Arabic Character Writing For Dummies

Keith Massey, Damien Ferré

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781119475330
• eBook ISBN: 9781119475583
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Learn to write in Arabic

In Arabic, there are different levels of language. The written language, which is studied in this book, is literary Arabic, sometimes also called classical Arabic or even modern or standard Arabic. It is the language of the Quran, classical poetry, literature and the media. The Arabic plume consists of 28 consonants and three long vowels. Each consonant is accompanied by a vowel which is placed above or below the consonant.

Arabic speakers are in great demand in the United States, due to the country's political commitments to the Middle East, but only 25 percent of non-native speakers know the language in enough detail to function as translators, interpreters, analysts, or field agents. Arabic Character Writing For Dummies helps you write this language clearly and correctly.

• Learn to write the Arabic alphabet
• Find free instructional videos, flashcards, and printable writing pages online
• Build upon your mastery of the language
• Get ahead at work or in your personal life

Arabic Character Writing For Dummies is designed for beginners, students, and lifelong learners wishing to write in Arabic.

Chapter 1

Wrapping Your Mind around the Characters of the Arabic Alphabet

IN THIS CHAPTER

Grasping the complexity of written Arabic

Understanding the difference between one- and two-directional connecting letters

Developing strategies to help you learn to write in Arabic

A frequent reaction when seeing Arabic writing is to note how simply beautiful it is. It is composed of flourishing shapes, joined delicately to one another. Unfortunately, as with all worthy things, it is not easy to learn how to form and connect these letters. In this book, however, I make it as painless for you as possible. When you have worked your way through this book, you will be writing the beautiful Arabic alphabet like a pro.

I walk you step by step through the different characters and give you my personal advice on how to cherish and succeed in this learning experience.

A Brief History of the Arabic Language and Its Alphabet

Arabic is a member of the Semitic language family, which includes Hebrew, Aramaic, and Amharic, which are still spoken today, as well as a number of ancient languages, such as Moabite and Phoenician. Semitic languages are characterized by the use of triliteral roots (words with the same three consonants with variations on the root meaning). So, for example, the word kataba means “to write,” kitaab means “book,” kaatib means “writer,” and maktaba means “library.”

The Arabic alphabet as we know it today evolved from the Nabataean alphabet, which was in use in the northwest corner of Arabia during the early centuries of the Common Era (CE). The Arabic language and alphabet gained significant importance through the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (circa 570 CE to 632 CE). As Islam spread from the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh and eighth centuries CE, the language and writing system used for the Qur’an replaced others throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

In the centuries following the spread of Islam, Arabic evolved into a number of local dialects. As a general rule, these dialects are mutually intelligible to their neighbors, but not much farther. In other words, a native speaker of Egyptian Arabic can get by with a Libyan, a Libyan can get by with an Algerian, but an Egyptian cannot follow very colloquial Algerian with ease. The good news is they don’t need to understand each other’s dialects. Owing to the importance of the Qur’an in Islamic culture, the classical form of the language remains a lingua franca throughout the Arab world. Known as Fusha or Modern Standard Arabic, this formal register of speech is used for news broadcasts and official documents and serves as the mode of speech when Arabic speakers from different regions want to communicate apart from their respective dialects.

While each country or region in the Arab world speaks a dialect with its own particular traits, Modern Standard Arabic, understood by all educated Arabs, is the language of mass media and provides a neutral register of speech that unifies the region.

What? No Vowels?

Originally Arabic was written with no short vowels. You might think it impossible for a language to function without them, but take a look at the following:

Tmrrw th wthr shld b bttr thn tdy.

You probably read that with little hesitation as “Tomorrow the weather should be better than today.” Because of the context, the fact that the word thn could represent both “than” and “then” did not confuse you.

Newspapers and online news in Arabic do not use any short vowels. Native speakers have no problem reading without them, even though there are many situations like the word thn demonstrated here. Context makes the correct reading clear. Nevertheless, a system of short vowel symbols was developed in order to make some texts, in particular the Qur’an, readable for people who were not to mention all the other issues that short vowels clear up, such as passive vs. active voice! A full description of these symbols is included in this book as well.

Connecting the Different Forms of the Letters

One thing that makes the Arabic script difficult is that the various letters may or may not connect to other letters both before and after themselves. Don’t worry, this is not guesswork. There are firm rules you will learn that govern how you connect the letters. This book will also give you abundant practice in writing and connecting them correctly.

Arabic letters that can be connected only to letters on their own right side are called one-directional connectors. There are other letters that can connect to letters on both their right and their left sides. These are called, predictably enough, two-directional connectors. The shape and appearance of the letters can be different, depending on where you use them in a word. Two-directional connectors have a total of four possible shapes; one-directional connectors have two. Here is a description of all the potential forms of the letters that you will be learning.

• Independent: The form of the letter that stands alone, unconnected to any other letter. One-directional connectors also use this form as the initial form, because they cannot connect to a following letter. A two-directional connector uses this form when it is the last letter in a word and directly follows a one-directional connector.
• Initial: The form of the letter when it starts a word. One-directional connectors use the same shape for initial and independent forms. Two-directional letters have an initial form that is different from the independent form.
• Medial: The form of the letter when it appears in the middle of a word.
• Final: The form of the letter when it is the last letter of a word. If the final form follows a one-directional connector, it is identical to the independent form. One-directional connectors use the same form for final as they do for medial. Two-directional connectors use a unique form when they are the last letter of the word and connect to a preceding two-directional connector.

Let me demonstrate how this works. Here are two Arabic letters, the daal followed by the ’alif:

The daal and the ’alif are both one-directional connectors. For that reason, you would use the initial form of the daal, followed by the initial form of the ’alif.

But look at what happens if you put a two-directional connector before that ’alif. If you now write the letter baa’ ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Wrapping Your Mind around the Characters of the Arabic Alphabet
• Chapter 2: The Write Stuff
• Chapter 3: Characters and Symbols to Practice
• Appendix: Extra Practice Pages
• About the Author
• Connect with Dummies
• End User License Agreement