scholarly journals Urdu in Devanagari: Shifting orthographic practices and Muslim identity in Delhi

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rizwan Ahmad
Keyword(s):  
Writing System ◽  
Muslim Identity ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
The Difference

AbstractIn sociolinguistics, Urdu and Hindi are considered to be textbook examples of digraphia—a linguistic situation in which varieties of the same language are written in different scripts. Urdu has traditionally been written in the Arabic script, whereas Hindi is written in Devanagari. Analyzing the recent orthographic practice of writing Urdu in Devanagari, this article challenges the traditional ideology that the choice of script is crucial in differentiating Urdu and Hindi. Based on written data, interviews, and ethnographic observations, I show that Muslims no longer view the Arabic script as a necessary element of Urdu, nor do they see Devanagari as completely antithetical to their identity. I demonstrate that using the strategies of phonetic and orthographic transliteration, Muslims are making Urdu-in-Devanagari different from Hindi, although the difference is much more subtle. My data further shows that the very structure of a writing system is in part socially constituted. (Script-change, Urdu, Urdu-in-Devanagari, Hindi, Arabic script, Devanagari, orthography, transliteration)*

West African Manuscripts in Arabic and African Languages and Digital Preservation

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fallou Ngom
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Digital Preservation ◽  
West African ◽  
Writing System ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Digital Repositories ◽  
World Regions ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
Other World

West African manuscripts are numerous and varied in forms and contents. There are thousands of them across West Africa. A significant portion of them are documents written in Arabic and Ajami (African languages written in Arabic script). They deal with both religious and nonreligious subjects. The development of these manuscript traditions dates back to the early days of Islam in West Africa, in the 11th century. In addition to these Arabic and Ajami manuscripts, there have been others written in indigenous scripts. These include those in the Vai script invented in Liberia; Tifinagh, the traditional writing system of the Amazigh (Berber) people; and the N’KO script invented in Guinea for Mande languages. While the writings in indigenous scripts are rare less numerous and widespread, they nonetheless constitute an important component of West Africa’s written heritage. Though the efforts devoted to the preservation of West African manuscripts are limited compared to other world regions, interest in preserving them has increased. Some of the initial preservation efforts of West African manuscripts are the collections of colonial officers. Academics later supplemented these collections. These efforts resulted in important print and digital repositories of West African manuscripts in Africa, Europe, and America. Until recently, most of the cataloguing and digital preservation efforts of West African manuscripts have focused on those written in Arabic. However, there has been an increasing interest in West African manuscripts written in Ajami and indigenous scripts. Important West African manuscripts in Arabic, Ajami, and indigenous scripts have now been digitized and preserved, though the bulk remain uncatalogued and unknown beyond the communities of their owners.

The Chinese script, Confucian script, and Nôm script: Some reflections on writing and politics in monarchical Vietnam

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-160
Author(s):  
Tuấn-Cường Nguyễn ◽  
Anh-Chưởng Bùi
Keyword(s):  
Chinese Culture ◽  
Great Influence ◽  
Chinese Script ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Core ◽  
Chinese Model ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Education And Employment

“Confucian script” 儒字 (chữ Nho) has become a unique name used to refer to the “Chinese script” 漢字 (chữ Hán) in Vietnamese. The integration between Chinese script and Confucianism had progressed through monarchical centuries, motivated by Vietnam’s political tradition. Supported by rulers of the country, Chinese script overwhelmed the difference of languages, became the official writing system, and therefore held great influence on important activities of government such as administration, diplomacy, education, and employment. By looking carefully at how Vietnamese monarchs managed to manipulate the Chinese script, Nôm script, and Confucianism to serve their political purposes, we stress that it was Confucianism that served as the link tying the Chinese script with Vietnamese rulers. This link was so strong that the Chinese script remained the dominant form of writing even with the invention of the “Nôm script” 喃字 (chữ Nôm), which was a vernacular system developed to write the Vietnamese language. Furthermore, because Confucianism itself was the spiritual core of the Chinese monarchical structure, Vietnamese rulers learned from the Chinese model by way of the Chinese script when building their own independent state. Confucianism was viewed as the core of Chinese culture.

