Sorabe alphabet
Sorabe سُرَبِ | |
---|---|
Script type | |
Time period | c. 1400 CE to the present |
Direction | Right-to-left |
Languages | |
Sister systems | Pegon script, Jawi script |
Sorabe or Sora-be (سُرَبِ, Malagasy pronunciation:
History
Researchers are still hypothesizing about the origins of the Sorabe alphabet. "Sorabe" means literally "large writings" from
Traditionally, researchers have speculated that this writing system was introduced through commercial contacts of the
A couple of hundred old manuscripts written in the Sorabe alphabet have survived to this day, though the oldest manuscript may have been written no earlier than the 17th century.
Sorabe eventually spread across the island beginning in the 17th century and, at the end of the 18th century, the
Nowadays Malagasy is written using
Alphabet
Pegon uses the original letters of Arabic script. Unlike many languages that have adopted Arabic script, no new letters were created in Sorabe script in order to make it suitable for Malagasy phonology. However, in order to actually accommodate Malagasy phonology, two other ways have historically been employed in manuscripts.
Firstly, the
Another way has been to use Arabic letters in ways completely different from their Arabic sounds. For example, while Arabic letter
Similar to the Pegon script (historically, not so much in more modern conventions) from Indonesia and the Ajami script from mainland Africa, only consonants are represented by letters, but all vowels are written down as well, in the form of Arabic diacritics. Without diacritics, correct reading will not be possible. For example, the word او can either mean tuber (اُوِ, ovy) or "some who comes" (اَوِ, avy).[8]
Consonants
The table below lists all the consonants used for the writing of Malagasy in Sorabe script. The script doesn't fully represent all aspects of Malagasy phonology. For example, it makes no distinction between plain and prenasalized consonants. An interesting fact about this script is the use of the letter ي for what is represented in Latin with "z". This is the Arabic Ya' letter, and it represents the [y] sound. Other Arabic letters may be seen in manuscripts, but their usage has been limited to Arabic quotes or loanwords.
Isolated | Final | Medial | Initial | IPA | Modern Latin |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ا | ـا | ا | /ʔ/ | - | |
ب | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | /b, ᵐb/ | b / mb |
ت | ـة | ـتـ | تـ | /ts, ⁿts/ | ts / nts |
ج | ـج | ـجـ | جـ | /dz, ⁿdz/ | j / nj |
ڊ | ـڊ | ڊ | /d/ | d | |
ر | ـر | ر | /r/ | r | |
رّ | ـرّ | رّ | /ɖʳ, ᶯɖʳ, ʈʳ, ᶯʈʳ/ | dr / ndr / tr / ntr | |
س | ـس | ـسـ | سـ | /s/ | s |
ࢋ | ـࢋ | ـࢋـ | ࢋـ | /t, ⁿt/ | t / nt |
ع | ـع | ـعـ | عـ | /ŋ/ | n̈ |
غ | ـغ | ـغـ | غـ | /g, ᵑɡ/ | g / ng |
ٯ | ـٯ | ـڧـ | ڧـ | /f/ | f |
ٯّ | ـٯّ | ـڧّـ | ڧّـ | /p, ᵐp/ | p / mp |
ك | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | /k, ᵑk/ | k / nk |
ل | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | /l/ | l |
م | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | /m/ | m |
ن | ـن | ـنـ | نـ | /n/ | n |
و | ـو | و | /v/ | v | |
ه | ـه | ـهـ | هـ | /h/ | h |
ي | ـي | ـيـ | يـ | /z/ | z |
Vowels and sequences
Sukun (Zero-vowel) |
-a | -e / -i / -y | -o ( -u) |
---|---|---|---|
◌ْ | ◌َ | ◌ِ | ◌ُ |
