Safaitic

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Safaitic (

Geographical distribution

Safaitic inscriptions are named after the area where they were first discovered in 1857:

A small number of Safaitic inscriptions have been found outside the Harrat al-Sham, including examples from Palmyra, the Hejaz, Lebanon, and Pompeii.^[2]

Script

The Safaitic alphabet comprises 28 letters. Several abecedaries (lists of the alphabet) are known, but all are written in different orders, giving strength to the suggestion that the script was casually learned rather than taught systematically.

The Safaitic script exhibits considerable variability in letter shapes and writing styles. The inscriptions can be written in nearly any direction and there are no word dividers. There are two primary variants of the script: normal and square. The normal variant exhibits a large degree of variation, depending on the hand of individual authors and writing instrument. The square script appears to be a deliberate stylistic variant, making use of more angular forms of the letters.^[1] Inscriptions rarely employ the square variants consistently, but mix these shapes with normal letter forms. Finally, a minority of inscriptions exhibit a mix of Safaitic and Hismaic letter shapes.

Letters

Letter[3]		Name	Pronunciation (IPA)[4]	Classical Arabic transcription[5] (Modern Arabic form)	Latin transcription
Normal	Square				OCIANA[3]	Winnett & Harding[6]	SSHB[6]
		alif	[ʔ] ⓘ	ا، ى، و) أ، إ، ئ، ؤ)	ʾ
		ayn	[ʕ] ⓘ	ع) ع)	ʿ
		ba	[b] ⓘ	ٮ) ب)	b
		dal	[ d] ⓘ	د) د)	d
		dhal	[ð] ⓘ	د) ذ)	ḏ
		Ḍād	[dˤ]	ص) ض)	ḍ
		fa		ڡ) ف)	f
		gim	[g] ⓘ	ح) ج)	g
		ghayn	[ɣ] ⓘ	ع) غ)	ġ
		ha	[h] ⓘ	ه) ه)	h
		hha	[ħ] ⓘ	ح) ح)	ḥ
		kha	[x] ⓘ	ح) خ)	ẖ
		kaf	[kʰ]	ک) ك)	k
		lam	[ l] ⓘ	ل) ل)	l
		mim	[m] ⓘ	م) م)	m
		nun	[ n] ⓘ	ں) ن)	n
		qaf	[q] ⓘ	ٯ) ق)	q
		ra	[ r] ⓘ	ر) ر)	r
		sin		س) س)	s¹	s
		shin	[ ɬ] ⓘ	س) ش)	s²	š	ś
		sad	[s] ⓘ	ص) ص)	ṣ	s
		ta	[tʰ]	ٮ) ت)	t
		tha	[θ] ⓘ	ٮ) ث)	ṯ
		tta		ط) ط)	ṭ
		waw	[w] ⓘ	و) و)	w
		ya	[j] ⓘ	ى) ي)	y
		zayn	[z] ⓘ	ر) ز)	z
		za		ط) ظ)	ẓ

Language

The traditional view held that because the Safaitic inscriptions often make use of the definite article ha-, in contrast to Classical Arabic 'al, that their language should not be regarded as Arabic proper, but rather as Ancient North Arabian.

Most Safaitic inscriptions are graffiti that reflect the current concerns of the author: the availability of grazing for his camel herd, mourning the discovery of another inscription by a person who has since died, or simply listing his genealogy and stating that he made the inscription. Others comment on raids and pray for booty, or mention religious practices. A few inscriptions by female authors are known. Inscriptions are sometimes accompanied by rock art, showing hunting or battle scenes, camels and horses and their riders, bedouin camp scenes, or occasional female figures.^[8]

References