How to use Sharjah Arabic Romanization Tools

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Introduction

There are currently four transliteration tools here. We hope to be able to add new features and more transliteration systems. Currently, you can convert Arabic text into Roman script, using

• The International Phonetic Association (IPA) system;
• The Brill transliteration system, specifically the version used in the 3rd edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam;
• The American Library Association-Library of Congress system;
• The Buckwalter transliteration system.

Inputting Arabic Text

Tradition does not require Arabic script to mark short vowels, which are represented by the diacritics of fatha (َ), damma (ُ), and kasra (ِ). To get the right transliteration, the user is invited to vowelize all letters by inserting fatha (َ), damma (ُ), and kasra (ِ) after each letter. The gemination mark, shada (ّ), is noted in all systems, but the sukun (ْ) is ignored in all systems except for Buckwalter as it is designed to Romanize with one-to-one correspondence.

Letter Correspondence Table

Below is a table that lists the Arabic letters and major orthographic symbols, together with their correspondences in the various transcription systems. In some cases, there are alternative transliteration symbols, but these are regulated by rules. If you like to find out what these rules are, please read the next section (Cases that Require Special Attention).

Arabic letter	Congress	Brill	IPA	Buckwalter
ء	’	’	ʔ	'
ا	a, ā/Ā	a, ā/Ā	aː	A
ب	b	b	b	b
ت	t	t	t	t
ث	th	th	θ	v
ج	j	j	ʤ	j
ح	ḥ	ḥ	ħ	H
خ	kh	kh	x	x
د	d	d	d	d
ذ	dh	dh	ð	*
ر	r	r	ɾ	r
ز	z	z	z	z
س	s	s	s	s
ش	sh	sh	ʃ	$
ص	ṣ	ṣ	sʕ	S
ض	ḍ	ḍ	dʕ	D
ط	ṭ	ṭ	tʕ	T
ظ	ẓ	ẓ	ðʕ	Z
ع	ʿ	ʿ	ʕ	E
غ	gh	gh	ɣ	g
ف	f	f	f	f
ق	q	q	q	q
ك	k	k	k	k
ل	l	l	l	l
م	m	m	m	m
ن	n	n	n	n
ه	h	h	h	h
ة	t,h	t,h	t,h	p
و	w,ū/Ū	w,ū/Ū	w, u:	w
ي	y, ī/Ī	y, ī/Ī	j, i:	y
َ	a	a	a	a
ُ	u	u	u	u
ِ	i	i	i	i
ّ	doubling	doubling	doubling	~
ْ				o
ً	an	an	an	F
ٌ	un	un	un	N
ٍ	in	in	in	K
أ	a	a	ʔ	>
إ	i	i	ʔ	<
ؤ	u	u	ʔ	&
ئ	i	i	ʔ	}

Cases that Require Special Attention

waw and Ya

These two letters may be read as vowels ū and ī , or as semivowels w and y. The default transcription for them is w and y respectively. Here are some examples that will illustrate how these letters may be transcribed

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
وَضْعٌ	waḍ‘un	waḍ‘un	wadˤʕun	waDoEN	waw is a w followed by a fatha, damma or kasra.
دَلـو	dalw	dalw	dalw	dalw	Default of waw is a w unless preceded by damma.
عَـوَض	‘awaḍ	‘awaḍ	ʕawadˤ	EawaD	waw is a w because it is preceded by fatha and followed by fatha
يَدٌ	yadun	yadun	jadun	yadN
حِيَلاً	ḥiyalan	ḥiyalan	ħijalan	HiyalAF	Default of ya is y, especially if preceded by kasra and followed by a haraka.
حيَلاً	ḥyalan	ḥyalan	ħjalan	HyalAF	Ya is y if followed by fatha.
طَهْيٍ	ṭahyin	ṭahyin	tˤahjin	TahoyK
أَولى	'awlā	ʾawlā	ʔawlaː	>awlY
أُولى	ʾūlā	ʾūlā	ʔuːlaː	>uwlY
صُورَة	ṣūrah	ṣūrah	sˤuːɾat	Suwrap	If waw is preceded by damma, then it is ū
ذو	dhw	dhw	ðw	*w	Add haraka to get a pronounceable word.
ذُو	dhū	dhū	ðuː	*uw
إِيمان	ʾīmān	ʾīmān	ʔiːmaːn	<iymAn
إِيـ	ʾī	ʾī	ʔiː	<iy	Kasra followed by ya followed by any letter is ī.
جِيلٌ	jīlun	jīlun	ʤiːlun	jiylN	The deault of yaa is y.
في	fy	fy	fj	fy	Kasra+ya= ī.
فِي	fī	fī	fiː	fiy	Alef in non-word-initial position is ā.
كِتاب	kitāb	kitāb	kitaːb	kitAb
سَحاب	saḥāb	saḥāb	saħaːb	saHAb
جُمان	jumān	jumān	ʤumaːn	jumAn

