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@ ^*I. adndenBoogert
In writing the presentstudy, I wanted it to servea Apart from this general characteristic,the distinctive
doublepurpose.
featuresof Maghribi script are the following:
In the first place,it is intendedas a concisemanual l. the final aliJ is drawn from top to bottom;
for the reading of Maghribi manuscriptmaterial, 2. the stems of alif, lam, lam-alif and ta'lza' have
which often posesproblems,evenfor nativespeakers
club-like extensionsto the left of their top point;
of Arabic.The cursivestyleof Maghribiscriptas well 3. the ioop of ;adlQad is identical with that of n'l
'tooth';
as the calligraphicstylecontainmany letterformsand
za', i.e. it has no
ligatureswith which the averagereaderof Arabic is 4. the stem of la'lZA'is drawn diagonally;
unfamiliar.
5. qa/ andfA'have unconventionaldiacritical points;
Secondly,this article, and especiallythe list of 6. final and separate dalldhAl are very similar to
letterformswhich constitutesthe largestpart of it, is
initial and medial kaf, especiallyin the earlier mss;
meant as a possiblestarting-pointof further, more
more differentiated forms developed later;
thorough researchinto the paleographyof Maghribi
These are the features that distinguish Maghribi
script. Attention is focusedon the individual letter- script from the Mashriqi scripts (.naskhc.s.).
forms which make up the script.
Houdas (p. 95) states that 'la diffrenceque I'on
The manuscriptmaterial on which the notes on constate entre les formes du maghrbin et celles du
diacriticpointsand vocalisationand the list of letter- neskhy n'est pas trs profonde'. The differencesdeforms are basedhas beenlimited to specimens
pro- scribed above however, though they are indeed not
duceddurins the l9th and 20th centuries.
very profound, give valuable indications about the
g 19,2312HA Leiden.Netherlands,1989
Q Ter Lugt Press,Donkerstee
ISSN 0920-0401
a 1
i l
N . V A N D E N B O O G E R T .N O T E SO N M A G H R ] B I S C R I P T
DIFFERENT STYLES
( tl A
t
l |
I t
v /
) ) ) )
J./.
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T4 I 9 8 9 )
c
gf*o
3. the ta'lza' has a vertical stem instead of a diagonal one:
@
@\ \
\\
\
1 1
(.J rttatirtt
-;;
"/,,r-G,
|V C*) bavna
2. Shadda
ooN
shahr
w snadd1 *
G2
dumma
U'
li,tt cm-nas
jlta,-nur
TrTshaddalkasra
DIACRITICAL POINTS AND VOCALISATION
3. Wasla
Corl ''nn
*"
QP boY'o
1t,
N . V A N D E N B O O G E R T .N O T E SO N M A G H R I B I S C R I P T
i :
ilI
1
A
(, ^j.=,-n
\/'
Y a l
sadaoa llcjh
J\D,
r Y r i: .
A JT ^,J->
.:-
al- att
OlJ.l aL'an
hnh:nhullah
6. Long a
o .
-o-11
.4 \-/..
sJ I al-vawm
lJ t hadha
4. Hamza
d s to hadhihr
Hamza is frequently omitted, even in partially vocalised texts. When written at all. it takes one of the
following forms:
9 t
J=JIsaturiruo
Dl',,un
s
9 e
The form e
of9:
33
is possiblya graphicdevelopment
9? e
'7*b
aa tra
(-*h-I=J l,l-ktah
When precededby a lam. this separate alif is drawn
diagonally through the lam, e . g . :
vra-lakin
2r.)*'
sa'r
= 'i
al-jaza'ir
utrl
5. Madda
c^JJ
I allalt
7. Vowel signs
The vowel signsJatha, kasra and dammaand the
2u
l-an
s l+ ia'o
Ein
(2 han.
T)\,re
ma
2un
8. Adaptedletters
The phonemeg that occursin the spokenArabic of
the Maghrib is written either with jm or qaf. or with
oneof the adaptedletters
..*.,
5, U ,
t,
gish Qayshl
t2i.i;?
i.
