Notes Maghribi Script

8/9/2019 Notes Maghribi Script

1/14

Somenotes

on Maghribi

script

@

^*I.

adn

den

Boogert

In

writing

the

present

study, I

wanted

t to

serve

a

double

purpose.

In

the irst

place,

t is intended

s a concisemanual

for the

reading

of Maghribi

manuscript

material,

which

often

poses roblems,

ven or native

speakers

of Arabic.

The

cursive tyle

of Maghribi

script

as well

as he

calligraphic

tylecontain

many etterforms

nd

ligatures

with

which the

average eader

of Arabic is

unfamiliar.

Secondly,

his article, and

especially he list

of

letterforms

which constitutes

he largest

part

of it, is

meant as a possiblestarting-pointof further, more

thorough

researchnto

the

paleography

f Maghribi

script.

Attention is focused

on the individual

letter-

forms which make

up the script.

The

manuscript

material

on which

the notes on

diacritic

points

and vocalisation

nd the ist

of letter-

forms

are basedhas

been imited

to specimens

ro -

duced

durins he 9th

and 20thcenturies.

THE ORIGIN

OF MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

The origin of Maghribi script has been nv estigated

by

O.

Houdasl.

In his

essay e examines

he historical

circumstances

under

which

the

introduction

of the

Arabic

script in the Maghrib

took

place,

and

he

compares

a few 9th-century

Maghribi

manuscripts

written

on vellum. He

comes to

the conclusion

that

Maghribi

script is

a direct

descendant

f

'Kufic'.

He

even

goes

so far as to call

Maghribi

script

'une

lgre

transformation

du coufique'

(p.

96).

The term

'Kufic'

is somewhat

ambiguous. n

gene-

ral. it

should be taken

to mean the

'formal

bookhand

of the 1th

-

10th century AD'. Houdas uses

cou-

fique'in

opposit ion o

'neskhy',

which

term he

usesas

a

generic

name for

the cursive

scripts

of the Mashriq

(nask

, thuluth, etc.).

That Houdas'

conclusion

about

the

origin of Magh-

ribi

script is

correct, though

perhaps

stated

a lit t le

imprecisely,

becomesclear

when

one takes

a closer

look

at the

distinctive eatures

of

this script.A

generai

characteristic

f Maghribi

script

s what Houdas

calls

' la

nature

du trait': Maghribi

is

written with

a sharp

pointed

pen

which

produces

a line

of even thickness,

while in

the Mashriq

the

point

of the

pen

is

cut in the

form of a chisel,producinga line of varying thickness.

Apart from

this

general

characteristic,

he dist inctive

features

of Maghribi script

are the following:

l.

the final

aliJ

is

drawn from

top to bottom;

2. the stems

of alif,

lam, lam-alif

and ta'lza'

have

club-like

extensions

o the left

of their top

point;

3. the ioop of

;adlQad

s identical

with that

of n'l

za' , .e. t has

no

'tooth' ;

4. the

stemof

la' lZA' is

drawn

diagonally;

5.

qa/

andfA'have

unconventional

diacrit ical

points;

6. final and

separate dalldhAl

are very

similar to

initial

and medial

kaf, especially

n the

earlier mss;

more differentiated forms developed ater;

These

are the features

that

distinguish

Maghribi

script from

the Mashriqi

scripts

.naskh

.s.).

Houdas

(p.

95)

states that

'la

diffrence

que

I'on

constate

entre les formes

du maghrbin

et celles du

neskhy

n'est

pas

trs

profonde'.

The

differences

de-

scribed

above however,

though they

are indeed

not

very

profound,

give

valuable

indications

about

th e

origin of the script:

it is

precisely

hese eatures

hat

are found in

a certain

angular formal

bookhand

('Kufic')

which

was used n

the Middle

East n the

Sth-

lOth centuries

AD. This

bookhand is

exemplif ied

by

Yajda2 plates 4 and 53. In Arabic it is

sometimes

referred "o

as kufi murabba'.

The most

formal form

of

this hand is represented

by the

Quranic

script which is

usually called

'Eastern

Kufic'

or

'Qarmatian',

se e

Lingsa,

plates

l-21. This

angular

bookhand, o which

Maghribi

script is apparently

closely

related,

should

be

distinguished rom

a more

rounded

bookhand

(kld

mudawwar) which

existed in

the same

period,

and

which

was

primarily

used or copies

of the

Quran

(see

Vajda,

plates

1,2 and

6ab, and L ings

plates

-9).

