# Alxamía: a secret journal script for Spanish and Galician

Write modern Spanish and Galician in Arabic letters, from zero.

Aljamía is how the Moriscos wrote Spanish in Arabic script in the 15th to 17th centuries. Alxamía, its Galician spelling, is the name of this course's version: a private journaling system for modern speech, built on the historical spelling wherever the sources allow. "Aljamía" below means the historical practice; "Alxamía" means your system.

## Contents

- **Part I. The script**: 1 direction and joining, 2 letter families, 3 chunks and ligatures, 4 marks, 5 seats and typing, 6 handwriting
- **Part II. The journal system**: 7 vowels, 8 initial vowels and hiatus, 9 diphthongs, 10 plain consonants, 11 shadda letters, 12 sibilants, 13 Spanish, 14 Galician, 15 shorthand, 16 punctuation and the rest, 17 reading, 18 writing
- **Part III. History**: 19 the Morisco system, 20 Portuguese aljamía and Galician, 21 sources
- **Answer key**

## What's in this folder

- **This course.** Read it in order; Part I can be swapped for an Arabic script book.
- **`handwriting/tracing-sheets.pdf`**: letters, marks, common words, journal lines and practice paper to print.
- **`handwriting/pocket-card.pdf`**: one A5 sheet, front and back, to keep in the journal.
- **`flashcards/`**: Anki decks (Spanish, Galician, letter values). In Anki: File, Import, note type "Basic (and reversed card)".
- **The website** (alxamia.pages.dev, or `site/index.html` locally): this **Course**; **Cards**, which drills the common words and the letters both ways, with simple spaced repetition saved in your browser; the **Checker**, which shows any line in full and shorthand; and **Printables**.

## How secret is it?

**Enough for a journal.** Almost no one around you reads Arabic script. Arabic readers who don't speak Spanish or Galician see nonsense.

**Not real encryption.** Someone who reads Arabic and speaks Spanish or Galician can work it out. The rules are fixed and all written down here.

## How trustworthy is it?

This course started from a spreadsheet Claude made (since removed). Checking it against real sources found errors, so the course now rests on sources, and every claim carries a label:

- **[attested]**: in historical Spanish aljamía, per Galmés de Fuentes's transliteration table (Lesson 21).
- **[attested, Portuguese]**: in the Portuguese aljamía letters edited by David Lopes in 1897.
- **[modern choice]**: a modern, non-historical option from the original sheet.
- **[course rule]**: my rule for the journal system. Non-historical.
- **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**: your own invention. No manuscript uses it.
- **[unverified]**: from the original sheet or a secondary source; I could not confirm it.

The sources here show no historical aljamía in Galician. Everything Galician is modern, whatever its label.

## What the original sheet got wrong

1. **e** is fatḥa + alif (‎ـَا‎), not kasra. So fatḥa + alif can't mean a stressed a.
2. **x** as ‎شّ‎ is attested, not your invention.
3. **Word-initial r** is ‎رّ‎, like rr.
4. **ç as ‎ص‎**: ‎ص‎ has its own value in the standard table and turns up mostly in Arabic words.
5. **Final -a as ‎ـَهْ‎** and the **Mac keyboard tip**: unverified.

## The system at a glance

| Sound | Full | Shorthand | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | ‎ـَ‎ | unwritten; ‎ه‎ at word end | [attested]; shorthand [course rule] |
| e | ‎ـَا‎ | ‎ا‎ | [attested] |
| i | ‎ـِ‎ | ‎ي‎ | [attested] |
| o, u | ‎ـُ‎ | ‎و‎ | [attested] |
| no vowel | ‎ـْ‎ | (unwritten) | [attested] |
| b, v | ‎ب‎ | ‎ب‎ | [attested] |
| p | ‎بّ‎ | ‎بّ‎ | [attested] |
| ch | ‎جّ‎ | ‎جّ‎ | [attested] |
| ll | ‎لّ‎ | ‎لّ‎ | [attested] |
| ñ | ‎نّ‎ | ‎نّ‎ | [attested] |
| r- and rr | ‎رّ‎ | ‎رّ‎ | [attested] |
| g /ɡ/ | ‎غ‎ | ‎غ‎ | [attested] |
| k (c, qu) | ‎ك‎ | ‎ك‎ | [attested] |
| s | ‎س‎ | ‎س‎ | [course rule] |
| c, z /θ/ | ‎ث‎ | ‎ث‎ | [modern choice] |
| j, ge, gi /x/ | ‎خ‎ | ‎خ‎ | [modern choice] |
| Galician x /ʃ/ | ‎ش‎ | ‎ش‎ | [attested] value, applied to Galician |
| x /ks/ | ‎كس‎ | ‎كس‎ | [course rule] |
| gheada | ‎ح‎ | ‎ح‎ | [PROPOSAL, non-historical] |
| Galician nh /ŋ/ | ‎نْغ‎ | ‎نغ‎ | [PROPOSAL, non-historical] |
| silent h | (omitted) | (omitted) | [attested] |

---

# Part I. The script

### Learning with an Arabic script book alongside

A book like Judith Meyer's *Arabic Script Hacking* teaches the letters with their **Arabic** sounds. Most carry over. These don't:

| In Arabic | In this course |
|---|---|
| ‎ـَا‎ is a long ā | ‎ـَا‎ is **e**. The biggest trap |
| ‎ـِي‎, ‎ـُو‎ are long ī, ū | optional in full writing; i and o/u in shorthand |
| ‎ج‎ is j (or g) | ‎ج‎ alone isn't used; ‎جّ‎ is ch (history: ‎ج‎ is Old Spanish j) |
| shadda doubles a consonant | shadda makes a new letter: ‎بّ‎ is p |
| ‎ح‎ is a throaty h | only your gheada proposal |
| ‎ه‎ is h | shorthand final a |
| ‎ة‎ (tāʾ marbūṭa), tanwīn, ‎ى‎ | not used (‎ى‎ only in the history lesson) |
| hamza has complex spelling rules | here it only marks the vowel seats ‎أ‎ and ‎إ‎ |
| ‎ع‎, ‎ص‎, ‎ض‎, ‎ط‎, ‎ظ‎, ‎ق‎ | not used in the journal |

Everything else (shapes, joining, dots, the marks themselves) is the same.


## Lesson 1. Direction and joining

### Right to left

Arabic runs **right to left**. A word's first letter is on the right. A page starts at the top right.

### Letters join

Arabic is always joined, in print too. Most letters connect to the letter after them, so each letter has up to four shapes:

- **isolated**: alone
- **initial**: first in a joined group
- **medial**: inside a joined group
- **final**: last in a joined group

The stroke ‎ـ‎ (tatweel) in the tables only shows where a letter connects. It is not a letter.

Most shapes keep the same core and just gain or lose a tail. Initial and medial shapes are usually short; final and isolated shapes keep their tail. Three letters change a lot: ‎ه‎ (‎هـ ـهـ ـه‎), ‎ع‎/‎غ‎ (‎غـ ـغـ ـغ‎) and ‎ك‎ (‎كـ ـكـ ـك‎).

