Arabic Romanization Table

Arabic

Letters of the Alphabet

Initial Medial Final Alone Romanization

ا ﺎ ﺎ ا

omit (see Note 1)

ﺑ ﺒ ﺐ ﺏ

b

ﺗ ﺘ ﺖ ﺕ

t

ﺛ ﺜ ﺚ ﺙ

th

ﺟ ﺠ ﺞ ﺝ

j

ﺣ ﺤ ﺢ ﺡ

ḥ

ﺧ ﺨ ﺦ ﺥ

kh

ﺩ ﺪ ﺪ ﺩ

d

ﺫ ﺬ ﺬ ﺫ

dh

ﺭ ﺮ ﺮ ﺭ

r

ﺯ ﺰ ﺰ ﺯ

z

ﺳ ﺴ ﺲ ﺱ

s

ﺷ ﺸ ﺶ ﺵ

sh

ﺻ ﺼ ﺺ ﺹ

ṣ

ﺿ ﻀ ﺾ ﺽ

ḍ

ﻃ ﻄ ﻂ ﻁ

ṭ

ﻇ ﻈ ﻆ ﻅ

ẓ

ﻋ ﻌ ﻊ ﻉ

‘ (ayn)

ﻏ ﻐ ﻎ ﻍ

gh

ﻓ ﻔ ﻒ ﻑ

f (see Note 2)

ﻗ ﻘ ﻖ ﻕ

q (see Note 2)

ﻛ ﻜ ﻚ ﻙ

k

ﻟ ﻠ ﻞ ﻝ

l

ﻣ ﻤ ﻢ ﻡ

m

ﻧ ﻨ ﻦ ﻥ

n

ﻫ ﻬ ، ﺔـﻪ ه ، ة

h (see Note 3)

ﻭ ﻮ ﻮ ﻭ

w

ﻳ ﻴ ي ي

y

Vowels and Diphthongs

َ◌

a

اَ◌

ā (see Rule 5)

ِ◌ﻯ

ī

ُ◌

u

ﻯ َ◌

á (see Rule 6(a))

َ◌ْﻭ

aw

ِ◌

i

ُ◌ﻭ

ū

ْﻯ َ◌

ay

Letters Representing Non-Arabic Consonants

This list is not exhaustive. It should be noted that a letter in this group may have more than one

phonetic value, depending on the country or area where it is used, and that the romanization will

vary accordingly.

گ

g

چ

ch

ڤ

v

ڴ

ñ

چ

zh

ۋ

v

پ

p

ژ

zh

ڥ

v

Notes

1. For the use of

alif

to support

hamzah

, see rule 2. For the romanization of

hamzah

by the

consonantal sign ’ (alif), see rule 8(a). For other orthographic uses of

alif

see rules 3-5.

2. The

Maghribī

variations ڢ and ڧ are romanized

f

and

q

respectively.

3.

ة in a word in the construct state is romanized

t

. See rule 7(b).

RULES OF APPLICATION

Arabic Letters Romanized in Different Ways Depending on Their Context

1. As indicated in the table,

ﻭ and ي may represent:

(a) The consonants romanized

w

and

y

, respectively.

waḍ‘

ﻊﺿو

‘iwaḍ ضﻮﻋ

dalw

ﻮﻟد

yad ﺪﻳ

ḥiyal ﻞﻴﺣ

ṭahy ﻲﻬﻃ

(b) The long vowels romanized

ū

,

ī

, and

ā

respectively.

ūlá

أﻰﻟو

ṣūrah ةرﻮﺻ

dhū وذ

īmān إنﺎﻤﻳ

jīl ﻞﻴﺟ

fī ﻲﻓ

kitāb بﺎﺘﻛ

saḥāb بﺎﺤﺳ

jumān نﺎﻤﺟ

See also rules 11(a)(2) and 11(b)(3).

2.

ا

(alif)

, و and ى when used to support ء (

hamzah

) are not represented in romanization.

See rule 8(a).

3.

ا

(alif)

when used to support

waṣlah

( ٱ ) and

maddah

( آ ) is not represented in

romanization. See rules 9 and 10.

4.

ا

(alif)

and و when used as orthographic signs without phonetic significance are not

represented in romanization.

fa‘alū

اﻮﻠﻌﻓ

ulā’ika

أﻚﺋﻻو

ūqīyah

ﺔﻴﻗوأ

See also rule 12 and examples cited in rules 23-26.

5.

ا

(alif)

is used to represent the long vowel romanized

ā

, as indicated in the table.

fā‘il

ﻞﻋﺎﻓ

riḍā

ﺎﺿر

This

alif

, when medial, is sometimes omitted in Arabic; it is always indicated in

romanization. See rule 19.

