View source for Baháʼí orthography

{{short description|Romanization scheme for Arabic and Persian words, used in Bahá'í literature}}
{{Baháʼí sidebar}}
Texts of the [[Baháʼí Faith]] use a standard system of [[orthography]] to romanize [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] script. The system used in Baháʼí literature was set in 1923, and although it was based on a commonly used standard of the time, it has its own embellishments that make it unique.

[[Shoghi Effendi]], head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, created the system of Baháʼí orthography and shared a list of examples of common terms with Baháʼís around the world in several letters in 1923.<ref>See letters of 12 March 1923, 9 April 1923, and 26 November 1923, published in {{Harvnb|Effendi|1974}}.</ref> The stated need for standardized transliteration was to "avoid confusion in future, and insure in this matter a uniformity which is greatly needed at present in all Baháʼí literature."{{sfn|Effendi|1974|p=43}} According to the standard, the most common terms are "Baháʼí", "Baháʼís", "Báb", "Baháʼu'lláh", and "ʻAbdu'l-Bahá", using accent marks to distinguish long vowels, and raised turned versus raised commas to distinguish [[ayin]] and [[hamza]],{{efn|{{IPAslink|ʕ|audio=yes}} vs {{IPAslink|ʔ|audio=yes}}}} respectively.<ref>The apostrophe and the two apostrophe-like letters are distinguished in the name ''ʻAbdu'l-Baháʼ''. All three are typically ignored when speaking in English, but reflect different pronunciations in Arabic and Persian (Winters 2002).</ref>

Since the Baháʼís adopted their system, Middle Eastern scholars have modified the standard academic system adopted in 1894 in various ways, and have created a separate, related system for writing Persian (a principal change being use of e and o). The Baháʼí system, however, has now been used to print thousands of books and pamphlets in many languages, hence modifying it would create confusion and force authors to use two different spelling systems (one in passages being quoted exactly, the other in the rest of the text).

==Background==
Western Baháʼís in the lifetime of [[ʻAbdu'l-Bahá]] used a variety of transliterations from Arabic. For example, [[Baháʼu'lláh]] – the Faith's founder, was written in a variety of spellings. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá in 1906 instructed to write the term ''Bahaʼo'llah'', and later in 1921 requested that it be written ''Baha ʼUllah''.{{sfn|Momen|1991}}

The Baháʼí transliteration scheme that Shoghi Effendi adopted was based on a standard adopted by the Tenth [[International Congress of Orientalists]] which took place in [[Geneva]] in September 1894.{{sfn|Momen|1991}}<ref>Plunkett, G. T. (1894). ''Report of the Transliteration Committee.'' Tenth International Congress of Orientalists. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Geneva. pp. 879–892. {{JSTOR|25207765}}.</ref> Shoghi Effendi changed some details of the Congress's system, most notably in the use of [[Digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] in certain cases (e.g. {{angle bracket|s&#x35F;h}} instead of {{angle bracket|[[š]]}}), and in incorporating the [[solar letters]] when writing the definite article ''al-'' ({{langx|ar|ال}}) according to pronunciation (e.g. ''ar-Raḥím'', ''aṣ-Ṣaddíq'', instead of ''al-Raḥím'', ''al-Ṣaddíq'').{{sfn|Momen|1991}} He also introduced certain spelling variations that reflect Persian pronunciation (e.g. {{angle bracket|v}} instead of {{anglebracket|w}}), specifically an [[Isfahan]]i accent (e.g. {{angle bracket|Mihdí}} instead of {{angle bracket|Mahdí}}).{{sfn|Momen|1991}} 

A list of frequently used words using the new system was first shared in 1923 and later published in ''The Baháʼí Yearbook'' of 1926.{{sfn|Momen|1991}} Minor updates were published in ''The Baháʼí World'' volumes III (1930){{sfn|World|1930|pp=256–257}} and VII (1939).{{sfn|World|1939|pp=614–615}} The system has been widely adopted by Baháʼí publishers.<ref name=Winters/> The underdots, underscores, and sometimes the accents are frequently omitted online and in less formal writing due to the difficulty in rendering text.<ref name=Winters>Jonah Winters, 2002, [https://bahai-library.com/bahai_diacritics Diacritics and transliteration]</ref>

