Arabic writing: history, features

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

Currently, more than seven percent of the world's population uses Arabic for their communication. Its writing is used in twenty-two states, and its modification is common among the peoples of India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and other countries. When considering the features of this letter, one can see a lot of advantages in it, as well as the beauty of the sound of Arabic words and speech.

Origins

The history of Arabic writing originates from the alphabet, which was created by the Phoenicians living in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine. Due to the fact that this people carried out their trade business throughout the Mediterranean coast, their writing influenced the development of many alphabets in this region.

Thus, Phoenician writing developed in several directions at once, one of which was the Greek alphabet, and a little later the Latin alphabet. Its second branch was reflected in the Aramaic speech, which, in itsturn, divided into Hebrew and the Nabataean alphabet, which came into use from the second century BC in the territory of modern Jordan. Subsequently, Arabic writing appeared there.

Further development

Such a letter was already firmly established in the fourth century AD, when the alphabet was fully formed. Then it was already possible to trace in it the features that modern Arabic writing is endowed with. For example, one and the same sign could designate two or three phonemes at once, which a little later began to differ with the help of diacritical points. Consonants were written with shadda signs, and later vowels began to appear. The emergence of Arabic writing owes a little more to such ancient peoples as the Semites, since it was from them that the Arabs borrowed the shape of their letters.

Spelling began to emerge a little later, when it became necessary to write the holy book of all Muslims - the Koran. Previously, the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad were disseminated through oral speech, which subsequently led to their distortion. After that, due to the great influence of Islam, this letter became one of the most common in the world. Now it can be found in many regions of Africa, Central and Western Asia, Europe and even America.

Spelling features

The Arabic script is similar to Russian in that it also uses letters rather than hieroglyphs. Words and sentences are written from right to left. Another distinguishing feature of this letter is that it has no capital letters. All namesthe first words in sentences are put on paper exclusively from a small character. Punctuation marks are written upside down, which is also unusual for the Russian-speaking population.

Arabic writing differs from many others in that it only shows consonants and long vowels on a sheet, while short ones are not displayed at all and are reproduced exclusively in speech. At the same time, there is no confusion when reading, due to the fact that these sounds are fixed with the help of various superscript and subscript characters. The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters. At the same time, 22 of them have four forms of their spelling, and 6 have only two.

Varieties of early style

Types of standard Arabic writing are represented by six different handwritings, three of which arose a little earlier than the others:

• The first one is Kufi. It is the oldest and is based on geometric rules combined with ornament. In writing this style, straight lines, angles are used. They are applied to paper using drawing tools. This handwriting is characterized by consistency and majesty, severity and solemnity. Thanks to these qualities, it was he who was used in writing the main book of Muslims. This style of writing can also be seen on Arabic coins and mosques.
• A little later came the suls. The translation of its name literally sounds like “third”, since its signs are three times smaller than in kufi. It is considered to be an ornamental handwriting. Therefore sulsmore often used in various subheadings and important addresses. A distinctive feature of this handwriting is its letters, which have a curved appearance with some kind of hooks at their end.
• Nash. It was created around the tenth century. Characteristic features of the style are small horizontal "stitches", while intervals are always maintained between words. In today's world, it is mainly used for publishing books and printing periodicals.

Late Period Types

These three styles were invented a little later than the above handwritings. These include the following types of Arabic writing:

• Talik. It appeared in the Iranian state and was originally called Farsi. When writing it, the letters gradually move down from top to bottom, so you might think that the words are specially written diagonally. In this style, the letters have a smooth outline. It is mainly distributed in South Asian countries, as well as in India.
• Rika handwriting. Its basis is the ancient types of writing. Literally, its name translates as "little leaf". It is a rather concise style, and also the easiest to write, so it is most often used in note-taking and in everyday life.
• Divan style. It is often used in the government office. For example, various orders, official letters and other types of government correspondence are written in this handwriting.

Monumental style

Arabic writing of this variety is used most often on anyhard materials, stones and metal. It can be seen on various architectural monuments and monuments, as well as on mosques, steles and coins. This handwriting is characterized by angularity and scale, so it is a purely handwritten type. This style is applied to the material in continuous writing and tends to stick together.

From the foregoing, we can conclude that the Arabic script itself is simple if you study it without unnecessary worries and fears in the right sequence.