Alxamía

Spanish and Galician written in Arabic letters, based on the Moriscos’ aljamía. A personal journal script.

Part II. The journal system

Lesson 10. Plain consonants

Most consonants have a direct Arabic match [attested]:

Sound Letter Note
b, v ب no b/v split, as in speech
t ت
d د
k (c, qu, k) ك qu is ك; the u is silent
g /ɡ/ (g, gu) غ ghayn, not jīm
f ف
r (tap) ر
l, m, n ل, م, ن
y, consonantal i ي
w, consonantal u و
silent h (omitted)

Why ghayn for g: probably because jīm was already taken for the Old Spanish j sound. Ghayn was the nearest free letter.

Sukūn

A consonant with no vowel after it gets sukūn: campo · كَمْبُّ, libro · لِبْرُ, sol · سُلْ.

Exercises 10

  1. dato
  2. gato
  3. queso
  4. guerra
  5. falda
  6. nombre
  7. madre
  8. Why is g ghayn and not jīm?
Answers
  1. dato · دَتُ
  2. gato · غَتُ
  3. queso · كَاسُ
  4. guerra · غَارَّ
  5. falda · فَلْدَ
  6. nombre · نُمْبْرَا
  7. madre · مَدْرَا
  8. Probably because jīm was already taken for the Old Spanish j sound.