At

the time Arabic

script was introduced

into

the

Maghrib (8th/9th century AD), it had already split

into two

different

styles in

the Mashriq:

a

formal

style used or copi es

of the

Quran,

works

of law and

jurisprudence

and the like,

and a cursive

style,used n

correspondence

nd administration.

Both

thesestyles

were

developments

of one original

style, the

archaic

Arabic

script of the

6th and early

7th centuriesAD. In

the

7th and 8th centuries

different

stylesdeveloped or

the various

applications

of the

script. The formal,

calligraphic

style

('Kufic')

soon became

more

or

less

standardised

and

hardly

changed

during

the t ime it

remained n

use.The cursive

style on the

contrary was

not standardiseduntil the 10th centurv AD. when.

Manuscripts

f the Middle

East4

(

1989)

Q

Ter Lugt Press,

onkerstee 19,2312

HA Leiden.Netherlands,

989 ISSN0920-0401


2/14

N. VAN

DEN BOOGERT.

OTES

ON MAGHR]BI

SCRIPT

a 1

i l

under

the

pressure

of the exigencies

f more

speedier

ways

of writing,

severalcursive

styles

had

developed,

all

quite

different

from

the formal

style. It was

Ibn

Muqla

(d.

940 AD) who

elevated

he

cursive

styles o

the calligraphic

evel by

devising

a system

which

he

called

al-khatt

al-mansub.

With

this system

he letter-

forms

of the

cursive

styles

ould

be standardised.

hi s

made

their

use for

non-casual

applications

such as

Qurans

and lawbooks

possible,

and

the old formal

style

or Kufic soon

went

out of

use

l

lth

century AD),

except

or ornamental

applications.

Houdas

argues

hat only

the old formal

style

of the

Arabic

script

('Kufic'),

was

introduced

into

the

Maghrib.

From

the centres

of Islamic

earning

such as

Kairouan

and Fes,

the use

of the script

spread

over

the

Maghrib,

and

after a time it

began

o be applied

o

purposes

or

which in

the Mashriq

the

cursive

scripts

were

used.Around

the

beginning

of the llth

century

AD

the formal

bookhand

as a whole

had changed

nto

a more cursive orm, which could be written fasterand

easier

han the

old form

and which

has

remained

n

use

unt i l the

present.

DIFFERENT

STYLES

Houdas

also tries

to describe

he

characteristics

f

the various

stylesof

Maghribi

script.

He first

makes a

difference

between

two levels:

the

calligraphic

level

('l'criture

soign')

and the

non-calligraphic

or cursive

level.

He

then divides

he

calligraphic

script nto

three

styles.Each of thesestyleshad as its place of origin

one

of

the cultural

and

intellectual

centres

of the

Maghrib.

These

are:

Qayrawnr

(from

Kairouan),

Fsi

(from

Fs)

and Andalusr

(from

Cordoba).

Houdas

also distinguishes

a

fourth

style,

Sldni,

which

originated

n

the Timbuktu

area,

and is nowa-

days

used n

the entire

sub-Saharan

one

rom

Senegal

to northern

Nigeria.

This style

s treated

by Houdas

as

cognatewith

the

other three

styles

of Maghribi

script.

But

judging

by

the very

distinct

character

of

Sfidnr,

which

is

easily recognisable,

his

style

probably

de -

velopedparallel

o,

but independent

rom the

script

of

the Maghrib, and should be treated as cognate with

Maghribi

script

as a wholes.

Sldni

is therefore

no t

dealt with

in the

present

arricle.

For

each of these

styles Houdas

mentions

a few

characteristics

pp.

108-112),

bout

which he

himself

says,

however:

'Toutes

ces indications

sont

un

peu

vagues,

mais

il est mpossible

de leur

donner

une

plus

grande

prcision.'

Houdas gives

various

reasons

or

this

difficulty

in establishing

he features

of each

of

these

styles n

a more definite

way.

