Summary of Arabizi or Romanization: The dilemma of writing Arabic...

Summary of Arabizi or Romanization: The dilemma of writing Arabic texts
Jīl Jadīd Conference, University of Texas at Austin, February 18-19, 2011
Randa Muhammed (presenter), Mona Farrag (presenter), Nariman Elshamly, and Nady Abdel-Ghaffar
Abstract: This research investigates the phenomenon of writing Arabic using Latin letters which is
widespread among young Arab people, especially on Facebook. This paper looks into the issue
through three inter-related perspectives. First, historical review is made which identifies the earlier
proposals, presented during the 1930s and 1960s to the Academy of Arabic Language in Cairo
calling for a replacement of the Arabic alphabet by Roman letters. Second, a survey is conducted to
stand on the why and when young people are using Roman characters to write Arabic and to know
whether this has any influence on their Arab identity. Third, a list of the advantages and
disadvantages of this way of writing and whether it offered solutions to the problems of the Arabic
writing system. At the end, a scan of the appearance of this way of writing in media and software is
made to shed light on how far this system is developing.
Historical Context:
Between the years 1938 and 1964, the Academy of Arabic Language in Cairo received over three
hundred proposals to overcome the problems of the Arabic writing system (Mahmoud, 1980). Three major
problems were highlighted in these proposals. First, the majority of Arabic letters have different forms
according to their place in words (alone, initial, medial and final). With a total number ranging between 600
and 900 forms, Arabic letters posed problems in education and printing (Al-Toma, 1961). Second, the
absence of vowel diacritics from most written and printed Arabic texts caused difficulty in successfully
reading an un-vocalized Arabic text without a good grammatical knowledge (Mahmoud, 1980). In addition
to the two major defects mentioned above, the issues of resemblance between shapes of letters and using
dots to differentiate between them was put forward by the critics of the Arabic alphabet as a problem (Sabri,
1964).
This paper takes into account the proposals made to use Arabizi; the use of the Roman alphabet to
replace the Arabic one and to formally write in the Egyptian Colloquial Arabic (ECA) instead of Modern
Standard Arabic (MSA). Among the supporters of this trend were Salama Mousa, who praised the Turkish
lead experience in the 1940s (Al-Toma, 1961), and 'abd al-'aziz Fahmi, who made his proposal in 1944
(Fahmi, 1993). Fahmi proposed an alphabet that included Roman letters and symbols that replaced most of
the Arabic letters. However, in his proposed alphabet, he kept some of the traditional Arabic letters and used
forms closely resembling some others. Nevertheless, furious criticism against these proposals reached the
point of accusing Fahmi of being an infidel and an irreligious person. Then in 1964, Uthman Sabri, proposed
a similar project to Fahmi's. Wherein, a newly phonetic alphabet was created adapting its shape from the Arabic
alphabet overcoming the problem of connectivity.
The fate of all these proposals was the same: receiving a deaf ear! However, with the present
technological revolution, young Arab speakers are writing Arabic with Roman characters and numbers on
Facebook, chat, and mobile SMSs.
The research questions are: 1- How does the Arabizi way of writing solve the problems involved in
using Arabic alphabet? 2- How does Arabizi affect the Arab identity? As far as the knowledge of the
researchers go, there is no previous study done on the same issue in order to compare the results.
Method
Procedures, Participants and Data Collected:
A survey was used to investigate the current perception of the phenomenon among the pro and anti
Arabizi users. It attempted to find out the approximate percentage of users who are writing Arabic in Latin
letters, their reasons and attitudes towards this phenomenon and whether it affects their identity or not. A
survey was conducted and then expanded to focus on the effect of Arabizi on identity and its exposure in
media. It was conducted via the researchers‟ Facebook statuses, the statuses of some of their friends, and it
was also posted as a note on Facebook to collect more answers. Questions were posted for about 7 days and
renewed every two days. In the expanded research, some friends volunteered to send the questions in a
message to help in getting more and more varied responses. In total, seventy responses were gathered and
analyzed. Participants are all Facebook users who volunteered to respond. Their age ranges from 20 to 40
years old. They are all either university students or graduates.
Results and Discussion:
Eighty two percent of the participants confirm they use Arabizi; 40% of them use it most of the time
while 22% are always using it. The main reasons for using Arabizi are that it is easier and faster in typing
and that Arabic is not as technologically friendly. About 21% of the users added that Arabizi makes them
feel closer to each other. This way of writing is limited to young generations often among friends and
colleagues of the same age. The informants say it is not commonly used by older generations, work seniors,
or people of a higher status. There is almost a consensus that this technique is not used in formal or religious
contexts. Arabizi users report they shift to Arabic characters only when they want to write a religious verse
or hadith.
