Baha'i transcription

In the Bahá'í community worldwide, in all countries in which the Latin script is used, except Turkey , a uniform system for the transcription of Arabic and Persian terms is in use. This transcription was introduced in 1923 by Shoghi Effendi . It is essentially based on the system that was common at the time, which was adopted by the Tenth International Covenant of Orientalists in Geneva in 1894 and adopted by the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1896 . Later minor adjustments were made on behalf of the Universal House of Justice .

The introduction of a standardized transcription of Persian and Arabic terms prevents a multitude of different spellings within the worldwide religious community. Without such a system, there would be a vast number of different pronunciations and spellings of Arabic or Persian terms, which would make work in a globally networked community more difficult. At the same time, it ensures that those familiar with Persian or Arabic can derive the original terms from the transcription. For comprehensive use and to simplify communication in the global community, it should be easy to use and transparent with the highest possible precision.

The transcription of the Arabic and Persian letters and their pronunciation can be found in the table below, followed by brief explanations of the most important transcription rules.

Letter	Surname	Baha'i transcription	Wikipedia transcription	DMG transcription	Arabic pronunciation	Persian pronunciation	Phonetic Value ( IPA )
ﺍ	alif	á, a	a, i, u, ā (Arabic) a, e, o, ā, ʾ (pers.)	a, i, u, ā (Arabic) a, ä, e, i, o, u, ā, ʾ (pers.)	a like long, open a like in cream; á like the a in car	dto.	different, especially [aː] and [æː]
ﺏ	bá	b	b	b	b as in B us	dto.	[b]
ﺕ	tá	t	t	t	t as in T abu	dto.	[t]
ﺙ	th á	th	th (Arab.) s (Pers.)	ṯ (Arabic) s (pers.)	voiceless th as in engl. th ink	voiceless s as in result	[θ] (Arabic) [s] (pers.)
ﺝ	jím	j	dsch	ǧ	like the J in engl. J ames	dto.	[ʤ]
ﺡ	Ha	H	H	H	strongly hissing h, as if breathing heavily or trying to whisper from a distance	as in h H ut	[ħ] (Arabic) [h] (pers.)
ﺥ	kh á	kh	ch	H	like the ch in ma ch s, Ba ch	dto.	[χ] (Arab.) [x] (Pers.)
ﺩ	dál	d	d	d	like the d in d he	dto.	[d]
ﺫ	ie ál	ie	dh (Arab.) z (Pers.)	ḏ (Arabic) ḏ, ẕ (pers.)	voiced th as in engl. th is	dto.	[ð] (Arabic) [z] (pers.)
ﺭ	rá	r	r	r	intensely rolled tongue-r as in Italian r igatoni	dto., rolled less intensely	[r]
ﺯ	záy	z	z	z	voiced s in S alat	dto.	[z]
ﺱ	sín	s	s	s	voiceless s as in result s	dto.	[s]
ﺵ	sh ín	sh	sch	š	as beautiful in Sch ule	dto.	[ʃ]
ﺹ	ṣád	ṣ	s	ṣ	emphatically pronounced s-sound with pursed lips and strong tension of the speaking apparatus	voiceless s as in result s	[sˁ] (Arabic) [s] (pers.)
ﺽ	ḍád	ḍ	d (arab.) z (pers.)	ḍ (Arabic) ż (pers.)	emphatically pronounced d-sound, the muscles of the speech apparatus strongly tense, the back of the front tongue pressed firmly against the hard palate; Air flow passes between the tip of the tongue and the upper incisors	voiced s in S alat	[dˁ] (Arabic) [z] (pers.)
ﻁ	ṭá	ṭ	t	ṭ	emphatically pronounced t-sound, the muscles of the speaking apparatus strongly tense, the back of the front tongue pressed firmly against the hard palate; no air flow	t as in T abu	[tˁ] (Arabic) [t] (pers.)
ﻅ	ẓá	ẓ	z	ẓ	slightly stretching the tongue through the half-open lips; the low-intensity air flow is expelled between the back of the tongue and the upper incisors	voiced s as in salad	[ðˁ] (Arabic) [z] (pers.)
ﻉ	'ayn	'	ʿ	ʿ	Pressed throat sound: Larynx is pressed upwards and air is pressed through if the glottis is narrowed	slight crack in the throat, as in fire 'a larm, ' a lb-right	[ʕ] , [ʔˁ] (Arabic) [ʔ] (Pers.)
ﻍ	gh ayn	gh	gh	G	Throat r, similar to French ca rr efoure	dto.	[ʁ] (Arabic) [ɣ] (Pers.)
ﻑ	fa	f	f	f	as f in F amily	dto.	[f]
ﻕ	qáf	q	q (Arab.) gh (pers.)	q	dull k produced by pressing the back of the tongue against the soft palate	Rachen-r, similar to the French ca rr efoure, like the غ	[q] (Arabic) [ɢ] , [ɣ] (Pers.)
ﻙ	káf	k	k	k	as k in K hurch	dto.	[k]
ﻝ	lám	l	l	l	like the l in Si l be	dto.	[l]
ﻡ	mím	m	m	m	like the m in da m e	dto.	[m]
ﻥ	now	n	n	n	like the n in n ach	dto.	[n]
ﻩ	Ha	H	H	h (arab.) h, e (pers.)	like the h in H as	dto.	[H]
ﻭ	wáw	and many more	u, ū, w (Arabic) o, u, w (pers.)	u, ū, w (Arabic) o, u, ū, v (pers.)	like the w in engl. w et, w all	like the W in water	[uː] , [w] (Arab.) [v] (Pers.)
ﻱ	yá	í, y	i, y, ī	i, y, ī	long, open i as in Ch i na	dto.	[iː] , [j]
پ	pih	p (pers. only)	p (pers. only)	p (pers. only)		like the p in P aul	[p] (only pers.)
ﭺ	ch ih	ch (only pers.)	Tsch (only pers.)	č (only pers.)		like the ch in Eng lish country	[t̠ʃ] (only pers.)
ژ	zh ih	zh (only pers.)	ž (only pers.)	ž (only pers.)		like the g in French Gara g e	[ʒ] (pers. only)
گ	gáf	g (pers. only)	g (pers. only)	g (pers. only)		like the g in G aumen	[ɡ] (pers. only)
ء	hamza	'	'	ʾ	Fixed paragraph that can appear at the beginning of the word, inside the word and at the end of the word, as in 'a ber, Putz ' ei mer, ver 'ei sen, y a' (affect language)	dto.	[ʔ]
ﺁ	alif madda	á			short, open as in a h a soldering	slightly lighter than the a in water	[ʔæː]
ﺓ	tá marbúṭa	t, h	a	a	- a in the pausal form (for a single word), e.g. B. al-madína for المدینة - át after a long á, e.g. B. salát for صلاة - tu with the reference word of a genitive connection ( status constructus or مضاف إلیه), z. B. madínatu'n-nabiy for مدینة النبی		[ɛ̈] , [ɛ̈t]
ﻯ	alif maqṣúra	á	i, y	i, y, ī	long, open a as in S a hne	like the a in engl. c a r	[æ:]