Firstly,

a standardised

orm

or a

calligraphic

deal,

such

as existed or

the styles

used

n the

Mashriq, has

never come into being in the Maghrib. According to

Houdas,

this is

a

result

of the aversion

against

regu-

larity

and symmetry

prevalent

among

the

artisansof

the Maghrib.

Secondly,

he

scribes

of the

Maghrib

had

the

habit

of imitating

the

specimens

hey

were

copying,

which

could

have

been

written

in

another

region

or

country;

this

is,

of course,

o a large

extent

a result

of the

lack

of

a calligraphic

standard.

Thirdly,

the

massive

emigration

of

Muslims

from

Spain

definitely

muddled

up the

different

styles,

as far

as

they existed.

Finally,

the

number

of

dated

manuscripts

rom

the

Maghrib

is relatively

small.

After

describing

he

four

calligraphic

styles

which

he

distinguishes,

nd

naming

each

of them

after

its

possible

place

of

or igin,

Houdas

says

(p.

110):

, . . .

mais

il faut

bien remarquer,

que

le

nom

de ces

critu-

res

n'implique

nullement

a ncessi t u'elles

aient

t

traces

ans

'une

ou I'autre

des deux

villes

auxquelles

elles

doivent

eurs

appellations'.

Houdas

also

tries

to

give

a classification

of the

cursive

Maghribi

scripts.

These

he

divides

into

four

geograph ica lypes : ' t un is ienne ' , 'a lgr ienne ' , 'maro-

caine'

and

'soudanienne'.

Bearing

in

mind

the

prob-

lems

already

encountered

n

trying

to

classify

the

calligraphical

tyles,

hese

names

could

at best

be

used

to roughly

indicate

the

area

where

a

particular

ms.

was

produced;

they

do not

tell

us anything

about

the

features

of its

script.

The

possibilit ies

f making

a more

definitie

classifi-

cation

of

the

different

styles

of Maghribi

script

seem

to

be small.

The

best

prospects

are

perhaps

offered

by

a close

examination

of the

script

used in legal

documents,

especially he more luxurious ones.Thesedocuments

usually

bear

a

place

and

date,

and

it is

improbable

that

they

have

been

copied

from

specimens

rom

an

entirely

different

region.

From

the

list

of letter

forms

(see

below)

it

becomes

clear

that

Maghribi

script

contains

a wealth

of

peculiar

etter

orms

and

ligatures

(see

for

instance

the

lam-alif

and

the

atif

+

tam-alif

ligatures).

f these

orms

could

be dated,

they

might

give

a clue

as to the

place

and date

of

origin

of

undated

MSS.

THULUTH

MAGHRIBI

In many

Maghribi

MSS

a script

different

from

Maghribi

script

proper

is used

or

the writing

of titles,

chapter

headings

and the

like.

This

is

often

done

in

red,

green

or blue ink.

This

script

is

characterised

y

the

very loose

orm

of its letters,

which

makes

t easily

distinguishable

rom

Maghribi proper.

Also,

several

of its

individual

letter

forms

are dif-

ferent,

e.g. :

1.

the

alf and

the

lam have

a top-serif

to

the right

instead

of to the

left:

( t A

l | l t

I t

(

) ) ) )

v /


3/14

o o N

N

G 2

6. the

lam-alif

has the

ser ifs o

the r ight :

followins

form.

with

tw o

7. the pointing of the /a' and the qaf is often done in

the conventional

way in

this

script

(see

or instance

Lings

plate

712:

,surat

al-qari'a,

and

plate

I

l3:

sadaqa

lahu

I-'aVtm).

This

script

is sometimes

called

maghrib

mujawhar

or, more

commonly,

huluth

maghribt.It

is the

Magh-

ribi interpretation

of thuluth,

one of the

six canonical

sty\es

al-aqlam

as-sitta)

used in

the Mashriq,

whence

it

was imported

into

the

Maghrib,

probably

around

the 13th

century

AD

or later.

Thuluth

maghrih was

also

often

used for inscrip-

t ions.

e.s. n

the Alhambra.

DIACRITICAL

POINTS

AND

VOCALISATION

1. Diacritical oints

The

diacritical

oints

of two

connected

etters

are

often written

together

n

a cluster.

