Version 1.1, 21 July 2023
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
● no sun letters
● elision of al-, according to rules of Classical Arabic: wa-l-kitāb, fī l-masjid, Muḥyī l-Dīn, bi-l-kitāb, but lil-masjid
● compound names with Allāh are in general written as one word: ʿAbdallāh, Hibatallāh
● other compound names are written as two words: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān
● ibn and bint written as b. and bt., except when it is part of the name by which the person is known, e.g. ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-Qummī, but Ibn Hazm.
● ة is written as -a, in idāfa as -at
Please note for Brockelmann
● Qurʾān as Ḳorʾān (also Qorʾān) ʿUmar as ʿOmar (abbrev. ʿO.)
● Zubayr as Zubair
● Ṭayyib as Ṭaiyib
● ʿAwwām as ʿAuwām
● Cairo as Kairo
● ibn and bint are abbreviated as b. and bt.
● Sun letters are used, so aš-Šām, not al-Šām.
● In titles: al- often becomes ’l-
Qurʾān references
● EQ and EI3: Q ṣūra no.:verse. E.g. Q 2:106
● EI2 generally employs Roman numbers for sūras, e.g. II, 106
Dates
● EQ and EI3: Hijrī/C.E.; all dates written in full in the Arabic transliteration
● EI2: Hijrī/C.E.; all dates written in full in Arabic, Turkish or Persian transliteration