Aw, ay,ā

When there is a haraka (short vowel) before the waw and ya, they get pronounced as either vowels or semivowels. If the waw is preceded by a damma and there is no shada on it, then it is the vowel ū. If the ya is preceded by a kasra and there is no shada on it, then it is the vowel ī. Consider these examples:

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
أَوج	ʾawj	ʾawj	ʔawʤ	>awj	Default of waw is w.
نَوْمٌ	nawmun	nawmun	nawmun	nawomN	Sukoun on waw makes it a w.
لَو	law	law	law	law	Any haraka other than damma before the waw makes it w.
أيْسَرُ	ʾysaru	ʾysaru	ʔjsaɾu	>yosaru	Ya with sukoun is y.
أَيْسَرُ	ʾaysaru	ʾaysaru	ʔajsaɾu	>ayosaru
شَيْخٌ	shaykhun	shaykhun	ʃajxun	$ayoxN
عَيْنِي	‘aynī	‘aynī	ʕajniː	Eayoniy	Kasra before ya makes it ī.
عَيْنِيّ	‘ayniyy	‘ayniyy	ʕajnijj	Eayoniy~	Shada makes the ya transcribed as y.
عَيْنِيٌّ	‘ayniyyun	‘ayniyyun	ʕajnijjun	Eayoniy~N	Kasra followed by ya followed by shada results in y.
عَيْنِيٍّ	‘ayniyyin	‘ayniyyin	ʕajnijjin	Eayoniy~K	Kasra followed by ya followed by shada results in y regardless whether the shada has a haraka or not.
بَأْسٌ	baʾsun	baʾsun	baʔsun	ba>osN	Media hamza sakina is an apostrophe ‘.
بَرِئَ	bariʾa	bariʾa	baɾiʔa	bari}a	Hamza on nabira is always iʾ regardless whether it is preceded by kasra because for it to be written on nabira, this entails that it is preceded by kasra.
بَرِئ	bariʾ	bariʾ	baɾiʔ	bari}
بَرئ	barʾ	barʾ	baɾʔ	bar}
بُرؤٌ	burʾun	burʾun	buɾʔun	bur&N
فَعَلوا	fa‘alū	fa‘alū	faʕalwaː	faEalwA	waw alef at the end of a word is ū.
فَعَلُوا	fa‘alū	fa‘alū	faʕaluː	faEaluwA	waw alef at the end of a word is ū.
أُولائِكَ	ʾūlāʾika	ʾūlāʾika	ʔuːlaːʔika	>uwlA}ika
أولائكَ	ʾwlāʾka	ʾwlāʾka	ʔwlaːʔka	>wlA}ka	The default of أو is aw; but if ʾū is desired, then the harakat would have to be: أُو
أوقِيَّه	ʾwqiyyah	ʾwqiyyah	ʔwqijjah	>wqiy~ah	The default of أو is aw; but if ʾū is desired, then the harakat would have to be: أُو
أُوقِيَّة	ʾūqiyyah	ʾūqiyyah	ʔuːqijjat	>uwqiy~ap
فاعِل	fā‘il	fā‘il	faːʕil	fAEil
رِضا	riḍā	riḍā	ɾidˤaː	riDA
حَتّى	ḥattā	ḥattā	ħattaː	Hat~Y
مَضَى	maḍā	maḍā	madˤaː	maDaY	Fatha followed by alef maqsoura or alef maqsoura without fatha are transcribed as ā
مَضى	maḍā	maḍā	madˤaː	maDY	Fatha followed by alef maqsoura or alef maqsoura without fatha are transcribed as ā
كُبْرَى	kubrā	kubrā	kubɾaː	kuboraY
كُبرى	kubrā	kubrā	kubɾaː	kubrY
يَحيى	yaḥyā	yaḥyā	jaħjaː	yaHyY
مُسَمّى	musammā	musammā	musammaː	musam~Y
مُصطَفى	muṣṭafā	muṣṭafā	musˤtˤafaː	muSTafY
رَضِي الدِّين	raḍī al-dīn	raḍī al-dīn	ɾadˤiː ʔal-diːn	raDiy Aldiyn
رَضِي الدِّين	raḍiyy al-dīn	raḍiyy al-dīn	ɾadˤijj ʔal-diːn	raDiy~ Aldiyn
الرَّضِيّ	al-raḍiyy	al-raḍiyy	ʔal-ɾadˤijj	AlraDiy~
المِصرِيّ	al-miṣriyy	al-miṣriyy	ʔal-misˤɾijj	AlmiSriy~