6. Final

ى appears in the following special cases:

(a) As

ﻯ َ◌ (

alif maqṣūrah

) used in place of َ◌ا to represent the long vowel romanized

ā

.

ḥattá

󰞌ﺘﺣﻰ

maḍá

ﻰَﻀﻣ

kubrá ىَﺮﺒﻛ

Yaḥyá

َﻴﺤﻳﻰ

musammá ﻰ󰞌ﻤﺴﻣ

Muṣṭafá

َﻔﻄﺼﻣﻰ

(b) As ِ◌ ّﻯ in nouns and adjectives of the form

fā‘īl

which are derived from defective

roots. This ending is romanized

ī

, not

īy

, without regard to the presence of ّ◌

(

shaddah

). See rule 11(b)(2).

Raḍī al-Dīn

ﻦﻳﺪﻟا ﻲﺿر

Compare the

fa‘īl

form of the same root ﻰﺿﺮﻟا [without

shaddah

]

al-Raḍī

.

(c) As

ِ◌ ّﻯ in the relative adjective (

nisbah

). The ending, like (b) above, is romanized

ī

,

not

īy

.

al-Miṣrī

ّيِﺮﺼﻤﻟا

Compareﺔّﻳِﺮﺼﻤﻟا

al-Miṣrīyah

and see rule 11(b)(1).

7.

ة (

tā’ marbūṭah

)

(a) When the noun or adjective ending in

ة is indefinite, or is preceded by the definite

article,

ة is romanized

h

. The ة in such positions is often replaced by ه.

ṣalāh

ةﻼﺻ

al-Risālah al-bahīyah

ﺔﻴﻬﺒﻟا ﺔﻟﺎﺳﺮﻟا

mir’āh ةآﺮﻣ

Urjūzah fī al-ṭibb أﺐﻄﻟا ﻰﻓ ةزﻮﺟر

(b) When the word ending in

ة is in the construct state [muḍāf wa-muḍāf ilayh], ة is

romanized

t

.

Wizārat al-Tarbiyah

ﺔﻴﺑﺮﺘﻟا ةرازو

Mir’āt al-zamān

ﻣﺰﻟا ةآﺮﻣنﺎ

(c) When the word ending in

ة is used adverbially, ة (vocalized ًة) is romanized

tan

.

See rule 12(b).

Romanization of Arabic Orthographic Symbols Other than Letters and Vowel Signs

The signs listed below are frequently omitted from unvocalized Arabic writing and printing; their

presence or absence must then be inferred. They are represented in romanization according to

the following rules:

8.

ء (

hamzah

)

(a) In initial position, whether at the beginning of a word, following a prefixed preposition

or conjunction, or following the definite article,

ء is not represented in romanization.

When medial or final,

ء is romanized as ’ (alif).

asad

ﺪﺳأ

uns

ﺲﻧأ

idhā

اذإ

mas’alah

ﺔﻟﺄﺴﻣ

mu’tamar ﺮﻤﺗﺆﻣ

dā’im ادﻢﺋ

mala’a

ﻸﻣ

khaṭi’a

ﺊﻄﺧ

(b)

ء, when replaced by the sign (

waṣlah

) and then known as

hamzat al-waṣl

, is not

represented in romanization. See rule 9 below.

9.

(

waṣlah

), like initial ء, is not represented in romanization. See also rule 8(b) above.

When the

alif

which supports

waṣlah

belongs to the article لا, the initial vowel of the

article is romanized

a

. See rule 17(b). In other words, beginning with

hamzat al-waṣl

,

the initial vowel is romanized

i

.

Riḥlat Ibn Jubayr

ﺔﻠﺣرٱﺮﻴﺒﺟ ﻦﺑ

al-istidrāk كارﺪﺘﺳﻹا

kutub iqtanatʹhā

ﺐﺘﻛٱﺎﻬﺘﻨﺘﻗ

bi-ihtimām ‘Abd al-Majīd ﺑﺎ ﺪﺒﻋ مﺎﻤﺘﻫٱﺪﻴﺠﻤﻟ

10. ˜ (

maddah

)

(a) Initial

آ is romanized

ā

.

ālah

ﺔﻟآ

Kullīyat al-Ādāb بادﻵا ﺔﻴﻠﻛ

(b) Medial

آ, when it represents the phonetic combination

’ā

, is so romanized.

ta’ālīf

ﻒﻴﻟﺂﺗ

ma’āthir ﺮﺛﺂﻣ

(c) ˜ is otherwise not represented in romanization.

khulafā’

ءﺂﻔﻠﺧ

11. ّ◌ (

shaddah

or

tashdīd

)

(a) Over

و:

(1)

ّوُ◌, representing the combination of long vowel plus consonant, is romanized

ūw

.

