3. Formalia: Att transkribera - su.se/menu/standard... · yet U رT R ٱQ U رT rajulun ibnu rajulin ‘a man, son of a man’; %Y X VW N M ٱL qultu laka ktub ‘I said to you write’

Institutionen för Orientaliska språkMellanösterns språk och kulturer

3. Formalia:Att transkribera

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När, varför och hur ska en text transkriberas?

Transkriberingsregler och exempel

TRANSCRIPTION RULES

for

Arabic Fuṣḥā

and

Lebanese Arabic

Required in essays, papers and theses at

The Section for Middle Eastern Studies

Department of Oriental Languages

Stockholm University

prepared by

Elie Wardini

Jan 2013, v.4

Arabic Fuṣḥā and Lebanese Arabic TRANSCRIPTION

– 1 –

Transcribing Arabic textsSome principles and strategies

The main and essential question when deciding on transcription is:

Why do I need a transcription?

The answer decides the rest.

1. The purpose of transcription:

To present the reader (knowledgeable in Arabic or not) with an appropriate reading of the text NB! Any “reading” of a text is also a “commentary”

Ultimately, the transcription is a presentation of YOUR reading and understanding of a text

Therefore, in a thesis or essay you present a transcription in order to clarify:• THAT you have understood the text• and more essentially HOW you have understood

E.g. '%&%ا ب"!Daraba al-waladuDaraba al-waladaDuriba al-waladu

The overarching principles both for purpose and actual transcription should be, the transcription is:

a. Necessaryb. Relevantc. Adequated. Consistent

No more no less !


Characters in red represent phonemes that are not found in Fuæ˛ä, but in Lebanese Arabic or another Arabic dialect. Some Arabic dialects have phonemes not represented in this table.

– 2 –

2. Transcription TableThe consonants:

‚ ء b ب t ت † ث j ج

g ˛ ح ⇥ خ d د ¤ ذ r ر z ز

s س ß ش æ ص � ض å ط ¢ ظ

÷ „ ع ¸ غ f ف

p

q ق k ك l ل m م

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

n ن ـAـ h w و

v y ي

The vowels:ــــ a Eـــ ä

e ë

ــــ i Gـــ ï

@ o ö

ــــ u &ــ ü

The diphthongs:Gــ ay &ــ aw

The tanwïn:ـ un Eــ an ـ in

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


– 3 –

3. Required transcription rules

You are required to use the rules for transcription as outlined in the present document.

Nevertheless, be aware of and learn the other systems of transcription

E.g. among others: • Isaksson:http://www2.lingfil.uu.se/afro/semitiska/forskarutbildning/transcription-of-arabicEN.pdf

• Encyclopaedia of Islam: (see attachement)http://brillonline.nl/subscriber/uid=3094/help?id=transliteration&authstatuscode=202

• Library Congress: (see attachement)http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html

4. Phonemic transcription

Phonemic representation or phonemic interpretation (if the vowels in the Arabic word are NOT explictely presented) of the Arabic text.

e.g. LـMـN kataba, kutub, kattaba, etc.; LـMـN kutub, kutiba, etc.

NB: Unless it is of specific interest, phonetic transcription is to be avoided for Fuæ˛ä.

5. Dialect different from Fuæ˛ä

While transcribing a certain spoken variant of Arabic, a dialect, it is important to reproduce characteristics that are specific to this dialect.

e.g. Syrian Arabic: lubnän ‘Lebanon’ vs Lebanese Arabic: l@bnën; Lebanese Arabic: jamal ‘camel’ vs Egyptian Arabic: gamal

http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html

http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/roman.html


– 4 –

NB: In many cases, transcription of a spoken variant requires a phonetic transcription. A broad phonetic transcription is to be preferred to a narrow one, this means that the strict minimum of necessary detail is to be preferred.

