The Arabic Script in Africa

Studies in the Use of a Writing System

Bibliographic Data

ID23809654
EditorsMeikal Mumin, Kees Versteegh (0009-0003-1322-3967)
Year2014
Publication date2014-01-30
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueArabic Script in Africa (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/9789004256804
OpenAlexW2703019283
ISBN9789004256804
LanguageEN
Citations received15

The Arabic script in Africa contains sixteen papers on the past and present use of Arabic script to write African languages. These writing traditions, which are sometimes collectively referred to as Ajami, are discussed for single or multiple languages, with examples from all major linguistic phyla of Africa but one (Khoisan), and from all geographic areas of Africa (North, West, Central, East, and South Africa), as well as a paper on the Ajami heritage in the Americas. The papers analyze (ethno-) historical, literary, (socio-) linguistic, and in particular grammatological aspects of these previously understudied writing traditions and exemplify their range and scope, providing new data for the comparative study of writing systems, literacy in Africa, and the history of (Islam in) Africa.

Arabic · Arabic script · Archaeology · Bantu languages · Geography · Islam · Languages of Africa · Linguistics · Literacy · Middle East · Scope (computer science) · Sociology · Writing system · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Computer Science · History · Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis

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