Wle'a,,r,
blt{l
aLqu,'a,
gum(quv'm)
(9
, i
(name)
Gannun
OJjJ
5+
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T4 I 9 8 9 )
,*Alavrit
9. Numbers
European numeralshave beenin common usein the
Maghrib alongside conventional Arabic numerals,
sinceat leastthe beginningof the l8th century. In fact,
they came to be preferredto their Arabic counterparts
during the l9th centurye.They are written in a characteristicstyle:
o"l-f tr
ALIF
1 2 3 15 6 7 t 5 e 0
The form of the numeral8 is typical.
Letter no. 17 in Houdas (1891)containsa date
ghubartnumerals:
writtenin the so-called
Ilz
tr
tr
tr
tr
tr @
(l)
sep.
o ,tuo
_l-
'
t
-l-
'
'-t-'
10.Paragraphmarkers
The sign :? ir commonlyusedto mark the end of
a paragraph.
To mark the end of a paragraphor of a wholetext,
may be used.
the abbreviationlP f.,
(j&lintaha
E@
M
tr
tr
(r)
(g.*", _r,a
f"
trlolo'
lini-
N , V A N D E N B O O G E R TN
, O T E SO N M A G H R I B S C R I P T
fin.
tr
tr
tr
t-,-l
tr
tr
-b-j
-b-d
-b-m
b-j
(2)
'
bi-rartkh
tW
hi-rarrkh
Thisligature
i, urruri u, u rrr,t., abbeviation
of:
sep.
35
. 1 1
f.ercetera.:
\-.
. ) 'ila'akhirih
t-
(6)
This form is extremelyambiguous.It was found to
represent
the followinglettersand ligatures:
bA'@rc.)or snfshn + jtm (etc.):
(6)
(s)
bi-tarkh
^lr:J
'
. /
l\-,'iJl
r i
as-shavktt
st
I . lJ bismi
d.IJ
,ah
=_ :r_
bbi-farh
Zll
L
'bridge'
The
form of initial ba' (eLc.),which in the b'(etc)+ datldhat:
(3 )
an-nusakh
I-. ui-na
1t"-)l
khtuttt
aLmo,sim
#tlar-,attt,,t
(-nl
ibn (seealsonote26)
aat'.
#twa-ba'd
uf (f barta
bi-hadha
{\^-,
L- khatam
4*l(gat-'ahart
dal + ya':
7g1iun
(4)
SIdI
gt I barrd
4lathclh
kaf + mrm(withor withouttop stroke):
/\tJ-c,
.ara).kunt
1_
#LL-p,abukum
JO
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T4 I 9 8 9 )
ltl ,u,
lam + mm'.
*l
,to*
nu 1n'1
xn'
in
tr
tr tr
tr tr
tr
tr
med.
fin.
.'EW
{i)nstin
(7)
The dalldhal may easily be confused with kaJ,
sincetheir formsare sometimes
verysimilar,especially
in cursivetexts.Completehomography,however,is
usuallyavoided,e.g.:
9J5ana*o
(8)
(e)
Occursfrequentlyin:.
f,l.D hadha
v
(6)
sep.
DALIDHAL
o'[-al
tr l.cl,u,,
trtr
(')
IJ:l
,.pF.l
tr
tr
h-qatt
:P
(10)
Occursfrequently
in :
')latbdhr
J l , rr
oL
n'12v
o"17
Ld
,.p
[-/ I rrrr
'hF]w
t--_-l
t_l
,.NEI
V
.0.[Glter
d'F:l
dvEtriT"o'
trtr
,,Fltr
(12)
EAa
,r[?tr
tr
N . V A N D E N B O O G E R T .N O T E SO N M A G H R I B I S C R I P T
trtr@
E
tr E
(ll)
Unconnected
ra' may be connectedto the following
letterin:
-AW
bi-tartkh(seealso note 5)
^re
sep
rahma
(12)
Thisligaturealso represents-rznin:
i , a ,
asnrtn
-s-r
\-
sfuisH1
,'Fllro,
med.
fin.
sep.
(l 3 )
tr tr
tr tr
tr tr
(13)
Occursonly in:
''le
so1oo
(14)
tr
-'dFl
tr EI
tr
n'Fl
(14)
(15)
G)
) l
q-v
tr tr
tr a
(.16)
( t7)
14)
The initiai and medialforms of sad andddhaveno
'tooth',
as in the Mashriqiscripts.