Ta Marboutah

Ta marboutah is transcribed in its citation form as h unless there is haraka or tanween on it; it will be transcribed as t. Look at these examples:

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
عربية	‘rbyah	‘rbyah	ʕɾbjt	Erbyp
عَرَبِيَّةُ	‘arabiyyatu	‘arabiyyatu	ʕaɾabijjatu	Earabiy~apu
صَلاة	ṣalāh	ṣalāh	sˤalaːt	SalAp	Default ta marbouta is h.
الرِسالَة البَهِيَّة	al-risālah al-bahiyyah	al-risālah al-bahiyyah	ʔal-ɾisaːlat ʔal-bahijjat	AlrisAlap Albahiy~ap
مِرآةٌ	mirʾātun	mirʾātun	miɾʔaːtun	mir|pN	Ta marbouta with haraka is a t.
أُرجُوزَة فِي الطِّب	ʾurjūzah fī al-ṭib	ʾurjūzah fī al-ṭib	ʔuɾʤuːzat fiː ʔal-tˤib	>urjuwzap fiy AlTib	shadda after al al-shamsiyah is ignored
وَزارَةُ التَّربِيَةِ	wazāratu al-tarbiyati	wazāratu al-tarbiyati	wazaːɾatu ʔal-taɾbijati	wazArapu Altarbiyapi	Shadda after al al-shamsiyah is ignored.
مِرآة الزَّمان	mirʾāh al-zamān	mirʾāh al-zamān	miɾʔaːt ʔal-zamaːn	mir|p AlzamAn	Shadda after al al-shamsiyah is ignored.

Hamzah

Hamzah takes multiple forms in Arabic orthography depending on the surrounding vowels. Consider the examples below:

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
أَسَدٌ	ʾasadun	ʾasadun	ʔasadun	>asadN	Hamzat qat’.
أَنَس	ʾanas	ʾanas	ʔanas	>anas
إِذا	ʾidhā	ʾidhā	ʔiðaː	<i*A
إذا	ʾidhā	ʾidhā	ʔðaː	<*A
مَسْأَلَة	masʾalah	masʾalah	masʔalat	maso>alap
مُؤتَمَر	muʾtamar	muʾtamar	muʔtamaɾ	mu&tamar
دائِم	dāʾim	dāʾim	daːʔim	dA}im
مَلَأَ	malaʾa	malaʾa	malaʔa	mala>a
مَلَأ	malaʾ	malaʾ	malaʔ	mala>
مَلأ	malʾ	malʾ	malʔ	mal>
خَطئ	khaṭʾ	khaṭʾ	xatˤʔ	xaT}
خَطِئَ	khaṭiʾa	khaṭiʾa	xatˤiʔa	xaTi}a
رِحْلَةُ اِبْنِ جُبَيْر	riḥlatu ibni jubayr	riḥlatu ibni jubayr	ɾiħlatu ʔibni ʤubajɾ	riHolapu Aiboni jubayor	Ta marbouta with haraka is transcribed as t.
رِحلَة ابْن جُبَير	riḥlah abn jubayr	riḥlah abn jubayr	ɾiħlat aːbn ʤubajɾ	riHlap Abon jubayr	The default hamzat wasl is a
رِحلَة اِبن جُبَير	riḥlah ibn jubayr	riḥlah ibn jubayr	ɾiħlat ʔibn ʤubajɾ	riHlap Aibn jubayr
اِ	i	i	ʔi	Ai
الاِستِدراك	al-istidrāk	al-istidrāk	ʔal-ʔistidɾaːk	AlAistidrAk
الاِ	al-i	al-i	ʔal-ʔi	AlAi
كُتُب اِقتَنَتْها	kutub iqtanatha	kutub iqtanatha	kutub ʔiqtanathaː	kutub AiqtanatohA
ب اِهتِمامِ عَبدِ المَجيد	bihtimāmi ‘abdi al-majyd	bihtimāmi ‘abdi al-majyd	bʔihtimaːmi ʕabdi ʔal-maʤjd	bAihtimAmi Eabdi Almajyd	LC does not recognize case marking
بآ	bʾā	bʾā	bʔaː	b|	Had the t had a haraka, it would have been reflected in the transliteration!
با	bā	bā	baː	bA
بِاِ	bi	bi	bi-ʔi	biAi	Had the m had a haraka, it would have been reflected in the transliteration!.
بِا	biā	biā	bi-ʔ	biA
بِاِ	bi	bi	bi-ʔi	biAi	The default waw is w. The damma before waw requires it to be ū but the shada on it determines to be w rather than ū.
باِ	bi	bi	bʔi	bAi	Unpronounceable because there is no haraka between d and w.
المَجِيد	al-majīd	al-majīd	ʔal-maʤiːd	Almajiyd	The shada doubles the w.
آلَة	ʾālah	ʾālah	ʔaːlat	|lap
كُلِّيَّةُ الآدابِ	kulliyyatu al-ʾādābi	kulliyyatu al-ʾādābi	kullijjatu ʔal-ʔaːdaːbi	kul~iy~apu Al|dAbi	LC does not recognize case marking.
تآليفٌ	tʾālyfun	tʾālyfun	tʔaːljfun	t|lyfN	Had the t had a haraka, it would have been reflected in the transliteration!
مآثِرُ	mʾāthiru	mʾāthiru	mʔaːθiɾu	m|viru	Had the m had a haraka, it would have been reflected in the transliteration!
تَآلِيِفٌ	taʾālīifun	taʾālīifun	taʔaːliːifun	ta|liyifN
مَآثِرُ	maʾāthiru	maʾāthiru	maʔaːθiɾu	ma|viru	Had the m had a haraka, it would have been reflected in the transliteration!
خُلَفاءُ	khulafāʾu	khulafāʾu	xulafaːʔu	xulafAʾu

