Should Arabic-Speaking Nations Replace Arabic With Roman Letters?

[Aestu]

I am a native of California living in Ohio. As the redneck culture is much more mainstream here than it is in my native state, I often find myself making cultural comparisons between rednecks and Arabs. Although the two cultures are far removed from each other by tens of thousands of klicks, and have no common heritage, they share many basic values and attitudes relating to religion, spirituality, politics, culture, value systems and notions about violence and personal safety. I can say that the guidelines for conduct that work well with Arabs also work well with rednecks, and vice versa.

Rednecks do not have a culture of literacy. Many rednecks whom one would think have some education, who have a nominal high school or college degree, have never read a book and get all their ideas on the world at large from FOX News. Nonetheless, over 98% of all rednecks, even those with no formal schooling, are literate.

Yet literacy remains <80% across the Arab world and much lower in some areas, even where the Quran is sold in market stalls. Conversely, Western historians trace the origins of mass literacy in the West to the Christian Reformation and the printing of the Christian Bible in the vulgar - in the languages most Europeans spoke day-to-day. Many observers believe that low literacy rates and thus access to ideas and information remain the stumbling block for Arab political and economic development. This is perhaps most apparent in Arab states like Egypt and Iraq, where strong and stable governments have historically failed at "trickle-down" politics and true populism remains an elusive goal.

In Turkey, one of Ataturk's reforms was to replace the old Arabic-influenced Turkish script with a modified version of the Roman alphabet. He claimed it was easier to learn. Today, Turkey has a 98% literacy rate.

It is worth noting here that despite many other factors, what the US and Turkey today have in common, is a literacy rate that is higher than the schooling rate. In other words, the lack of a strong correlation between education and literacy indicates that the expansion of education in the Arab world is not necessarily the most efficient or effective way to spread literacy in those countries.

Which brings us to the OP. Is it possible that the best way to increase literacy, and thus political development, in the Arabic-speaking world, would be to replace Arabic script with Roman letters?

PS: This change would not affect the Quran because the Quran is written in Classical Arabic, nor would it involve substantially changing up the spoken Arabic language. This change would only affect day-to-day writing in Modern Arabic.

 

[Azadkashmir]

you are joking lolz arabic is quran langugae cant be changed, that happened to turks. although arabs and american rednecks are almost twins in thier behaviour.

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

Literacy has little to do with writing script - China's writing script is considered to be one of the hardest to learn yet China has a literacy rate of 100%

It has to do with the stability and geo-political situation in the region.

I learned how to write basic urdu in 1-2 weeks and write it well in 3 weeks.

 

[Aestu]

you are joking lolz arabic is quran langugae cant be changed, that happened to turks. although arabs and american rednecks are almost twins in thier behaviour.

As I understand it, the Quran is written in Classical Arabic, not Modern Arabic - same as the Torah and Biblical Hebrew vs Modern Hebrew. So it would not be necessary to edit or otherwise change the Quran, nor give up the Arabic language itself - just change the writing system used for day-to-day purposes.

 

[C130]

lol, what part of Ohio you from?? I live in the tri-state area of Cincinnati


are you talking about the Appalachia part of Ohio

as for whether the Arabic world should adopt Latin Alphabet I just dunno.

pronunciation is complicated using Latin Alphabet

 

[waleed3601]

No. Just, no. Literacy has no correlation with script. Chinese script is arguably one of the toughest in the world yet China has a literacy rate of 84%.
Also why isn't there a 'no' option in the poll?
I don't agree that it wouldn't make a difference but I also can't count the last option as true for me.
Please make the poll a 'yes', 'no' and 'I don't know' one and leave the discussion to the thread.

 

[Aestu]

lol, what part of Ohio you from?? I live in the tri-state area of Cincinnati
are you talking about the Appalachia part of Ohio as for whether the Arabic world should adopt Latin Alphabet I just dunno.
pronunciation is complicated using Latin Alphabet

I live in Cincinnati, but I don't think I'll ever say I'm "from" Ohio. I enjoy yardsailing and buying stuff off Craigslist, so I get out a lot and observe the different communities. A few months ago, I bought some light fixtures apparently intended as grow lamps from some Appalachians for three dollars each. I installed the fixtures with LED bulbs in the ceilings of the closets in my house.