A | E / I | O |
---|---|---|
اَ | اِ | اُ |
B | Ba | Be / Bi / By | Bo |
---|---|---|---|
بْـ / بْ | بَـ / بَ | بِـ / بِ | بُـ / بُ |
Dr | Dra | Dre / Dri / Dry | Dro |
رّْ | رَّ | رِّ | رُّ |
In Sorabe manuscripts, vowel sequences and some syllables at the end of words are written following certain conventions. Below is a summary chart. Examples for each are shown as well.[4]
Latin | Sorabe | Sample Sorabe |
Sample Latin |
Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|
Ai | اَيْـ / اَيْ | اَيْيَ | aiza | where |
-ai | ◌َيْـ / ◌َيْ | اَࢋَيْ | antai | here is- |
Ao | اَوْ | اَوْوَعَ | aovan̈a | does it |
-ao | ◌َوْ | ࢋُكَوِنَوْ | tokavinao | you're right |
-ea | ◌ِيًـ / ◌ِيً | اِهَرِيًتَرَ | ihareatsara | will be improved |
-eo | ◌ِوْ | هَنَرِوْ | hanareo | you will hear |
-ia | ◌ِيًـ / ◌ِيً | نِيًكِيَ | niankeza | went to |
Io | اِوْ | اِوْ | io | this |
-io | ◌ِوْ | تِمِوْوَ | tsy miova | doesn't change |
-ma1 | ـمَا | فِنُمَا | finoma | good, fine |
-oa | ◌ُوً | فَنُفُّوً | fanompoa | service |
-oi | ◌ُيْـ / ◌ُيْ | ࢋُيْعُ نَوْ | toin̈onao | your mood |
- Notes
- At end of words.
Sample text
The following is a sample text in Malagasy of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[9]
Latin script | Teraka afaka sy mitovy zo sy fahamendrehana ny olombelona rehetra. Samy manan-tsaina sy fieritreretana ka tokony hifampitondra ampirahalahiana. |
---|---|
Sorabe alphabet | ࢋِرَكَ اَفَكَ سِ مِࢋُوِ زُ سِ فَهَمِرِّهَنَ نِ اُلُبِلُنَ رِهِرَّ. سَمِ مَنَنْتَيْنَ سِ فِيْرِرِّرِࢋَنَ كَ ࢋُكُنِ هِفَفِّࢋُرَّ اَفِّرَهَلَهِيْنَ. |
See also
References
- ^ Adelaar K.A. & Himmelmann N. (2004)
- ^ Simon P. (2006)
- ^ Kasanga Fernand (1990)
- ^ a b c Ferrand, Gabriel (1905)
- ^ Adelaar K.A. & Himmelmann N. (2004)
- ^ Simon P. (2006)
- ^ Adelaar, Alexander (2018). "Seventeenth century texts as a key to Malagasy linguistic and ethnic history" (PDF). 14th International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics: 17–20.
- ^ a b FERRAND, Gabriel. (1906) Un Texte Arabico-Malgache Du XVIe siècle Transcrit, Traduit Et annoté D'apres Les MSS. 7 Et 8 De La bibliothèque Nationale Par M.G. Ferrand.. http://ia800309.us.archive.org/29/items/untextearabicoma00pariuoft/untextearabicoma00pariuoft.pdf
- ^ "OHCHR | Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Javanese". OHCHR. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
Bibliography
- (in English) Adelaar K.A. & Himmelmann N. (2004), The Austronesian Language of Asia and Madagascar, Routledge [1] .
- (in French) Ferrand, Gabriel (1905). Les migrations musulmanes et juives à Madagascar. Paris: Revue de l'histoire des religions.
- MRKasanga Fernand (1990), Fifindra-monina, Librairie FLM, Antananarivo.
- (in French) Simon P. (2006) La langue des ancêtres. Ny Fitenin-drazana. Une périodisation du malgache des origines au XVe siècle, L'Harmattan [2].
External links
- Book containing Malagasy manuscripts in Sorabe alphabet, plus transliteration and translation (1906) Un Texte Arabico-Malgache Du XVIe siècle By FERRAND, Gabriel http://ia800309.us.archive.org/29/items/untextearabicoma00pariuoft/untextearabicoma00pariuoft.pdf
- La Case, les Sorabe, l'Histoire
- Arabic in Madagascar, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2001
- East Barito: Who Were the Malayo-Polynesian Migrants to Madagascar?