Arabic chat alphabet

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The Arabic chat alphabet , also called Arabizi ( Arabic عربيزي, DMG ʿArabīzī ), Mu'arrab ( Arabic معرب, DMG Muʿarrab ), Arabish , Araby ( Arabic عربي, DMG ʿArabī ), is an alphabet that is used to represent the Arabic language over the Internet or to send SMS messages over cell phones when the actual Arabic alphabet is not available or is difficult to use for technical reasons or otherwise . It is a character conversion from Arabic to Latin script and Arabic numerals . The users of this alphabet have developed special notations to transcribe some of the letters that do not exist in the Latin script ( ASCII ).

history

In the last decades of the 20th century, and especially since the 1990s, western communication technologies such as the World Wide Web , e-mail , bulletin board systems , IRC , instant messaging and SMS messages became more and more common in the Arab world . Most of these technologies were originally only able to communicate using Latin script. Some of these technologies still do not allow the use of the Arabic alphabet to this day . As a solution, Arabic-speaking users translated Arabic text into Latin letters. Numbers and other characters are used to represent those Arabic letters that do not have a phonetic equivalent in Latin script. For example, the number "3" is used to denote the Arabic letter "ﻉ“To map. The horizontal reflection is striking in order to show a visual similarity between the Arabic letter and its substitution as a number. Many users of mobile phones and computers use Arabizi even if their system supports Arabic script, for instance because they do not use Arabic keyboard or because they more familiar with the QWERTY - or QWERTY - keyboard layout are.

use

Online communications, such as IRC , bulletin board systems, and blogs , often use systems or protocols that do not support character set tables or alternative character sets .

Arabizi is often used by Arab youth in a very informal setting when communicating with friends or other young people. It is usually not used in a formal setting or for serious communication. An arabizi text rarely consists of many sentences.

Although the Arabic language is well integrated into operating systems such as Windows and MacOS , Arabizi is widely used in Arabic internet forums and instant messaging programs because Arabic keyboards are not always available.

Arabizi is also used on advertisements from large corporations. Due to its widespread use, online companies such as Google and Microsoft offer tools that convert texts written in Arabizi to Arabic in real time. There are browser extensions for web browsers such as Firefox and Google Chrome to convert Arabic websites into Arabizi. Firefox also allows text input in Arabizi.

The Arabic chat alphabet is also used to communicate in the Arabic language when sending SMS messages via mobile phones when the Arabic alphabet is not available or difficult to use for technical reasons.

Political Aspects

Arabizi first achieved political importance in the Arab Spring because - unlike standard Arabic - it enables even less educated people to participate and therefore facilitates communication between different social groups. Thus, according to the ethnologist Ingrid Thurner , the Arabic chat alphabet played a part in the popular uprisings not only in organizational terms, but also in cognitive terms, because it strengthened the forces that made the uprisings possible.

Numbers as a supplement

Where Latin letters are insufficient, digits are used for transcription :

Arabic Arabizi Ordinary
transcription
ع 3 E.
ح 7th H
ط 6th Dth
ﻏ 8th Gh
ء أ ؤ إ ئ 2 A.
خ 5 KH
ق 9 Q

transcription

Because of its informal nature, there is no uniform transcription. The use of letters thus overlaps in some cases.

Most Arabic letters are translated into the Latin letter, which has the greatest phonetic similarity ( بbecomes, for example, a b ). Due to the large number of Arabic dialects, there may be differences in pronunciation and thus also in Arabic transcription. For exampleﺝin the Palestinian dialect to j , while in the Egyptian dialect a g is used.

The letters that do not have a similar sounding name in the Latin script are often represented by digits and other letters. The character that is graphically closest to the Arabic original is often used. For example, willعrepresented by the number 3 , since the 3 appears like a reflection of the original.

Since many Arabic letters are distinguished by dots above or below the character, an apostrophe is regularly written in front of or behind the actual character ( 3 ' represented during transcription )غ).

Letters Arabizi Phonetic value according to IPA
ء أ ؤ إ ئ آ 2 / ' ʔ
ا a / e / é / è æ ~ a ~ ɑ ~ e ~ ɛ ~ ɐ
ب b / p b , p
ت t t ~ t̪ ~ t͡s
ث s / th s ~ θ
ج g / j / dj ɡ ~ ɟ ~ ʒ ~ d͡ʒ
ح 7th ħ ~ ʜ
خ kh / 7 '/ 5 x ~ χ
د d d ~ d̪
ذ z / dh / th z ~ ð
ر r r ~ ɾ , ˤ
ز z z
س s s
ش sh / ch ʃ
ص s / 9 sˤ ~ s ~ ˠ
ض d / 9 ' d ~ dˤ ~ d̪ˤ ~ ˠ
ط t / 6 tˤ ~ t ~ t̪ˤ ~ ˠ
ظ z / dh / t '/ 6' zˤ ~ ðˤ ~ ˠ
ع 3 ʕ ~ ʢ
غ gh / 3 ' ɣ ~ ʁ
ف f / v f , v
ق 2 / g / q / 8/9 ʔ ~ ɡ ~ ɢ ~ q
ك k / g k , ɡ
ل l l ~ ɫ
م m m
ن n n
ه h / a / e / ah / eh h , æ ~ a ~ ɑ ~ e ~ ɐ
ة a / e / ah / eh æ ~ a ~ ɑ ~ e ~ ɐ
و w / o / u / ou / oo w ,   o ,   u
ي or ى y / i / ee / ei / ai / a j ,   / i (ː) / ,   e ,   / a /
  1. ↑ a b c é , è , ch , dj are often used in regions where French is the first foreign language. dj is mainly used in Algerian Arabic.
  2. ↑ In Egypt , Sudan and sometimes in other regions the representation is always at the end of the wordى(without dots), which represents both the ending / -iː / and the ending / -aː / .
Additional character Arabizi Phonetics according to IPA
پ p p
چ j / tsh / ch / tch ʒ ~ t͡ʃ
ڤ / ڥ v v
ڨ / گ / ݣ G ɡ