Shadda

Shadda is a sign of gemination where the letter marked with it is doubled in pronunciation. Below is a set of examples to illustrate how it is transcribed.

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
عَدُوٌّ	‘aduwwun	‘aduwwun	ʕaduwwun	Eaduw~N	The default waw is w. The damma before waw requires it to be ū but the shada on it determines to be w rather than ū.
عَدو	‘adw	‘adw	ʕadw	Eadw	Unpronounceable because there is no haraka between d and w.
قُوَّةٌ	quwwatun	quwwatun	quwwatun	quw~apN	The shada doubles the w.
شَوّال	shawwāl	shawwāl	ʃawwaːl	$aw~Al
صُوَرٌ	ṣuwarun	ṣuwarun	sˤuwaɾun	SuwarN
جَوٌّ	jawwun	jawwun	ʤawwun	jaw~N
جُو	jū	jū	ʤuː	juw	The damma before w determined it as ū.
المِصرِيَّة	al-miṣriyyah	al-miṣriyyah	ʔal-misˤɾijjat	AlmiSriy~ap	The default ta marbouta is h unless there is haraka on it.
أَيّامٌ	ʾāyyāmun	ʾāyyāmun	ʔajjaːmun	>ay~AmN	whether there is a fatha on the shada or not, the following vowel ā suffices; that is why this word is NOT ʾayyaāmun.
أَيَّامٌ	ʾāyyāmun	ʾāyyāmun	ʔajjaːmun	>ay~aAmN	The shada on y determines it as a y rather than as ī.
سَيِّدٌ	sayyidun	sayyidun	sajjidun	say~idN	No vowel after the y because there is no haraka on the shada.
سَيّد	sayyd	sayyd	sajjd	say~d
قُصَيّ	quṣayy	quṣayy	qusˤajj	quSay~
الغَزِّي	al-ghazzī	al-ghazzī	ʔal-ɣazziː	Algaz~iy	The ya is y because it is not preceded by kasra. There is no vowel after it because there is no haraka on the ya.
الغَزّي	al-ghazzy	al-ghazzy	ʔal-ɣazzj	Algaz~y	The shada on z doubles it, and the shada on y doubles it.
الغَزِّيُّ	al-ghazziyyu	al-ghazziyyu	ʔal-ɣazzijju	Algaz~iy~u	LC inserts an apostrophe between the two sh but we did not want the apostrophe to be read as hamza or ‘ayn, so we chose not to transcribe it!
الكَشّاف	al-kashshāf	al-kashshāf	ʔal-kaʃʃaːf	Alka$~Af

Tanween

Tanween is a mark of indefiniteness. It is a short vowel followed by the sound n. There are three types of it: al-fath, al-damm, and al-kasr. Tanween. Here is how it is transcribed.