This

can only

be

done, however,

when

one

of these

etters

has

two

diacritical oints

and he

other

only

one, .e.no

clusters

of more

han

hree

points

are ormed:

Corl

''nn

*"

QP

boY'o

1t,

MANUSCRIPTS

F THE

MIDDLE

EAST4

I989)

A

second

system,

of which

the

place

and date

of

r.rn_

origin st il l

remain

to be

established.

as

found in

th e

'"t -

other

MSS. In

this system,

a V-shaped

sign

is used.

This

sign is

written

in

different

posit ions

with

a

varying

orientation

to

represent

both

shadd

as

th e

foilowing

vowel:

A cluster

of three

points

written

above

he line

or

a

cluster

of two

or three

points

written

under

the line

may be replaced

by a flourish

similar to

an inverted

comma:

c

gf*o

shahr

(.J

rttatirtt

"/,,r-G,

-;;

| *)

bavna

V C

J./.

2.

the final

alif is

drawn

from

bottom to top:

3. the

ta'lza'

has

a

nal one:

vert ical

stem

instead

of a diago-

4.

the kaJ'has

a

flag-like

op

stroke,and

at the top

of the stem:

@ @

\ \ \ \

\ \

1 1

usuallya serif

2.

Shadda

5. unconneced dal and initial and final

(etc.)

also have serifs:

Two

systems

re

n

use or

the

The

conventional

ystem

as

only

the

Quranic

MSS

examined:

6

shadda

+

farha

ww

shadda kasra

3

w

snadd1

*

dumma

li,tt

cm-nas

SJ

t ad-dtn

j lta,-nur

For

extra

clarity

a vowel

sign may

be added,

although

this is

not

strictly

necessary:

/ -

v u / v

,

_shadda

+

fatha

':

:L

shuctcta

damma

T r T s h a d d a l k a s r a

3. Wasla

The

conventional

wasla

")

does

not

occur

n

the

examined

Maghribi

texts.

nstead,

o indicate

n,asl

small

dot

can

be written

over

he

alif6,e.g.:

v , '

,(l.l

I

q.D

hu*a

tah

In

fully

vocalised

exts,

the

final

vowel

sign

of the

preceding

word

is

written

a second

time

with

the

atif

al-wasl.

A repeated

atha

is

then

placed

between

the

dot and the alif, and a repeatedkasra is written below

lhe

ali/.

When

the

final

vowel

sign is

a

damma,

a small

horizontal

line

similar

to

fatha

and

kasra

is

drawn

through

the middle of the alif :

notation

of shadd.

found

to be

used

n

stn and ba '

U'

(.'


4/14

r

Y r i

.

A

JT

^,J->

hnh:nhu

lah

.:-

When alif

al-v,asl

stands

at

or sentence,

ts usual

prothetic

o .

- o - 1 1

.4 sJ I

al-vawm

L

\-/..

4.

Hamza

Hamza

is

frequently

omitted,

even

in

partially

vo -

calised

exts.

When

written

at all.

it takes

one of

the

following

forms:

9 t 9 e

The

form

e

is

possibly

graphic

development

o f

9 :

? e

When

the chair

of the

hamza s

an initial

or medial

he hamza

s

placed

below

the line.

The

diacritical

of the

ya'

are

often written

together

with

the

aa tra

sa' r

al-jaza'ir

.

Madda

The

madda

(*)

is

used

to

mark

a long

vowel

is

followed

by hamz

or by

a doubled

consonant,

" '

vT

S

L

madda

r

s l+ ia'o

e

(2

han.

n

partially

vocalised

exts

the madda

may

be written

the

harnza s

omitted:

T

)\,re

ma

The

combination

of hamz

plus

long

a,

which

in

Arabic

spelling

is represented

by

alf

1T;,

is

written

in Maghribi

script

with

preceded

by hamza,

e.g.'.

Wle'a,,r,

blt{l

aLqu,'a,

When

lhe

alif is

contained

in

the

hamza

is

placed

inside

the

e . g . :

al- att

J=JIsaturiruo

Dl',,un

The

long

a in

allah, however,

s

always

spelled

defectively.

In

vocalised

exts the

defectively

spelled

on g

represented

y

fatha

followed

by

a small

separate

which

s

placed

above he

ine,

e.g. ;

't

(-*h-I=J

l,l-ktah

When preceded

y

a lam.

diagonally

hrough

the lam,

this

separat

alif is

drawn

e . g . :

vra-lakin

The long a in allah s represented y .fatha only:

=

'i

c^JJ

I

allalt

7.