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)

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahya Ali Omar ◽  
P. J. L. Frankl
Keyword(s):  
Historical Review ◽  
Writing System ◽  
East African ◽  
East African Coast ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
African Coast

This article provides an historical review of the Arabic rendering of Swahili, while Appendix A (Parts I and II) contains proposals for the development of Arabic script to yield a phonologically adequate writing system for a variety of Swahili spoken on the East African coast – the variety known as kiMvita (central Swahili), and spoken from just north of T’akaungu to Mombasa, and thence as far south as Gasi. Parallel possibilities for the refinement of romanised script are not considered in any detail.It should be stressed that kiMvita, the variety of Swahili here described, is not the standardised language. For a number of reasons, the Swahili speech of Zanzibar town, together with the Swahili spoken by Africans from the interior of the continent but resident in Zanzibar, were the varieties of Swahili with which the pioneering standardises of Swahili were familiar.

scholarly journals Al-Khaṭṭ al-‘Arabī wa Intisyāruhu fī al-Syarq wa al-Garb

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 42
Author(s):  
Muh Naim Madjid
Keyword(s):  
Arabian Peninsula ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Islamic Art ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Ancient History ◽  
The West ◽  
Deep Roots ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
The Difference

 يتناول هذا البحث بداية نشأة الخط العربي وانتشاره في الشرق والغرب حيث سجّله التاريخ في اختلاف الآراء عن أصالته القديمة. وهذا الاختلاف قائم على انتقال الخط العربي بادئ ذي بدء من الحيرة مثلاً أو اشتقاقه من الخط النبطي أو أصله من الآرامي، وهلمّ جرًا. فيجري الحديث حول ظهور الأبجدية التي استعملها العرب قبل الإسلام، سواء كان بالرموز أم بالتشفير، إلى فن جمالها في الكتابة كما قد تأثرت بالإسلام. فالإسلام إثر مجيئه قد فتح انتشار الخط العربي على مصراعيه حتى يعمّ جزيرة العرب كلها ويبلغ بلدان الأمم الإسلامية وغيرها في آسيا وأفريقيا وأوروبا. فهذا أمر جذّاب يقدّمه الباحث كشفًا عن الخطوط العربية وأنواعها ومسيرتها الطويلة عبر العصور. واستخدم هذا البحث منهج التحليل الوصفي في مجال البحث الاستقرائي للوصول إلى النتائج الموثوقة بها. ومن أهم النتائج أن الخط العربي فن من فنون الإسلام له أصول وجذور عريقة. إنه قد بلغ الذروة بشمول الإسلام وفضيلته الكبرى في جمال التعبير والكتابة.      This research deals with the beginning of Arabic script and its spreading in the East and the West in a historical record of authenticity based on the difference of scholar’s views. For example, some ancient scholars claimed that Ḥīrah as the place where the Arabic script first evolved, some of them mentioned that it was derived from the Nabataean line, and others stated that Aramaic is the origin. The Discussion is started from the usage of the early alphabet in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam – by formulation or encryption – until the art of beautiful writing which more influenced by Islam. Obviously, Islam has opened widely the spreading of Arabic script in the Arabian Peninsula and also in Islamic countries such as Asia, Africa, and Europe. Therefore, the Arabic script, types, and the long journey through the ages become interesting to be disclosed by using the descriptive analysis method to get reliable results in the platform of qualitative research. The most important result is the Arabic script is Islamic art which has an ancient history and deep roots, while the Islamic virtue is the only reason for its spreading widely in the East and the West and it has reached the peak in both expression and writing. Kajian ini membicarakan tentang permulaan kemunculan khat Arab dan penyebarannya di Timur dan di Barat di mana terjadi perbedaan pendapat Ulama dalam rekaman sejarah mengenai keasliannya yang kuno. Perbedaan itu berkisar pada beberapa pandangan bahwa khat Arab itu pada mulanya berasal dari Ḥīra, sebagian lain menganggap khat Arab berakar dari khat Nabatī, bahkan ada yang mengklaim bahwa ia berasal dari bahasa Aram (Aramaik). Diskursus yang panjang ini dimulai dari kemunculan alfabet yang digunakan oleh bangsa Arab pra-Islam, dalam bentuk perlambangan ataupun penyandian, hingga kepada seni keindahan tulisan yang variatif yang banyak dipengaruhi oleh Islam. Kemunculan Islam telah membuka jalur penyebaran khat Arab seluas-luasnya di  semenanjung Arab hingga ke negara-negara Islam, dan negara lainnya di Asia, Afrika, dan Eropa. Untuk itu, menjadi sangat menarik bagi pengkaji mengungkap khat Arab dan jenis-jenisnya, dan menelusuri  perjalanannya yang panjang dalam lintasan waktu. Dalam penelitian kualitatif  ini metode analisis deskriptif digunakan untuk memperoleh hasil penelitian yang dapat dipercaya. Studi ini memandang penting khat Arab sebagai sebuah seni Islam yang memiliki akar yang mendalam yang telah mencapai puncaknya dengan ke-syumul-an Islam pada aspek estetika ungkapan dan tulisan.