==Perso-Arabic script==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Letter
! Arabic Name
! Persian Name
! Transliteration<ref name=Gail>Marzieh Gail, [https://bahai-library.com/gail_guide_transliteration Guide to Transliteration and Pronunciation of the Persian Alphabet: together with the Numerical Value of the letters (Abjad Reckoning).] Published in ''Baháʼí Glossary'', Wilmette, IL: Bahaʼi Publishing Trust, 1957</ref>
! Value ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]]) {{ref|a|[a]}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ا]]}}</span> 
| ʼalif  
| ʼalef  
| á, a   
| {{IPAlink|a|/aː/, /a/}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAlink|ɒ|/ɒː/, /æ/}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ب]]}}</span> 
| báʼ
| bé
| b || {{IPAslink|b}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[پ]]}}</span> 
| –
| pé
| p || {{IPAslink|p}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ت]]}}</span> 
| táʼ
| té
| t || {{IPAslink|t}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ث]]}}</span> 
| t͟háʼ
| sé
| t͟h {{ref|c|[c]}} 
| {{IPAslink|θ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|s}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ج]]}}</span> 
| jím
| jím
| j
| {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[چ]]}}</span> 
| –
| c͟hé
| c͟h
| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ح]]}}</span> 
| ḥáʼ
| hé
| ḥ || {{IPAslink|ħ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|h}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[خ]]}}</span> 
| k͟háʼ
| k͟hé
| k͟h 
| {{IPAslink|x}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[د]]}}</span> 
| dál
| dál
| d || {{IPAslink|d}} 
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ذ]]}}</span> 
| d͟hál 
| zál
| d͟h || {{IPAslink|ð}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|z}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ر]]}}</span> 
| ráʼ
| ré
| r || {{IPAslink|r}} 
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ز]]}}</span> 
| záy 
| zé
| z || {{IPAslink|z}} 
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ژ]]}}</span> 
| –
| z͟hé
| z͟h 
| {{IPAslink|ʒ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[س]]}}</span> 
| sín
| sín
| s || {{IPAslink|s}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ش]]}}</span> 
| s͟hín
| s͟hín
| s͟h || {{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ص]]}}</span> 
| ṣád
| sád
| ṣ || {{IPAslink|ˤ|sˤ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|s}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ض]]}}</span> 
| ḍád
| zád
| ḍ || {{IPAslink|ˤ|dˤ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|z}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ط]]}}</span> 
| ṭáʼ
| tá
| ṭ || {{IPAslink|ˤ|tˤ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|t}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ظ]]}}</span> 
| ẓáʼ
| zá
| ẓ || {{IPAslink|ˤ|ðˤ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|z}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ع]]}}</span> 
| ʻayn
| ʼayn
| ʻ {{ref|d|[d]}} || {{IPAslink|ʕ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|ʔ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[غ]]}}</span> 
| g͟hayn
| qayn
| g͟h || {{IPAslink|ɣ}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|ɢ}}~{{IPAslink|ɣ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ف]]}}</span> 
| fáʼ
| fé
| f || {{IPAslink|f}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ق]]}}</span> 
| qáf
| qáf
| q || {{IPAslink|q}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|ɢ}}~{{IPAslink|ɣ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ك]]}}</span><br /><span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|fa|[[Kāf|ک]]}}</span> <small>(Persian)</small>
| káf
| káf
| k || {{IPAslink|k}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[گ]]}}</span>
| –
| gáf
| g || {{IPAslink|ɡ}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ل]]}}</span> 
| lám
| lám
| l || {{IPAslink|l}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[م]]}}</span> 
| mím
| mím
| m || {{IPAslink|m}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ن]]}}</span> 
| nún
| nún
| n || {{IPAslink|n}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[و]]}}</span> 
| wáw 
| váv 
| ú, v || {{IPA|/uː/}}; {{IPAslink|w}} <small>(Arabic)</small>; {{IPAslink|v}} <small>(Persian)</small>
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ه]]}}</span> 
| háʼ
| hé
| h || {{IPAslink|h}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ي]]}}</span> {{ref|b|[b]}}<br /><span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|fa|[[ی]]}}</span> <small>(Persian)</small>
| yáʼ
| yé
| í, y || {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPAslink|j}}
|- align="center"
| <span style="font-size:140%;">{{lang|ar|[[ء]]}}</span> 
| hamzah
| hamzé
| ʼ {{ref|d|[d]}}
| {{IPAslink|ʔ}} 
|}

{{refbegin}}

* {{note|a|a}} Real phonetic values of [[Arabic phonology|Arabic]] vary regionally and the table mostly demonstrates the abstract Arabic phonemes.
* {{note|b|b}} In Persian, the final form of the letter is written undotted.
* {{note|c|c}} The Unicode character for the underline, 'combining double macron below', is U+35F (decimal U+863). It can be written as hex &amp;#x35F; or decimal &amp;#863;, or with the template {{tl|underscore}}. HTML underlining (i.e., <nowiki><u>...</u></nowiki>) should not be used, as it's not copy-safe.
* {{note|d|d}} The Unicode character for the ʻayin, the 6-like 'combining letter turned comma', is U+2BB (decimal U+699), and the character for hamza, the 9-like 'combining letter apostrophe', is U+2BC (decimal U+700). They can be written as &amp;#x2BB; and &amp;#x2BC; (decimal &amp;#699; and &amp;#700;), or with the templates {{tl|okina}} and {{tl|hamza}}.

