mhs@houxa.UUCP (M.SHERIF) (09/08/87)
Regarding the discussion on the Arabic/Persian/Urdu character set, I would like to add the following remarks, The "official" Arabic character set consists of 28 characters, however there are "unofficial" characters used in different countries to represent the sounds 'p','v','g' and 'j'. 1) The P is represented as a B with three dots underneath. This borrowing from Persian is consistently used in handwritten literature, although it is not available in most fonts, e.g. the one used by Al-Ahram, which is a de-facto standard. 2) The 'v' is represented as an 'f' with three dots over it. This representation is not in Persian/Urdu since in these languages the 'w' is pronounced as 'v.' 3) The G is somewhat of a problem, especially that in Cairo and Alexandria, the Djim is pronounced G (e.g, Gamal Abd Al-Nasser instead of Djamal). However, in Iraq, the Persian "Gag" (Kaf with a dash over it) is used to represent this sound. In Lebanon and Syria, the "Kaf" is used without this dash, but people often pronounce the "Gaf" from the context. (e.g., "Karaj" for "Garage"). Sometimes, the "Gh" is used to represent the Gaf (e.g., Bulgharia, Bortoghal), and again the correct pronunciation is determined from the context. Egyptians, however, do not make this distinction. In Morrocco, due to Berber influence, many names have the 'gaf' sound (e.g, Agadir) and this is represented with a 'kaf' with three dots on top of it. 4) The problem with the 'J' is related to that of the 'G.' The Djim is pronounced 'J' in Syria and Lebanon and 'G' in Cairo/Alexandria. In Egypt and North Africa, the 'J' is represented as a "Djim" with three dots. Note that this sound is represented as a 'zay' with three dots in Persian/Urdu. Therefore, I think an Arabic character set should accommodate this regional variations and should not be restricted to the "official" character set of Al-Ahram. Hashem Sherif houxa!mhs or hotlx!mos (201) 949-0439