Alxamía

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

Part I. The script

Lesson 4. Marks

Arabic writes short vowels and a few other things as small marks above or below the letter. The mark is said after the letter.

Mark Name Example Journal value
stroke above fatḥa بَ a
stroke below kasra بِ i
small wāw above ḍamma بُ o, u
small circle above sukūn بْ no vowel
small w-shape above shadda بّ a new letter (Lesson 11)

Sukūn marks a consonant with nothing after it: the end of a closed syllable or the first consonant of a cluster.

Shadda doubles a consonant in Arabic. Aljamía gives it a new job: it makes a new sound. بّ is p, not bb. A vowel mark can sit with shadda: بَّ is pa.

And e? e has no mark of its own. It is fatḥa followed by alif: بَا is be. This is the most important rule in the course (Lesson 7).

Exercises 4

  1. Name each mark, in order: بَ, بِ, بُ, بْ, بّ.
  2. Read بَ.
  3. Read بِ.
  4. Read بَا.
  5. Read بُ. (Two answers.)
  6. What does the sukūn in بْ tell you?
  7. Read بَّ.
Answers
  1. fatḥa, kasra, ḍamma, sukūn, shadda.
  2. ba
  3. bi
  4. be
  5. bo or bu.
  6. No vowel follows the b.
  7. pa