### The letters of this course

| Letter | Name | Isolated | Initial | Medial | Final | Journal value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ‎ا‎ | alif | ‎ا‎ | ‎ا‎ | ‎ـا‎ | ‎ـا‎ | e (after fatḥa); vowel seat |
| ‎ب‎ | bāʾ | ‎ب‎ | ‎بـ‎ | ‎ـبـ‎ | ‎ـب‎ | b, v; with shadda: p |
| ‎ت‎ | tāʾ | ‎ت‎ | ‎تـ‎ | ‎ـتـ‎ | ‎ـت‎ | t |
| ‎ث‎ | thāʾ | ‎ث‎ | ‎ثـ‎ | ‎ـثـ‎ | ‎ـث‎ | c, z /θ/ |
| ‎ج‎ | jīm | ‎ج‎ | ‎جـ‎ | ‎ـجـ‎ | ‎ـج‎ | with shadda: ch |
| ‎ح‎ | ḥāʾ | ‎ح‎ | ‎حـ‎ | ‎ـحـ‎ | ‎ـح‎ | gheada (proposal) |
| ‎خ‎ | khāʾ | ‎خ‎ | ‎خـ‎ | ‎ـخـ‎ | ‎ـخ‎ | j, ge, gi /x/ |
| ‎د‎ | dāl | ‎د‎ | ‎د‎ | ‎ـد‎ | ‎ـد‎ | d |
| ‎ر‎ | rāʾ | ‎ر‎ | ‎ر‎ | ‎ـر‎ | ‎ـر‎ | r; with shadda: r- and rr |
| ‎س‎ | sīn | ‎س‎ | ‎سـ‎ | ‎ـسـ‎ | ‎ـس‎ | s |
| ‎ش‎ | shīn | ‎ش‎ | ‎شـ‎ | ‎ـشـ‎ | ‎ـش‎ | Galician x /ʃ/ |
| ‎غ‎ | ghayn | ‎غ‎ | ‎غـ‎ | ‎ـغـ‎ | ‎ـغ‎ | g /ɡ/ |
| ‎ف‎ | fāʾ | ‎ف‎ | ‎فـ‎ | ‎ـفـ‎ | ‎ـف‎ | f |
| ‎ك‎ | kāf | ‎ك‎ | ‎كـ‎ | ‎ـكـ‎ | ‎ـك‎ | k, c, qu |
| ‎ل‎ | lām | ‎ل‎ | ‎لـ‎ | ‎ـلـ‎ | ‎ـل‎ | l; with shadda: ll |
| ‎م‎ | mīm | ‎م‎ | ‎مـ‎ | ‎ـمـ‎ | ‎ـم‎ | m |
| ‎ن‎ | nūn | ‎ن‎ | ‎نـ‎ | ‎ـنـ‎ | ‎ـن‎ | n; with shadda: ñ |
| ‎و‎ | wāw | ‎و‎ | ‎و‎ | ‎ـو‎ | ‎ـو‎ | w; shorthand o/u |
| ‎ي‎ | yāʾ | ‎ي‎ | ‎يـ‎ | ‎ـيـ‎ | ‎ـي‎ | y; shorthand i |

Shorthand adds ‎ه‎ for final a (Lesson 15). Part III adds the letters only the historical system needs: ‎ز‎, ‎ص‎, ‎ط‎, ‎ق‎, and ‎ج‎ on its own.

### Exercises 1

1. Which end of the line does an Arabic sentence start at?
2. Is the tatweel ‎ـ‎ a letter?
3. Which shape of ‎ب‎ is ‎بـ‎?
4. Which shape of ‎ن‎ is ‎ـن‎?
5. Name the letter in all four of these: ‎ل‎, ‎لـ‎, ‎ـلـ‎, ‎ـل‎.
6. Which three letters in this course change shape the most?

---

## Lesson 2. Letter families

Many Arabic letters share one skeleton and differ only by dots. Learn the skeleton once, then the dots.

| Skeleton | Letters | Dots |
|---|---|---|
| tooth | ‎ب‎, ‎ت‎, ‎ث‎ | 1 below, 2 above, 3 above |
| tooth (initial and medial only) | ‎نـ‎, ‎يـ‎ | 1 above, 2 below |
| cup | ‎ج‎, ‎ح‎, ‎خ‎ | 1 inside, none, 1 above |
| bent stroke | ‎د‎, ‎ذ‎ | none, 1 above |
| tail | ‎ر‎, ‎ز‎ | none, 1 above |
| triple tooth | ‎س‎, ‎ش‎ | none, 3 above |
| loop | ‎ص‎, ‎ض‎ | none, 1 above |
| loop with stem | ‎ط‎, ‎ظ‎ | none, 1 above |
| open head | ‎ع‎, ‎غ‎ | none, 1 above |
| round head | ‎ف‎, ‎ق‎ | 1 above, 2 above |

**Why it matters:** in the middle of a word, ‎بـ تـ ثـ نـ يـ‎ look identical except for dots. Read the dots before the shape.

The letters with a shape of their own: ‎ا‎, ‎ك‎, ‎ل‎, ‎م‎, ‎ه‎, ‎و‎.

### Exercises 2

1. What letter is a tooth with one dot below?
2. What letter is a tooth with three dots above?
3. What separates ‎ج‎, ‎ح‎ and ‎خ‎?
4. What separates ‎س‎ and ‎ش‎?
5. In the middle of a word, which five letters share the tooth shape?
6. Which letter is the tail with one dot above?
7. Which letter is the round head with one dot above?

---

## Lesson 3. Chunks and ligatures

### The letters that never join forward

**‎ا‎, ‎د‎, ‎ذ‎, ‎ر‎, ‎ز‎, ‎و‎** join to the letter before them but never to the letter after. The next letter starts fresh. So many words break into chunks with small gaps.

Compare: ‎ك‎ + ‎ت‎ + ‎ب‎ joins fully as ‎كتب‎. ‎د‎ + ‎ر‎ + ‎و‎ never joins: ‎درو‎.

**Why it matters:** a gap inside a word is not a space between words. Word spaces are wider. In handwriting, keep them clearly wider.

### lām + alif

When ‎ل‎ comes before ‎ا‎, they fuse into one shape: ‎لا‎. The same with the hamza seats: ‎لأ‎, ‎لإ‎. Fonts and keyboards do it for you. By hand, learn it as one shape. It turns up in every e after l: *leche* · ‎لَاجَّا‎.

### Exercises 3

1. Which of these never join forward? ‎ب‎, ‎د‎, ‎ر‎, ‎ل‎, ‎و‎, ‎ك‎, ‎ا‎
2. Join these letters into one word: ‎م‎ + ‎ل‎ + ‎ك‎.
3. How many chunks does ‎دارو‎ have?
4. What shape do ‎ل‎ + ‎ا‎ make together?
5. Is the gap in ‎درو‎ a word break?
6. How many chunks does ‎مَدْرِدْ‎ break into?

---

## 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.

---

## Lesson 5. Seats and typing

### Alif as seat

A word can't start with a bare vowel mark. The mark needs a seat: **alif with hamza** (the small ‎ء‎).

| Start | Seat | Example |
|---|---|---|
| a | ‎أَ‎ | *amor* · ‎أَمُرْ‎ |
| e | ‎أَا‎ | *era* · ‎أَارَ‎ |
| i | ‎إِ‎ | *isla* · ‎إِسْلَ‎ |
| o, u | ‎أُ‎ | *uno* · ‎أُنُ‎ |

The e seat is the a seat plus alif, just as e is fatḥa plus alif elsewhere.

### Typing (optional)

The journal is handwritten, so skip this unless you want to type. macOS has an Arabic keyboard (System Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources). The original sheet says the marks are on Shift + letter keys; I couldn't confirm that **[unverified]**. Turn on "Show Input menu in menu bar" and open the Keyboard Viewer: it shows every key, Shift layer included.

