The Evolution of Arabic Writing Due to European Influence : The case of punctuation

1 The spread of foreign languages, especially French, under European colonial rule inspired certain Arabic writers and scholars in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century to look at ways to develop the Arabic language. This happened because they felt that foreign languages had started to overtake Arabic because they were easier to read (ZAKĪ 1901: 2). In this paper, I will discuss the use of punctuation marks in Arabic texts since the mid-nineteenth century as an example of the evolution of Arabic writing due to European influence. I will explain the reasons why punctuation marks were integrated into Arabic texts, quoting Arabic writers and scholars from the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. These include Zaynab Fawwāz, 2 the first writer to address the issue of punctuation marks in Arabic writings (FAWWĀZ 2007: 105-107), and ʾAḥmad Zakī 3 who officially integrated punctuation into the Arabic language (ZAKĪ 1912). I will also explain the opposition that came from conservative scholars who were reluctant to change any aspect of Arabic writing. This is because they believed in the sanctity of Arabic as it is the language of the Qurʾān and it represents Arabic identity. Therefore, one should avoid any “borrowing” from colonial languages in order to preserve Arabic identity (MEYNET 1971: 94).


Introduction
In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century the Arabic language was an important factor for uniting Arab people, and many journalists and intellectuals (such as Zaynab Fawwāz and ʾAḥmad Zakī 4 ) encouraged the development of Arabic by explaining

