)
nuni
نُونِ
نـنـنـنـ/n/nنَانِnaniwho?
waw
وَو
وـوو‍~w/
/ɔ/
/u/
w
o
u
كُوَ
مْكٗونْڠَ
كُسُڠُؤَ
kuwa
mkonga
kusugua
to be
elephant trunk
to rub
The waw has three functions: first, to be a consonant, represented in Roman orthography as [w]. Second is to indicate the vowels [o] or [u] when stressed; third, to be the carrier of the hamzah at vowel sequences.
hee
هٖئٖ
هـهـهـهـ/h/hهَيُوپٗhayupohe/she is not there
hamza
هَامزَ
ءـاء
ـؤ
ـئ
ـأ
ـؤ
ـئـ
أ
إ
--إٖنْدٖلٖئَ
كُسُڠُؤَ
مَفَاءَ
endelea
kusugua
mafaa
go on
to rub
usefulness
Hamza is used in conjunction with either alif, waw, or yee as its career as word initial and at vowel sequences.
yee
يٖئٖ
يـيـيـيـ/j/
/ɛ/
/i/
y
e
i
يَاكٗ
كٖلٖيلٖ
yako
kelele
your
scream
The yee has two functions: first, to be a consonant, represented in Roman orthography as [y]. Second is to indicate the vowels [e] or [i] when stressed.
A dotless letter yee is used as the carrier of the hamzah at vowel sequences.
nyee
نْيٖئٖ
نْيـنْيـنْيـنْيـ/ɲ/nyنْيٗوكَnyokasnake

General conventions

[4] [2]

Vowel diacritics in Swahili Ajami
-a-e-i-o-u
◌َ◌ٖ◌ِ◌ٗ◌ُ
fataha
فَتَاحَ
kasiri ya kusimama
كَسِيرِ يَ كُسِمَامَ
kasiri
كَسِيرِ
dhuma ya kupindua
ضُومَ يَ كُپِنْدُؤَ
dhuma
ضُومَ

However, these diacritics cannot be written on their own and independent of a letter. When a word begins with a vowel, a letter alifu is used as the carrier, with a hamza on the top (for [a], [u], [o]) or on the bottom (for [e], [i]). The writing of Hamza in handwriting is optional. [4] [2]

Vowel as first sound of word
AEIOU
أَإٖإِأٗأُ

In Swahili Ajami, vowels in the middle of the word are shown differently depending on whether the syllable is stressed on unstressed. In Swahili, stress patterns are predictable, as almost always they fall on the second-to-last syllable of a word. The exceptions to this rule are extremely rare, and are usually found in words borrowed from other languages, mostly Arabic (for example, maalum).

Vowels in unstressed syllables
-a-e-i-o-u
◌َ◌ٖ◌ِ◌ٗ◌ُ

Vowels in stressed (second-to-last) syllable of the word are marked with diacritic as well as a carrier letter, namely alifu (ا) for vowel [a], yee (ي) for vowels [e] and [i], and waw (و) for vowels [o] and [u]. The diacritic for the vowels [a], [i], or [u] can be omitted, but this is not recommended. This practice of indicating the stressed syllable also helps to delimit individual words in the Ajami script.

Vowels in stressed (second-to-last) syllable
-a-e-i-o-u
◌َا◌ٖي◌ِي◌ٗو◌ُو

Below are some sample words where the above principles can be observed.

AjamiLatinMeaning
أَنَسٖيمَanasemahe is speaking
أٗكتٗوبَoktobaOctober
أُڠَالِugaliporridge
إٖلٖكٖيڤُelekevureasonable
كِسوَحِيلِkiswahiliSwahili language

Vowel sequences

In Swahili Ajami script, to denote vowel sequences, hamza and either alifu (ا), yee (ي), or waw (و) are used. There are different conventions depending on whether the vowel sequence occurs in the middle of the word or at the end of the word.

If the vowel sequence occurs in the middle of the word:

And in addition to above conventions, if the second syllable in the vowel sequence is the stressed (second-to-last) syllable of the word, alifu (ا), yee (ي), or waw (و) are also written in correspondence with the vowel of the syllable. [2]

Below are some sample words where the above principles can be observed.

AjamiLatinMeaning
مَأَنْدِيشِmaandishimanuscripts
ڤِئَازِviazipotatoes
كُؤَنْدِيكَkuandikato write
شَئِيرِshairipoetry
كِئِينِkiinipith
كُئِيتَkuitato call
شَؤُورِshauriadvice
مٖؤُوپٖ meupeWhite (class 6)
كُؤٗونَkuonato see

If the vowel sequence occurs at the end of the word, meaning that the first syllable in the sequence is the stressed syllable of the word:

Below are some sample words where the above principles can be observed.

