The problem is the collision between Arabic orthography, a variety of
transliteration systems of varying degrees of "scientificness," colloquial
pronunciations of the name in different parts of the Arab world, and roman
spellings that the American reader will be able to make sense of.
--
Peter T. Daniels
grammatim@...
________________________________
From: Nicholas Bodley <
nbodley@...>
To: Qalam <
qalam@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, May 22, 2011 1:44:06 PM
Subject: BBC article about a joint trad./simplified Chinese dictionary
Somewhat off-topic: Why are there so many different ways of spelling
[Muammar of Libya's] surname? Wouldn't his name be spelled only one way in
Arabic? If so, then is transliterating Arabic partly a matter of judgment,
tradition, etc.?
Best regards to all,
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]