Introduction to the forerunners of Arabic Punctuation
The use of punctuation marks is a modern invention in written Arabic, Classical Arabic used other means to set off or highlight parts of the text, for instance by the use of a stroke over titles of sections in manuscripts, while Qurʾānic manuscripts use office of the Ministry of the Interior in Egypt.He then became editor and translator for the newspaper al-Waqāʾiʿ al-Miṣriyya, a professor of Translation at the School of the Khedive, and a professor of Arabic at the French Institute of Archaeology in Cairo.In addition to his integration of punctuation marks into written Arabic, he took the lead in finding Arabic equivalents for words borrowed from European languages, for example, he gave the equivalent sayyāra for "automobile".He also showed the Arabic origin of many Spanish and Portuguese names (toponymes) that were incorrectly transcribed in Arabic.Zakī also participated in many conferences of the International Congress of Orientalists, and he was respected by Europeans for his erudition (al-ǦUNDĪ 1964).Zakī was also a member of The Academy of the Arabic Language (Majmaʿ al-Luġa al-ʿArabiyya).
5 All quotations by Roland MEYNET in this paper are translated from French.
6 Studies of the linguistic reforms during this period (that is, an-Nahḍa) mostly focus on the modernization of Arabic through terminological and lexicographical reforms.
7 Editor in chief of the newspaper an-Nīl at the time, died in 1897.
The history of the Arabic language neglects punctuation.When we talk about the history of Arabic punctuation we are not referring to the punctuation of today, but to the signs that divided the sentences and paragraphs in ancient texts.The "separators" between sentences al-fawāṣil8 correspond to a concept that existed in the Arabic script before the Qurʾānic Revelation.This concept has been associated with rhymes that marked the end of a verse in poetry.Al-Ǧāḥiẓ (died 255/868 AD) says that the end of a sentence in Arabic writings is marked by rhyme, and by fāṣila9 (a separator or a break) in the Qurʾān (ḤASNĀWĪ 1973: 139): sammā 'llāhu taʿālā kitāba-hū 'sman muḫālifan li-mā sammā 'l-ʿarabu kalāma-hum ʿalā 'l-ǧumlati wa-'t-tafṣīl: sammā ǧumlata-hū qurʾānan kamā sammū dīwānan, wa-baʿḍa-hū sūra ka-qaṣīda, wa-baʿḍa-hū āya ka-'l-bayt, wa-ʔāḫira-hū fāṣila ka-qāfiya God refers to his word by different names than what the Arabs call their books: He named his book Qurʾān instead of dīwān (collection of poems), He named a chapter sūra instead of qaṣīda (poem), He named a verse bayt instead of ʾāya, and the end of a bayt fāṣila instead of qāfiya (rhyme).(quoted by al-ḤŪFĪ 1971: 119).
Since the revelation of the Qurʾān, the division of the Qurʾānic text into verses, suras, etc, and adding signs to guide the recitation 10 of the Qurʾān has continued to grow: other than rhyme, signs used to mark the end of verses and signs dividing the Qurʾān in sections were added after the compilation of the Qurʾān (in the ninth century A.D.).Pause signs at the time initially indicated where it is possible or impossible to pause (according to the grammatical structure and the meaning of the verse, and also for rhythmic reasons because they were auditory marks 11 ).Pause signs then evolved and other types of pauses were added to indicate where a pause is tolerated but where linking the phrase (not pausing) is preferred (and vice versa) 12  (AWAD 2013: 16).The form of pause signs was an abbreviation to the referred type of pause.For example, the sign ۘ (mīm) is the last letter waqf lāzim (obligatory pause) and the sign ۘ <SLĂ> is an abbreviation of al-waṣl ʾawlā (literally meaning "linking preferable") formed by the medial letter of the first word and the last two letters of the second word (DICHY 2004: 54-55).The latter sign indicates that, though it is possible to pause, it is preferable not to.
ʾAḥmad Zakī refers to pause signs and to "the science of making a pause" 13 al-waqf wa-'l-ibtidāʾ (literary meaning: pausing and starting again) as the forerunner of the Arabic punctuation (ZAKĪ 1995: 10).The segmentation of texts by signs was only a matter of interest to the Qurʾān to ensure the quality of recitation so that the faithful would avoid the confusion of meaning (ZAKĪ 1995: 10-11).
The importance of segmenting non-religious texts was considered only in the late nineteenth century.The writer Zaynab Fawwāz was inspired by French punctuation and suggested including European punctuation into Arabic texts in an article published in the Egyptian magazine al-Fatā in 1893.Following her suggestion, Ḥasan aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī, the editor in chief of an-Nīl newspaper at the time, tried in vain to "create" signs synonymous to those used in French writings in order to avoid "borrowing" from foreign signs.
ʾAḥmad With the development of writing and thinking in our time, we find mandatory that Arab society be aware of the signs used in most European countries.These signs indicate the locations of long breaks and short breaks, and also express interrogation and exclamation, ... etc.There is no doubt that these signs are an important guide for proper loud reading without confusing ages when we usually read aloud for someone else.Punctuation then was intended to help "say" the text properly.
12 Amr OSMAN (2012: 99) says that "Waqf also had a bearing on legal issues and disputes" because the place of the pause in a verse would lead to different interpretations.We think this was probably the reason for adding the pause signs that gives the possibility to either pause or not to pause al-waqf ʾawlā (pause preferable but not obligatory) and al-waṣl ʾawlā (linking preferable but not obligatory).For the interpretative aspect of pause signs, see OSMAN 2012, vol.14: 90-109.
13 Which is part of the science of [good] cantilation of the Qurʾān ʿilm at-taǧwīd.
the sentences, which is the case in the Arab printings where the reader must mentally repeat the phrase to know where it ends.(ZAKĪ 1900: 1) Before Fawwāz's letter, comparison between Arabic and European languages was present in Arabic travelogues, for example, Rifāʿa R. aṭ-ṬAHṬĀWĪ14 said that the easiness of the French language explains the scientific and literary development of the French: ‫ما‬ ‫وسائر‬ ‫لغتهم‬ ‫سهولة‬ ‫الفنون‬ ‫و‬ ‫العلوم‬ ‫يف‬ ‫التقدم‬ ‫على‬ ‫نساويني‬ ‫الفر‬ ‫يعني‬ ‫ما‬ ‫مجلة‬ ‫من‬ ‫تكملها‬ min ǧumlati mā yuʿīnu al-fransāwiyyūn ʿalā 't-taqaddumi fī 'l-ʿulūmi wa-'lfunūn suhūlatu luġatihim wa-sāʾiri mā tukmilu-hā What helps the French in literary and scientific development is the easiness of their language and all that perfect it.(aṭ-Ṭahṭāwī, in YĀRID 1992: 113) Comparing Arabic with French, aṭ-Ṭahṭāwī found the French language easier.He explains that the French can easily read and understand without very much knowledge of grammar and rhetoric unlike the Arabic (YARED 1992: 113).However, the integration of European punctuation in the Arabic language is marked by the observations of Zaynab Fawwāz, Ḥasan aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī, and by the work of ʾAḥmad Zakī.In the next pages, we will explain the contribution of each.