The transcription system is aimed primarily at Bahá'ís who communicate using the Latin script and who are not experts in Persian and Arabic. At the same time, it is structured in such a way that connoisseurs of oriental languages ​​can immediately recognize the term that is concerned in the original text from the transcription. It should be noted in particular that the holy scriptures of the Baha'i are written in both Arabic and Persian, so that the Baha'i system must reflect the different pronunciation of the terms in Persian and Arabic. This results in deviations from the system of the 10th International Congress of Orientalists and the systems commonly used today in Arabic , Iranian and Oriental studies . Overall, these differences are not too great: For example, characters are used to represent the Persian and Arabic sounds, which are easiest to reproduce on typewriters and today's WYSIWYG systems. For example, ā , ī , to á , í , or dj is replaced by j , etc. Terms technici or book titles are rendered in Arabic or Persian depending on the context (e.g. Kitábu'l-Fará'id or Kitáb-i-Fará ' id for one of the most important apologetic works of the Baha'i or Qibla or Qiblih for the direction of prayer). Where the academically correct transcriptions would confuse the reader, the transcription that is common in everyday language is preferred. Examples are the divergent pronunciation of the terms in Persian and Arabic such as madrisih (Persian) instead of madrasa (Arabic) or proper names and terms that are pronounced in Persian not following the rules of Arabic grammar, such as Naṣirid'-Dín Sh áh, the one in everyday Persian is falsified to the genitive instead of Naṣiru'd-Dín Sh áh, which would be the correct Arabic nominative or Ya Bahá'ul-Abhá, which is falsified to the nominative in everyday Persian instead of Ya Bahá'al-Abhá, which would be the correct vocative in Arabic.

