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Old Hijazi is the Arabic spoken at the time of Muhammad in the Hijaz region, which includes Mecca and Medina. The characteristics of this language were revealed by (1) early Arabic texts written in Greek and Hebrew letters, (2) the investigation into the Quranic Consonantal Text (QCT) which is the underlying consonantal skeleton (in Arabic, rasm رسم) of the Qur'an. Old Hijazi differs markedly in pronunciation and grammar from the later classical Arabic that is imposed upon the Quran by modern day Muslims and scholars who follow the Muslim tradition of Quranic readings. The imposition of Classical Arabic on the Quran is what led to the mismatch between the pronunciation and the text, which means the Quran was originally written phonetically in Old Hijazi.     
It’s been taken for granted by both academics and Muslim scholars that Classical Arabic was the language of the Quran and Arabs before Islam and during the first three centuries of Islam. This is reflected in the way Muslims recite the Quran and Hadith today. It’s even reflected in all Arabic historical movies and TV works depicting the early centuries of Islam such as the movie  “[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDVe6EZ4-Xo Al-Risālah]” about the life of Muhammad where all the actors are shown speaking in Classical Arabic with its two main hallmarks: full case inflection (final short vowels and nunation or Tanwīn) and full use of the Hamzah (glottal stop). This belief is reinforced by the popular claim by Muslim scholars that the readings tradition of the Quran, which the Quran is recited based on, were transmitted to us verbatim from the mouth of Muhammad. And all of these readings employ a full case system and heavily use the Hamzah. But recent academic research pioneered by Ahmad Al-Jallad of Ohio University and Marijn Van Putten of the University of Leiden, shows that the Quran was actually composed in a different language, which they call Old Hijazi, the ancient vernacular dialect of the Hijaz region which includes Makkah and Medina.  
 
Old Hijazi differs markedly in pronunciation and grammar from the later classical Arabic that is imposed upon the Quran. This imposition led to the mismatch between the pronunciation and the text, which means the Quran was originally written phonetically in Old Hijazi. Old Hijazi sounds more like most modern Arabic vernacular as most modern Arabic dialects are completely devoid of the case system and devoid of the Hamzah to varying degrees.    
 
The characteristics of Old Hijazi have been revealed by (1) early Arabic texts written in Greek and Hebrew letters which showed what the early defective Arabic script couldn’t, (2) the investigation into the Quranic Consonantal Text (QCT) which is the underlying consonantal skeleton (in Arabic, rasm رسم) of the Qur'an that originally lacked dots and other signs.


== Main characteristics of Old Hijazi ==
== Main characteristics of Old Hijazi ==
'''1- Lack of nunation and final short vowels except in construct.'''  
The first five characteristics are proven by (a) the early Arabic scripts written in Greek and Hebrew letters, (b) the linguistic analysis of the Quranic consonantal text (QCT) which is the original text of the Quran that’s devoid of dots and signs that were added later.
 
'''1- Lack of nunation and final short vowels except in construct'''<ref>Marijn Van Putten, [https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Quranic Arabic], p.282</ref>'''.'''  


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since that the word kitāb (book) is the subject of the sentence, it takes the ‘u’ final short vowel. The two words “kitābu Muḥammad” are in construct (book of Muhammad). The possessed noun retains the final short vowel in Old Hijazi.
since that the word kitāb (book) is the subject of the sentence, it takes the ‘u’ final short vowel. The two words “kitābu Muḥammad” are in construct (book of Muhammad). The possessed noun retains the final short vowel in Old Hijazi.


Note: Old Hijazi retains case inflection in the following situations where case is expressed with long vowels: The five nouns, the Dual and Sound masculine plural. (Putten Quranic Arabic, p.282)
Note: Old Hijazi retains case inflection in the following situations where case is expressed with long vowels: The five nouns, the Dual and Sound masculine plural<ref>Marijn Van Putten, [https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Quranic Arabic], p.282</ref>.




'''2- The feminine ending is always “ah” and it only turns to “at” in construct or when a pronoun gets attached to it.''' E.g. :
'''2- The feminine ending is always “ah” and it only turns to “at” in construct or when a pronoun gets attached to it'''<ref>Marijn Van Putten & Phillip Stokes, [https://www.academia.edu/37481811/Case_in_the_Qur%CB%80%C4%81nic_Consonantal_Text_Wiener_Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_die_Kunde_des_Morgenlandes_108_2018_pp_143_179 Case in the Quranic Consonantal Text], p165</ref>'''.''' E.g. :


المدرسة جديدة (the school is new)
المدرسة جديدة (the school is new)
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هذه مدرسة الحي (This is the neighborhood’s school)
هذه مدرسة الحي (This is the neighborhood’s school)


