Part II. The journal system
Lesson 11. Shadda letters
Arabic has no p, ch, ll, ñ or trilled r. Aljamía puts a shadda on the nearest letter [attested]:
| Sound | Letter | Built from | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| p | بّ | b + shadda | pan · بَّنْ |
| ch /tʃ/ | جّ | jīm + shadda | mucho · مُجُّ |
| ll /ʎ/ | لّ | lām + shadda | calle · كَلَّا |
| ñ | نّ | nūn + shadda | mañana · مَنَّنَ |
| r- and rr | رّ | rāʾ + shadda | perro · بَّارُّ |
Why shadda: scholars disagree on what the Moriscos meant by it. One view is a plug for missing letters; another, that it marks a stop or affricate; another, voicelessness (Lenk, Bouzineb and Fuente Cornejo, as summarized in Vázquez Macías 2023). For you, it simply means "a different letter".
Word-initial r is trilled, so it gets رّ too: rosa · رُّسَ, rey · رَّايْ. [attested]
ll and yeísmo. If you say ll like y, keep لّ anyway: spelling helps you read old entries.
Exercises 11
- pino
- chico
- llama
- niño
- carro
- caro
- río
- Read بُّلُّ.
Answers
- pino · بِّنُ
- chico · جِّكُ
- llama · لَّمَ
- niño · نِنُّ
- carro · كَرُّ
- caro · كَرُ
- río · رِّأُ
- pollo · بُّلُّ