Special characters: The ْ ( sukún ) is not played back. The ّ ( sh adda , pers. Ta sh díd ) is given in the form of doubling the consonants, e.g. B. awwal, pers. Avval for أول. The tá 'marbúṭa (ة) is rendered as follows:

• a in the pausal form (for a single word), e.g. B. al-qariyya for القریة
• át after a long á, e.g. B. ṣalát for صلاة
• do with the reference word of a genitive connection (status constructus or مضاف الیه), e.g. B. madínatu's-salám for مدینة السلام

Hamza: A hamzatu'l-qaṭ 'inside the word or at the end of the word is always represented by a'. The exception is Bahá, both on its own and as part of proper names, i.e. H. Bahá instead of Bahá 'for بهاء,' Abdu'l-Bahá instead of 'Abdu'l-Bahá' for عبد البهاء or Jináb-i-Bahá instead of Jináb-i-Bahá 'for جناب بهاء, as this spelling is in the Bahá'í -Literature has become naturalized. The hamzatu'l-qaṭ ' at the beginning of the word is omitted if the vocal paragraph associated with the hamza is already pronounced when pronouncing the initial vowel, i.e. H. i'jáz instead of 'i'jáz for إعجاز.

Even a hamzatu'l-waṣl , which can only appear at the beginning of a word, is not reproduced, i.e. H. ism instead of 'ism for ﺍﺳﻡ. The exception is the article ال beginning with a waṣla , which is rendered by a 'when combined with the previous word. The auxiliary vowel of the article is replaced with the grammatical ending of the previous word or the corresponding connecting vowel. From umm and al-Kitab is then ummu'l-Kitab .

Vocalization: The transcription is fully vocalized, except for names and the end of sentences that are reproduced in pausal form, i.e. H. qad iḥtaraqa'l-mu kh liṣún for قد احترق المخلصون instead of qad iḥtaraqa'l-mu kh liṣúna , the incipit of Baháʾulláh's tablet of fire. For reasons of readability, the connection alif is not transcribed at the end of the previous word but at the beginning of the next word, where the 'is omitted, i.e. H. qad iḥtaraqa'l-mu kh liṣún instead of qadi'ḥtaraqa'l-mu kh liṣún . The suffixed personal pronoun of the 3rd person singular masculine ( hu , hi ) is transcribed long after short syllables, i.e. H. kitábuhú or kitábuhí for کتابه.

Inflectional endings: These are transcribed at the end of the preceding word, e.g. B. ummu'l-kitáb for أم الكتاب.

Consonant assimilation: The definite article in Arabic is called al- . The l of the definite article assimilates itself to a following tooth sound, sibilant sound as well as to r, n, l, i.e. to the corresponding Arabic letters ت, ث, د, ذ, ر, ز, س, ش, ص, ض, ط, ظ , ل, ن. Assimilation is carried out, e.g. B. the nickname of the sixth Imam of the Schia, aṣ-Ṣádiq, reproduced in the transcription.

Proper names: They are transcribed in the pausal form. "Son of" is connected with Ibn, "daughter of" with Bint. The masculine nisba ending at the end of the word is transcribed in the pausal form with í, i.e. H. sh írází for شیرازی. Honorary names of holy personalities are treated like proper names and are capitalized, e.g. B. Sulṭánu ' sh - Sh uhadá' .

Upper and lower case: Basically, all technical terms are written in lower case and in italics, e.g. B. Arabic maẓharu'ẓ-zuhúr or Persian maẓhar-i-ẓuhúr for مظهر الظهور or مظهر ظهور (Manifestation of God). Place names and proper names are capitalized. In the case of book titles, all parts of the title, except for prepositions, conjunctions, etc., are capitalized, e.g. B. Mu kh tárát min Mu'allefát-i-Abí'l-Faḍá'il for مختارات من مولفات ابی الفضائل. The definite article al- is always lowercase.

