The spelling conventions suggested here for current-day Swahili reflect those developed by Marehemu Mu'allim Sheikh Yahya Ali Omar, and used in various manuscripts he wrote, along with the principles set out in the academic article he wrote in collaboration with PJL Frankl [1]. This section sets out the main elements of my interpretation of these source, giving various examples. I would be happy to hear from anyone who has any comments on the conventions.
[1] Omar, YA in collaboration with Frankl PJL (1997): "An historical review of the Arabic rendering of Swahili, together with proposals for the development of a Swahili writing system in Arabic script." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 7, 1: 55-71.
[1] The marking of vowel sequences using hamza is handled in just one page of the Omar/Frankl paper (Appendix B: The Hamza in Swahili Arabic script). I have expanded on the principles set out there in an attempt to remove any ambiguities.
Swahili name | Keystrokes | Arabic script | Roman script / Description | Example | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AltGr+a followed by a | أَ | a - initial | أَسٗومَ | asoma (he reads) | |
fataha | a | َ | a - non-initial, non-penultimate | بَهَرِينِ | baharini (in the sea) |
a followed by Shift+a | ا َ | a - penultimate | سَاسَ | sasa (now) | |
\ (backslash) followed by e | إٖ | e - initial | إٖندٖلٖئَ | endelea (go on!) | |
kasiri ya kusimama | e | ٖ | e - non-initial, non-penultimate | كٖلٖيلٖ | kelele (shout) |
e followed by Shift+e | ي ٖ | e - penultimate | نجٖيمَ | njema (good) | |
\ (backslash) followed by i | إِ | i - initial | إِسِپٗكُوَ | isipokuwa (unless) | |
kasiri | i | ِ | i - non-initial, non-penultimate | كِتَابُ | kitabu (book) |
i followed by Shift+i | ي ِ | i - penultimate | مَشِيزِ | mashizi (soot) | |
AltGr+a followed by o | أٗ | o - initial | أٗكتٗوبَ | Oktoba (Oktober) | |
dhuma ya kupindua | o | ٗ | o - non-initial, non-penultimate | كِلِيمٗ | kilimo (cultivation) |
o followed by Shift+o | و ٗ | o - penultimate | مْكٗونڠَ | mkonga (elephant's trunk) | |
AltGr+a followed by u | أُ | u - initial | أُلِيمِ | ulimi (tongue) | |
dhuma | u | ُ | u - non-initial, non-penultimate | كُشُكُورُ | kushukuru ( to give thanks) |
u followed by Shift+u | و ُ | u - penultimate | كُومِ | kumi (ten) |
Swahili name | Keystrokes | Arabic script | Roman script / Description | Example | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
bee | b | ب | b | كِبُورِ | kiburi (arrogance) |
pee | p | پ | p | كُپَاكَ | kupaka (to paint) |
tee | t | ت | t - dental t | فِتِينَ | fitina (intrigue) |
t followed by h | ته | t - aspirated dental t (Mombasa) | تهُوپَ | t'upa (bottle) | |
AltGr+Shift+t | ٹ | t - alveolar t (Mombasa) | ٹُنڈُ | tundu (chicken coop) | |
thee | Shift+t | ث | th | ثَمَنِينِ | thamanini (eighty) |
jimu | j | ج | j | جَانَ | jana (yesterday) |
chimu | c | چ | ch | چُونڠوَ | chungwa (large orange) |
c followed by h | چه | ch - aspirated ch (Mombasa) | چهُونڠوَ | ch'ungwa (medium-sized orange) | |
hhee | Shift+h | ح | h | حَسَن | Hasan (Hasan [name]) |
khee | x | خ | h / kh | خَبَارِ | [k]habari (news) |
dali | d | د | d | كُدَنڠَانيَ | kudanganya (to deceive) |
AltGr+Shift+d | ڈ | d - alveolar d (Mombasa) | ٹُنڈُ | tundu (chicken coop) | |
dhali | Shift+d | ذ | dh | ذَهَابُ | dhahabu (gold) |
ree | r | ر | r | كُرُودِ | kurudi (to come back) |
zee | z | ز | z | كُزِيمَ | kuzima (to extinguish) |
Shift+z | ژ | zh (Northern) | ژِينَ | zhina (name) | |
sini | s | س | s | كُسِمَامَ | kusimama (to stand) |
shini | Shift+s | ش | sh | كُشِيكَ | kushika (to hold) |
sadi | AltGr+s | ص | s | صَحِيبُ | sahibu (friend) |
dhadi | AltGr+d | ض | dh | ضِيكِ | dhiki (distress) |
tee | AltGr+t | ط | t | كُطَهِرِيشَ | kutahirisha (to purify) |
zee | AltGr+z | ظ | dh | أَظُهُورِ | adhuhuri (noon) |
ayni | ' (single-quote) | ع | ' | مَعَانَ | ma'ana (meaning) |
ghayni | Shift+g | غ | gh | غَضَابُ | ghadhabu (anger) |
gayni | g | ڠ | g | ڠُنِئَ | gunia (sack) |
