Part II. The journal system
Lesson 7. Vowels
Five vowels, four signs
Arabic has three vowel marks. Spanish has five vowels. The Moriscos solved it like this [attested]:
| Vowel | Full | Shorthand | How |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ـَ | unwritten; ه at word end | fatḥa |
| e | ـَا | ا | fatḥa + alif |
| i | ـِ | ي | kasra |
| o, u | ـُ | و | ḍamma |
Why e is fatḥa + alif: the sources say the Mudejars invented this combination and the Moriscos inherited it. In Arabic, fatḥa + alif is a long a. Romance had no long vowels, so the pair was free to mean something else.
Why o and u merge: nothing was free to split them. Context decides: lobo · لُبُ could be lobo or lubo, but only one is a word.
Examples: mesa · مَاسَ, casa · كَسَ, vida · بِدَ, nube · نُبَا.
Vowel letters on i and o/u
Manuscripts sometimes add ي after kasra and و after ḍamma (Galmés transcribes them ī and ū). [attested] They're optional. This course leaves them out in full writing and uses them in shorthand (Lesson 15).
Exercises 7
Write in full Alxamía.
- nada
- mesa
- pelo
- dedo
- vida
- lobo
- Read لُنَ. Which readings do the letters allow?
- Read بَّانَ.
Answers
- nada · نَدَ
- mesa · مَاسَ
- pelo · بَّالُ
- dedo · دَادُ
- vida · بِدَ
- lobo · لُبُ
- luna · لُنَ: luna or lona.
- pena · بَّانَ