AjamiLatinMeaning
مَفَاءَmafaausefulness
تَاءِtaivulture
بَاءٗbaoplank
كُپٗكٖئَkupokeato receive
كُتِئَkutiato place
كُپٗؤَkupoato call
كُسُڠُؤَkusuguato rub

Text samples

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: [7]

TranslationLatin ScriptSwahili Ajami Script
All 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.Watu wote wamezaliwa huru, hadhi na haki zao ni sawa. Wote wamejaliwa akili na dhamiri, hivyo yapasa watendeane kindugu.وَاتُ وٗوتٖ وَمٖزَلِيوَ حُورُ، هَاذِ نَ حَقِ زَاءٗ نِ سَاوَ. وٗوتٖ وَمٖجَلِيوَ عَقِيلِ نَ ضَمِيرِ، هِيڤْيٗ يَپَاسَ وَتٖنْدٖئَانٖ كِنْدُوڠُ.

A prose by Yahya Ali Omar [4]

TranslationLatin ScriptSwahili Ajami Script
... All of a sudden we saw a very high mountain which blocked the road. So we climbed the mountain: its sand was like gold, and its stones were like rubies and seed-pearls. Well then, as we continued on our way, we came across a tree the like of which I had never before seen. Beneath it was a youth tending goats. The horns of those goats were green like emeralds, and their silken fleeces were of divers colours, while their milk which dripped down was as white as the milk of the riven of Paradise.... Mara tukaona mlima unkingama ndiyani, mrefu sana. Tukapanda; mtanga wake ni wa dhahabu na mawe yake ni yakuti na marjani. Basi tukatika kwenda, mara tukaona mti, sijaona mfano wake. T'ini yake kuna barobaro mmoja atunga mbuzi, na hao mbuzi p'embe zao ni za zumurudi ya kijani kibiti; na manyowa yao ni hariri ya rangi kulla namna; maziwa yawatumzika, meupe kama maziwa ya mito ya P'eponi.... مَارَ ٹُكَؤٗونَ مْلِيمَ أُنْكِنْڠَامَ نْدِيَانِ، مْرٖيفُ سَانَ. ٹُكَپَانْدَ، مْتَانْڠَ وَاكٖ نِ وَ ذَهَابُ نَ مَاوٖ يَاكٖ نِ يَكُوتِ نَ مَرجَانِ. بَاسِ ٹُكَٹِيكَ كْوٖينْدَ، مَارَ ٹُكَؤٗونَ مْٹِ، سِجَؤٗونَ مْفَانٗ وَاكٖ. تْھِينِ يَاكٖ كُونَ بَرٗبَارٗ مْمٗوجَ أَتُونْڠَ نْبُوزِ، نَ هَاءٗ نْبُوزِ پْھٖيمْبٖ زَاءٗ نِ زَ زُمُرُودِ يَ كِجَانِ كِبِيتِ، نَ مَنْيٗوَ يَاءٗ نِ حَرِيرِ يَ رَانْڠِ كُلَّ نَامْنَ، مَزِيوَ يَوَتُرُزِيكَ، مٖؤُوپٖ كَمَا مَزِيوَ يَ مِيٹٗ يَ پْھٖپٗونِ.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabic alphabet</span>

The Arabic alphabet, or Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most have contextual letterforms. The Arabic alphabet is considered an abjad, with only consonants required to be written; due to its optional use of diacritics to notate vowels, it is considered an impure abjad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diacritic</span> Modifier mark added to a letter

A diacritic is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek διακριτικός, from διακρίνω. The word diacritic is a noun, though it is sometimes used in an attributive sense, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritics, such as the acute ⟨á⟩, grave ⟨à⟩, and circumflex ⟨â⟩, are often called accents. Diacritics may appear above or below a letter or in some other position such as within the letter or between two letters.

Matres lectionis are consonants that are used to indicate a vowel, primarily in the writing of Semitic languages such as Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac. The letters that do this in Hebrew are alephא‎, heה‎, vavו‎ and yodי‎, and in Arabic, the matres lectionis are ʾalifا‎, wāwو‎ and yāʾي‎. The 'yod and waw in particular are more often vowels than they are consonants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arabic diacritics</span> Diacritics used in the Arabic script

Arabic script has numerous diacritics, which include consonant pointing known as iʻjām (إِعْجَام), and supplementary diacritics known as tashkīl (تَشْكِيل). The latter include the vowel marks termed ḥarakāt.

Avar, also known as Avaric, is a Northeast Caucasian language of the Avar–Andic subgroup that is spoken by Avars, primarily in Dagestan. In 2010, there were approximately 1 million speakers in Dagestan and elsewhere in Russia.

The Azerbaijani alphabet has three versions which includes the Arabic, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wakhi language</span> Eastern Iranian language spoken by the Wakhi people

Wakhi is an Indo-European language in the Eastern Iranian branch of the language family spoken today in Wakhan District, Northern Afghanistan and also in Tajikistan, Northern Pakistan and Western China.