No. Just, no. Literacy has no correlation with script. Chinese script is arguably one of the toughest in the world yet China has a literacy rate of 84%.

84% is very low by Western standards and corroborates my claim.

 

[waleed3601]

84% is very low by Western standards and corroborates my claim.

Japan - 99%
S. Korea - 97.9%
And besides, 84% of 1.3 billion isn't bad at all, considering most of this progress was achieved in the last half a century or so.

 

[Aestu]

Japan - 99%
S. Korea - 97.9%
And besides, 84% of 1.3 billion isn't bad at all, considering most of this progress was achieved in the last half a century or so.

Japanese and Korean are not pictographic languages as Chinese is, and the letters are easier to visually distinguish than Arabic letters.

Actually Japanese is a good example of reforming a language to facilitate mass literacy. The Japanese language has gone through reforms to reduce reliance on kanji (pictographs) and use more katakana (phonetic letters) for this very reason.

 

[Desertfalcon]

My understanding regarding the modern Turkish alphabet was that it was not simply a change from Persian-Arabic script, but that the Latin alphabet was applied phonetically to spoken Turkish so it is actually more accurate and far easier to learn than it was under the old script. Perhaps a Turkish poster can verify that or point out where I am wrong.

I have to say though, Arabic or Persian script is certainly more beautiful than Latin script.

 

[Aestu]

I have to say though, Arabic or Persian script is certainly more beautiful than Latin script.

I remember my high school history book saying, "Romans honored strength more than beauty, power more than grace, usefulness more than elegance, and steadiness more than quickness of mind."

Latter-day Classical scholars in the West tend to be very dismissive of Romans and Romanists because they think the Romans were untalented utilitarians who just "ran around building aqueducts" (direct quote from one professor I knew).

 

[Desertfalcon]

I remember my high school history book saying, "Romans honored strength more than beauty, power more than grace, usefulness more than elegance, and steadiness more than quickness of mind."

Latter-day Classical scholars in the West tend to be very dismissive of Romans and Romanists because they think the Romans were untalented utilitarians who just "ran around building aqueducts" (direct quote from one professor I knew).

I agree with your first sentence and as to the second, I am not dismissive of Roman civilization at all. It's the foundation of the West. I just think Arabic or Persian script is more beautiful than Latin script.

 

[Old School]

Written script is a evolving thing. Latin script used be written in uppercase only before lowercase was introduced in much later time. Letter G and W are the newest member for instance. In the end, language is all about convenience and communication. The natural selection also applies to language and writing methods. No one uses ancient hyroglifics any more for daily communication.

 

[insight-out]

As I understand it, the Quran is written in Classical Arabic, not Modern Arabic - same as the Torah and Biblical Hebrew vs Modern Hebrew. So it would not be necessary to edit or otherwise change the Quran, nor give up the Arabic language itself - just change the writing system used for day-to-day purposes.

I think you are not well informed about this subject. Spoken Arabic varies across the Arab world, although not enough to make it unintelligible.

What unites the Arab world, however, is standard/classical Arabic, which is understood by all Arabic speakers who have attained some level of education. This standard Arabic, still commonly in use, is not much different from Qur'anic Arabic. So the language of the Qur'an is very much a living language.

What makes Qur'anic Arabic stand out is not so much the words/vocabulary, but the way the words are employed, the way the sentences are structured, the manner in which the message is conveyed.

Changing the script of any language is extremely disruptive to the progress and development of the culture, of which that language is a component.

It can alienate an entire class of people, and render them irrelevant. It can cut off people from their history. It can split a nation into two groups, one that embraces the new script, and one that holds on to the original script. It can do much damage.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey are good examples where people familiar with the old script are considered backward, while those embracing the new script are seen as educated and cultured.

While Pakistan retained its language and script (Urdu), English did become the official language, and those who speak it are considered superior to those who don't.

 

[Solomon2]

Literacy has little to do with writing script - China's writing script is considered to be one of the hardest to learn yet China has a literacy rate of 100%.

Don't believe it. I, myself, have had Chinese teachers from China who could read their language but not write in it. One preferred to write in German; English was her third language.