Vowel

signs

The

vowel

signs

atha,

kasra

and

damma

and

the

tany;n

rewritten

n

a

conventional

ay :

_ Q

2 u

l -l - a n

E i n

2 u n

8.

Adapted

etters

The

phoneme

that occursn the spokenArabic

of

the

Maghrib is written

either with

m

or

qaf.

or with

oneof the adaptedetters

5,

U

,

t,

. .* . ,

t2i.i;?

gish

Qayshl

i.

(9

gum quv'm)

, i

OJjJ

Gannun

name)

33

Ihe

lam-alif

ligature,

lam-aliJ

or

before

it ,

N. VAN

DEN

BOOGERT.

OTES

ON MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

i :

ilI

, ^ 1 A

(

j.=,- n

sadaoa

llcjh

\ / '

Y a l

o

J\D,

J.^^)

bisni

ltatt

\-

'7*b

2r.)*'

utrl

t

the beginning

of a verse

vowel

swr i t tenw i th

t :

OlJ.l

aL'an

6. Long

a

A long

, which

in

Modern

is regularly

spelled

defectively

indicated

by

a

'dagger

ali/ ', is

in

Maghribi

texts,

e.g. :

Standard

Arabic

(MSA)

or, in

vocalised

exts,

s

frequently

spelled

plene

lJ t

hadha

d

s to

hadhihr

9

a i s

al'


5/14

5+

The sound

written

either

e . g . :

MANUSCRIPTS

F THE MIDDLE

EAST

4 I989)

v that

occurs in French loanwords is

wth

a'

or with

the adapted et ter ( ,

1.

, *A lavr i t

9. Numbers

Europeannumeralshave

been n common use n the

Maghrib alongside conventional Arabic numerals,

sinceat least he beginning

of the l8th century. n fact,

they came o

be

preferred

o their Arabic

counterparts

during the l9th centurye.They

are

written

in a charac-

ter ist icstyle:

1231

67 t5e0

The form of t he

numeral is typical.

Letter no.

17 in Houdas

(1891)

containsa

date

written n the so-called

hubart

umerals:

lz

o

,tuo

I

In

a

note

on this letter Houdas says hat

these

ghubar

numerals

are

much

used

n

eastern

Algeria

and

n Morocco. n the manuscript

material xamined

for this article, owever,heyoccuronly

once.

10.Paragraphmarkers

The sign

:?

ir commonly sed o mark heendof

a

paragraph.

To mark

the end of a

paragraph

r of a whole

ext,

theabbreviationlP

.,

( j&l intaha

may be

used.

LIST

OF

LETTER FORMS

This list, though not exhaustive,

gives

a

good

clue

to the variety of

letter forms

one encounters n the

averageMaghribi manuscript. It is arranged as fol-

lows:

1. for each letter all

variants

are

given

which were

found for its initial form

(abbreviated

in.), its

medial form

(med),

its final form

ffin.)

and

its

separate r unconnected orm (sep.):

2. the basic forms are followed by ligatures

(if

pre-

sent),which are arrangedalphabeticallyand which

can be found und er the first

of

their two compo-

nent

parts;

3. variants of a certain letter form are arranged n a

horizontal

line if

they strongly resembleone an-

other, or

if

one

s

a

graphical

development

rom

the

other:

4. variants of letter forms between which there is a

considerable ifference,

or

which have

each

devel-

oped into widely different new forms, are arranged

in a vertical ine;

5.

letter forms marked with

a small

letter

c

were

found in cursive

exts onlv;

6. a small

dot indicates

the

point

where

the

letter

forms

are

connected o

the

preceding

and/or

fol-

lowing letter

form;

7.

cursive orms

are

given

only when

siderable

difference

between them

calligraphic orms.

ALIF

tr

tr

trtr

tr

E

M

tr

tr

V

there is

a con-

and

the more

o"-ftr

sep.

_ l -

' t '

- - l -

' - t- '

Occursrequentlyn:

6--

sayyidund

.

