Arebica

Arebica
Script type	Alphabet, based upon the Perso-Arabic script
Time period	15th–20th century
Languages	Bosnian (Serbo-Croatian)

The handbook, Bosnian Book of the Science of Conduct published in 1831 by the Bosnian author and poet Seid Abdulvehab Ilhamija, is printed in Arebica.

Arebica (pronounced [arebit͡sa], عَرَبٖىڄا) is a Bosniak variant of the Perso-Arabic script used to write the Bosnian language (بۉسانسقٖى يەزٖىق). It was used mainly between the 15th and 19th centuries and is frequently categorized as part of Aljamiado literature. Before World War I there were unsuccessful efforts by Bosnian Muslims to adopt Arebica as the third official alphabet for Bosnian alongside Latin and Cyrillic.

Apart from literature, Arebica was used in religious schools and administration, though in much less use than other scripts.

Origin

Arebica was based on the Perso-Arabic script of the Ottoman Empire, with added letters for /t͡s/, /ʎ/ and /ɲ/, which are not found in Arabic, Persian or Turkish. Full letters were eventually introduced for all vowels (as with Kurdish Arabic script), making Arebica a true alphabet, unlike its Perso-Arabic base.

The final version of Arebica was devised by Mehmed Džemaludin Čaušević at the end of the 19th century. His version is called Matufovica, Matufovača or Mektebica.

Contemporary use

The first literary work to be published in Arebica for 64 years (since 1941) was a comic book "Hadži Šefko i hadži Mefko" in 2005 (authors Amir Al-Zubi and Meliha Čičak-Al-Zubi). The authors made slight modifications to Arebica.

The first book in Arebica with an ISBN was "Epohe fonetske misli kod Arapa i arebica" ("The Age of Phonetic Thought of Arabs and Arebica") in April 2013 in Belgrade by Aldin Mustafić, MSc.
This book represents the completion of the standardization of Mehmed Džemaludin Čaušević's version, and is also a textbook for higher education.

Alphabet

The final version of Arebica alphabet was devised at the end of the 19th century by Mehmed Džemaludin Čaušević.

Latin	Cyrillic	Arebica
		Contextual forms			Isolated
		Final	Medial	Initial
A a	А а	ـآ		آ
B b	Б б	ـب	ـبـ	بـ	ب
C c	Ц ц	ـڄ	ـڄـ	ڄـ	ڄ
Č č	Ч ч	ـچ	ـچـ	چـ	چ
Ć ć	Ћ ћ				[b]
D d	Д д	ـد		د
Dž dž	Џ џ	ـج	ـجـ	جـ	ج [c]
Đ đ	Ђ ђ
E e	Е е	ـە		ە
F f	Ф ф	ـف	ـفـ	فـ	ف
G g	Г г	ـغ	ـغـ	غـ	غ
H h	Х х	ـح	ـحـ	حـ	ح
I i	И и	ـاٖى ـٖى	ـاٖىـ ـٖىـ	اٖىـ	اٖى [a]
J j	Ј ј	ـي	ـيـ	يـ	ي
K k	К к	ـق	ـقـ	قـ	ق
L l	Л л	ـل	ـلـ	لـ	ل
Lj lj	Љ љ	ـڵ	ـڵـ	ڵـ	ڵ
M m	М м	ـم	ـمـ	مـ	م
N n	Н н	ـن	ـنـ	نـ	ن
Nj nj	Њ њ	ـںٛ	ـٮٛـ	ٮٛـ	ںٛ [b]
O o	О о	ـۉ		ۉ
P p	П п	ـپ	ـپـ	پـ	پ
R r	Р р	ـر		ر
S s	С с	ـس	ـسـ	سـ	س
Š š	Ш ш	ـش	ـشـ	شـ	ش
T t	Т т	ـت	ـتـ	تـ	ت
U u	У у	ـۆ		ۆ
V v	В в	ـو		و
Z z	З з	ـز		ز
Ž ž	Ж ж	ـژ		ژ

Notes

• ^a The diacritic beneath the ا appears on the letter preceding the ى.
• ^b Mustafić uses ڃ and ݩ instead of and for Ć ć/Ћ ћ and Nj nj/Њ њ .
• ^c Mustafić uses ݗ and Al-Zubi and Čičak-Al-Zubi use ڠ for Đ đ/Ђ ђ.

Ligatures

Like the standard Arabic alphabet, when ا connects to either ل or ڵ a special ligature is used instead.

Latin	Cyrillic	Arebica
		Contextual forms			Isolated
		Final	Medial	Initial
la	ла	ـلا		لا
lja	ља	ـڵا		ڵا

Text examples

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

Bosnian (Arebica):	سوا ڵۆدسقا بٖىڃا راݗايۆ سە سلۉبۉدنا وٖ يەدناقا ۆ دۉستۉيانستوۆ وٖ پراوىما. ۉنا سۆ ۉبدارەنا رازۆمۉم وٖ سوۀشڃۆ وٖ ترەبا دا يەدنۉ پرەما درۆغۉمە پۉستۆپايۆ ۆ دۆحۆ براتستوا.
Bosnian (Latinica):	Sva ljudska bića rađaju se slobodna i jednaka u dostojanstvu i pravima. Ona su obdarena razumom i sviješću i treba da jedno prema drugome postupaju u duhu bratstva.
English:	All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Tehran

Bosnian (Arebica):	تَهْرَان يە غلاونٖى وٖ نايوەڃٖى غراد إِيرَانا، سەدٖىشتە تَهْرَانسقە پۉقرايٖىنە وٖ يەدان ۉد نايوەڃٖىح غرادۉوا سوۀتا.
Bosnian (Latinica):	Teheran je glavni i najveći grad Irana, sjedište Teheranske pokrajine i jedan od najvećih gradova svijeta.
English:	Tehran is the capital and largest city of Iran, capital of Tehran Province and one of the largest cities in the world.

See also

• Aljamiado
• Sevdah
• Belarusian Arabic alphabet, another script used by Slavic-speaking Muslims
• Chirvat-türkisi
• Gaj's Latin alphabet
• Muhamed Hevaji Uskufi Bosnevi
• Category:Arabic alphabets

External links

• Ottoman Turkish / Arabic keyboard (including Bosnian characters)
• UDHR in Arebica (Bosnian)

References

• Enciklopedija leksikografskog zavoda, entry: Arabica. Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod, Zagreb, 1966