Zaynab Fawwāz
The Lebanese writer Zaynab Fawwāz was the first to have discussed the importance of punctuation marks used in Europe and the need to include them in the Arabic language.She wrote about punctuation in a letter to the magazine al-Fatā in 1310/1893. 15nspired by French punctuation, she suggested using punctuation in Arabic.Zaynab Fawwāz gave no name for punctuation, but introduced it as follows: ‫ل‬ ‫تظهر‬ ‫مجلة‬ ‫ا‬ ‫كتبو‬ ‫إذا‬ ‫نساويون‬ ‫فالفر‬ ‫بوضع‬ ‫وذلك‬ ‫الدقيقة‬ ‫اهتا‬ ‫وإشار‬ ‫بتشخيصها‬ ‫لقارئ‬ ... ‫فقط‬ ‫احلروف‬ ‫كيب‬ ‫تر‬ ‫من‬ ‫تظهر‬ ‫ال‬ ‫خفية‬ ‫معان‬ ‫على‬ ‫تدل‬ ‫عالمات‬

fa-'l-faransāwiyyūn ʾiḏā katabū ǧumlatan taẓharu li-l-qāriʾ bi-tašḫīṣi-hā wa-ʾišārāti-hā ad-daqīqa wa-ḏālika bi-waḍʿi ʿalāmātin tadulluʿalā maʿānin ḫafiyya lā taẓhar min tarkībi 'l-ḥurūfi faqaṭ
The reader can easily understand the meaning of the French text for the French use of signs that add a hidden meaning incommunicable by words.(FAWWĀZ 2007: 105) Fawwāz said that punctuation is used to understand the text more quickly, without having to mentally rehearse phrases.Her focus on the "hidden meanings" of punctuation marks probably comes from the fact that she is a literary person, therefore she saw those "hidden meanings" as expressive of emotions, which is important to use in novels and plays to create a connection with the reader.She cited the following marks (and created Arabic equivalents for some of them): 1.The two points (aṣ-ṣifrayn) serve to explain a word or phrase.
2. The exclamation mark (al-ʾalif wa-ṣifr) is used to express surprise, disgust (al-išmiʾzāz) or the vocative (an-nidāʾ).3. The question mark (she did not give a name to this sign) is placed at the end of a question.4. Brackets (al-qawsān) are used to enclose a phrase that, if omitted, does not change the meaning.5. Ellipsis (ʾaṣfār at-taʿlīq): According to Fawwāz, they can be placed in the middle of a sentence to replace words that are understood within the context without the need to write them, or to replace inappropriate words such as swear words, but they can also be used at the end of a sentence when the rest of the phrase is understood within the context.Fawwāz also considers that "at the end of a sentence, the ellipsis calls the reader's astonishment" (ibid.).
In her letter, Zaynab Fawwāz said that some newspapers (She does not say the names of the newspapers) already use punctuation, 16 but that the Arabic reader does not know their meaning.She therefore called on experts to do research on the subject and to integrate punctuation into Arabic.She considered the lack of punctuation as a deficiency in Arabic.Fawwāz considered Arabic as richer and superior to European languages, but that the latter are more developed than Arabic because of their use of punctuation.Punctuation should therefore be used in Arabic writings to encourage the development of the language.