### Exercises 5

1. Write the seat for word-initial a.
2. Write the seat for word-initial e.
3. Write the seat for word-initial i.
4. Write *uno*.
5. Write *era*.
6. Write *isla*.

---

## Lesson 6. Handwriting

This is the lesson you'll use most. Print `handwriting/tracing-sheets.pdf` (letters, marks, common words, journal lines and practice paper) and work through it alongside.

### Tools

- A pen that glides: gel or fineliner. Arabic has many small curves and dots.
- Lined paper. Use the practice page in the sheets until your baseline is steady.
- Write bigger than you would in Latin letters at first. Shrink later.

### The baseline

Most letters sit on one line. A few rise above it and some drop below:

- **Tall:** ‎ا‎, ‎ل‎, ‎ك‎ rise to the top guide (alif height).
- **Below the line:** the tails of ‎ر‎, ‎و‎; the bowls of ‎ن‎, ‎ي‎, ‎س‎, ‎ش‎ in final or isolated form; the bowls of ‎ج‎, ‎ح‎, ‎خ‎, ‎غ‎ in final or isolated form; the tail of final ‎م‎.

**Rough proportions:** a tooth is 1 unit high, alif about 3, and bowls drop about 2 below the line. A rough guide, not a rule.

### The order of work

1. **One chunk at a time, right to left.** Draw the joined body of a chunk without lifting the pen.
2. **Lift after a non-joiner** (‎ا‎, ‎د‎, ‎ر‎, ‎ز‎, ‎و‎) and start the next chunk.
3. **When the word's body is done:** add the dots, then shadda, then the vowel marks.
4. **Next word,** with a clearly wider gap.

Writing all the dots last is the usual method. It keeps the hand moving and makes you check every dotted letter once more.

### Shapes, by family

Use these with the sheets; the grey outlines show the exact shapes.

| Letters | Shape |
|---|---|
| ‎ا‎ | one stroke, top to bottom. Joined to the letter before, it rises from the joining stroke |
| ‎ب‎, ‎ت‎, ‎ث‎ | a shallow boat on the line, tips up. Initial and medial: just a small tooth |
| ‎ن‎ | a deeper bowl that dips below the line. Initial and medial: a tooth |
| ‎ي‎ | a curl, then a bowl below the line. Initial and medial: a tooth |
| ‎ج‎, ‎ح‎, ‎خ‎ | a cap along the top, then a slant back down. Final and isolated add a large bowl below the line |
| ‎د‎ | a small angled hook sitting on the line, open to the left |
| ‎ر‎ | a short curve that starts on the line and slides below it |
| ‎س‎, ‎ش‎ | three small teeth. Final and isolated add a bowl below the line |
| ‎غ‎ | a small open head. Final and isolated add a bowl below the line |
| ‎ف‎ | a small round head on a stroke, dot above |
| ‎ك‎ | a tall stroke down to a flat base. Final and isolated add a small mark inside |
| ‎ل‎ | a tall stroke. Final and isolated curve into a bowl below the line |
| ‎م‎ | a small round head on the line. Final and isolated add a tail straight down |
| ‎ه‎ | isolated: a small loop. Final, after a joiner: a small loop hanging off the joining stroke |
| ‎و‎ | a small round head, tail sliding below the line |
| ‎لا‎ | one shape, two strokes meeting at the bottom |

### Marks by hand

- **Dots:** small, clearly separated, right above or below their letter. Two dots side by side; three as a little triangle.
- **fatḥa and kasra:** short slanted strokes, above and below.
- **ḍamma:** a tiny ‎و‎ above.
- **sukūn:** a small circle above.
- **shadda:** a small w above. fatḥa or ḍamma go on top of it.
- **hamza on a seat:** a small ‎ء‎ on top of alif for ‎أ‎, under it for ‎إ‎.

### Common mistakes

- **Dots in the wrong place.** In the middle of a word, ‎بـ‎, ‎تـ‎, ‎ثـ‎, ‎نـ‎ and ‎يـ‎ differ only by dots.
- **Joining after a non-joiner.** ‎د‎, ‎ر‎ and ‎و‎ never connect forward.
- **Word gaps too small.** Gaps inside words should be tight, gaps between words wide.
- **Teeth that blur.** Keep the three teeth of ‎س‎ and ‎ش‎ distinct, or they read as two letters.

### Ruqʿa: how adults actually write

Printed Arabic (naskh, which this course shows) is not how adults write by hand. Everyday handwriting is **ruqʿa**: flatter, faster and lower on the line. It often joins dots into short strokes and writes ‎س‎ without teeth. Start with print shapes; once they're automatic, move to ruqʿa.

For ruqʿa, use **Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar, *Mastering Arabic Script: A Guide to Handwriting*** (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005). It teaches ruqʿa against naskh, with letter models by Mohammed Hamaam of the Academy of Arabic Script in Cairo.

### Daily routine

Ten minutes a day:

1. One row of letter sheet 1: trace three, copy two.
2. Five words from the word sheets.
3. Three journal lines of your own, in shorthand.

When every letter row feels easy, drop step 1.

### Exercises 6

1. Which three letters in this course rise to alif height?
2. Name four letters with a bowl or tail below the line in final form.
3. Put these in order: vowel marks, dots, body, shadda.
4. Where do you lift the pen in ‎تربخو‎?
5. Write *casa* by hand. Which shape of ‎ه‎ ends it?
6. Where does fatḥa go on a letter with shadda?
7. What is everyday adult Arabic handwriting called?
8. In the middle of a word, what tells ‎بـ‎ from ‎نـ‎?

---

# 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.

1. *nada*
2. *mesa*
3. *pelo*
4. *dedo*
5. *vida*
6. *lobo*
7. Read ‎لُنَ‎. Which readings do the letters allow?
8. Read ‎بَّانَ‎.

---

## Lesson 8. Initial vowels and hiatus

### Word-initial vowels

Every word-initial vowel sits on a seat (Lesson 5). Silent h doesn't count: *hora* · ‎أُرَ‎, *hermano* · ‎أَارْمَنُ‎ start with vowels.

### Two vowels side by side

Arabic syllables can't start with a vowel, so a vowel right after another vowel needs a seat too. Put the second vowel on a seat, as if it started a word: *día* · ‎دِأَ‎, *leer* · ‎لَاأَارْ‎, *país* · ‎بَّإِسْ‎, *poeta* · ‎بُّأَاتَ‎.

**Where this comes from:** Lopes says the Portuguese texts put a hamza and vowel between two vowels **[attested, Portuguese]**. Wikipedia describes Spanish texts using alif here too. Using the seat for both cases is **[course rule]**.

**Accent marks matter here.** In día and país the i is stressed, so it is a full vowel and takes a seat. An unstressed i or u next to a vowel is a glide instead (Lesson 9).

### Exercises 8

1. *hijo*
2. *ola*
3. *río*
4. *leer*
5. *todavía*
6. *creo*
7. Read ‎دِأَ‎.
8. Why does the a in día need a seat?

---

## Lesson 9. Diphthongs

A diphthong is a vowel plus a glide (unstressed i/y or u) in one syllable.

