Belarusian Arabic alphabet


The Belarusian Arabic alphabet or the Belarusian Arabica was based on the Perso-Arabic script and was developed in the 15th or 16th century. It consisted of 28 graphemes, including several additions to represent Belarusian phonemes not found in the Arabic language.
The Belarusian Arabic alphabet was used by the Lipka Tatars, who had been invited to settle in the eastern territories of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania—a region that now comprises modern-day Belarus. During the 14th–16th centuries they gradually stopped using their own language and started using the Ruthenian language rendered in the Belarusian Arabic alphabet. Books of that literary tradition are known in Belarusian as Kitab, which is Arabic for 'book' or 'written material'.
Some Polish texts were also written in the Arabic script in the 17th century or later.

Additional graphemes

  • For the sounds, and, which are absent from the Arabic language, the following Persian graphemes were used:
  • For denoting the soft and sounds, the following newly constructed graphemes were used:
  • The sounds and were both represented by the same symbol:

Equivalence chart

Vowels

/a/ is consistently written long, while /e/ is consistently written short.
/o/ is most commonly written long.

Sample text

Below is a sample text, Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Belarusian Cyrillic alphabetУсе людзі нараджаюцца свабоднымі i роўнымі ў сваёй годнасці i правах. Яны надзелены розумам i сумленнем i павінны ставіцца адзін да аднаго ў духу брацтва.
Belarusian Latin alphabetUsie ludzi naradžajucca svabodnymi i roŭnymi ŭ svajoj hodnaści i pravach. Jany nadzieleny rozumam i sumlenniem i pavinny stavicca adzin da adnaho ŭ duchu bractva.
Belarusian Arabic alphabet
Belarusian IPA transcription
English translationAll 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.