(l 5 )
The vertically elongatedform of medial gadl/act
may be usedwhenit is followedbyjtm (etc.)or rmm,
yandiju
(l6)
Occursfrequently
in:
'7.
b 9>'
The diacritl"ut po*
insidethe loop:
l-tudr't
"r
er,;.;.a.;
shaykh
sallama
(17)
This ligatureoccursfrequentlyin:
,-tAU
TA'tZA'(18)
'"
[,.]
tr
",.0i;l
a
tr
I ut-qadr
38
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T4 I 9 8 9 )
trtrtr[El.n,
tr
@
tr tr
tr @
tr
g
tr trK
fin.
(20)
The height of the loop of the initial
equal to that of the lam.
F'Qt)
tr
tr
tr
fin.
QFQt)
in.
med
fin.
t-l
fin.
sep.
(22)
tr
tr
tr
tr
sep.
AYNIGHAYN
l*'l
(22)
t-c-l
t ' t
sep.
(le)
med.
med.
(l 8 )
The diacritical point of the ;a' is usually piaced to
the left of the stem.
(20)
may be
trt
in
sep.
tr
tr tr
tr tr
tr
tr
tr
'ayn
(22)
(22)
er\
The bestknown characteristic
of Maghribi scriptis
the differentpointingof f' andqAf:fa'has one point
underthe line and qa/ has one point abovethe line.
(22)
The diacriticalpoints of final and unconnected
fa',
qal and nun are regularly omitted. While diacritical
points are not strictlynecessary
here,sincein theory
these letters are all written differently in final or
position,the differencebetweenthem is
unconnected
oftenhard to see,evenin calligraphicspecimens.
KF
(23)
N , V A N D E N B O O G E R TN
. O T E SO N M A G H R I B I S C R I P T
39
tr
'i-r [f o'
[I
tr
H
tr
tr
tr
tr
EE
t-l tr
tr
tr
tr tr
u
tr tr trtrJ"cl,s,E
med.
LAM
(23)
l-'l
med.
(27)
(24)
fin.
(23)
fin.
l-'l
sep.
75 \
sep.
(23)
(6)
(.26)
8 L?l at-madt
C)l
' v at-hizh
trtr
trtr
(27)
A shortenedform of medial lam is often used in
xil ,,uo
(23)
Thetop strokeof thekaf is sometimes
doubled:
It
,5J5 ritka
;J j l(lt
-r-j
-l-m
at-karthiba
MIM
in.
med.
(24)
Only used when followed by flnal mtm, e.g.'.
hukm
Seealso (6) above.
fin.
(2s)
Occursfrequentlyin:
(6)
/rt:,'Jltanunm
The combination of initial lam and final kf sometimes has a dot added to it in order to distinguishit
from the ligature of alif plus lam-atiJ'
, e.g.:
U s cthatika
tr
tr
tr
tr
tr
tr trtr
tr
sep.
-m-d
(28)
40
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T T I EM I D D L E E A S T4 ] 9 8 9 )
(28)
Occursfrequently
in:
I--;---ltt_-l
tt
L1!L:j
Muhammad
tr tr
L9-]
tr
'Ahmad
tir\l
r--l
"31at-hamct
,Vt/t/ (initial and medial form: seeB')
V"n'
"oJ-ulU
(29],
Occursonly in a smallnumberof very frequent
words and in the word-endins -tn:
'an
ol
(,/
u1l
u/F:l
HA'
tn.
med.
min
E_l
-.----l
(30)
Occursonly in the combinations
hA' + al'(seenote
l) and ha' + mm(medial),e.g.:
14 161(
alma rn
r r
| ul-huntttt
( 31 )
The final ha' is sometimes
writtenwith a disconnectedfinal stroke,especiallyin calligraphictexts (see
for instanceLings, plates l12 and ll3). In attah this
a l s oo c c u r si n m o r e c u r s i v et e x t s .e . s . :
t t
ihn
tr E
tr tr
tr
tr tr
tr tr trtr
tr
@
.1trtr
//\I)
I attah
(.32)
The unconnected h' is always drawn clockwise.
which explainsthe way in which it can be connectedto
a precedingletter (e.g. dal or ru').
WW
tr
tr
tr tr
E i-.r-i
tr E
E tr
tr tr a
trtrJ[-{r", tr tr l4)
(30)
fin.
t--t.-t
()) \
frn.