### Rising: ia, ie, io, ua, ue, uo, iu, ui

The i or u is a mark on the letter before. Then ‎ي‎ or ‎و‎ carries the next vowel:

- *bien* · ‎بِيَانْ‎: b with kasra, then ‎ي‎ carrying e.
- *bueno* · ‎بُوَانُ‎: b with ḍamma, then ‎و‎ carrying e.
- *cuando* · ‎كُوَنْدُ‎, *Dios* · ‎دِيُسْ‎, *ciudad* · ‎ثِيُدَدْ‎.

This is the pattern Wikipedia gives for the manuscripts, and the original sheet's Galicia follows it. I haven't confirmed it in Galmés's table, which doesn't cover diphthongs. **[unverified]**

### Falling: ai, ei, oi, au, eu, ou

The vowel, then ‎ي‎ or ‎و‎ with sukūn: *hoy* · ‎أُيْ‎, *rey* · ‎رَّايْ‎, *aire* · ‎أَيْرَا‎, *eu* · ‎أَاوْ‎, *pouco* · ‎بُّوْكُ‎. **[course rule]**, extended from the original sheet's eu and ou.

### Between two vowels

An i or u between two vowels is a consonant: *praia* · ‎بّْرَيَ‎, *mayo* · ‎مَيُ‎.

### Exercises 9

1. *tierra*
2. *puerta*
3. *agua*
4. *seis*
5. *causa*
6. *cuidado*
7. *noite*
8. Read ‎نِيَابَا‎.

---

## 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?

---

## 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

1. *pino*
2. *chico*
3. *llama*
4. *niño*
5. *carro*
6. *caro*
7. *río*
8. Read ‎بُّلُّ‎.

---

## Lesson 12. Sibilants

Here the journal system parts from the manuscripts. Old Spanish had six sibilants; modern Spanish has two or three.

### What the Moriscos did [attested]

| Old sound | Letter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| s (apical) | ‎ش‎ | *casa* · ‎كَشَ‎ |
| x /ʃ/ | ‎شّ‎, often just ‎ش‎ | *dixo* · ‎دِشُّ‎ |
| ç, ce, ci /ts/ | ‎س‎ | *caça* · ‎كَسَ‎ |
| z /dz/ | ‎ز‎ | *fazer* · ‎فَزَارْ‎ |
| j, ge, gi /ʒ/ | ‎ج‎ | *fijo* · ‎فِجُ‎ |

**Why s was ‎ش‎:** Arabic had no sound like Castilian apical s, and shīn was the nearest (Galmés, as cited in Vázquez Macías 2023). That left x without its own letter, so x got shīn plus shadda. The shadda was used unevenly, so s and x often look the same.

### What the journal does

| Modern sound | Letter | Example | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| s | ‎س‎ | *casa* · ‎كَسَ‎ | [course rule] |
| c, z /θ/ | ‎ث‎ | *cerveza* · ‎ثَارْبَاثَ‎ | [modern choice] |
| j, ge, gi /x/ | ‎خ‎ | *gente* · ‎خَانْتَا‎ | [modern choice] |
| Galician x /ʃ/ | ‎ش‎ | *xente* · ‎شَانْتَا‎ | [attested] value |

**Why s is ‎س‎:** ‎ش‎ only made sense for how Old Castilian s struck Arabic ears. Modern s is closest to sīn. It also frees ‎ش‎ for Galician x.

**Why ‎ث‎ and ‎خ‎:** the old letters (‎س‎ for ç, ‎ج‎ for j) stood for sounds that no longer exist. ‎ث‎ is the Arabic θ, and ‎خ‎ the Arabic x, so you read what you say.

### Exercises 12

1. *sopa*
2. *zapato*
3. *cielo*
4. *hijo*
5. *gente*
6. *xente*
7. Old system: *dixo*
8. Why did the Moriscos write s with ‎ش‎?

---

## Lesson 13. Spanish

Everything so far applies. These are the remaining Spanish details.

### x

Write x by sound **[course rule]**:

- /ks/ is ‎كس‎: *examen* · ‎أَاكْسَمَانْ‎, *taxi* · ‎تَكْسِ‎.
- México and Texas have the j sound: *México* · ‎مَاخِكُ‎.
- Before a consonant at the start of a word, many people say /s/: *xilófono* · ‎سِلُفُنُ‎. Write what you say.

### ü

The u in güe, güi is a glide, like the u in bueno: *pingüino* · ‎بِّنْغُوِنُ‎, *vergüenza* · ‎بَارْغُوَانْثَ‎.

### Seseo

If you say /s/ for c and z, write ‎س‎: *cerveza* · ‎سَارْبَاسَ‎, *corazón* · ‎كُرَسُنْ‎. **[course rule]**

### Function words

The short words you'll write most:

| Word | Alxamía |
|---|---|
| y | ‎إِ‎ |
| el | ‎أَالْ‎ |
| la | ‎لَ‎ |
| de | ‎دَا‎ |
| que | ‎كَا‎ |
| en | ‎أَانْ‎ |
| no | ‎نُ‎ |
| me | ‎مَا‎ |
| un | ‎أُنْ‎ |

Note y: as a word it's the vowel i, so it sits on a seat.

### Names and foreign words

Write them by sound. Latin letters inside an Arabic line break the line direction and give the secret away.

### Exercises 13

1. *jardín*
2. *corazón*
3. *corazón* with seseo
4. *examen*
5. *hielo*
6. *trabaja*
7. *yo*
8. *que*

---

## Lesson 14. Galician

Galician Alxamía is new. Nothing here is historical for Galician. Portuguese aljamía is the nearest real model (Lesson 20).

| Feature | Spelling | Label | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| x /ʃ/ | ‎ش‎ | [attested] value | Old Spanish x and Portuguese x |
| s | ‎س‎ | [course rule] | Portuguese texts wrote s as ‎ش‎ |
| c, z /θ/ | ‎ث‎ | [modern choice] | |
| c, z with seseo | ‎س‎ | [modern choice] | |
| g | ‎غ‎ | [attested] value | |
| gheada | ‎ح‎ or ‎خ‎ | [PROPOSAL, non-historical] | [ħ] or [x] |
| ñ | ‎نّ‎ | [attested] value | Portuguese texts used plain ‎ن‎ |
| nh /ŋ/ | ‎نْغ‎ | [PROPOSAL, non-historical] | nūn + sukūn, ghayn |
| eu, ou | ‎ـَاوْ‎, ‎ـُوْ‎ | [course rule] | falling diphthongs |
| open e, o | (not shown) | | three marks can't show é/ê or ó/ô |
| open e | fatḥa + ‎ي‎ | [PROPOSAL, non-historical] | optional |
| open vs closed e | open ‎ـَا‎, closed ‎ـِ‎ | [attested, Portuguese] | optional; see below |

### Contractions

Galician fuses prepositions and articles. Write each as one word, as you'd spell it:

| Word | Full | Shorthand |
|---|---|---|
| do, da | ‎دُ‎, ‎دَ‎ | ‎دو‎, ‎ده‎ |
| no, na | ‎نُ‎, ‎نَ‎ | ‎نو‎, ‎نه‎ |
| co, coa | ‎كُ‎, ‎كُأَ‎ | ‎كو‎, ‎كوأ‎ |
| ao, á | ‎أَوْ‎, ‎أَ‎ | ‎أَو‎, ‎أ‎ |
| polo, pola | ‎بُّلُ‎, ‎بُّلَ‎ | ‎بّولو‎, ‎بّوله‎ |
| nun, nunha | ‎نُنْ‎, ‎نُنْغَ‎ | ‎نون‎, ‎نونغه‎ |
| dun, dunha | ‎دُنْ‎, ‎دُنْغَ‎ | ‎دون‎, ‎دونغه‎ |

**ao** is said as one syllable, [aw], so the o is written as a glide, the way the Portuguese texts wrote ao (Lopes: "aum"). **[attested, Portuguese]** nunha and dunha use your nh proposal. **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**

### x and s

They stay apart: *coxo* · ‎كُشُ‎, *coso* · ‎كُسُ‎.

