Arabic Calligraphy

-or- what I learned during Desert Storm

A work in progress by Robert W. Dills

The information here is provided primarily for the use of Calligraphers like myself. I do not speak Arabic. I learned what I know from books and by taking the time to look at all the writing I could while in Saudi Arabia during Desert Shield/Storm.

For the English speaking scribe to do well with Arabic writing, he/she/it/other must, in my opinion, have a basic understanding of phonetics. Arabic is not English. Arabic has sounds that English doesn't and English has sounds that Arabic doesn't. This is further confused by regional dialects, in both languages.

I'll be adding information about different alphabets, phonetics and what ever else I find interesting here over the next few months.

Enjoy!

Alphabets and Writing
An Arabic Alphabet
Ligatures 1
Ligatures 2