Ḥasan aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī
The letter of Zaynab Fawwāz was considered by Ḥasan aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī, founder and editor of the Egyptian newspaper an-Nīl.The latter wrote a book on punctuation entitled Kitāb ḫaṭṭ al-ʾišārāt (The book of putting signs, 1310/1893) and quoted the letter of Fawwāz in his introduction.In his book, aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī tried to incorporate the concept of "punctuating texts", but by inventing other signs with different features than signs of European punctuation, in order to avoid borrowing from a foreign language.
16 Fawwāz probably knew about punctuation from those newspapers because she never travelled to Europe.
The evolution of Arabic writing: The case of punctuation language, but it is not enough to use them as they are in the French language.
We must know their need, necessity and functions and take what is necessary for us and what is appropriate to our language and then give them appropriate forms adapt to the Arabic language as we have done before with signs used in mathematics.We should also seek simplicity in forming signs corresponding to the Arabic language to avoid difficulties in understanding.
(aṭ-ṬUWAYRĀNĪ 1893: 7) Aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī associated punctuation, or as he called it fann ḫaṭṭ al-ʾišārāt (the art of putting signs), to musical signs that guide the melody used in a musical score to guide the musician (1893: 7-8).He tried to create Arabic signs in order to avoid borrowing them from a foreign language, but his system of signs has not been used, probably because of their large number and the similarity of some forms that made them difficult to remember.He divided the signs into three parts according to the means of transmission of knowledge (oral or written): 1. ʾišārāt al-mafāhīm or "signs of understanding" (54 signs): They serve to guide silent reading by segmenting sentences and expressing emotions such as surprise or questioning.These signs are the equivalent to European punctuation.2. ʾišārāt al-ʾaṣwāt or "signs of tonality" (17 signs): They are used to guide the loud reading to a public.They indicate where the pause should be as well as when to speed or slow the reading.3. ʾišārāt al-ʾafʿāl or "signs of movement" (14 characters): They are also used to guide loud reading and serve to control the body language of the reader.
Aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī gave no explanation, nor to the choice of forms of signs, nor to the choice of their function (see the table in the appendix for those signs).The work of aṭ-Ṭuwayrānī shows the mindset of the time by wanting to avoid foreign influence on Arabic in order to keep its "purity" and it also reflects the contradiction between linguists on the subject of borrowing from foreign languages.Meynet explains the mentality of the time regarding the reform of the Arabic script: It is that, facing the west, the Arabs want to assert their "national" personality.This seems to convince themselves first of the richness of their culture, their civilization and their language.This may seem paradoxical, because we know without doubt how the Arabs are proud of their past.(MEYNET 1971: 87) Accepting to reform Arabic writing means accepting to change the bases, and to recognize that this instrument [meaning the Arabic language] is now inadequate, defective, and that the other [Europe], once again, is right.A reform of Arabic writing can only appear to be an imitation of the other, an acceptance of the principles of writing of the other [...].Arabic language is somehow the last thing that is unique to Arabs; they are particularly attached to it.
[Already] dispossessed by the other and by themselves of their right, invested and invaded by the sciences and technology of the other, by his art and forms of expression (novels, theater, cinema ...), they [the Arabs] refuse to violate their language.(MEYNET 1971: 88) 4. ʾAḥmad Zakī, an effort to modernize Punctuation marks were more or less known in the Arabic language even before their official integration as part of Arabic by ʾAḥmad Zakī.In his book at-Tarqīm wa-ʿalāmātuhū fī 'l-luġa al-ʿarabiyya, ʾAḥmad Zakī gave the name ʿAlāmāt at-tarqīm 17 to punctuation marks and gave each punctuation mark the name we use today.Zakī explained in more detail the functions of each punctuation mark based on French punctuation rules and those of pause signs in the Qurʾān 18 (ZAKĪ 1912: 7).Before writing his book integrating punctuation marks into Arabic writing, he introduced punctuation in the introduction to his book ad-Dunyā fī Bārīs (Life in Paris) as signs used in European languages to indicate the different pauses and some emotions, he gave a brief introduction to the functions of each sign and he punctuated his book according to those functions.He predicted the possible opposition to using punctuation by conservative scholars: ‫املتمسك‬ ‫يروق‬ ‫ال‬ ‫قد‬ ‫جديد,‬ ‫أسلوب‬ ‫على‬ ‫التعبري‬ ‫يف‬ ‫أيت‬ ‫ر‬ ‫وقد‬ ‫الغافلني‬ ‫التقاليد,‬ ‫بقدمي‬ ‫ني‬ ‫العقيم‬ ‫القدمي‬ ‫مبنهاجهم‬ ، ‫العظيم.‬‫التقدم‬ ‫من‬ ‫العامل‬ ‫يف‬ ‫حدث‬ ‫عما‬ I used a new style of expression that will not be appreciated by those who cling to the old traditions of writing.In doing so, they ignore the development that took place in the other languages of the world.(ZAKĪ 1900: 1) 17 Tarqīm is the name used today to refer to punctuation marks.Zakī chose the word tarqīm because this word refers to inscription symbols used in writing.For example, the word raqam (meaning "number") is derived from tarqīm and it refers to the symbols indicating numbers (ZAKĪ 1995: 13).
18 While Zakī said that he was inspired by the rules of pause signs in the Qurʾān, he does not explain how.Therefore, there are two hypotheses for this statement: either that pause signs are in fact punctuation marks used for the Qurʾān, or that this statement was made to avoid debates with conservative scholars who would object to punctuating Arabic texts with European signs.ʾAḥmad Ḥišmat Pasha 19 underlined the deficit in reading (aloud) of Arabic texts and asked to find a way to put signs helpful for understanding the text and the division of its parts, so that the reader may vary his tone while reading it [...].He emphasised that the terms used for those signs must be logical and based on the rules of pausing used in Arabic [meaning in the Qurʾān].(ZAKĪ 1912: 7) 20   Zakī noticed that punctuation allows the French, at any age and regardless of their education, to read without hesitation, which was not the case with Arab people of the time who had to have enough grammatical knowledge to identify the beginning of a new sentence (ZAKĪ 1995: 5).He said that it was important to punctuate old Arabic manuscripts so that Arab people can easily read and understand them; this was also a way to preserve Arabic cultural heritage so that future generations would continue to easily read and study it.
The reason for the inclusion of punctuation in Arabic was first social, because of the Western colonization in the Arab world.Scholars of the period of the Renaissance feared that Arabic would no longer be used, and would be replaced by a European language (especially French).Punctuation would allow Arab people to read and understand the Arabic text as easily as French and that way, French would not overtake Arabic.ʾAḥmad Zakī expressed his fears and his vision of the importance of the use of punctuation: 19 Egyptian minister of education at the time, and responsible for the "revival of Arabic literature" (ʾiḥyāʾ al-ʾādāb al-ʿarabiyya).He was also responsible for printing old Arabic books, and he contributed to giving Arabic a more important place in education (ZAKĪ 1995: 10).20 Zakī said that readers (qurrāʾ) changed the tone of their voice to ensure correct receipt of the message in a text (warning, preaching, etc.), but that there was no graphic representation for the different tones and pauses in secular Arabic texts.Because Arabs are already familiar with French punctuation, the latter can be used to refer to the different kinds of pauses (ZAKĪ 1995: 10).
Those interested in the Arabic language and who want to facilitate the receipt of this language consider this lack [that is to say, no punctuation], especially that Foreign languages are widely used in the Arab world, so it is time to integrate a new system in our writing, handwritten or printed, to facilitate its receipt and so that readers would spend less time reading due to segmentation of sentences and texts.That way they can better understand the meaning of the text.(ZAKĪ 1995: 6) Zakī introduced ten punctuation marks: the comma, the semicolon, the period, the question mark, the exclamation mark, the colon, the ellipsis, the dash, quotation marks and parentheses.He divided those signs into two categories: pause signs (ʿalāmāt al-waqf) and signs of intonation and purposes of speech (ʿalāmāt an-nabarāt aṣ-ṣawtiyya wa-tamyīz al-ʾagrāḍ al-kalāmiyya).As examples, he punctuates Qurʾānic verses as well as phrases from old Arabic books.