### Seseo

*cidade* · ‎ثِدَدَا‎ with /θ/; *cidade* · ‎سِدَدَا‎ with seseo.

### Gheada

**[PROPOSAL, non-historical]** Write the g you say: *galego* · ‎حَلَاحُ‎ instead of *galego* · ‎غَلَاغُ‎. Use ‎خ‎ if your gheada sounds like [x].

### nh

**[PROPOSAL, non-historical]** *unha* · ‎أُنْغَ‎, *algunha* · ‎أَلْغُنْغَ‎.

Watch out: ng in *longo* · ‎لُنْغُ‎ writes the same way. The sound is close, so the merger costs little.

### Open and closed vowels

Galician has seven vowels; the script shows four. é/ê and ó/ô both vanish: *óso* · ‎أُسُ‎ (bone) and *oso* · ‎أُسُ‎ (bear) are identical.

**[PROPOSAL, non-historical]** Optional open e as fatḥa + ‎ي‎: *terra* · ‎تَيرَّ‎, *pé* · ‎بَّي‎.

Watch out: this collides with ai. *pai* · ‎بَّيْ‎ differs from pé only by the sukūn, and shorthand drops it. Skip this proposal in shorthand.

### The Portuguese way: open e like a, closed e like i [attested, Portuguese]

The Portuguese letters split e by sound (Lesson 20 has the evidence). Galician has the same open/closed contrast, so it carries over:

| e sound | Full | Shorthand | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| open é | ‎ـَا‎ | ‎ا‎ | *terra* · ‎تَارَّ‎, *festa* · ‎فَاسْتَ‎, *ela* · ‎أَالَ‎ |
| closed ê, unstressed e | ‎ـِ‎ | ‎ي‎ | *mesa* · ‎مِسَ‎, *xente* · ‎شِنْتِ‎, *neve* · ‎نِبِ‎ |
| eu, meu, Deus | ‎ـَاوْ‎ | ‎او‎ | *meu* · ‎مَاوْ‎, *Deus* · ‎دَاوْسْ‎ |

Minimal pair: *té* · ‎تَا‎ (tea) and *te* · ‎تِ‎ (you).

**The cost:** closed e now looks like i, so mesa could read as misa. The Portuguese scribes accepted that; you know your own words.

**Use this or your proposal, not both.** The Portuguese split is attested and has no pé/pai collision. It is optional; the rest of the course writes every Galician e as ‎ـَا‎.

### Exercises 14

1. *xente*
2. *pouco*
3. *mesa* with the Portuguese e split
4. *unha casa* **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]** for nh
5. *galego* with gheada, ‎ح‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**
6. *cidade* with seseo
7. *terra* with the Portuguese e split (the e is open)
8. *coxo* and *coso*: do they look the same?

---

## Lesson 15. Shorthand

Full marks are slow. For daily writing, use shorthand **[course rule]**:

1. **Drop all marks** except shadda.
2. **a is unwritten inside a word.** A bare consonant means a or no vowel. **At the end of a word, a is ‎ه‎.**
3. **e is ‎ا‎, i is ‎ي‎, o/u is ‎و‎.**
4. **Rising diphthongs:** the glide letter does the work: no extra letter for the i or u before it.
5. **Initial vowels and hiatus:** ‎أ‎ for a, ‎أا‎ for e, ‎إي‎ for i, ‎أو‎ for o/u.
6. **a before a glide keeps its fatḥa,** or it vanishes: *causa* · ‎كَوسه‎, *baile* · ‎بَيلا‎, *ao* · ‎أَو‎. Without it, causa would read cosa, and ao would look like o.

| Word | Full | Shorthand |
|---|---|---|
| casa | ‎كَسَ‎ | ‎كسه‎ |
| mesa | ‎مَاسَ‎ | ‎ماسه‎ |
| bueno | ‎بُوَانُ‎ | ‎بوانو‎ |
| día | ‎دِأَ‎ | ‎ديأ‎ |
| pouco | ‎بُّوْكُ‎ | ‎بّووكو‎ |

**Why a is the one left out:** it's the commonest vowel, so leaving it out saves the most writing. Written Arabic does the same with its short vowels. The cost: ‎كس‎ could be cas or kas, and you rely on knowing your own words.

**Why final a is ‎ه‎:** final -a carries gender and number in both languages, so it's worth a letter. Ladino did the same with Hebrew ה, per the Wikipedia printout. Persian and Ottoman writing also use ‎ه‎ for a final vowel. **[course rule]**

**Other ambiguities:** ‎ي‎ and ‎و‎ are both vowels and consonants.

**The fix: add a mark where you'd misread it.** Shorthand is a default, not a rule against marks. If a word could go two ways, add the one mark that settles it: a fatḥa for a, a sukūn for no vowel. For example, ‎ترس‎ could be tras or taras; ‎تْرس‎ is tras. Only mark the words you'd stumble on.

### Exercises 15

Write in shorthand.

1. *cuando*
2. *mañana*
3. *eu son de Monforte*
4. *todavía*
5. *hermano*
6. Read ‎نويتا‎.
7. Read ‎بّارو‎.
8. Read ‎تانغو‎.

---

## Lesson 16. Punctuation, numbers and the rest

- **Punctuation:** comma **‎،‎**, semicolon **‎؛‎**, question mark **‎؟‎**. The period and ! stay as they are.
- **¿ and ¡:** drop them. **[course rule]**
- **Numbers:** 1, 2, 3 work and run left to right inside the line. For more cover, use the Eastern Arabic digits ‎٠١٢٣٤٥٦٧٨٩‎, also left to right.
- **Dates:** ‎١٨‎/‎١٠‎/‎٢٠٢٦‎ reads as 18/10/2026.
- **Names:** by sound: *Lucía* · ‎لُثِأَ‎, *Monforte* · ‎مُنْفُرْتَا‎, *Madrid* · ‎مَدْرِدْ‎.
- **Arabic words** keep their Arabic spelling, as in the manuscripts.

### Exercises 16

1. Write the question mark.
2. Write the comma.
3. Write 2026 in Eastern Arabic digits.
4. *¿qué hora es?*
5. *Lucía*
6. *Lugo*

---

## Lesson 17. Reading practice

Romanize each line. Lines 1 to 5 are full writing, 6 to 10 shorthand. Answers at the back.

