There was a symposium in April in Cologne, Germany, on The Arabic Script in
Africa, to be published by Brill, organized by Meikal Mumin, whose unpublished
M.A. thesis (2009) was on that topic. The word "ajami" is insulting and not
used.

The Arabic script for Arabic, like the Hebrew, is an extended abjad. Almost all
of the 50+ African adaptations are alphabets, because the vowel marks are
obligatory.--
Peter T. Daniels grammatim@...

>
>From: Nicholas Bodley <nbodley@...>
>To: Qalam <qalam@yahoogroups.com>
>Sent: Sun, September 19, 2010 3:20:08 AM
>Subject: Ajami
>
> 
>
>Recently, I heard a commentary, very likely on Public Radio (NPR's ATC?)
>about Ajami ("Ajami" -- the term seems to be hoping for legitimacy).
>
>Various African cultures, notably those of the Hausa-speaking people, had
>been thought, let's say, when the Europeans colonized Africa, to be
>illiterate. Not so. The Arabic abugida (not abjad, correct?) was adapted
>to the sounds of African languages, as it was, for instance, for Farsi. It
>turns out that centuries ago, a number of African languages were written;
>their speakers were not necessarily illiterate. (One thinks of Chu Nom, in
>a rather different context...) Apparently Ajami, in more-recent times, is
>primarily for Islamic text, although iirc in the past, it was in general
>use.
>
>Wikipedia has only a skeleton article, but one reference I found helpful
>and informative is:
><http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/ArabicScript>
>You'll note that in the page title, "Ajami" is in quotes.
>Apparently, there is work underway to establish a standard orthography,
>and define the writing system more formally.
>
>Sorry, WWS/D&B doesn't mention Ajami in its index; nor does
>_Alphabete und Schriftzeichen des Morgen- und des Abendlandes_
>(Zweite Auflage) (Subtitle on request)
>Published for/by Bundesdruckerei, Berlin, 1969
>(Kommissionsverlag Otto Harrassowitz Wiesbaden)
>
>I'm part dilettante, definitely an amateur, with attempts at being an
>independent scholar now and then. Bits of the above might be incorrect!
>Nevertheless, Ajami did seem well worth a mention.
>
>Best regards,
>
>--
>Nicholas Bodley _.=|*|=._ Waltham, Mass.
>How to tie your shoelaces so they'll stay tied:
><http://preview.tinyurl.com/23ynbom>
>(Very good site, btw!)
>
>

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