Maore Comorian, or Shimaore, is one of the two indigenous languages spoken in the French-ruled Comorian islands of Mayotte; Shimaore being a dialect of the Comorian language, while ShiBushi is an unrelated Malayo-Polynesian language originally from Madagascar. Historically, Shimaore- and ShiBushi-speaking villages on Mayotte have been clearly identified, but Shimaore tends to be the de facto indigenous lingua franca in everyday life, because of the larger Shimaore-speaking population. Only Shimaore is represented on the local television news program by Mayotte La Première. The 2002 census references 80,140 speakers of Shimaore in Mayotte itself, to which one would have to add people living outside the island, mostly in metropolitan France. There are also 20,000 speakers of Comorian in Madagascar, of which 3,000 are Shimaore speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turkmen alphabet</span> Scripts used to write the Turkmen language

The Turkmen alphabet refers to variants of the Latin alphabet, Cyrillic alphabet, or Arabic alphabet used for writing of the Turkmen language.

Aleph is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician ʾālep 𐤀, Hebrew ʾālef א, Aramaic ʾālap 𐡀, Syriac ʾālap̄ ܐ, Arabic ʾalif ا, and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez ʾälef አ.

Serer, often broken into differing regional dialects such as Serer-Sine and Serer saloum, is a language of the Senegambian branch of the Niger–Congo family spoken by 1.2 million people in Senegal and 30,000 in the Gambia as of 2009. It is the principal language of the Serer people, and was the language of the early modern kingdoms of Sine, Saloum, and Baol.

The Ottoman Turkish alphabet is a version of the Perso-Arabic script used to write Ottoman Turkish until 1928, when it was replaced by the Latin-based modern Turkish alphabet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Urdu alphabet</span> Writing system used for Urdu

The Urdu alphabet is the right-to-left alphabet used for writing Urdu. It is a modification of the Persian alphabet, which itself is derived from the Arabic script. It has official status in the republics of Pakistan, India and South Africa. The Urdu alphabet has up to 39 or 40 distinct letters with no distinct letter cases and is typically written in the calligraphic Nastaʿlīq script, whereas Arabic is more commonly written in the Naskh style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolofal alphabet</span>

Wolofal is a derivation of the Arabic script for writing the Wolof language. It is basically the name of a West African Ajami script as used for that language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wadaad's writing</span> Arabic-based orthography for Somali

Wadaad's writing, also known as Wadaad'sArabic, is the traditional Somali adaptation of written Arabic as well as the Arabic script as historically used to transcribe the Somali language. Originally, it referred to a non-grammatical Arabic featuring some words from the Somali language, with the proportion of Somali vocabulary varying depending on the context. Alongside standard Arabic, Wadaad's writing was used by Somali religious men (Wadaado) to record xeer petitions and to write qasidas. It was also used by merchants for business purposes and letter writing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamza</span> Mark used in Arabic-based orthographies

The hamza is an Arabic script character that, in the Arabic alphabet, denotes a glottal stop and, in non-Arabic languages, indicates a diphthong, vowel, or other features, depending on the language. Derived from the letter ʿAyn, the hamza is written in medial and final positions as an unlinked letter or placed above or under a carrier character. Despite its common usage as a letter in Modern Standard Arabic, it is generally not considered to be one of its letters, although some argue that it should be considered a letter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pashto alphabet</span> Writing system used for the Pashto language

The Pashto alphabet is the right-to-left abjad-based alphabet developed from the Arabic script, used for the Pashto language in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It originated in the 16th century through the works of Pir Roshan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pegon script</span> Javanese-Arabic script

Pegon is a modified Arabic script used to write the Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese languages, as an alternative to the Latin script or the Javanese script and the Old Sundanese script. It was used in a variety of applications, from religion, to diplomacy, to poetry. But today particularly, it is used for religious (Islamic) writing and poetry, particularly in writing commentaries of the Qur'an. Pegon includes letters that are not present in Modern Standard Arabic. Pegon has been studied far less than its Jawi counterpart which is used for Malay, Acehnese and Minangkabau.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khowar alphabet</span> Alphabets for Khowar Language

The Khowar alphabet is the right-to-left alphabet used for the Khowar language. It is a modification of the Urdu alphabet, which is itself a derivative of the Persian alphabet and Arabic alphabet and uses the calligraphic Nastaʿlīq script.

Hausa Ajami script refers to the practice of using the alphabet derived from Arabic script for writing of Hausa language.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Mutiua, Chapane. “Swahili Ajami: An Introduction.” Hypotheses, October 7, 2020. https://ajami.hypotheses.org/1089 (Archive.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Donnelly, K. (2015). Writing and transliterating Swahili in Arabic script with Andika. http://www.fluxus-editions.fr/grafematik2020-files/donnelly-document.pdf (Archive)
  3. https://corcencc.org/kevin-donnelly/
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Omar, Y. A., & Frankl, P. J. L. (1997). "An Historical Review of the Arabic Rendering of Swahili Together with Proposals for the Development of a Swahili Writing System in Arabic Script (Based on the Swahili of Mombasa)". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 7(01), 55–71. doi:https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186300008312
  5. "PERSIAN LANGUAGE i. Early New Persian". Iranica Online. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  6. Mulokozi, Mugyabuso M.; Sengo, Tigiti S. Y. (1995). History of Kiswahili Poetry, A.D. 1000-2000: A Report. ISBN   9789976911220 . Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  7. Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Swahili edition https://www.ohchr.org/en/human-rights/universal-declaration/translations/swahilikiswahili