### Spanish

1. ‎أُيْ أَاسْتُيْ كَنْسَدُ.‏‎
2. ‎مَا لَابَنْتَا تَرْدَا.‏‎
3. ‎أَالْ كَفَا أَاسْتَ فْرِأُ.‏‎
4. ‎كَا دِأَ أَاسْ أُيْ؟‎
5. ‎مِ مَدْرَا مَا لَّمُ بُّرْ تَالَافُنُ.‏‎
6. ‎منّنه تانغو كا تربخر.‏‎
7. ‎نو سا كا أثار كون مي بيده.‏‎
8. ‎تودبيأ كراأو كا تانيأ رّثون.‏‎
9. ‎أنوجّا سونّا كون أال مر، بّارو نو رّاكواردو نده مس.‏‎
10. ‎أ باثاس أاسكريبو كوسس كا نو كيارو كا نديا لاأ.‏‎

### Galician

1. ‎أُشَا أَاسْتُوْ كَنْسُ.‏‎
2. ‎أُنْتَا جُّبَاوْ مُيْتُ.‏‎
3. ‎أَ مِنَّ كَسَ أَا بَّاكَانَ.‏‎
4. ‎كَا دِأَ أَا أُشَا؟‎
5. ‎تَانُّ كَا جَّمَرْ أَ مِنَّ نَيْ.‏‎
6. ‎منّه بوو تربلّر أ لوغو.‏‎
7. ‎نون ساي كا فثار كوأ مينّه بيده.‏‎
8. ‎أإينده كراأو كا تينّه رّثون.‏‎
9. Gheada as ‎ح‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**: ‎أو ماو أميحو دي كا أو حلاحو أا فارموسو.‏‎
10. nh as ‎نغ‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**: ‎أس باثاس أاسكريبو أونغه كووسه كا نون كارو كا نينغان لاأ.‏‎

---

## Lesson 18. Writing practice

Write each line in shorthand, the way you would in your journal.

### Spanish

1. *querido diario*
2. *estoy contento.*
3. *ella no lo sabe.*
4. *llueve en Madrid.*
5. *el país es pequeño.*
6. *tengo miedo.*
7. *hoy fue un buen día.*
8. *nadie lo entiende.*

### Galician

1. *querido diario*
2. *estou contento.*
3. *ela non o sabe.*
4. *chove en Lugo.*
5. *unha boa noite.* **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]** for nh
6. *teño medo.*
7. *hoxe foi un bo día.*
8. *ninguén o entende.*

### Journal prompts

Write three lines a day, alternating languages. Then read yesterday's lines back before you write today's.

- What did you eat today?
- Who did you talk to?
- What do you want tomorrow?
- What would you never say out loud?

---

# Part III. History

## Lesson 19. The Morisco system

This is how the Moriscos wrote Castilian and Aragonese, 15th to 17th century. Learn it to read the manuscripts, not to journal.

### The full table [attested]

From Galmés de Fuentes's transliteration criteria, as reproduced in Vázquez Macías 2023:

| Letter | Romance value |
|---|---|
| ‎ب‎ | b, v |
| ‎بّ‎ | p |
| ‎ت‎ | t |
| ‎ث‎ | ẕ (a variant spelling; value not given) |
| ‎ج‎ | g, j |
| ‎جّ‎ | ch |
| ‎د‎ | d |
| ‎ذ‎ | ḏ (d between vowels) |
| ‎ر‎ | r |
| ‎رّ‎ | r-, -rr- |
| ‎ز‎ | z |
| ‎س‎ | ç |
| ‎ش‎ | s |
| ‎شّ‎ | x |
| ‎غ‎ | ga, go, gu, gue, gui |
| ‎ف‎ | f |
| ‎ك‎ | ca, co, cu, que, qui |
| ‎لّ‎ | ll |
| ‎نّ‎ | ñ |
| ‎ه‎ | h |
| ‎ـَ‎ / ‎ـَا‎ | a / e |
| ‎ـِ‎ / ‎ـِي‎ | i / ī |
| ‎ـُ‎ / ‎ـُو‎ | o, u / ō, ū |
| ‎ـَى‎ | à |

The heavy letters ‎ص‎, ‎ض‎, ‎ط‎, ‎ظ‎ and ‎ع‎ turn up mostly in Arabic words. Wikipedia also reports ‎ط‎ and ‎ق‎ for t and k in some positions. ‎ه‎ is h: Old Spanish still had an aspirated h in many words.

### Things the table leaves out

- **Helper vowels.** Manuscripts regularly insert a vowel inside consonant clusters; modern editions leave it out. The Portuguese texts do the same (Lesson 20).
- **Inconsistency.** Shadda on x is uneven, and spellings vary between manuscripts and scribes.
- **Maghrebi script.** Many manuscripts use the North African forms of fāʾ and qāf, with the dots in different places (Wikipedia).

### Worked example

*dixo Yúçuf a sus ermanos* · ‎دِشُّ يُسُفْ أَ شُشْ أَارْمَنُشْ‎

- **dixo:** d with kasra, x as ‎شّ‎, final o as ḍamma.
- **Yúçuf:** y as ‎ي‎, ç as ‎س‎, f with sukūn.
- **a:** seat with fatḥa.
- **sus:** ‎ش‎ both times.
- **ermanos:** e seat (‎أَا‎), r with sukūn, s as ‎ش‎.

### Reading the Wikipedia printout

The printout in this folder has two strophes of the Poema de Yúçuf in Arabic and Latin. It's a typed transcription, not a facsimile, and I couldn't check it, so treat it as practice. It writes que as ‎كَا‎, as this system predicts.

### Exercises 19

Write in the Morisco system.

1. *dixo su fijo*
2. *la çibdad de Toledo*
3. *fazer bien*
4. *su madre e su padre*
5. *agora quiero dezir*
6. *caxa* and *casa*: what separates them?

---

## Lesson 20. Portuguese aljamía and Galician

### The texts

About eight Portuguese texts in Arabic script are known. Most are early 16th-century letters to the king of Portugal from Moroccans in Portuguese service at Safi (Safim). David Lopes edited them in 1897 **[attested, Portuguese]**.

### How they differ from the Spanish texts

From Lopes's notes and table (pp. XXXVI and XXXVII):

| Feature | Portuguese texts | Spanish texts |
|---|---|---|
| p | ‎ب‎, same as b | ‎بّ‎ |
| doubled letters | no shadda: correr is corer | ‎رّ‎ for rr |
| nh, lh | plain ‎ن‎, ‎ل‎: minha is mina, filho is filo | ‎نّ‎, ‎لّ‎ for ñ, ll |
| s, x | both ‎ش‎ | s ‎ش‎, x ‎شّ‎ |
| ç | ‎س‎, rarely ‎ص‎ | ‎س‎ |
| v | ‎ف‎ | ‎ب‎ |
| t | ‎ت‎ or ‎ط‎ | ‎ت‎ |
| e | open e: fatḥa (+ alif); closed e: kasra (+ yāʾ) | fatḥa + alif |
| final nasal vowel | usually oral: capitão without nasal | n/a |
| onset clusters | helper vowel: sempre is sempere | helper vowels too |

Lopes adds that the scribe wrote words as he heard them: as gentes comes out as one word, ajentex.

### Open and closed e

Lopes's table lists e under both a and i but doesn't say why. I read the vowel marks on pp. 58 and 60 (one letter, Arabic text) against his Portuguese on p. 59:

| e sound | Written as | Count | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| open /ɛ/, stressed | fatḥa (+ alif) | 7 of 8 | terra ‎تَارَ‎, guerra ‎غَارَ‎, era, espero, Fez ‎فَاسْ‎, até |
| closed /e/, stressed | kasra (+ yāʾ) | 15 of 17 | gente ‎جِنْتِ‎, merece ‎مِرِشْ‎, morrer ‎مُرِيرْ‎, mercê ‎مِرْسِ‎, alteza |
| diphthong eu | fatḥa | 7 of 8 | eu, meu ‎مَوْ‎, Deus |

Exceptions: deve (open, kasra), cabeça and aprazer (closed, fatḥa), seus (kasra). Unstressed e is mostly kasra.