ng'ayni | n followed by Shift+n | نݝ | ng' | نݝٗومبٖ | ng'ombe (cattle) |
fee | f | ف | f | فِيڠٗ | figo (kidneys) |
vee | v | ڤ | v | كُڤِيمبَ | kuvimba (to swell) |
qafu | q | ق | q | وَقْفُ | waqfu (consecrated) |
kafu | k | ك | k | كُوكُ | kuku (large hen) |
k followed by h | كه | k - aspirated k (Mombasa) | كهُوكُ | k'uku (medium-sized hen) | |
lamu | l | ل | l | كُلِيمَ | kulima (to dig) |
mimu | m | م | m - non-syllabic | مِيمِ | mimi (I) |
nuni | n | ن | n | نَانِ | nani (who?) |
hee | h | ه | h | هَاكٗ | hako (he is not here) |
wau | w | و | w | كُوَ | kuwa (to be) |
wau | AltGr+Shift+w | ۏ | w - labio-dental w (Mombasa) | ۏِينٗ | wino (ink) |
yee | y | ي | y | يَاكٗ | yako (your) |
hamza | AltGr+Shift+h | ء | (vowel-carrier) | تَاءٗ | tao (arch) |
hamza | Shift+ , (comma) | ٔ | (marks long vowels used as vowel-carriers) |
كُپِكِئَ | kupikia (to cook for) |
sakani | Shift+ . (full stop) | ْ | (marks a consonant without a following vowel) |
أَسْلَارِ | askari (soldier) |
shada | Shift+ ' (single-quote) | ّ | (marks a doubled consonant in Arabic words) |
وَالنَّهَارِ | wa-nnahari(and day) |
This section sets out a comparison between the systems in Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts, the Omar/Frankl paper, and Andika!. The comparison is summarised in the table below.
Feature | Manuscripts | Paper | Andika! |
---|---|---|---|
Sakani is marked on long vowels | |||
All short vowels are marked | |||
Sakani on consonants denotes syllabicity only | |||
Distinction between syllabicity and prenasalisation |
In Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts, ي و carry a sakani when used to mark length/stress in the penultimate syllable, eg مَزِيْوَ (maziwa, milk). However, in the Omar/Frankl article, sakani is not used here ﴾eg مَزيوَ). The suggested spelling in Andika! reflects this (though there is nothing to stop users marking sakani if they wish, and it is possible to choose this as an option in the Roman to Arabic converter).
In Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts, all short vowels are marked, but the Omar/Frankl paper proposed that marking these is unnecessary in certain situations:
However, the suggested spelling convention in Andika!, as in Sheikh Yahya's own manuscripts, is that all short vowels are marked, thus: شُكُورُ - فِكِيرِ - تَپَكَازَ - ذَهَابُ - ثَمَنِينِ. There are a few practical reasons for this:
Arabic sukun marks the absence of a vowel after a consonant. In Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts, sakani is used consistently for this purpose (alongside its use on long vowels). Thus: أُنَڤْيٗوٖيزَ (unavyoweza, how you can), كْوَ (kwa, to, by, for). Its most common occurrence is on a nasal before another consonant: أِنْڠَوَ (ingawa, although), نْجٖيمَ (njema, good).
Its use on nasals means that sakani can also denote syllabicity, and in the Omar/Frankl paper, its function appears to be limited solely to that. The aim again was most likely to limit the number of diacritics in the text. The suggested convention in Andika!, however, is to follow the manuscript practice, and use sakani on the first consonant of multi-consonant clusters. In case some users feel that this leads to clutter, an option is added in the Roman to Arabic converter to turn it off.
Although the Roman orthography does not distinguish these two sounds, both Sheikh Yahya's manuscripts and the Omar/Frankl paper make a distinction between a syllabic nasal followed by a voiced plosive (eg m̩b) and a prenasalised voiced plosive (eg nɓ). The former is written with a preceding ْم, and the latter with a preceding ن, as in مْبَيَ (mbaya, bad [Class1]) compared to نبَايَ (mbaya, bad [Class 9]).
Andika! will of course allow this distinction to be made in the Arabic script should a writer wish to do so. However, the Roman to Arabic converter cannot do this (since the distinction is not reflected in the standard orthography), and will always convert mb to مْب, so automatically-converted text will need post-editing to reflect this distinction.