In what ways does Arabic use letters as orthographic signs without phonetic significance?

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ا (alif) and و when used as orthographic signs without phonetic significance are not represented in romanization.

• fa‘alÅ« فعلوا


• ulā’ika أوقية


• Å«qÄ«yah أولائك

_{— ALA-LC guide to Arabic romanization (rule 4)}

I was under the impression that in many ways, Arabic script is very phonetic. Yes, it is an (impure) abjad, so written words do not always reflect pronunciation precisely, and yes, Arabic has many regional variations of phonemes—but I never would have anticipated that its orthography would have features that are not at all reflected in the spoken language itself.

In what ways does Arabic use such letters as orthographic signs without phonetic significance?

Note: As an aspiring linguist, Arabic is of significan interest to me, though I do not know much about the elevated rules to forming Arabic sentences, inflecting nouns, etc. However, I can easily understand these concepts if they are outlined, regardless if I can emulate it myself.

phonology orthography arabic romanization

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up vote
1
down vote

favorite

ا (alif) and و when used as orthographic signs without phonetic significance are not represented in romanization.

• fa‘alÅ« فعلوا


• ulā’ika أوقية


• Å«qÄ«yah أولائك

_{— ALA-LC guide to Arabic romanization (rule 4)}

I was under the impression that in many ways, Arabic script is very phonetic. Yes, it is an (impure) abjad, so written words do not always reflect pronunciation precisely, and yes, Arabic has many regional variations of phonemes—but I never would have anticipated that its orthography would have features that are not at all reflected in the spoken language itself.

In what ways does Arabic use such letters as orthographic signs without phonetic significance?

Note: As an aspiring linguist, Arabic is of significan interest to me, though I do not know much about the elevated rules to forming Arabic sentences, inflecting nouns, etc. However, I can easily understand these concepts if they are outlined, regardless if I can emulate it myself.

phonology orthography arabic romanization

share|improve this question

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

up vote
1
down vote

favorite

ا (alif) and و when used as orthographic signs without phonetic significance are not represented in romanization.

• fa‘alÅ« فعلوا


• ulā’ika أوقية


• Å«qÄ«yah أولائك

_{— ALA-LC guide to Arabic romanization (rule 4)}

I was under the impression that in many ways, Arabic script is very phonetic. Yes, it is an (impure) abjad, so written words do not always reflect pronunciation precisely, and yes, Arabic has many regional variations of phonemes—but I never would have anticipated that its orthography would have features that are not at all reflected in the spoken language itself.

In what ways does Arabic use such letters as orthographic signs without phonetic significance?

Note: As an aspiring linguist, Arabic is of significan interest to me, though I do not know much about the elevated rules to forming Arabic sentences, inflecting nouns, etc. However, I can easily understand these concepts if they are outlined, regardless if I can emulate it myself.

phonology orthography arabic romanization

share|improve this question

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

ا (alif) and و when used as orthographic signs without phonetic significance are not represented in romanization.

• fa‘alÅ« فعلوا


• ulā’ika أوقية


• Å«qÄ«yah أولائك

_{— ALA-LC guide to Arabic romanization (rule 4)}

I was under the impression that in many ways, Arabic script is very phonetic. Yes, it is an (impure) abjad, so written words do not always reflect pronunciation precisely, and yes, Arabic has many regional variations of phonemes—but I never would have anticipated that its orthography would have features that are not at all reflected in the spoken language itself.

In what ways does Arabic use such letters as orthographic signs without phonetic significance?

Note: As an aspiring linguist, Arabic is of significan interest to me, though I do not know much about the elevated rules to forming Arabic sentences, inflecting nouns, etc. However, I can easily understand these concepts if they are outlined, regardless if I can emulate it myself.

phonology orthography arabic romanization

phonology orthography arabic romanization

share|improve this question

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

share|improve this question

share|improve this question

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

asked 5 hours ago

Chase Ryan Taylor

1084

1084

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

New contributor

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

Chase Ryan Taylor is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

1 Answer
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I think the best way to understand this statement is to ask, why is فعلوا not pronounced [faʕalawā] (or various other possibilities like [fiʕalawā, faʕulawā, fiʕlawā]...). This omission of short vowels including the practice of leaving out sukun (no vowel) is one known non-phonetic aspect of the spelling system. As a speaker of Arabic, you would just know this. Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language provides a detailed account of orthographic conventions. If you are to write "ðū", it has to be distinguished from "ðaw", and if you don't include the short vowel marks, you need some other convention. ا is essentially a diacritic, which can support hamza = ʔ but can also indicate length (ā) as in حاب saḥāb and (ū) فعلوا. It is "non-phonetic" in the sense that it is used indirectly to indicate something else phonetic, as opposed to س which represents [s], period (though whether there is a vowel after it is another matter).