**How far to trust it:** two pages of one letter, read from an 1897 print, assuming modern Portuguese vowel qualities for 16th-century words. A strong tendency, not a proven rule. Maznyak and Tikhonova (2020) also note that kasra often marks e and that the vowel marks are less stable than in the Spanish texts. Teyssier's 1974 study may say more; I couldn't find a copy.

### Galician written the Portuguese way

Built with Lopes's correspondences **[attested, Portuguese]** on Galician words, so the words themselves are modern and non-historical. e is written as fatḥa + alif here; Lopes shows kasra too.

| Word | Portuguese-style |
|---|---|
| miña | ‎مِنَ‎ |
| filla | ‎فِلَ‎ |
| casa | ‎كَشَ‎ |
| branco | ‎بَرَنْكُ‎ |
| porto | ‎بُرْتُ‎ |
| sempre | ‎شَامْبَارَا‎ |

**What this means for your journal:** the Portuguese way is simpler but loses distinctions (ñ = n, s = x). The journal keeps the Spanish shadda letters because they carry more information.

### Exercises 20

Write the Portuguese way.

1. *filho*
2. *minha*
3. *correr*
4. *praça*
5. *vinho*
6. Which two Galician sounds merge with n and l in this style?

---

## Lesson 21. Sources

I confirmed every source listed as "confirmed". The others are cited by a confirmed source; I didn't see them myself.

### Confirmed

- **Álvaro Gregorio Vázquez Macías**, *Edición y breve caracterización lingüística de un tratado de adivinación aljamiado-morisco: el Alkitāb de suertes del ms. CSIC RESC/22*. Trabajo de fin de grado, Universidad de Oviedo, 2023. Reproduces Galmés's transliteration table and explains the sibilants. Free at digibuo.uniovi.es.
- **David Lopes**, *Textos em aljamia portuguesa: documentos para a história do domínio português em Safim*. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional, 1897. A second, expanded edition followed in 1940. The 1897 scan is free on the Internet Archive.
- **M. M. Maznyak and O. V. Tikhonova**, "Portugal'skaya aljamia: portugal'skie teksty v arabskoy grafike XVI v.", *Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta, Seriya 9: Filologiya* 2 (2020). In Russian; open access on CyberLeninka.
- **Ottmar Hegyi**, *Cinco leyendas y otros relatos moriscos (Ms. 4953 de la Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid)*. Madrid: Gredos, 1981.
- **Álvaro Galmés de Fuentes**, *Estudios sobre la literatura española aljamiado-morisca*. Madrid: Fundación Ramón Menéndez Pidal, 2004.
- **Nuria de Castilla**, "Uses and Written Practices in Aljamiado Manuscripts". Open access at library.oapen.org. I found it but couldn't open it.

### Recommended alongside

- **Judith Meyer**, *Arabic Script Hacking*: for learning the letters themselves. Mind the clashes listed at the start of Part I.
- **Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar**, *Mastering Arabic Script: A Guide to Handwriting* (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005): for ruqʿa.

### Cited by the sources above

- **Galmés de Fuentes**, *Dichos de los siete sabios de Grecia* (1991): the transliteration criteria behind Lesson 19.
- **Paul Teyssier**, "Les textes en 'Aljamia' portugaise: ce qu'ils nous apprennent sur la prononciation du portugais au début du XVIe siècle" (1974).
- **L. P. Harvey**, "Aljamia Portuguesa Revisited", *Portuguese Studies Review* 2 (1986).
- **W. Giese**, "Como os mouros de Asfi grafavam o português", *Biblos* 7 (1931).

### Poema de Yúçuf

An anonymous 14th-century Aragonese poem in aljamía. Menéndez Pidal dated it to about the second half of that century. I couldn't confirm the details of an edition, so none is listed.

---

## Answer key

### Exercises 1

1. The right.
2. No. It only shows where a letter joins.
3. Initial.
4. Final.
5. lām (‎ل‎).
6. ‎ه‎, ‎غ‎ (and ‎ع‎), ‎ك‎.

### Exercises 2

1. ‎ب‎
2. ‎ث‎
3. The dot: ‎ج‎ has one inside, ‎ح‎ none, ‎خ‎ one above.
4. The three dots above ‎ش‎.
5. ‎بـ‎, ‎تـ‎, ‎ثـ‎, ‎نـ‎, ‎يـ‎
6. ‎ز‎
7. ‎ف‎

### Exercises 3

1. ‎د‎, ‎ر‎, ‎و‎, ‎ا‎
2. ‎ملك‎ (all three join).
3. Four. Every letter in it is a non-joiner.
4. ‎لا‎
5. No. It's a gap inside one word.
6. *Madrid* · ‎مَدْرِدْ‎: three chunks, ‎مد‎, ‎ر‎ and ‎د‎.

### Exercises 4

1. fatḥa, kasra, ḍamma, sukūn, shadda.
2. ba
3. bi
4. be
5. bo or bu.
6. No vowel follows the b.
7. pa

### Exercises 5

1. ‎أَ‎
2. ‎أَا‎
3. ‎إِ‎
4. *uno* · ‎أُنُ‎
5. *era* · ‎أَارَ‎
6. *isla* · ‎إِسْلَ‎

### Exercises 6

1. ‎ا‎, ‎ل‎, ‎ك‎
2. Any four of: ‎ر‎, ‎و‎, ‎ن‎, ‎ي‎, ‎س‎, ‎ش‎, ‎ج‎, ‎ح‎, ‎خ‎, ‎غ‎, ‎م‎.
3. Body, dots, shadda, vowel marks.
4. *trabajo* · ‎تربخو‎: after ‎ر‎. Two chunks: ‎تر‎ and ‎بخو‎.
5. *casa* · ‎كسه‎: the final shape ‎ـه‎, since ‎س‎ joins forward.
6. On top of the shadda.
7. Ruqʿa.
8. The dot: one below for ‎ب‎, one above for ‎ن‎.

### Exercises 7

1. *nada* · ‎نَدَ‎
2. *mesa* · ‎مَاسَ‎
3. *pelo* · ‎بَّالُ‎
4. *dedo* · ‎دَادُ‎
5. *vida* · ‎بِدَ‎
6. *lobo* · ‎لُبُ‎
7. *luna* · ‎لُنَ‎: luna or lona.
8. *pena* · ‎بَّانَ‎

### Exercises 8

1. *hijo* · ‎إِخُ‎
2. *ola* · ‎أُلَ‎
3. *río* · ‎رِّأُ‎
4. *leer* · ‎لَاأَارْ‎
5. *todavía* · ‎تُدَبِأَ‎
6. *creo* · ‎كْرَاأُ‎
7. *día* · ‎دِأَ‎
8. It follows another vowel, and an Arabic syllable can't start with a vowel.

### Exercises 9

1. *tierra* · ‎تِيَارَّ‎
2. *puerta* · ‎بُّوَارْتَ‎
3. *agua* · ‎أَغُوَ‎
4. *seis* · ‎سَايْسْ‎
5. *causa* · ‎كَوْسَ‎
6. *cuidado* · ‎كُوِدَدُ‎
7. *noite* · ‎نُيْتَا‎
8. *nieve* · ‎نِيَابَا‎

### Exercises 10

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.