19Y.

bi-arkh(seeote

)

(g.*",

f"

_r,a

a'1r'1ru',

N7lv

(initial

and

medialTt.'

lini-

tial and medial)

(2,

3)

@

@

( l )

(r)

t r l o lo '


6/14

N,

VAN

DEN

BOOGERT,

OTES

ON MAGHRIB

SCRIPT

35

-b-j

-b-d

-b-m

b-j

(2)

In

the basmala,

the

initial

ba'

often

has

the

same

height

as

the lam:

st

d.IJ

I

.

lJ

bismi

ah

_

:r_

t -

(3)

The

'bridge'

form

of initial

ba'

(eLc.),

hich

n

the

scripts

f the

Mashriq

such

asnaskh

and uq'a

s

used

when

it

is followed

by

jrmlhA'lkhA',

mm

or ha'

(medial),

occurs

n

Maghribi

script

only in

the

fol-

lowing

ombinations:

ba(etc.)

mtm,

e.g.:

r

I-.

ui-na

" l

f

*

khtuttt

ba'

(etc.)

+

nun

(f inal) ,

e.g. :

I

(-nl

ibn

see

lsonote

26)

ba'

(ec.)

l

ra' f

ay,

e.g.:

uf

(f

barta

But in all these aseshe

normal'

form s alsoused.

and

seems

ndeed

o be

preferred:

C

L-

khatam

7g1

un

gt

I

barrd

(4 )

The

'bridge'

form

of

medial

ba'

(etc.\

and

of

init ial

and

medial

snlshtn

can

be used

when

it

is

followed

by

m

(etc.),

mtm,

ha'

(medial)

or

ya'(final).

Seealso

ligatures

under

(6).

(5 )

Occurs

requently

n:

l e

/ tW

bi-rartkh

The

ra' is

somet imes

onnected

hrough:

'gt

hi-rarrkh

This igature

,

urruri

u,

u rrr,t.,

abbeviation

f:

. 1 1

f . e r ce t e r a . :

\-.

. )

/

' i la 'akhir ih

t-

(6)

This

form

is extremely

mbiguous.

t

was

ound

to

represent

he

ollowing

etters

nd

igatures:

bA'@rc.)

r

snf hn

+

jtm

(etc.):

^lr:J

bi-tarkh

. /

' r i

l\-,'iJl

as-shavktt

bbi-farh

Zll

an-nusakh

L

b'(etc)

+

datldhat:

A

Z'..V

bi-.t'ud

^


7/14

J O

lam

*

jtm

(etc.):

lam + mm'.

nu

1

'1n'

in

med.

fin.

sep.

DALIDHAL

{i)nstin

MANUSCRIPTS

F THE

MIDDLE

EAST

4

I989)

(e)

ltl

,u,

(7)

The

dalldhal

may

easily

be

confused

with

kaJ,

sinceheir ormsaresometimeserysimilar,

specially

in

cursive

exts.

Complete

homography,

owever,

s

usually

voided,

.g.:

9J5ana*o

* l

, to*

. ' EW

tr

tr

(6)

tr

tr

tr

tr

tr

(8)

To

avoid

confusion

with

final ra'f

zy,

a

small

dal

is sometimes

dded

to

f,nal

dalidhat:

:P

h-qatt

Occurs requently

n: .

f,l.D hadha

(1 0 )

v

Occurs

requently

n

:

J l ,

' ) l a tbdhr

oL

rr

n'12v

o'[-al

tr

l.cl,u,,

trtr

IJ:l

')

,.pF.l

trtr

.0.[Gl

er

d'F:l

dvEtr iT"o '

o"17

Ld

,.p

[-/

I

rr

r

'hF]

w

t--_-l

t_l

,.NEIV

,,Fl

r

E A

, r [?tr

tr

(12)

a

trtr


8/14

N. VAN

DEN

BOOGERT.

NOTES

ON MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

) l

( l l )

Unconnected

letter

n:

(12)

This

igature

sfuisH1

med.

fin.

sep.

Occurs nly n:

ra'

may

be

connected

o

the

following

- -

AW

bi-tartkh

see

lsonote5)

^re rahma

also represents

rzn

n:

i ,

a ,

P

asnrtn

\-

(.16)

, 'Fl lro,

G)

shaykh

sallama

TA'tZA'(18)

'"

[,.]

a

tr

",.0i;l

a

tr

trtr@

q-v

( t7)

14)

The

nitiai

and medial

orms

of

sad

and

ddhave

no

'tooth',as n theMashriqiscripts.

