Sorabe or Sora-be () is an

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letter (alphabet), letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character ...

based on

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

, formerly used to transcribe the

Malagasy language Malagasy (; ) is an Austronesian language and the national language of Madagascar. Malagasy is the westernmost Malayo-Polynesian language, brought to Madagascar by the settlement of Austronesian peoples from the Sunda islands around the 5th cen ...

(belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian language family) and the

Antemoro The Antemoro (or Antaimoro) are an ethnic group of Madagascar living on the southeastern coast, mostly between Manakara and Farafangana. Numbering around 500,000, this ethnic group mostly traces its origins back to East African Bantu and Indon ...

Malagasy dialect, dating from the 15th century.

History

Researchers are still hypothesizing about the origins of this transcription system. "Sorabe" means literally "large writings" from

sura A ''surah'' (; ar, سورة, sūrah, , ), is the equivalent of "chapter" in the Qur'an. There are 114 ''surahs'' in the Quran, each divided into '' ayats'' (verses). The chapters or ''surahs'' are of unequal length; the shortest surah (''Al-Ka ...

" (writing) and Malagasy "be" (large). This denomination might point to the existence of a previous writing system with smaller characters of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the la ...

origin used in

South East Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

as it is evidenced in some Malagasy words. Traditionally, researchers have speculated that this writing system was introduced through commercial contacts of Malagasy with

Arab Muslims Arab Muslims ( ar, العرب المسلمون) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Arabs. Arab Muslims greatly outnumber other ethnoreligious groups in the Middle East and North Africa. Arab M ...

.Ferrand, Gabriel (1905) However, more recent studies claim that this writing scheme might have been introduced by

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's most ...

nese Muslims.Simon P. (2006) There are striking similarities between "Sorabe" and " Pegon" writings (the Javanese version of

script). A couple of hundred old manuscripts have survived to this day though the oldest may have been written no earlier than the 17th century. Those "Sorabe" are bound in leather and the texts are named after the colour of the skin. Most of the texts contain magical formulas but there are also some historical texts concerning the origin of some of the tribes of the south east of

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

. These origins are traced to

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valle ...

or the Prophet

Mohammed Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monoth ...

even though the practice of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

is nowhere seen in the texts. Sorabe eventually spread across the island beginning in the 17th century and, at the end of the 18th century, the

Merina The Merina people (also known as the Imerina, Antimerina, or Hova) are the largest ethnic group in Madagascar.Merina ...

king

Andrianampoinimerina Andrianampoinimerina () (1745–1810) ruled the Kingdom of Imerina on Madagascar from 1787 until his death. His reign was marked by the reunification of Imerina following 77 years of civil war, and the subsequent expansion of his kingdom into ...

called for

scribes to teach the children of his court to read and write. This was how the future king

Radama I Radama I "the Great" (1793–1828) was the first Malagasy sovereign to be recognized as King of Madagascar (1810–1828) by a European state. He came to power at the age of 18 following the death of his father, King Andrianampoinimerina. Under Ra ...

learned to read and write in Sorabe from his childhood. Nowadays Malagasy is written using a Latin alphabet, introduced in 1823.

Alphabet

References

Bibliography

* Adelaar K.A. & Himmelmann N. (2004), ''The Austronesian Language of Asia and Madagascar'', Routledg

. * Ferrand, Gabriel (1905). ''Les migrations musulmanes et juives à Madagascar''. Paris: Revue de l'histoire des religions. * Kasanga Fernand (1990), ''Fifindra-monina'', Librairie FLM, Antananarivo. * Simon P. (2006) ''La langue des ancêtres. Ny Fitenin-drazana. Une périodisation du malgache des origines au XV^e siècle'', L'Harmatta

External links

La Case, les Sorabe, l'Histoire
*
Arabic in Madagascar
',

Kees Versteegh Cornelis Henricus Maria "Kees" Versteegh (; born 1947) is a Dutch academic linguist. He served as a professor of Islamic studies and the Arabic language at Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands until April 2011. Versteegh graduated from R ...

, Bulletin of the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury ar ...

, 2001
East Barito: Who Were the Malayo-Polynesian Migrants to Madagascar?
{{Arabic alphabets Malagasy language Arabic alphabets Writing systems of Africa

History

Alphabet

See also

References

Bibliography

External links