Pause signs (ʿalāmāt al-waqf)
In this category, Zakī was inspired by ancient Greek punctuation: the three points and Aristophanes.21He used the terms that were already used to indicate the pauses in the Qurʾān.The pause signs according to Zakī were the following: 1. al-waqf an-nāqiṣ: equivalent to the sous-point of Aristophanes, represented by the comma.2. al-waqf al-kāfī: equivalent to the point moyen of Aristophanes, represented by the semicolon.3. al-waqf at-tāmm: equivalent to the point parfait and represented by the period.

Signs of intonation and purposes of speech (ʿalāmāt an-nabarāt aṣ-ṣawtiyya watamyīz al-ʾagrāḍ al-kalāmiyya)
The signs of intonation are the question mark, exclamation mark and ellipsis, while signs of purposes of speech are the quotation mark, colon, dash, and parentheses.ʾAḥmad Zakī cared to lay down general rules of punctuation marks, dividing them according to their function into grammatical marks and intonation or expressive marks.He also invented another punctuation mark specific to the Arabic language; this sign consists of a comma with two points below called ‫مثناة‬ ‫شولة‬ šawla muṯannāt.This sign was to be placed in a text with rhymes (saǧʿ).
ʾAḥmad Zakī states that the purpose of punctuation does not only serve to control pauses in the text, but also to combine the ideas of the text in order to create a bond between the writer and the reader.Zakī says writers are free to use a sign rather than another, or not to use some, the overall goal is to respect their general rules of use (ZAKĪ 1995: 31).
The work of ʾAḥmad Zakī on punctuation has given general rules for writers at the time on how to punctuate their texts.This has improved the quality of printed Arabic books. 22his however is different from the relationship between punctuation and printing in Europe: in Europe, typographers were the first to put treaties of modern punctuation in the 16 th century, the most famous one was written by Etienne Dolet in Lyon.The main reason for generalizing rules of punctuation in Europe was the rise of printing.In the Arab world, punctuation was added about two centuries after the use of printing23 and, as we saw in this paper, the main reason for adding punctuation was to protect Arabic from the spread of foreign languages, especially French, due to colonialism.

Conclusion
We can conclude that the integration of punctuation in Arabic has the following objectives: 1.To enable the Arab world to easily read new and old books.In other words, so that reading would be accessible and easy for everyone.2. Faster reading without mental repetition of phrases to identify the beginning of new sentences.3. Easier transfer for the writer's intentions and "emotions" that are either hardly expressed by words or to avoid lengthening in expressing them.
The integration of punctuation marks was an example of using linguistic reforms to serve social interests.This linguistic reform has changed the role of Arabic writing, making it a language of education.It has also participated in encouraging Arabs to read in their own language, especially since punctuation was integrated in the nineteenth century where the printed editions (that started in the seventeenth century but were not common) were competing with manuscript writing and where books were more "accessible" to a larger public.