The Arabic alphabet is similar to the Hebrew alphabet, in that it is really an abjad. This refers to the fact that short vowels[?] are not written in most books and periodicals, so one must infer these vowels from context. This situation is ameliorated by the fact that Semitic languages put much of their meaning in consonants and long vowels, which are written.
Arabic writing is a joined-up script, rather than a succession of individual glyphs. Amongst other consequences, this means that the form of Arabic letters is influenced by their context.
Doubled consonants are indicated with a tashdeed (a symbol which looks like a letter w) over the Arabic letter.
The Quran is written using the Arabic alphabet. There are several languages that use the Arabic alphabet, including Urdu. See also Arabic calligraphy, considered an art form in its own right.
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Transliteration
SATTS, the Standard Arabic Technical Transliteration System, is a US military standard transliteration of Arabic letters to the Latin alphabet.
Arabic Alphabet in Unicode
ا ب ة ت ث ج ح خ د ذ ر ز س ش ص ض ط ظ ع غ ف ق ك ل م ن هو ى ي
Old letters: ٮ ٯ
Arabic numerals
There are two kinds of numerals used in Arabic writing; standard Arabic numerals, and "EastArab" numerals, used in Arab writing in Iran, Pakistan and India
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Ligatures
ﷺ (Sall-allahu alayhi wasallam) - ﷲ (Allah)
See also:
External links
- Arab writing and calligraphy (http://www.al-bab.com/arab/visual/calligraphy.htm)
- Article about Arabic alphabet (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/arabic.htm)
- Arabic alphabet and calligraphy (http://www.islamicart.com/main/calligraphy/)