(

5 )

The vertically

elongated

orm

of

medial gadl/act

may

be

used

when

t is

followedby

tm

(etc.)

or rmm,

yandiju

E

tr

tr

tr

sep

-s-r

E

tr

a

(

6)

Occurs

requently

n:

' 7 .

b

9>'

l-tudr't

The diacritl"ut po* of the dad issometimes laced

inside

he oop:

"r

er,;.;.a.;

(17)

This

igature

ccurs

requently

n:

,-tAU

I

ut-qadr

( 3 )

tr

tr

tr

v

v

(14)

EI

( 1 5 )

(14)

e

tr

tr

tr

o1oo

' 'le

tr

-'dFl

tr

tr

n'Fl


9/14

38

MANUSCRIPTS

F THE

MIDDLE

EAST4

I989)

trtrtr[El

n,

sep.

trK

8 )

The diacrit ical

point

of the ;a' is usually

piaced

to

the left

of the stem.

( le )

While in

the Mashriqi

scripts the

stem of the ta'l

za'

is only added

after the loop

and the letters

directly

connected

o it have

been

written,

in Maghribi

script

the stem s usually written

first.

This explains

he wild

forms into which

lhe ta'lza'have

developed.

AYNIGHAYN

tr

@

tr

tr

tr

g

tr

fin.

tr

@

(20)

The

height

of the loop

of

th e

equal to that

of

the lam.

F ' Q t )

in

med.

fin.

sep.

QFQt)

in.

med

(22)

(22)

fin.

sep.

(22)

(22)

initial

'ayn

may

be

tr

tr

t - l

l * ' l

tr

tr

tr

f in.

tr

tr

tr

ed.

trt

l

tr

tr

tr

t-c-l

' t

tr

tr

tr

tr

g

(20)

er\

The

best

known

characteristic

f Maghribi

script

s

the different

ointing

of

f'

and

qAf:

a'has

one

point

under he ine andqa/ hasonepoint above he line.

(22)

The

diacritical

oints

of final

and unconnected

a' ,

qal

and nun

are regularly

omitted.

While

diacritical

points

are not strictly

necessary

ere,

since n

theory

these letters

are

all written

differently

in final

or

unconnected

osition,

he

difference

etween

hem s

oftenhard to

see, ven n

calligraphic

pecimens.

KF

sep.

(23)


10/14

39

, VAN

DEN

BOOGERT.

OTES

ON MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

LAM

med.

(23)

tr

[I

l-'l

tr

tr

t-l

l - ' l

trtr

fin.

(23)

The

op stroke

f

(27)

H

tr

E

tr

tr

tr

E

tr

u

E

(6 )

rtrJ"cl,s,

75 \

(23)

tr

trtr

w

(24)

sep.

(23)

(6 )

tr

trtr

tr

tr

trtr

fin.

;J

j

l(lt

at-karthiba

by f lnal

mtm,

e.g. ' .

hukm

final kf some-to

distinguish

t

'i-r

f

o'

med.

fin.

(27)

A

shortened

sep.

-r-j

-l-m

(.26)

The

short,

curved

orm

of initiai

lam

is

used

when

is fol lowed

by

jtnlhA' lkha'

or

mtnt ,

e.g. :

8

L?l

at-madt

C)l

at-hizh

v

form

of

medial

lam is often

used

n

xil

,,uo

MIM

in .

med.

sep.

-m-d

trtr

trtr

trtr

(24)

Only

used

when

followed

Seealso

(6)

above.

(2s)

Occurs requently

n:

/ r t : , 'J l tanunm

The

combination

of initial

lam

and

times has a dot added

to

it in

order

from

the

ligature

of alif

plus

lam-atiJ'

U

s

cthatika

the

kaf

is sometimes

oubled:

It

,5J5

ritka

,

e . g . :

(28)


11/14

40

(28)

Occursrequently

n:

tt

tir\l

MANUSCRIPTS

F TTIEMIDDLE

EAST

4

]989)

I--;---l

L1!

tr

- - l

L9-]

t--t.-t

E_l

"31at-hamct

Muhammad

'Ahmad

tt_-l

L:j

tr

tr

(32)

,Vt/t/

(initial

and

medial form:

seeB')

frn.