6. Fonts:

For best compatibility between programs and operating systems, use modern UNICODE- fonts

7. Main rules

• Hamzat al-waæl ٱ is transcribed as a hamza only when it is pronounced e.g. إQR ‚ibn ‘son’; أLـMN ‚uktub ‘write’ (imperative); yet رTU ٱQR رTU rajulun ibnu rajulin ‘a man, son of a man’; VWX %Y

LMNٱ qultu laka ktub ‘I said to you write’ (imperative)

• In Lebanese Arabic @ (sometimes other values) is inserted where appropriate to break consonantal clusters that are not allowed; usually [email protected]. mad@rse ‘school’; ktëb @t-t@lmïz ‘the pupil’s book’

• In Fuæ˛ä, the definite article ـ%ا is either consistantly transcribed as al-; or regularly transcribed as (a)r- , (a)s-, (a)t-, etc. assimilated to sun consonants; the vowels a or i are written only when appropriate

e.g. without assimilation of definite article to sun consonants:Z[X%ا al-bayt ‘the house’; ا%\W] al-†alj ‘the snow’

e.g. with assimilation of the definite article to sun consonants:`_^%ا aß-ßams ‘the sun’; ا%a_" al-qamar ‘the moon’

V"ا تأ%bMEب qara‚tu l-kitäba ‘I read the book’[W\%ا تأر ra‚at i†-†alj ‘she saw the snow’


– 5 –

• In Lebanese Arabic, the definite article is always transcribed as l-, r- , s-, t-, etc. assimilated to sun consonnantse.g. r-r@jjël ‘the man’, „a-å-åäwle ‘on the table’; l-bard ‘the cold’

• In Fuæ˛ä words that in the Arabic script are connected to the following word, e.g. prepositions Qـ bi-; %ـ li-; etc. conjunctions و wa-; cـ fa- etc. are transcribed connected to the following word separated by a hyphen;e.g. Q['ه bi-yadihi ‘in his hand’; %"TU li-rajulin ‘to a man’; وVEل wa-qäla ‘and he said’; caEل fa-qäla ‘then he said’; etc.

• In Lebanese Arabic the prepositions b-; „a-; l- and the conjunction w- are written connected to the following words separated by a hyphen; the preposition l- is not separated from dependant pronouns by a hyphen, nor is it separated by a hyphen from a preceding word to which it is attachede.g. b-@l-bayt ‘at home/ in the house’; „a-å-åäwle ‘on the table’; l-ar-r@jjël ‘to the man’; yet qallo ‘he told him’

• Feminine marker ة is transcribed as -a; yet as -at when the case ending is added or in the construct statee.g. f'رgh madrasa ‘school’

f'رgh LZ["ة madrasatun kabïratun ‘a large school’f'رgh ا%MW_[i madrasat al-tilmï¤ ‘the school of the pupil’

• Either the case endings and short verbal endings should be consistantly transcribed or not at alle.g. أLU ا '%&%ا%MjEkh ‚akala al-waladu al-tuffä˛ataor ‚akal al-walad al-tuffä˛a ‘the child ate the apple’

• The default case is the nominative casee.g. اlm&ا ناnoW_&ن al-‚i⇥wän al-muslimün ‘The Muslim Brothers’

• Long /ä/ is transcribed as -ä irrespective how it is written in the Arabic scripte.g. اp ‚alläh ‘God’; ذ%Y ¤älika ‘that’; qWr „alä ‘on’; إc"V[E ‚ifrïqyä ‘Africa’

• The nisba ending is -iyy; the pausal form of the masculine singular is -ïe.g. fs"ي miærï ‘Egyptian’; or miæriyyun; fs"th miæriyya or miæriyyatun

• Double (or long) consonants are written twicee.g. Liبا ka¤¤äb ‘liar’


– 6 –

• Final double consonants are written as a single consonante.g. vEم täm ‘important’

8. Presentation

• While you are required to use the transcription rules as outlined in the present study, you will have to make choices. Always use one system per variant/ language consistantly. Make your choices and do not mix systems for the same variant/ language in the same essay, paper or thesis.

• Always explain explicitly and clearly the transcription system you are using and why you have chosen this specific one.

• Present the whole table of signs to help the reader

• Transcribed text should as a rule be in italics; excepting proper names when presented as such. Proper names and Arabic terms with conventional spellings in a different language should be written when possible with the conventional spelling in the language used. It could be desirable that proper names and Arabic terms be presented in the Arabic script and transcription the first time they appear in a text, even when there is an accepted conventional spelling.e.g. Baghdad ( Qw'دا ba¸däd)Hadith ( k'tx ˛adï† ‘collection of sayings of the prophet’)

9. Some examples

Words

Fuæ˛ä:Word(s) in Arabic script, transcribe, translate, comment; e.g. LـMEب kitäb ‘book’, something written.

LMEا ب%"TU kitäbu al-rajuli ‘the man’s book’, the book which belongs to the man.


