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Transliteration table and notes have been added for Medieval Encounters and Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.
Version 1.0, 14 December 2010
Several competing systems of Arabic transliteration exist. Some are geared towards specialists and these tend to reflect Arabic phonology in a precise way, while others cater for a general readership and are consequently often not very exact. Brill’s simple Arabic transliteration system tries to steer a middle course. All consonants plus hamza are uniquely transliterated with one character, as are the vowels. But no rules have been given for transliterating, e.g., waṣla or tāʾ marbūṭa. See Simple_Arabic_transliteration_system.pdf. (Local copy)
The table used on Brill.com:
| Abbreviations: A = Arabic; T= Turkish; P = Persian; OT = Ottoman Turkish; MT = Modern Turkish | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ME / JESHO | EI 3 - EWIC - EQ | EI 2 | Brockelmann | |
| ء | ʾ (Unicode 02BE) MT: — | ʾ | ʾ | ʾ |
| ﺍ | ā | a, ā/Ā | a, ā | a, ā, Ā |
| ﺏ | b MT: b or p | b | b | b |
| پ | p | p | p | |
| ﺕ | t | t | t | t |
| ﺙ | A: th P, OT: s̱ MT: s | th | t̲h̲ | t̲ |
| ﺝ | j OT, MT:c | A: j T: c | d̲j̲ | ǧ/Ǧ |
| چ | P: ch OT, MT: ç | ç | č | |
| ﺡ | ḥ MT: h | ḥ | ḥ | ḥ |
| ﺥ | kh OT, MT: h | kh | k̲h̲ | ḫ |
| خو | khw | k̲h̲w | ||
| ﺩ | d | d | d | d |
| ﺫ | A: dh P, OT: ẕ MT: z | dh | d̲h̲ | d̲ |
| ﺭ | r | r | r | r |
| ﺯ | z | z | z | z |
| ژ | P: zh; OT, MT: j | zh | z̲h̲ | |
| ﺱ | s | s | s | s |
| ﺵ | sh OT, MT: ş | sh | s̲h̲ | š/Š |
| ﺹ | ṣ MT: s | ṣ | ṣ | ṣ |
| ﺽ | A: ḍ P, OT: ż MT: z | ḍ | ḍ | ḍ |
| ﻁ | ṭ MT: t | ṭ | ṭ | ṭ |
| ﻅ | ẓ MT: z | ẓ | ẓ | ẓ |
| ﻉ | ʿ (Unicode 02BF) MT: — | ʿ | ʿ | ʿ |
| ﻍ | gh OT, MT: g or ğ | gh | g̲h̲ | ġ/Ġ |
| ﻑ | f | f | f | f |
| ﻕ | q OT: ḳ MT: k | q | ḳ | ḳ/Ḳ |
| ﻙ | A: k P: k or g OT: k or ñ, y, ğ MT: k or n, y, ğ | k | A: k; T: k, g [ğ]; ñ | k |
| گ | g | |||
| ﻝ | l | l | l | l |
| ﻡ | m | m | m | m |
| ﻥ | n | n | n | n |
| ﻩ | h OT, MT: h when h is not final | h | h | h |
| ة | a (in construct state: at) | a; at in idāfa | ||
| ﻭ | A: w P: v or u OT, MT: v | w/v, ū/Ū, -uww | w/v, ū, -uww | ū; uw; u; w |
| ى/ﻱ | y | ī/Ī, -iyy- | ī/Ī, -iyy- | ī -iy-; i; y |
| ال | (for the article) al- and -l-. | |||
| Short Vowels | a, u, i OT, MT: a or e; u or ü / o or ö; ı or i | a, e, i, ı, o, ö, u, ü | a, e, i, ı, o, ö, u, ü | a, e, i, ı, o, ö, u, ü |
Please note for JESHO
As a general rule Persian must be transliterated according to the IJMES system (ME / JESHO system in the table above), not that of the Encyclopedia Iranica, so i and u must be used, not e and o. Note that tāʾ marbūṭah is rendered a in Persian. The unmarked iḍāfa is indicated by -i; the iḍāfa marked with yā is indicated by -yi. All waws are transliterated by w and not v.
For Ottoman Turkish, authors may either transliterate or use modern Turkish orthography as in the Redhouse Turkish/Ottoman-English Dictionary (1st edn Istanbul 1968). In distinction to the Redhouse dictionary, JESHO has the following rules: The letter ʿayn is represented by ʿ throughout, and the letter hamza is represented in the middle or end of a word by ʾ (e.g. ʿulemaʾ). JESHO does not use hatted vowels (e.g. â).
Please note for ME
For Ottoman Turkish, authors may either transliterate or use the modern Turkish orthography.
Long vowels
- long ʾalif, or ʾalif khanjarīyah: ā
- long wāw: ū
- long yāʾ: ī
In OT and MT, only in words of Arabic and Persian origin.
Doubled
- kasrah + yāʾ + shadda: iyy (final form ī) OT, MT: iy (final form ī)
- ḍammah + wāw + shadda: uww (final form ū) OT, MT: uvv
Diphthongs
- fatḥah + wāw: au or aw OT, MT: ev
- fatḥah + yāʾ: ai or ay OT, MT: ey
Please note for EI3
● no word-initial hamzas: al-amr
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