Arwi
Arabic alphabet used in Tamil language
title: "Arwi" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["tamil-dialects", "arabic-alphabets", "sri-lankan-moors", "arabic-alphabets-for-south-asian-languages"] description: "Arabic alphabet used in Tamil language" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arwi" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Arabic alphabet used in Tamil language ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox writing system"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Arwi / Arabu-Tamil |
| native_name | / |
| bodystyle | Which |
| type | Abjad |
| qid | Q1828555 |
| region | India, Sri Lanka |
| romanised_from | al-'arwiyyah |
| caption | Arwi written in Arabic Script |
| languages | Tamil |
| time | At least 13th century-present |
| status | Religious uses only |
| fam1 | Egyptian hieroglyphs |
| fam2 | Proto-Sinaitic |
| fam3 | Phoenician |
| fam4 | Aramaic |
| fam5 | Nabataean |
| fam6 | Arabic |
| sisters | Arabi Malayalam |
| iso15924 | Arab |
| sample | Arwi Title.png |
| imagesize | 200px |
| :: |
| mode = | name = Arwi / Arabu-Tamil | native_name = / | bodystyle = Which | type = Abjad | qid = Q1828555 | direction = | region = India, Sri Lanka | romanised_from = al-'arwiyyah | caption = Arwi written in Arabic Script | languages = Tamil | published = | time = At least 13th century-present | status = Religious uses only | fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs | fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic | fam3 = Phoenician | fam4 = Aramaic | fam5 = Nabataean | fam6 = Arabic | sisters = Arabi Malayalam | iso15924 = Arab | imagestyle = | sample = Arwi Title.png | imagesize = 200px Arwi ({{naskh|أَرْوِيُّ}} ar) or Arabu-Tamil (, عَرَبُ تَّمِۻْ ta) is an Arabic-influenced dialect of the Tamil language written with an extension of the Arabic alphabet, with extensive lexical and phonetic influences from the Arabic language. Arwi has been used extensively by the Muslims of the Tamil Nadu state of India and Sri Lanka.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/Kilakarai_Arabic_tombstone.jpg" caption="Old Jumma Masjid"] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Multilingual_(Tamil_and_Malayalam_-_Arabic_script)advertisement-catalogue_of_books_and_textiles-Ponnani(1908).jpg" caption="A multilingual advertisement with a catalogue of books and textiles available from a shop in Ponnani in 1908. Text on the left hand side is Arabi-Tamil, text on the right hand side, [[Arabi Malayalam script"] ::
Arwi was an outcome of the cultural synthesis between seafaring Arabs and Tamil-speaking Muslims of Tamil Nadu. This language was enriched, promoted and developed in Kayalpattinam. It had a rich body of work in jurisprudence, Sufism, law, medicine and sexology, of which little has been preserved. It was used as a bridge language for Tamil Muslims to learn Arabic. 216 th year commemoration today: Remembering His Holiness Bukhary Thangal Sunday Observer – January 5, 2003. Online version accessed on 2009-08-14 The patrons of Arwi do not seem to have been highly associated with any political powers of Southern Indian history, including Muslim-ruled states (such as the Deccan sultanates), which were rather influenced by Central Asia and Northern India, preferring the use of Persian, Dakhni and later Urdu. It is therefore a community-based script and dialect, limited to the Labbays and the Marrakayars communities in Southern India, and to the Sri Lankan Moors and the Indian Moors of Ceylon. Many hadith manuscripts have been found. Most of the fiqh books, particularly those of Imaam Abu Hanifa and Imaam Shaafi, have been found in Arwi.
There was also a translation of the Bible into Arwi in 1926.
Arwi still has a place among the more Arwi Muslim and Sri Lankan Moor families.
Script
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Image-Arwi.png"] ::
The Arwi alphabet is the Arabic alphabet, with thirteen additional letters used to represent the Tamil vowels e and o and several Tamil consonants that could not be mapped to Arabic sounds.
Vowels
::data[format=table title="lang="en" dir="ltr"| Arwi vowels arranged according to the [[Tamil script|Tamil order]] (right to left)"]
| ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ta | ∅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
:Notes
- Unlike other vowels, and unlike in Persian, Urdu, or Arabic, when vowels i, ī, e, ē come at the beginning of a word (respectively இ, ஈ, எ, ஏ), the vowel carrier is not alif (ا) but is instead yeh (یـ). This spelling indicates the loss of glottal stop in words which start with these vowels, and its replacement by a palatal sound. In rare cases, these vowels have indeed been written with alif as their base.