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1 Answer
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oldest

votes

1 Answer
1

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

active

oldest

votes

up vote
3
down vote



accepted

I think the best way to understand this statement is to ask, why is فعلوا not pronounced [faʕalawā] (or various other possibilities like [fiʕalawā, faʕulawā, fiʕlawā]...). This omission of short vowels including the practice of leaving out sukun (no vowel) is one known non-phonetic aspect of the spelling system. As a speaker of Arabic, you would just know this. Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language provides a detailed account of orthographic conventions. If you are to write "ðū", it has to be distinguished from "ðaw", and if you don't include the short vowel marks, you need some other convention. ا is essentially a diacritic, which can support hamza = ʔ but can also indicate length (ā) as in حاب saḥāb and (ū) فعلوا. It is "non-phonetic" in the sense that it is used indirectly to indicate something else phonetic, as opposed to س which represents [s], period (though whether there is a vowel after it is another matter).

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote



accepted

I think the best way to understand this statement is to ask, why is فعلوا not pronounced [faʕalawā] (or various other possibilities like [fiʕalawā, faʕulawā, fiʕlawā]...). This omission of short vowels including the practice of leaving out sukun (no vowel) is one known non-phonetic aspect of the spelling system. As a speaker of Arabic, you would just know this. Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language provides a detailed account of orthographic conventions. If you are to write "ðū", it has to be distinguished from "ðaw", and if you don't include the short vowel marks, you need some other convention. ا is essentially a diacritic, which can support hamza = ʔ but can also indicate length (ā) as in حاب saḥāb and (ū) فعلوا. It is "non-phonetic" in the sense that it is used indirectly to indicate something else phonetic, as opposed to س which represents [s], period (though whether there is a vowel after it is another matter).

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

add a comment | 

up vote
3
down vote



accepted

up vote
3
down vote



accepted

I think the best way to understand this statement is to ask, why is فعلوا not pronounced [faʕalawā] (or various other possibilities like [fiʕalawā, faʕulawā, fiʕlawā]...). This omission of short vowels including the practice of leaving out sukun (no vowel) is one known non-phonetic aspect of the spelling system. As a speaker of Arabic, you would just know this. Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language provides a detailed account of orthographic conventions. If you are to write "ðū", it has to be distinguished from "ðaw", and if you don't include the short vowel marks, you need some other convention. ا is essentially a diacritic, which can support hamza = ʔ but can also indicate length (ā) as in حاب saḥāb and (ū) فعلوا. It is "non-phonetic" in the sense that it is used indirectly to indicate something else phonetic, as opposed to س which represents [s], period (though whether there is a vowel after it is another matter).

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

I think the best way to understand this statement is to ask, why is فعلوا not pronounced [faʕalawā] (or various other possibilities like [fiʕalawā, faʕulawā, fiʕlawā]...). This omission of short vowels including the practice of leaving out sukun (no vowel) is one known non-phonetic aspect of the spelling system. As a speaker of Arabic, you would just know this. Wright's A grammar of the Arabic language provides a detailed account of orthographic conventions. If you are to write "ðū", it has to be distinguished from "ðaw", and if you don't include the short vowel marks, you need some other convention. ا is essentially a diacritic, which can support hamza = ʔ but can also indicate length (ā) as in حاب saḥāb and (ū) فعلوا. It is "non-phonetic" in the sense that it is used indirectly to indicate something else phonetic, as opposed to س which represents [s], period (though whether there is a vowel after it is another matter).

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

share|improve this answer

share|improve this answer

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

answered 4 hours ago

user6726

30.9k11757

30.9k11757

add a comment | 

add a comment | 

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