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 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| EI 3 - EWIC - EQ | EI 2 | Brockelmann | |
| ء | ʾ (Unicode 02BE) | ʾ | ʾ |
| ﺍ | a, ā/Ā | a, ā | a, ā, Ā |
| ﺏ | b | b | b |
| پ | p | p | |
| ﺕ | t | t | t |
| ﺙ | th | t̲h̲ | t̲ |
| ﺝ | A: j T: c | d̲j̲ | ǧ/Ǧ |
| چ | ç | č | |
| ﺡ | ḥ | ḥ | ḥ |
| ﺥ | kh | k̲h̲ | ḫ |
| خو | khw | k̲h̲w | |
| ﺩ | d | d | d |
| ﺫ | dh | d̲h̲ | d̲ |
| ﺭ | r | r | r |
| ﺯ | z | z | z |
| ژ | zh | z̲h̲ | |
| ﺱ | s | s | s |
| ﺵ | sh | s̲h̲ | š/Š |
| ﺹ | ṣ | ṣ | ṣ |
| ﺽ | ḍ | ḍ | ḍ |
| ﻁ | ṭ | ṭ | ṭ |
| ﻅ | ẓ | ẓ | ẓ |
| ﻉ | ʿ (Unicode 02BF) | ʿ | ʿ |
| ﻍ | gh | g̲h̲ | ġ/Ġ |
| ﻑ | f | f | f |
| ﻕ | q | ḳ | ḳ/Ḳ |
| ﻙ | k | A: k; T: k, g [ğ]; ñ | k |
| ﻝ | l | l | l |
| ﻡ | m | m | m |
| ﻥ | n | n | n |
| ﻩ | h | h | h |
| ة | a; at in idāfa | ||
| ﻭ | w/v, ū/Ū, -uww | w/v, ū, -uww | ū; uw; u; w |
| ى/ﻱ | ī/Ī, -iyy- | ī/Ī, -iyy- | ī -iy-; i; y |
| Short Vowels | 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 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