{{refend}}

==Comparison to common Latinizations==

The Baháʼí transliteration can often differ markedly from versions commonly in use in English.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Baháʼí Orthography
! Common English Representation
! [[Help:IPA/Persian|Persian pronunciation]]
! [[Help:IPA/Arabic|Arabic pronunciation]]
! Perso-Arabic Spelling
|- align="center"
| Ád͟hirbáyján<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/adhirbayjan |title=How to pronounce 'Adhirbayjan' - Baha'i Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Baha'i Words and Phrases - BahaIQ |access-date=2016-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501134512/http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/adhirbayjan |archive-date=2016-05-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
| [[Azerbaijan]]
| {{IPA|/ɒzæɾbɒːjˈdʒɒːn/}}
| {{IPA|/ʔæðeɾbiːˈdʒæːn/}}
| {{lang|fa|آذربایجان}}
|- align="center"
| Fáṭimih<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/fatimih |title=How to pronounce 'Fatimih' - Baha'i Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Baha'i Words and Phrases - BahaIQ |access-date=2016-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412195019/http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/fatimih |archive-date=2016-04-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| [[Fatima (given name)#Variations|Fatima]]
| {{IPA|/fɒːteˈme/}}
| {{IPA|/fɑːˈtˤɪmæ, ˈfɑːtˤɪmæ/}}
| {{lang|fa|فاطمه}}
|- align="center"
| S͟hog͟hí<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/shoghi+effendi |title=How to pronounce 'Shoghi Effendi' - Baha'i Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Baha'i Words and Phrases - BahaIQ |access-date=2016-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412194349/http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/shoghi+effendi |archive-date=2016-04-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| [[Shawki]]
| {{IPA|/ˈʃoːɣi/}}
| {{IPA|/ˈʃæwʔi, ˈʃɑwqi/}}
| {{lang|fa|شوقی}}
|- align="center"
| Siyyid<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/siyyid |title=How to pronounce 'Siyyid' - Baha'i Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Baha'i Words and Phrases - BahaIQ |access-date=2016-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412195100/http://glossary.bahaiq.com/words/siyyid |archive-date=2016-04-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 
| [[Sayyid]]
| {{IPA|/sejˈjed/}}
| {{IPA|/ˈsæjjɪd/}}
| {{lang|fa|سید}}
|}

While the accent and phonemic diacritic marks in the word "Baháʼí" indicate a three syllable pronunciation as {{IPA|fa|bæhɒːˈʔiː|}}, the official pronunciation guide of the Baháʼí World News Service gives a two syllable pronunciation of "ba-HIGH" {{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|h|aɪ}} for English.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.bahai.org/media-information/style-guide|title=Style guide, glossary and pronunciation guide &#124; Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS)|website=Bahá’í World News Service}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=December 2019|talkpage=Talk:Baháʼí orthography#Verification fails}} The realization of the English pronunciation varies. The [[Oxford English Dictionary]] has {{IPAc-en|b|æ|ˈ|h|ɑː|iː}} {{respell|ba|HAH|ee}}, [[Merriam-Webster]] has {{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|ˈ|h|ɑː|iː}} {{respell|bah|HAH|ee}} (reflecting in the first syllable the difference between the UK and the US with the 'pasta' vowel), and the [[Random House Dictionary]] has {{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˈ|h|ɑː|iː}} {{respell|bə|HAH|ee}}, all with three syllables.<ref>See {{citation |publisher=Baháʼí Study |url=https://archive.org/details/ABahaiGlossaryAndPronunciationGuide |first=Amin |last=Banani |title=A Bahaʼi Glossary and Pronunciation Guide |format=MP3}} and {{citation |url=http://bahai-library.com/wttp/programs.html |first=Darius |last=Shahrokh |title=Windows to the Past Series |work=Baháʼí Library}} – A Guide to Pronunciation part 1 and 2, for more pronunciation instructions.</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |first=Shoghi |last=Effendi |author-link=Shoghi Effendi |date=1974 |orig-year=first published in 1928 |title=Baháʼí Administration |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |isbn=0-87743-166-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/bahaiadministrat0000shog |url-access=registration }}
*{{cite web |url=https://bahai-library.com/momen_transliteration |title=Transliteration |last=Momen |first=Moojan |author-link=Moojan Momen |date=1991 |website=Baháʼí Library Online |access-date=2019-11-20 }}
*{{Citation |year=1930 |orig-year=Reprinted 1980 |title=The Baháʼí World |volume=III |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |publication-place=Wilmette, Illinois |ref={{sfnRef|World|1930}} }}
*{{Citation |year=1939 |orig-year=Reprinted 1980 |title=The Baháʼí World |volume=VII |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |publication-place=Wilmette, Illinois |ref={{sfnRef|World|1939}} }}

{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://bahai-library.com/winters_dying_for_god/ Dying for God], contains an introductory summary of Baháʼí terminology and transliteration used in academic literature.
*[https://bahai-library.com/uhj_pronunciation_arabic/ Arabic, Proper pronunciation of], by the Universal House of Justice.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130729135531/http://glossary.bahaiq.com/ All Words – Bahaʼi Glossary, a Spoken Dictionary of Bahaʼi Words and Phrases – BahaIQ]

{{Baháʼí}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baha'i orthography}}
[[Category:Bahá'í practices|Orthography]]
[[Category:Romanization of Arabic]]
[[Category:1923 introductions]]
[[Category:1923 in Iran]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 1920s]]
[[Category:1923 in religion]]
[[Category:Persian orthography]]