[...]... even to read handwritten texts Arabs consider good handwriting a sign of erudition Printed and handwritten Arabic texts do not differ from each other as much as they do in European languages Arabic handwriting follows certain rules The straight horizontal direction used in writing English must be modified in Arabic handwriting, since some of the letters change their form according to the preceding or following... wine hayawiyyin ˙ lively sahriyyan ˇ monthly bawwaba to classify qarnin horn (16) zawgan ˘ husband ballaga ˙ to inform radda to return sahiyyan ˇ tasty rag iyyin ˘ reactionary (17) bawwala to urinate rabbun lord sahhama ˇ ˙˙ to grease sagga a ˇ ˘˘ danna ¯ ˙ to encourage to think (18) sukran ˇ thanks sa ala ˇ to light abdan slave tab an ˙ naturally marhaban ˙ hello haddan ˙ ˙˙ ¯¯ fortune qarrara to decide... ¯t ˙ lowering (17) basa ¯ ˇ¯ pasha wagiban ¯˘ duty gasu ˘ ¯ ¯san spy -˘ duru ¯fun hirrıgan ˘ ¯ ˙ circumstances graduate (18) bahharun ¯ ˙˙ sailor (19) bah-lan ı ˘ stingy sawwanin ¯ ˙ flint su alan ¯ cough dalamun ¯ ¯ ˙ darkness mu addatun ¯ equipment mustasarin ˇ¯ adviser manqu ˇin ¯s engraved abıdan slaves naha ¯ to forbid (20) hamran ˘ wine muhagirun ¯˘ emigrant siyahin ¯ ˙ ˙ shouting hagara ¯˘ to... consonant plus a short vowel (CV), whereas a long syllable consists of: ¯ (1) a consonant plus a long vowel (CV), (2) a consonant plus a short vowel plus a consonant (CVC), or (3) a consonant plus a long vowel ¯ plus a consonant (CVC) No syllable can start with more than one consonant 1a) The stress falls on the first long syllable counting from the end of the word However, the final syllable cannot... hubzan ˘ bread ‫ﺷﻴﺨﺎ‬ ً َْ ‫ﺳﻴﻒ‬ ٍ َْ ٌْ ِ ‫ﻗﺴﻢ‬ ٌ َ َ ‫ﺟﻤﻞ‬ ٌ ِْ ‫ﻋﻠﻢ‬ sayhan ˇ ˘ old man sayfin qismun gamalun ˘ sword part camel work (10) Suku ¯n, saddah, ˇ noun cases and nunation as indefinite form ilmun knowledge 19 Suku ¯n, saddah, ˇ noun cases and nunation as indefinite form Write in Arabic: Remember: The words below with endings / un/, / an/ and / in/ should be written with a double vowel (and an. .. Latin alphabet, but some of the letters have an extra sign indicating some special feature of the Arabic pronunciation of the letter in question The alif (‫ ,)ا‬which is the first letter, has so far not been given any transliteration, because its sound value varies (to be dealt with in chapters 6 and 7) 1.3 Alphabet table and transliteration transliteration standing final alone medial initial name (1) (*)... i.e / un/, / an/ and / in/ in nouns, is rare Exercises 18 Read and practise your handwriting: (2) ‫دﺧﻦ‬ َ َّ َ ‫ﻛﻠﺒﺎ‬ ًَْ ‫وﻟﺪا‬ ً ََ ٌْ َ ‫ﺑﺤﺮ‬ ‫ﺟﺮ‬ َّ َ dahhana ˘˘ to smoke (1) kalban waladan garra ˘ dog boy bahrun ˙ sea to draw ‫ﻋﻴﻦ‬ َ َّ َ ‫ﻗﻮم‬ ٌَْ ٌ َّ َ ُ ‫ﻣﺤﻤﺪ‬ ‫ﻣﻌﻠﻤﺎ‬ ً َّ َ ُ ٍَْ ‫ﻧﻬﺮ‬ qawmun ayyana (4) teacher river ‫ﺛﻮﺑﺎ‬ ًْ َ ‫ﻳﻮﻣﺎ‬ ً َْ ٍَ َ ‫ﻣﻄﺮ‬ ‫ﺧﺮﺑﺶ‬ َ َْ َ ‫رﻣﻴﺎ‬ ًْ َ tawban ¯ dress... counterpart of the plain alveolar ‫/ س‬s/ (12) and sounds somewhat similar to the s in English ‘son’ or ‘assumption’ For the retracting and lowering effect of the emphatic consonants on the adjacent vowels, see chapter 4 6 (15) Dad ‫/ ض‬d/ It is also an emphatic consonant, classified as a ¯ ˙ ˙ pharyngealized voiced alveolar stop Arab phoneticians and reciters of the Quran recommend it is pronounced as a counter-... ﻣﻠﻜﺎ‬malikan, ‘a king’ ً َِ (11) rahhala ˙˙ to deport bahha ˙˙ to be hoarse (12) muhaddirun ˘ anaesthetic madhabiyyun wakkala hasadan ¯ ˙ sectarian to authorize envy raddada to repeat (13) sahran ˇ month hagalun ˘ ˘ shyness sabba ˙ to pour bu dun distance hatta ˙ ˙˙ to put (14) harraba ˘ to destroy qata a ˙ to cut ragga a ˘˘ to return sabba ˇ to grow up mutaharrirun ˙ emanicipated (15) hamran ˘ wine... found in early Arabic manuscripts The Arabs have borrowed modern European punctuation marks with some modifications in order to distinguish them from Arabic letters, as follows: 3.2 ، : ‫؛‬ ! ‫؟‬ ( ) ″ 〈〈 〉〉 Arabic handwriting It is recommended that handwriting technique is practised from the very beginning, otherwise it may become difficult to learn not only to write but even to read handwritten texts