Cham Language Literacy in Cambodia: From the Margins Towards the Mainstream

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Pérez-Pereiro ◽  
◽  
Jorge López Cortina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
School System ◽  
Language Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Arabic Script ◽  
Literary Heritage ◽  
Modified Forms ◽  
Do So

The Cham language has been written since at least the 4th Century. As such it is the oldest attested language of all of the Austronesian languages. This literary heritage was transmitted using locally modified forms of Indian scripts which were also used to write Sanskrit. With the loss of Cham territories to the Vietnamese, many Cham became displaced and the literary culture was disrupted. In addition, the adoption of Islam by the majority of Cham led many of those who continued to write to do so in variations of the Arabic script. However, the literary potential of the language in Cambodia has not been fully realized in either script – with village scholars using it almost exclusively for religious tracts and for very limited local audiences. In 2011, the United States Embassy initiated a program to encourage the protection of Cham culture and heritage. This Cham Heritage Expansion Program ran from 2011 to 2017 and resulted in the operation of 13 schools in which over 2,500 students of different ages were taught the traditional Cham script. This effort was accompanied by the development of a now significant number of local Cham intellectuals throughout the country who are dedicating themselves to the expansion of the use of Cham as a written language in all aspects of daily life. This presentation documents the way in which interest in this long-neglected writing system was rekindled, and the new avenues for personal and communitarian expression that are being opened by the propagation of Cham literacy. It also presents current developments in the formalization of Cham language education in the country, including the possibilities of bringing the language into the school system.

“High”/“Low” Cultural Products and Their Social Functions

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Van Peer
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Self Control ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Social Functions ◽  
High Culture ◽  
Object Properties ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Low Culture ◽  
The One

This article discusses the opposition between “high” and “low” forms of culture as related to the emergence of literacy in society. Some empirical evidence (for the differences between high and low artistic products in terms of object properties and users' expectations) is discussed. The origin of the difference lies, so the argument runs, in the codification of high products and values through the writing system, which can subsequently act as external and independent quality control. Hence the acquisition of literacy is indicative and mimetic with respect to the initiation into high culture. Especially, the processes of self-control that are needed to master literacy, reflect the requirements of high culture. In this perspective, the “debate” on the opposition between high and low culture is seen as largely uninformative. On the one side, the opposition (linked, as it is, to literacy) is an inescapable one for industrialized societies, and takes on the form of a feed-back mechanism. On the other hand, we lack reliable empirical evidence about the influence of both forms on society. It is therefore up to empirical studies to eliminate the main ingredients that feed the antipathy between high and low forms: ignorance and fear.

scholarly journals Transliteration Feasibility as a Means of Communication between Arab Expatriates and Their Progeny Abroad

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. p1
Author(s):  
Samir Al Jumaily
Keyword(s):  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Remote Communication ◽  
Technical Problems ◽  
Voice Transmission ◽  
Individual Privacy ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Correct Pronunciation ◽  
The Difference

This study is dedicated to exploring and understanding the role of transliteration as a means of remote communication between Arab expatriates and their children in foreign countries. Expatriates need this type of writing communication to communicate with their children for several reasons; especially when the vocal communication is impossible or not available due to technical problems or family and individual privacy. The study tries also to figure out the difference between transliteration and electronic chatting on one hand, and transliteration, translation and creative translation on the other hand. The study is mainly based on a questionnaire professionally and objectively designed and forwarded to a number of Arab expats living in The Netherlands in order to verify the hypothesis made related to the feasibility of transliteration technique and how far it is useful and practical as a remote means of communication between the Arab expatriates and their children due to the lack of proficiency of one of the parties in using the writing system of either language. The study highlights the importance of voice transmission in clarifying the correct pronunciation of words and phrases in a way that is accessible to all around the world beyond being obliged to know the characters of the language from which they are taken. Furthermore, the researcher has scrutinized, studied and analyzed the participants’ answers and consequently described them relying on objective and scientific criteria.

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