Iḍáfa: The connection of the individual words of Persian names by an iḍáfa is transcribed with the help of hyphens (-i-), e.g. B. Siyyid Káẓim-i-Ra sh tí, Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certainty) or dalíl-i-taqrír (Evidence of effectiveness).

literature

• Moojan Momen: The Bahá'í System of Transliteration , Bahá'í Studies Bulletin 1991 5 / 1-2: 13-55. The publication, including the letters of the Universal House of Justice and the minutes of the aforementioned conferences of orientalists, is filed at https://hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/sites/hurqalya.ucmerced.edu/files/page/documents/mm-transliteration. pdf .
• Babak Farrokhzad: The Flow of Truth. Expectations of the end of days and proofs of truth of Christianity and Islam in Bahá'u'llás Kitáb-i-Íqán . (Book of certainty) (=  Studies on Bahá'ítum . Volume 4 ). Bahá'í-Verlag, Hofheim 2004, ISBN 3-87037-409-8 , Chapter VIII.4 Transcription of Arabic and Persian words, p. 498-506 .
• Shoghi Effendi: Bahá'í Administration . Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois 1974, ISBN 0-87743-166-3 , pp. 43 ( [1] ).
• Bahá'í Publishing Committee (Ed.): The Bahá'í World . A Biennial International Record Prepared under the Supervision of the National Spiritual Assembly of The Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada with the Approval of Shoghi Effendi. New York 1939 ( [2] ).
• Annemarie Schimmel: Arabic language teaching . (GASPEY-OTTO-SAUER method). Julius Groos Verlag, Heidelberg 1968.
• Harald Funke: Langenscheidt's practical textbook - Arabic . (A standard work for beginners). Langenscheidt, 1985, ISBN 3-468-26060-1 .
• Karin C. Ryding: A Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, ISBN 0-521-77771-2 , Chapter 2 Phonology and script.
• Bozorg Alavi: Langenscheidts practical textbook - Persian . (A standard work for beginners). Langenscheidt, 1999, ISBN 3-468-26249-3 .
• Manfred Hutter: Handbook Bahā ʾ ī . (History - Theology - Relation to Society). Kohlhamer, 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-019421-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Shoghi Effendi: Bahá'í Administration . Bahá'í Publishing Trust, Wilmette, Illinois, USA 1974, ISBN 0-87743-166-3 , pp. 43 ( online ). A comprehensive list of common Arabic and Persian names and words according to the Bahá'í system can be found in The Bahá'í World, Vol. VII, pp. 614–620.
2. ^ Momen: The Bahá'í Transliteration System
3. ↑ Arabic name Reproduced in Baha'i transcription, except for the four Persian letters p, ch, zh, g پ, چ, ژ, گ.
4. ↑ The proportion of Bahá'ís with a Middle Eastern and North African background was an estimated 6% at the turn of the millennium. Babak Farrokhzad: The Flow of Truth. Expectations of the end of days and proofs of truth of Christianity and Islam in Bahá'u'llás Kitáb-i-Íqán . (Book of certainty) (=  Studies on Bahá'ítum . Volume 4 ). Bahá'í-Verlag, Hofheim 2004, ISBN 3-87037-409-8 , Chapter VIII.4 Transcription of Arabic and Persian words, p. 401 . Since the main growth areas of the Baháʾí faith are outside Persian and Arabic-speaking regions, Manfred Hutter: Handbuch Bahā ʾ ī . (History - Theology - Relation to Society). Kohlhamer, 2009, ISBN 978-3-17-019421-2 , pp. 151 ff . the proportion is likely to have fallen below 5% by now.
5. ↑ see especially the report of an ad hoc committee set up by the Universal House of Justice in Momen: The Bahá'í-Transliteration System
6. ↑ Prepositions, particles, personal pronouns and verb forms ending in consonants receive an auxiliary vowel if they are followed by hamzatu'l-waṣl . Most of the time it's an i ; min receives an a , hum and antum a u . (Annemarie Schimmel: Arabic language teaching . (Method GASPEY-OTTO-SAUER). Julius Groos Verlag, Heidelberg 1968, p. 16 . )