Consonants
::data[format=table title="Arwi alphabetTschacher, T. (2001). ''Islam in Tamilnadu: Varia''. Institut für Indologie und Südasienwissenschaften der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. [https://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf URL] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240826173726/https://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf Archive])"] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | Arabic (Tamil) (Latin) [IPA] | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | (ஆ) (ā) // | (ப) (b) | 1 (த) (t) | 1 (த) (t) | (ஜ) (j) | 2 (ச) (c) | | | (ஹ) (h) | (க / ஃக) (k, kh) () | (த) (d) () | 3 (ட) (ṭ) | (ஜ / ஃஜ) (z) () | (ற) (ṟ) | | | (ர) (r) | (ஜ / ஃஜ) (z) () | (ஸ) (s) | 2 (ச)(ஷ, ஶ) (c, ṣ, ś) /[~] | (ச) (c) | (த) (t) | | | 4 (ள) (ḷ) | 4 (ழ) (ḻ) | (த) (t) | (ச) (c) | (-) (’) | (ங) (ṅ) | | | (க) (k, gh) | (ப / ஃப) (f) | (ப) (p) | (க) (k, q) | 5 (க) (k) | 5 (க) (k) | | | (ல) (l) | (ம) (m) | 6 (ந, ன, ஞ) (n, ṉ, ñ) // | (ண) (ṇ) | (வ)(ௌ, ோ, ூ) (v, au, ō, ū) /[] | (ஹ) (h) | | | (ய)(ை, ே, ீ) (y, ai, ē, ī) /[] | | | | | | | ::
:Notes
- The letter த, representing the sound , has been written with the Arabic letter ت in the beginning of word, geminated, or in combination with other consonants. This letter has been written with the Arabic letter ث in between vowels.
- The letter ச, representing the sound [~], has been written with the Arabic letter چ in the beginning of word, geminated, or after a nasal consonant. This letter has been written with the Arabic letter ش in at the beginning of words and in between vowels. The Arabic letter ش also represents the Tamil letter ஷ, representing the sound and the Tamil letter ஶ representing the sound .
- For when this letter is geminated, i.e. ட்ட, some historic manuscripts used the letter dal with two dots underneath, the modified Arwi letter ڍ. But most manuscripts simply used the letter dal with one dot underneath, and with a gemination diacritic, the letter ڊّ.
- The Arabic letter صٜ has not been used in a widespread manner for representing the Tamil letter ள (representing the sound ). Most historic sources use the letter ۻ for this Tamil letter as well as for the Tamil letter ழ (representing the sound ).
- For the Tamil letter க, representing the sound [~], the Arabic letter ك is used. Except if this letter is in between vowels, or following a nasal sound, where the letter ࢴ is used.
- The Tamil letter ஞ representing the sound has usually been written with the Arabic letter ن. In addition, in rare occasions, this sound has been represented by the Arabic letter ݧ. This sound doesn't occur at beginning of words.
Sample Texts
Below are several sample texts in Arwi orthography, in standard Tamil Script, and transliterated into Latin as per ISO 15919.
::data[format=table]
| Arwi Script | Tamil Script | ISO 15919 Latin | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| {{lang | ta | சோனக இஸ்லாமிய கலாச்சார நிலையம் (அமைக்கப்பட்டது) | |
| {{lang | ta | என்னை ஆளும் வல்லோனே ஏகாந்த நாதா | |
| {{lang | ta | உன்னை அல்லாது வேறு யாரை விளிப்பேன் | |
| மனிதப் பிறவியினர் சகலரும் சுதந்திரமாகவே பிறக்கின்றனர்; அவர்கள் மதிப்பிலும் உரிமைகளிலும் சமமானவர்கள். அவர்கள் நியாயத்தையும் மனசாட்சியையும் இயற்பண்பாகப் பெற்றவர்கள். அவர்கள் ஒருவருடனொருவர் சகோதர உணர்வுப் பாங்கில் நடந்துகொள்ளல் வேண்டும். | Maṉitap piṟaviyiṉar cakalarum cutantiramākavē piṟakkiṉṟaṉar; avarkaḷ matippilum urimaikaḷilum camamāṉavarkaḷ. Avarkaḷ niyāyattaiyum maṉacāṭciyaiyum iyaṟpaṇpākap peṟṟavarkaḷ. Avarkaḷ oruvaruṭaṉoruvar cakōtara uṇarvup pāṅkil naṭantukoḷḷal vēṇṭum. | All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They possess conscience and reason. Therefore, everyone should act in a spirit of brotherhood towards each other. | |
| :: |
References
- Shu’ayb, Tayka. Arabic, Arwi and Persian in Sarandib and Tamil Nadu. Madras: Imāmul 'Arūs Trust, 1993.
- Yunush Ahamed Mohamed Sherif Arabu-Tamil/Arwi: the Identity of the Tamil Muslims TJPRC Publication.
- Dr. K. M. A. Ahamed Zubair. The Rise and Decline of Arabu–Tamil Language for Tamil Muslims IIUC STUDIES, 2014
- DR. S.M.M Mazahir. அறபுத் தமிழும் அறபுத்தமிழ் ஆக்கங்களும் 2018
References
- Tschacher, T. (2001). ''Islam in Tamilnadu: Varia''. Institut für Indologie und Südasienwissenschaften der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. [https://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf URL] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20240826173726/https://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf Archive])
- Zubair, KMA. Ahamed. (2016). ''The Rise and Decline of Arabu-Tamil Language for Tamil Muslims''. IIUC Studies, 10, 263–282. [https://doi.org/10.3329/iiucs.v10i0.27441] ([https://www.banglajol.info/index.php/IIUCS/article/download/27441/18306 Link])
- Torsten Tschacher (2001). ''Islam in Tamilnadu: Varia.'' (Südasienwissenschaftliche Arbeitsblätter 2.) Halle: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg. {{ISBN. 3-86010-627-9. (Online versions available on the websites of the university libraries at Heidelberg and Halle: [http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/volltexte/2009/1087/pdf/Tschacher.pdf http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/savifadok/volltexte/2009/1087/pdf/Tschacher.pdf] and [http://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf http://www.suedasien.uni-halle.de/SAWA/Tschacher.pdf]).
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