(32)
sep.
fin.
sep.
ll)
Ir-_-l
ll'l
-w-h
w-h
-w-y
w-y
lz-_-l
N . V A N D E N B O O G E R T .N O T E SO N M A G H R I B I S C R I P T
4l
E tr
EE
(33)
Frequently used for w,tt'* aliJ'al-v,iqo1'l,
e.g.:
ll
tlfrt'ditt'tl
y' (nitial and medial forms: seeB) (34)
fin.
tr
tr
tr
sep
tr
tr tr tr w
tr E gf_l |4r_l
tr
tr
E
gE
tr
Ic
(3s)
l---t
E]
sep.
-l-'-m
tr
tr
-l-'-h
E
E
---l
t----r
(36)
(37)
( 36)
Occurs1 n :
(34)
The forms of final and unconnected1a'which are
marked with an asteriskmay represent-r.a'as well as
ra'preceded
b y i n i t i a lo r m e d i a lb ' l e t c . ) e
. .g.:
l ''m
l'otrotr
Ljanr
)Nl
L,l>-
vra-salant
(371
O c c u r si n :
S*,
fugas-sutah
0kl"'lo,,uru
at-rttan
kharorara
G liJ | ,tr-ttranr
(35)
Theshortforrnoccursfrequently
in
2
LM-ALI F
fin.
tr trE
LIST OF SOURCES
/ 1
+/
M A N U S C R I P T SO F T H E M I D D L E E A S T4 ( I 9 E 9 )
l. Anthologies
Belkassemben Sedira, Manuel pistolaire de langue urahe'
Alger 1893. Contains 76 letters and documensin Jacsntile, n'rost of them from Algeria, w'ith noes, vocabularr
and transcription in standurdisedrahic suipt'
Belkassem ben Sedira. Cours gradu de lettres uraber
manttst'rites.Alger 1893. Contains 319 leters and documents in facsimile, m(tinlv-.from the Maghrb, but also
some.fi'omSyria and EgtPt'
Houdas, O. & G. Delphin, Ret'uelde lettresarabesmanus'
crtes,Alger 1891' . Conainsll0 lettersand documentsin
and transcription in stqn.fac'sintile,rilt notes, vocabular.ro.f'the
clarclisetlArabic script
first 2l letter'sand parts of
the rentaning letters.
'Algerisch-tunesische
Briefe in Faksimile und
Rescher,O.,
in'. Mtteilungen 'les
Anmerkungen',
Transciption mit
Berlin, XX (1917)'
:u
Sprachen
Seminars.fiirorientalisc'he
in
Contains 37 letters facsimile.
Paris 1949' Contains
Watin, L.. Recueilde tertes muroc'ains,
prohuhlr
all v'rtten especiall-v
in
ll2 specimens facsmile,
notes and vocabuY'ith
scribe,
sante
the
b;'
for rhis hook
pet'ularities o.f
the
on
notes
gbes
a
Watitt
also
lert'.
fv'
scriPt.
Maghribi
mi'scellanea(ron thc lihrary o.f
2. Collectionso.f n'tanu'scripr
Leiden)',
of
Llniyersitt'
the
Or. 14022. Collection of documents, 19th120thc' (Witkam. CataloguePP.3 l-34)
Or. 14066:Collection of letters,short texts and fragments,
1 9 t h i 2 0 t hc . ( W i t k a m . C a r a l o g u ep p . 1 3 6 - 1 4 0 )
Or. 14048:Collection of severalreligious and magical texts
in numerous Maghribi hands, 19th c' (Witkam. Catalogue pp.72-89)
O r . 1 4 0 6 1 :C o l l e c t i o no f m y s t i c a la n d r e l i g i o u st e x t s ,c o p y
d a t e d 1 2 9 9 ' 1 8 8 2( W i t k a m . C a t a l o g u ep' p ' 1 2 3 - 1 3 0 )
3. Manuscripts (.from the lihrary o' the Univer'sitv of Leidetl):
NOTES
N , V A N D E N B O O G E R TN
. O T E SO N M A G H R I B I S C R I P T
7 In Berber
texts written in the Arabic script, this atif
with horizontal line through the middre is often usedfor the
n o t a t i o n o f w o r d - i n i t i a lu . e . s . :
i;,
L) | urd
8 In Berber texts written
in the Arabic script, the Berber
,
phonemes igi and lql are written witl
O
\-/-
r e s p e c t i v e l ve.. s
- ' J '
- ' "
:, 1 /-
f-PfS-r
27
I ors,,-
+-l