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
قاضٍ	qāḍin	qāḍin	qaːdˤin	qADK
مَعنىً	ma‘nan	ma‘nan	maʕnan	maEnYF
طَبْعَاً	ṭab‘an	ṭab‘an	tˤabʕan	TaboEaAF
طَبْعاً	ṭab‘an	ṭab‘an	tˤabʕan	TaboEAF
فَجأةً	fajʾtan	fajʾtan	faʤʔtan	faj>pF	No fatha after the hamza because it was missing in the Arabic input.
فَجأَةً	fajʾatan	fajʾatan	faʤʔatan	faj>apF
المُشتَرِك وَضعاً	al-mushtarik waḍ‘an	al-mushtarik waḍ‘an	ʔal-muʃtaɾik wadˤʕan	Almu$tarik waDEAF	LC requires a hyphen after the definite article.
والمُفْتَرِق صَقْعَاً وَالمُفْتَرِق صَقْعَا	wa-al-muftariq ṣaq‘an wa-al-muftariq ṣaq‘ā	wa-al-muftariq ṣaq‘an wa-al-muftariq ṣaq‘ā	waːlmuftaɾiq sˤaqʕan wa-ʔal-muftaɾiq sˤaqʕaː	wAlmufotariq SaqoEaAF waAlmufotariq SaqoEaA	Haraka on the word initial waw is superfluous. Tanween alfath is transcribed if marked.

Definite Article al-

The definite article sometimes gets assimilated to a neighboring sound and sometimes it does not, depending on the place and manner of articulation. Since the transcription systems we are using are either phonological or orthographic and none of them is phonetic, there is no handling here of the definite article’s assimilation to its neighbors. Here are examples of how each system handles it.

Arabic	Brill	LC	IPA	Buckwalter	Notes for Users
الكِتابُ الثانِي	al-kitābu al-thānī	al-kitābu al-thānī	ʔal-kitaːbu ʔal-θaːniː	AlkitAbu AlvAniy
الإتِحاد	al-ʾitiḥād	al-ʾitiḥād	ʔal-ʔitiħaːd	Al<tiHAd
الأصل	al-ʾṣl	al-ʾṣl	ʔal-ʔsˤl	Al>Sl
الأَصْل	al-ʾaṣl	al-ʾaṣl	ʔal-ʔasˤl	Al>aSol
الآثار	al-ʾāthār	al-ʾāthār	ʔal-ʔaːθaːɾ	Al|vAr
إِلى الآن	ʾilā al-ʾān	ʾilā al-ʾān	ʔilaː ʔal-ʔaːn	<ilY Al|n
الى الآن	alā al-ʾān	alā al-ʾān	ʔal-aː ʔal-ʔaːn	AlY Al|n	The default for alef is a. Mark it with kasra to transcribe it as i.
اِلى	ilā	ilā	ʔilaː	AilY
الآن	al-ʾān	al-ʾān	ʔal-ʔaːn	Al|n
أبو الوَفاء	ʾbw al-wafāʾ	ʾbw al-wafāʾ	ʔbw ʔal-wafaːʔ	>bw AlwafAʾ	The default waw is w. To get it as ū, put a damma on b.
مَكتَبَةُ النَّهضَةِ المِصرِيَّةِ	maktabatu al-nahḍati al-miṣriyyati	maktabatu al-nahḍati al-miṣriyyati	maktabatu ʔal-nahdˤati ʔal-misˤɾijjati	maktabapu AlnahDapi AlmiSriy~api	Default ta marbouta is h. Vowelize it to get it as t. LC prohibits vowelization of the ta marbouta.
بِالتَّمام والكَمال	biltamām wa-al-kamāl	bi-al-tamām wa-al-kamāl	bi-ʔal-tamaːm waːlkamaːl	biAltamAm wAlkamAl
بِالتَّمام وَالكَمال	biltamām wa-al-kamāl	bi-al-tamām wa-al-kamāl	bi-ʔal-tamaːm waːlkamaːl	biAltamAm waAlkamAl
للشَّربيني	lil-sharbyny	lil-sharbyny	llʃaɾbjnj	ll$arbyny	To transcribe y as ī, put kasra on b and n.
لِلشَّربِينِي	lil-sharbīnī	lil-sharbīnī	li-ʔal-ʃaɾbiːniː	lil$arbiyniy
الحُروفُ الأبجَدِيَّةُ	al-ḥurwfu al-ʾbjadiyyatu	al-ḥurwfu al-ʾbjadiyyatu	ʔal-ħuɾwfu ʔal-ʔbʤadijjatu	AlHurwfu Al>bjadiy~apu	LC expects no case marking. Drop the damma to get al-ḥurwf.
أبو اللَيْث السَّمَرقَندِي	ʾabw al-layth al-samarqandī	ʾabw al-layth al-samarqandī	ʔbw ʔal-lajθ ʔal-samaɾqandiː	>bw Allayov Alsamarqandiy	To get abū, put damma on b.