### Exercises 11

1. *pino* · ‎بِّنُ‎
2. *chico* · ‎جِّكُ‎
3. *llama* · ‎لَّمَ‎
4. *niño* · ‎نِنُّ‎
5. *carro* · ‎كَرُّ‎
6. *caro* · ‎كَرُ‎
7. *río* · ‎رِّأُ‎
8. *pollo* · ‎بُّلُّ‎

### Exercises 12

1. *sopa* · ‎سُبَّ‎
2. *zapato* · ‎ثَبَّتُ‎
3. *cielo* · ‎ثِيَالُ‎
4. *hijo* · ‎إِخُ‎
5. *gente* · ‎خَانْتَا‎
6. *xente* · ‎شَانْتَا‎
7. *dixo* · ‎دِشُّ‎
8. Arabic had no sound like Castilian apical s; shīn was the nearest.

### Exercises 13

1. *jardín* · ‎خَرْدِنْ‎
2. *corazón* · ‎كُرَثُنْ‎
3. *corazón* · ‎كُرَسُنْ‎
4. *examen* · ‎أَاكْسَمَانْ‎
5. *hielo* · ‎إِيَالُ‎
6. *trabaja* · ‎تْرَبَخَ‎
7. *yo* · ‎يُ‎
8. *que* · ‎كَا‎

### Exercises 14

1. *xente* · ‎شَانْتَا‎
2. *pouco* · ‎بُّوْكُ‎
3. *mesa* · ‎مِسَ‎ **[attested, Portuguese]**
4. *unha casa* · ‎أُنْغَ كَسَ‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**
5. *galego* · ‎حَلَاحُ‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**
6. *cidade* · ‎سِدَدَا‎
7. *terra* · ‎تَارَّ‎ **[attested, Portuguese]**
8. *coxo* · ‎كُشُ‎ and *coso* · ‎كُسُ‎: different. x is ‎ش‎, s is ‎س‎.

### Exercises 15

1. *cuando* · ‎كوندو‎
2. *mañana* · ‎منّنه‎
3. *eu son de Monforte* · ‎أاو سون دا مونفورتا‎
4. *todavía* · ‎تودبيأ‎
5. *hermano* · ‎أارمنو‎
6. *noite* · ‎نويتا‎
7. *pero* · ‎بّارو‎
8. *tengo* · ‎تانغو‎

### Exercises 16

1. ‎؟‎
2. ‎،‎
3. ‎٢٠٢٦‎
4. *¿qué hora es?* · ‎كَا أُرَ أَاسْ؟‎
5. *Lucía* · ‎لُثِأَ‎
6. *Lugo* · ‎لُغُ‎

### Lesson 17, Spanish

1. *hoy estoy cansado.* · ‎أُيْ أَاسْتُيْ كَنْسَدُ.‏‎
2. *me levanté tarde.* · ‎مَا لَابَنْتَا تَرْدَا.‏‎
3. *el café está frío.* · ‎أَالْ كَفَا أَاسْتَ فْرِأُ.‏‎
4. *¿qué día es hoy?* · ‎كَا دِأَ أَاسْ أُيْ؟‎
5. *mi madre me llamó por teléfono.* · ‎مِ مَدْرَا مَا لَّمُ بُّرْ تَالَافُنُ.‏‎
6. *mañana tengo que trabajar.* · ‎منّنه تانغو كا تربخر.‏‎
7. *no sé qué hacer con mi vida.* · ‎نو سا كا أثار كون مي بيده.‏‎
8. *todavía creo que tenía razón.* · ‎تودبيأ كراأو كا تانيأ رّثون.‏‎
9. *anoche soñé con el mar, pero no recuerdo nada más.* · ‎أنوجّا سونّا كون أال مر، بّارو نو رّاكواردو نده مس.‏‎
10. *a veces escribo cosas que no quiero que nadie lea.* · ‎أ باثاس أاسكريبو كوسس كا نو كيارو كا نديا لاأ.‏‎

### Lesson 17, Galician

1. *hoxe estou canso.* · ‎أُشَا أَاسْتُوْ كَنْسُ.‏‎
2. *onte choveu moito.* · ‎أُنْتَا جُّبَاوْ مُيْتُ.‏‎
3. *a miña casa é pequena.* · ‎أَ مِنَّ كَسَ أَا بَّاكَانَ.‏‎
4. *que día é hoxe?* · ‎كَا دِأَ أَا أُشَا؟‎
5. *teño que chamar á miña nai.* · ‎تَانُّ كَا جَّمَرْ أَ مِنَّ نَيْ.‏‎
6. *mañá vou traballar a Lugo.* · ‎منّه بوو تربلّر أ لوغو.‏‎
7. *non sei que facer coa miña vida.* · ‎نون ساي كا فثار كوأ مينّه بيده.‏‎
8. *aínda creo que tiña razón.* · ‎أإينده كراأو كا تينّه رّثون.‏‎
9. *o meu amigo di que o galego é fermoso.* · ‎أو ماو أميحو دي كا أو حلاحو أا فارموسو.‏‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**
10. *ás veces escribo unha cousa que non quero que ninguén lea.* · ‎أس باثاس أاسكريبو أونغه كووسه كا نون كارو كا نينغان لاأ.‏‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**

### Lesson 18, Spanish

1. *querido diario* · ‎كاريدو ديريو‎
2. *estoy contento.* · ‎أاستوي كونتانتو.‏‎
3. *ella no lo sabe.* · ‎أالّه نو لو سبا.‏‎
4. *llueve en Madrid.* · ‎لّوابا أان مدريد.‏‎
5. *el país es pequeño.* · ‎أال بّإيس أاس بّاكانّو.‏‎
6. *tengo miedo.* · ‎تانغو ميادو.‏‎
7. *hoy fue un buen día.* · ‎أوي فوا أون بوان ديأ.‏‎
8. *nadie lo entiende.* · ‎نديا لو أانتياندا.‏‎

### Lesson 18, Galician

1. *querido diario* · ‎كاريدو ديريو‎
2. *estou contento.* · ‎أاستوو كونتانتو.‏‎
3. *ela non o sabe.* · ‎أاله نون أو سبا.‏‎
4. *chove en Lugo.* · ‎جّوبا أان لوغو.‏‎
5. *unha boa noite.* · ‎أونغه بوأ نويتا.‏‎ **[PROPOSAL, non-historical]**
6. *teño medo.* · ‎تانّو مادو.‏‎
7. *hoxe foi un bo día.* · ‎أوشا فوي أون بو ديأ.‏‎
8. *ninguén o entende.* · ‎نينغان أو أانتاندا.‏‎

### Exercises 19

1. *dixo su fijo* · ‎دِشُّ شُ فِجُ‎
2. *la çibdad de Toledo* · ‎لَ سِبْدَدْ دَا تُلَادُ‎
3. *fazer bien* · ‎فَزَارْ بِيَانْ‎
4. *su madre e su padre* · ‎شُ مَدْرَا أَا شُ بَّدْرَا‎
5. *agora quiero dezir* · ‎أَغُرَ كِيَارُ دَازِرْ‎
6. *caxa* · ‎كَشَّ‎ and *casa* · ‎كَشَ‎: only the shadda on ‎ش‎. Without it they'd be identical, and scribes often left it off.

### Exercises 20

1. *filho* · ‎فِلُ‎
2. *minha* · ‎مِنَ‎
3. *correr* · ‎كُرَارْ‎
4. *praça* · ‎بَرَسَ‎
5. *vinho* · ‎فِنُ‎
6. ñ (nh) and ll (lh).