( ) )

\

"oJ-ulU

(29],

Occurs

nly

in

a smallnumber

f

very requent

words

and

in

the word-endins

-tn:

'an

min

ihn

alma rn

HA '

med.

tr

Ir-_-l

i-.r-i

E

tr

trtr

tr

tr

tr

E

tr

E

trtr

trtr

V"n '

E

tr

r

tr

tr

trtr

tr

@

-.----l

.1

trtr

ol

(,/

(30)

Occurs

nly n the

combinations

A'

+

al'(see

note

l)

andha'

+

mm

medial),

.g.:

1 r r

14

161(

|

ul-huntttt

( 3

)

The

final

ha' is

sometimes

ritten

with

a

discon-

nected

inal

stroke,

especially

n

calligraphic

exts

(see

for instance

Lings,

plates

12

and l l3) .

In

at tah

this

a lso

occurs

n more

curs ive

exts.

.s . :

t t

//\I)

I

attah

(.32)

The

unconnected

h' is

always

drawn

clockwise.

which

explains

he way in

which it

can be

connected

o

a

preceding

etter

(e.g.

dal or ru').

WW

sep.

-w-y

w-y

u1l

u/F:l

t n .

(30)

fin.

sep.

-w-h

w-h

l )

l l ' l

trtr

a

z-_-l

l4)

fin.

trtrJ[-{r",


12/14

N.

VAN

DEN BOOGERT.

OTES

ON MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

4 l

Frequentlyused or w,tt' aliJ'al-v,iqo1'l, .g.:

ll

tlfrt'ditt'tl

(nitial

and

medial

forms:

seeB)

(34)

se p

(3 )

sep.

- l- ' -m

-l- ' -h

(36)

Occurs

fin.

tr

tr

tr

l---t

E]

E

tr

tr

tr

c

---l

f_l

g

fin.

w

----r

|

4r_l

E

(36)

(37)

The

forms

of final

and unconnected

a'which

ar e

with

an aster isk

may

represent

r .a'

s

well

as

(371

y i n i t i a l

r med ia l

' l e t c . ) .

. g . :

Occu r sn :

l

''m

l 'ot rotr

L j a n r

)Nl at-r t tan

L,l>-

kharorara

G

liJ

| ,tr-ttranr

)

The

short

orrn

occursrequently

n

2

F

tr

g

tr

E

tr

E

tr

E

E

E

tr

tr

tr

tr

g

tr

E

E

1 n :

S*,

vra-salant

fugas-sutah

0kl"'lo,,uru

LIST

OF

SOURCES

The

notes

on

diacritical

points

and vocalisation

igns

an d

the list

of

letter

orms

are

primarily

based

on the

annotated

anthologies

of manuscript

material

from

the Maghrib

that

were

published

mainly

at the

end

of the ast

century,

and on

four

collections

of miscellaneous

anuscript

exts from

th e

library

of Leiden

University.

The

data

yielded

by these

sourceswere hen comparedwith ten 19thand 20th-century

manuscripts

rom

the Leiden

collection,

with

a few

litho-

graphed

Fes

editions

and with

three recenrly published

lacsimile

editions

of

the

Quran.

trE


13/14


14/14

N, VAN

DEN

BOOGERT.

OTES

ON MAGHRIBI

SCRIPT

+- l

7

In

Berber

texts

written

in

the

Arabic

script,

this

atif

with

horizontal

ine

through

the

middre

s

often

used

or

th e

notat ion

of word- ini t ia l

u.

e.s . :

i ; ,

L)

|

urd

8

In Berber

exts

written

in

the

Arabic

script,

he

Berber

phonemes

igi

and

lql

are

written

witl

,

O

respect ivelv .

.s

\ - / -

- ' J '

- ' "

o

: , 1 / - 2 7

f-PfS-r I ors,,-

e

In

two

of

the

three acsimile

opies

of

the

euran

which

were

examined,

he verses

as

well

as

the pages

are

numbe_

red

with

European

numerals.

n

the

third

copy

the verses

have

not

beennumbered,

while

the

pages

have

European

as

well

as

Arabic

numerals.

Documents

Notes Maghribi Script