Note on transcription notation

The transcription of Libyan Arabic to Latin Alphabet

Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...

 poses a few problems. First, there is no standard transcription already in use even in Arabic. The use of IPA alone is not sufficient as it obscures many grammatical points that can be better understood if several allophone

Allophone

In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...

s in Libyan Arabic are transcribed using the same alphabatical symbol. On the other hand, Available Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...

 and Modern Standard Arabic transcription standards, while provide good support for representing Arabic sounds that are not normally represented by the Latin alphabet, do not list symbols for uniquely Libyan Arabic phonemes. Therefore, to make this article more legible, DIN 31635

DIN 31635

DIN 31635 is a Deutsches Institut für Normung standard for the transliteration of the Arabic alphabet adopted in 1982. It is based on the rules of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft as modified by the International Orientalist Congress 1936 in Rome...

 is used with a few additions to render phonemes special to Libyan Arabic. These additions are as following:

Addition to DIN	IPA
g	ɡ
ō	oː
ē	eː
ə	ə
ż	zˤ
j	ʒ

Relation to Classical Arabic

The bulk of vocabulary in Libyan Arabic

Libyan Arabic

Libyan Arabic is a collective term for the closely related varieties of Arabic spoken in Libya. It can be divided into two major dialect areas; the eastern centred in Benghazi and Bayda, and the western centred in Tripoli and Misrata...

 has the same meaning as Classical Arabic. However, many words have different but related meaning to those used in Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic

Classical Arabic , also known as Qur'anic or Koranic Arabic, is the form of the Arabic language used in literary texts from Umayyad and Abbasid times . It is based on the Medieval dialects of Arab tribes...

. The following table serves to illustrate how the relation looks like. The past tense is used in the case of verbs as it is more distinctive and has been traditionally used in Arabic Lexicons. Canonically, those verbs are pronounced with the final a (marker of the past tense in Classical Arabic) attached, in lexical literature. This notation is preserved the table below. However, the relation between Libyan and Classical Arabic verbs can be better understood if the final a is dropped, in accordance with the elision

Elision

Elision is the omission of one or more sounds in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce...

 rule of pre-pause vowels of Classical Arabic.

Comparison of Meanings Between Libyan Arabic Words and Classical Arabic Words

Libyan Arabic Meaning			Classical Arabic
Word1	IPA (Western)	IPA (Eastern)	Meaning	Word	IPA	Closest Meaning
šbaḥ	ʃbaħ		(3rd m.) saw (perceived with the eyes)	šabaḥ	ʃabaħa	appeared vaguely
dwe	dwe		(3rd m.) spoke	dawā	dawaː	rumbled
lōḥ	loːħ		wood	lawḥ	lauħ	board, plank
wāʿər	wɑːʕər		difficult	waʿr	waʕr	rough terrain
šaḥḥəṭ	ʃaħːətˁ		(he) stretched	šaḥiṭ	ʃaħitˁɑ	became distant