‘adūw ّوُﺪﻋ

qūwah ةّﻮُﻗ

See also rule 23.

(c) The

ل of the article is always romanized

l

, whether it is followed by a “sun letter” or

not, i.e., regardless of whether or not it is assimilated in pronunciation to the initial

consonant of the word to which it is attached.

al-ḥurūf al-abjadīyah

ﻷا فوﺮﺤﻟاﺔﻳﺪﺠﺑ

Abū al-Layth al-Samarqandī ﻮﺑا ﺚﻴﻠﻟا يﺪﻨﻗﺮﻤﺴﻟا

Orthography of Arabic in Romanization

18. Capitalization:

(a) Rules for the capitalization of English are followed, except that the definite article

al

is

given in lower case in all positions.

(b) Diacritics are used with both upper and lower case letters.

al-Ījī

ﻲﺠﻳﻻا

al-Ālūsī ﻲﺳﻮﻟﻵا

19. The macron or the acute accent, as appropriate, is used to indicate all long vowels,

including those which in Arabic script are written defectively. The macron or the acute

accent, as the case may be, is retained over final long vowels which are shortened in

pronunciation before

hamzat al-waṣl

.

Ibrāhīm

إ ، ﻢﻴﻫاﺮﺑإ ﻢﻴﻫﺮﺑ

Dā’ūd دؤاد ، دوؤاد

Abū al-Ḥasan ﻦﺴﺤﻟا ﻮﺑا

ru’ūs روؤس

dhālika ﻚﻟذ

‘alá al-‘ayn ﻦﻴﻌﻟا ﻰﻠﻋ

20. The hyphen is used:

(a) To connect the definite article

al

with the word to which it is attached. See rule 17(a).

(b) Between an inseparable prefix and what follows. See rules 16(b) and 17(b) above.

(c) Between

bin

and the following element in personal names when they are written in

Arabic as a single word. See rule 25.

21. The prime ( ʹ ) is used:

(a) To separate two letters representing two distinct consonantal sounds, when the

combination might otherwise be read as a digraph.

Adʹham

أﻢﻫد

akramatʹhā أﺎﻬﺘﻣﺮﻛ

(b) To mark the use of a letter in its final form when it occurs in the middle of a word.

Qal‘ahʹjī

ﻪﻌﻠﻗ ﻰﺟ

Shaykhʹzādah ﺦﻴﺷ هداز

22. As in the case of romanization from other languages, foreign words which occur in an

Arabic context and are written in Arabic letters are romanized according to the rules for

romanizing Arabic.

Jārmānūs (

not

Germanos

nor

Germanus) سﻮﻧﺎﻣرﺎﺟ

Lūrd Ghrānfīl (

not

Lord Granville) ﻞﻴﻔﻧاﺮﻏ درﻮﻟ

Īsāghūjī (

not

Isagoge) ﻲﺟﻮﻏﺎﺴﻳا

For short vowels not indicated in the Arabic, the Arabic vowel nearest to the original

pronunciation is supplied.

Gharsiyā Khayin (

not

García Jaén) ﺎﻴﺳﺮﻏﻦﻴﺧ

Examples of Irregular Arabic Orthography

23. Note the romanization of

ﷲ, alone and in combination.

Allāh

ﷲ

billāh

lillāh

bismillāh ﻢﺴﺑ ﷲ

al-Mustanṣir billāh

24. Note the romanization of the following personal names:

Ṭāhā

ﻪﻃ

Yāsīn ﻦﺴﻳ ، ﺲﻳ

‘Amr وﺮﻤﻋ

Bahjat ﺔﺠﻬﺑ ، ﺖﺠﻬﺑ

25. ﻦﺑا and ﻦﺑ are both romanized

ibn

in all positions.

Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Abī al-Rabī‘

ﻦﺑ ﺪﻤﺤﻣ ﻦﺑ ﺪﻤﺣاﻲﺑاﻊﻴﺑﺮﻟا

Sharḥ Ibn ‘Aqīl ‘alá Alfīyat Ibn Mālik ﻚﻟﺎﻣ ﻦﺑا ﺔﻴﻔﻟا ﻰﻠﻋ ﻞﻴﻘﻋ ﻦﺑا حﺮﺷ

Exception is made in the case of modern names, typically North African, in which the

element

ﻦﺑ is pronounced

bin

.

Bin Khiddah هﺪﺧ ﻦﺑ

Bin-‘Abd Allāh ﺪﺒﻌﻨﺑﷲ

26. Note the anomalous spelling ﺔﺋﺎﻣ, romanized

mi’ah

.

Fillable Printable Arabic Romanization Table

Fillable Printable Arabic Romanization Table