– 7 –

Lebanese Arabic:Transcribe, translate, comment; e.g. ktëb ‘book’, something writtenktëbo l-ar-r@jjël ‘the man’s book’, the book which belongs to the man.

Longer Passages

Fuæ˛ä:Text in Arabic script, transcribe, translate, comment;

jEvyh%ا al-fäti˛a

Qo{ ٱp ٱ%"|k_ـR ٱ%"|k[{ W_ÅـÄ%ٱ �بر y_' p�%ٱ

}]k|"%ٱ Rـ_k|"%ٱfـWY t&ٱ م%'�tRÇoMÄÅ كt|Eإو 'ÇÄZ كt|Eإ

nٱ طا"�s%ٱ É'ÇEٱ oMa[{

Ñ"ٱ طا%|itR أÇÄ_X qW[A{ Ö[" ٱnwÜ&ب qW[A{ وá ٱ%Ü|à%�Å

NB: definite article assimilated to sun consonants, with case endings and final pause.

b-ismi l-lähi r-ra˛mäni r-ra˛ïm‚al-˛amdu li-l-lähi rabbi l-„älamïn‚ar-ra˛mäni r-ra˛ïmmäliki yawmi d-dïn‚iyyäka na„budu wa-‚iyyäka nasta„ïn‚ihdinä æ-æiräåa l-mustaqïmæiräåa l-la¤ïna ‚an„amta „alayhim ¸ayri l-ma¸�übi „alayhim wa-lä �-�ällïn

‘In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,The Beneficent, the Merciful.Master of the Day of Judgment,Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.Show us the straight path,The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.’ [Pickthall]


– 8 –

Text 1, chapter 21, Schulz p.292-01.'ا /'*.'ا -, &(+*()'ا &%$#"اÇâ' cG ا%ÄE%{ ا%Ä"QG kMr ود م&]%اá أ تاذÇä_h g[Etoh fãMWjh LE%â_A&رtEاو تn_E%Y 'MG ksWX QÄ%ا o[Eg[h%ا تMao[_E%ا سgEأ qWr لو'%ا هV' VEfX Éiو n^Etçاو تoWåEÇE%او gëوêا ق"^%او c"ta[Eإ cG يرágMÄ_Eا مèäE%او Ä\_EÇ[h%ا thر&éا"lfZا رÇA[Eا

NB: definite article not assimilated to sun consonants, no case endings.

al-‚an˙ima al-siyäsiyya fï al-„älam al-„arabïnajid fï al-„älam al-„arabï ˛attä al-yawm duwal ¤ät ‚an˙ima siyäsiyya mu⇥talifa ka-al-jumhüriyyät wa-al-mamälik wa-al-salåanät wa-al-maßäyi⇥ wa-qad qämat hä¤ihi al-duwal „alä ‚asäs al-taqsïmät al-siyäsiyya al-latï ˛aæalat ba„d ‚inhiyär al-‚imbaräåüriyya al-„u†mäniyya wa-al-ni˙äm al-‚isti„märï fï ‚ifrïqyä wa-al-ßarq al-‚awsaå.

‘The polical systems in the Arab worldWe find in the Arab world, up to the present, countries that have different political systems, such as republics, kingdoms, sultanates and shaykhdoms. These countries are based on the political divisions that occurred after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the colonial regime in Africa and the Middle East.’

Lebanese Arabic:Transcribe, translate, comment;

bayt ßabëb maßhüra b-l@-knëyes uw-fiya ⇥ams@ knëyes „a-‚@sm @s-sayde, w@-⇥æüæan saydet @l-¸ëbe maßhüra b-l@-„jëyeb uw-fiya ndürët@ ktïr. b-i⇥abrüna l-‚@dma ‚@nno k@l biyyë„ kën yeje „a-�-�ay„a kën y@ndor ßi m@n @lle ma„o.

Bayt Shabeb is famous for its churches. It has five churches dedicated to Our Lady. Our Lady of the Forest is especially known for its miracles and it contains many offerings. The elders tell us that each merchant who used to come to the village would offer something from that which he had with him.

18.08.11 11.51Brill Online : Help

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Documents

3. Formalia: Att transkribera - su.se/menu/standard... · yet U رT R ٱQ U رT rajulun ibnu rajulin ‘a man, son of a man’; %Y X VW N M ٱL qultu laka ktub ‘I said to you write’