Arwi

Script typePresentStatusReligious UsesDirectionRight-to-left script RegionIndia, Sri LankaLanguagesTamilRelated scriptsArabi MalayalamISO 15924ISO 15924Arab (160), ​ArabicUnicodeArabic This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Arwi (أَرْوِيُّ‎ ʾArwīyyᵘ) or Arabu-Tamil (Tamil: அரபுத்தமிழ் Araputtamiḻ) 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

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.^[1] The patrons of Arwi seem to have been the Nawab of the Carnatic, they were Islamic and were part of the Mughal Empire. 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

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.^[2]

Vowels

Arwi vowels arranged according to the Tamil order (right to left)

அ

ஆ

இ

ஈ

உ

ஊ

எ

ஏ

ஐ

ஒ

ஓ

ஔ

اَ‎

اٰ‎

اِ / يِ‎

اِي‎

اُ‎

اُو‎

اࣣ / يࣣ‎

اࣣي‎

اَي‎

اٗ‎

اٗو‎

اَو‎

—

ா

ி

ீ

ு

ூ

ெ

ே

ை

ொ

ோ

ௌ

்

◌َ‎

◌ٰ / ا‎

◌ِ‎

◌َي‎

◌ُ‎

◌ُو‎

◌ࣣ‎

◌ࣣي‎

◌َي‎

◌ٗ‎

◌ٗو‎

◌َو‎

◌ْ‎

a

ā

i

ī

u

ū

e

ē

ai

o

ō

au

∅

Consonants

Arwi letters arranged according to the Arabic alphabetical order (right to left) ஆ   த்த   ஜ ச்ச   ஃக த ட ட்ட   ற ர ஃஜ ا‎ ب‎ ت‎ ث‎ ج‎ چ‎ ح‎ خ‎ د‎ ڊ‎ ڍ‎ ذ‎ ر‎ ڔ‎ ز‎ ā b t s̱ j c h̤ k͟h d ḍ ṭ ẕ r r̠ z ஸ ஷ   ள   ழ       ங   ஃப ப   க்க க س‎ ش‎ ص‎ صٜ‎ ض‎ ۻ‎ ط‎ ظ‎ ع‎ ࢳ‎ غ‎ ف‎ ڣ‎ ق‎ ك‎ ࢴ‎ s ś ṣ ḷ ḍ ḻ t̤ ẓ ‘ ng ġ f p q k g ல ம ந,ன ண ஞ ஹ வ,ஃவ ய ل‎ م‎ ن‎ ڹ‎ ݧ‎ ه‎ و‎ ی‎ l m n ṉ ṇ ñ h v w y

See also

• Jawi Alphabets
• Swahili language
• Arabi Malayalam
• Arabic Script

References

External links

• Arwi: Comments, Questions and Answers
• Islamic Cultural Values of Arwi Southeastern university of Sri Lanka. Research and publication (2014).
• For a cultural synthesis Book review in The Hindu
• Arwi or Arabu-Tamil Book on Arwi
• What is Arwi (Arabic Tamil)?
• Arwi (அரபுத்தமிழ் / لسانالأروي)
• 'Arusi branch of the Qadiri path
• Some Arwi Books in Internet Archive