It is noticed that all of the participants are bilinguals and they say they shift to Arabizi when they do
not find English words equivalent to what they want to say in Arabic, as when telling jokes and funny
stories. They feel it makes their message clearer and easier to understand. Moreover, they claim that it is
becoming a more standardized way of writing, so there is no need to shift to Arabic characters. On the other
hand, 17% identified two main reasons why they never use Arabizi. First, respect for Arabic language as the
language of the Quran and the language that preserves their identity and prevents English domination. In this
sense, it can be seen as a sociolinguistic device preserving one‟s identity (Bassiouney, 2009). Second,
Arabizi causes them confusion and they are slow in reading it especially because it is not standardized. Also
they say that there are software and computer systems that support Arabic; hence, there is no need for them
to write Arabic using Latin letters.
The extended part shed light on identity on two levels: the speech community and the Arab identity.
Twenty eight responses were analyzed. With regard to speech community, 21% stated that using Latin
characters while writing Arabic has effectively contributed to establish a bond with other users of this form
of writing. They have no difficulty understanding each other‟s comments and expressing what they want to
say. Others state that the efficiency of Arabizi in communication depends on the people using it. A number
of participants expressed their feeling that they are going with the flow and following the “norms”, as one of
them says: „it is a new trend and everybody is coping with it”. Hence, it can be considered as a
sociolinguistic device to accommodate oneself to the norms of a “speech community”(Bassiouney, 2009).
As for the question regarding Arab identity, about 60% assert that Arabizi does not in any way affect
their identity as Arabs. However, some of them state that it might have side effects on younger generation as
it has already started to harm their Arabic language. The remaining 40 % feel that the use of Arabizi
negatively impacts their identity leading them to feel that they have become more westernized. However,
some of them draw attention to the fact that Arabizi users are actually using Arabic language and it is only
the characters that are not Arabic. They think that people who feel insecure about their Arabic and English
tend to use Arabizi to avoid making mistakes in both languages; or avoid what is called “language police”
(El Essawi, 2010).
Advantages and Disadvantages of Arabizi:
Advantages:
A) Representation of sounds that do not exist in other Latin alphabet by numbers. B) Tanween. C)
Vocalization (short vowels).
Disadvantages:
A) Inconsistency in the symbols used to represent the same sound. B) Using the same symbol to emphatic
and non-emphatic sounds. C) Adding apostrophes to some of the newly used symbols. D) Vocalization (long
vowels). E) It takes longer time to be mentally processed and recognized. F) It is inappropriate in formal
talks, and above all religious discussions.
Hence, in answer to the first research question, Arabizi, as older proposals, seems to fail to provide an allinclusive solution to the Arabic writing system.
Occurrences in media and software:
Participants report that they noticed the use of Arabizi in media and commercials and they think that this
is unacceptable, unprofessional, and inadequate. Some of them even go far to describe it as annoying and
irritating. Researchers conducted a scan on the appearance of this way of writing in media and commercials.
From their observations, this way of writing is increasing and more software is being developed to uncode it.
Limitations:
Limitations of this research can be summed up in the following points; only one method to reach subjects
was used and the sample size was rather small and was selected through personal contacts of two of the
researchers. Also the researchers did not have a chance to discuss some unclear responses with the
participants. Hence, the results of the study cannot be assumed to be generalized to other populations beyond
this group of subjects.
Further Research:
Further research is needed to know the impact of Arabizi on Arabic Foreign Language learners. Some
technical information is required to know the development of the layout of the Arabic keyboard and whether
it is user-friendly. Arabizi also needs to be investigated in age groups other than the participants.
Conclusion:
The emergence of Arabizi is very interesting because it was previously not a widely used language form.
As an important means of human communication, the Internet is bound to have an important long-term
effect on language use. The trend of using Latin letters when writing Arabic may prove to be temporary.
However, this form of language is not only limited to online communication and cell phones as we may
think. It is now moving beyond communication through Facebook and cell phone, and is seen on other
media, such as television commercials and advertisements in the streets and newspapers. Thus, this research
concludes with the question: Will this trend grow and be the common form of writing in all our modern
communication? This needs further investigation and research in order to be answered.
References:
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