Examples

Egyptian Arabic

Egyptian Arabic انا رايح الجامعه الساعه 3 العصر الجو عامل ايه النهارده فى إسكندرية؟
Arabizi ana raye7 el gam3a el sa3a 3 el 3asr. el gaw 3amel eh ennaharda fe eskendereya?
IPA ʔænæˈrɑˑjeħ elˈɡæmʕæ (ʔe) sˈsæˑʕæ tæˈlæˑtæ lˈʕɑsˤɾ elˈɡæwwe ˈʕæˑmel ˈe (ˑhe) nnɑˈhɑɾdɑ feskendeˈɾejjæ
German I'm going to university at 3 p.m. How is the weather today in Alexandria?

North Levantine (Greater Syriac) Arabic

North Levantine Arabic كيف صحتك ، شو عمتعمل؟
Arabizi kif / keef sa7tak, chou / shu 3am ta3mil?
ALA-LC kīf ṣaḥtak, shū ʻam taʻmil?
IPA kiːf ˈsˤɑħtak ʃuː ʕam ˈtaʕmɪl
German How are you what are you doing?

Saudi arabic

Saudi arabic كيف الحال؟ وش تسوون اليوم؟
Arabize kaif al7al? wsh tsawwoon el youm?
German How are you? What are you doing today?

Moroccan Arabic

Moroccan Arabic كي داير مع القراية؟
Arabizi ki dayr m3a l9raia?
German How is the course going?

Gulf Arabic

Gulf Arabic شلونك؟ شنو بتسوون اليوم؟
Arabizi shlonak? shino bitsawwoon el youm?
German How are you? What are you doing today?

Iraqi Arabic

  • As with all Arabic dialects, each geographic area has a slightly different dialect.
Iraqi Arabic يابه شلونك؟ شدتسوي مادتسوي اليوم؟
Arabizi yaba shlonak? shdassowee ma dassowee ilyom?
German How are you man What are you doing today?

Sudanese Arabic

  • Colloquial Arabic spoken in Sudan .
Sudanese Arabic .يا زول ، تقدر تعمل أي حاجة النهار دا ولا شِنو؟ أنا زاتو بس زهجان شديد هنا
Arabizi ya zol, tagdar ta3mal aya 7aja enhar da wla shino? ani zato bs zahjan shadid hina.
German Hey man, can we do something today or what? I'm totally bored here.

Chadian Arabic

  • Colloquial Arabic spoken in N'Djamena , Chad and also called Shuwa Arabic.
Chadian Arabic .وه ياخي ، إتَ عفة؟ أنينا نقدرو نمشو إلو السوبرمارشة ديك أمباكر ولا؟ انا كي محتاج شوية حاجات جديدة من مرّة مرّة دا
Arabizi boh yakhi, etta afé? anina negdarou nemchou ilou el supermarché dik ambâkir walaï? anaki mohtadj shwayé hâdjât djididé min marré marré dah.
German Oh hey man how are you Can we go to the market tomorrow? From time to time I really need new things.

criticism

Conservative Muslims as well as supporters of pan-Arabism and some Arab nationalists see Arabizi as a harmful form of westernization . Arabizi emerged from a trend among young Arabs, especially in Lebanon and Jordan , to integrate English terms as a colloquial language into Arabic. Since Arabizi is used to replace the Arabic script, it raises concerns about the preservation of speech quality.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ David Palfreyman, Muhamed al Khalil: "A Funky Language for Teenzz to Use": Representing Gulf Arabic in Instant Messaging . In: USC Annenberg School for Communication (Ed.): Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication . 9, No. 1, November 2003.
  2. ↑ a b Mona Sarkis: The unbearable lightness of Arabic . Heise Telepolis . January 16, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  3. ^ Ingrid Lunden: Google Adds Arabizi / Arabic Translation To Its Input Tools Language Support . TechCrunch . August 20, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ Google Ta3reeb - Arabic online keyboard that allows you to enter Arabizi
  5. ↑ Microsoft Maren: Conversion of Latin letters into Arabic letters ( Memento from April 18, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Arabeasy - Conversion of Arabic websites into Arabizi
  7. ↑ Transliterator - text input with arabizi
  8. ^ Yaghan, M. (2008). Araby : A Contemporary Style of Arabic Slang. Design Issues 24 (2): 39-52.
  9. ^ Ingrid Thurner: Die Macht von Arabizi In: Die Presse, May 28, 2011