Classical Arabic and: hādhihī madrasatu l-ḥay
Classical Arabic: hādhihī madrasatu l-ḥay


Old Hijazi: hādhih madrasatu l-ḥay
Old Hijazi:           hādhih madrasatu l-ḥay




'''3- The indefinite accusative marker is always the ‘ā’ long vowel.''' E.g. :
'''3- The indefinite accusative marker is always an ‘ā’ long vowel.''' E.g. :


اشتريت كتابا جديدا (I bought a new a book).
اشتريت كتابا جديدا (I bought a new a book).
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'''4- The third person masculine singular pronoun is always a mere ‘h’ with no vowel attached to it.''' E.g.
'''4- The third person masculine singular pronoun is always a mere ‘-h’ with no vowel attached to it.''' E.g.


كتابه جديد (His book is new).
كتابه جديد (His book is new).
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Classical Arabic: Kitābuhū jadīd.
Classical Arabic: Kitābuhū jadīd.


Old Hijazi: Kitābuh jadīd.
Old Hijazi:           Kitābuh jadīd.
 




In plural, the ‘h’ pronoun only takes the “hum” form as opposed to classical Arabic which also allows another form: “him”. The same goes for the dual: Old Hijazi only has “humā” while Classical Arabic has “humā” and “himā”.
In plural, the ‘-h’ pronoun only takes the “-hum” form as opposed to classical Arabic which also allows another form: “-him”. The same goes for the dual: Old Hijazi only has “-humā” while Classical Arabic has “-humā” and “-himā”.


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Classical Arabic: ʕalayhim
Classical Arabic: ʕalayhim


Old Hijazi: ʕalayhum
Old Hijazi:           ʕalayhum
 
 
'''5- The Alef Maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē.''' E.g. :
 
هدى


Classical Arabic: hudā


'''5- Lack of Hamzah (glottal stop) except when it’s a word-final Hamzah preceded by the long vowel ā.'''
Old Hijazi:          hudē


Classical Arabic: رأس raʾs


Old Hijazi:          راس rās
'''6- Lack of Hamzah (glottal stop).'''


This characteristic is proven by (a) and (b) mentioned earlier. It’s also proven by early Arab grammarians’ description of the dialect of Quraysh which Muhammad belonged to.


Classical Arabic: ذئب dhiʾb
A glottal stop naturally occurs in every language when the first word to be uttered begins with a vowel. The glottal stop in Arabic is called “Hamzah” and it has the symbol: ء . This symbol wasn’t invented yet at the time of Muhammad. The Hamzah can occur at the beginning, middle or end of a word.


Old Hijazi:           ذيب  dhīb
Classical Arabic: رأس raʾs


Old Hijazi:          راس rās


'''6- The Alef Maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē.''' E.g. :


هدى
Classical Arabic: ذئب dhiʾb


Classical Arabic: hudā
Old Hijazi:           ذيب  dhīb 


Old Hijazi:           hudē
Note: QCT evidence based on rhyme shows that the Hamzah is retained when it's the last letter of a word while preceeded by the long vowel ā. E.g. : samāʾ سماء




'''8- The ض  letter is pronounced in a sound very similar to ظ  (ḍh) as apposed to the modern pronunciation ḍ (emphatic d).'''
'''7- The ض  letter (ḍ) sounds very similar to the sound of ظ  (ḍh) as apposed to the modern pronunciation fo ض as ḍ (emphatic d).'''  


This characteristic is proven by QCT analysis (specifically, evidence based on rhyme) and early Arab grammarians’ description of the sounds of the Arabic letters.
== Quranic Comparison between Classical Arabic and Old Hijazi ==
== Quranic Comparison between Classical Arabic and Old Hijazi ==
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==Introduction to the I'rāb==
==Introduction to the Iʕrāb==
 
In order to understand how the language of the QCT differs from the later classical Arabic it is now read in, it's important to understand the Iʕrāb.
 
The Iʕrāb system in Arabic is a set of grammatical endings attached to words to convey aspects such as case, mood, and voice in a sentence. This system has its origin in classical Arabic as formulated by the classical Arabic grammarians after the 8th century, and it continues to be used, with very little change, in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), known in Arabic as Fuṣḥā, the lingua franca of the Arab world and the language of books and official media such as government proclamations and news media.


In order to understand how the language of the QCT differs from the later classical Arabic it is now read in, it's important to understand the i'arab.
In Classical Arabic and MSA, nouns and adjectives can be marked for three grammatical cases: nominative (مرفوع), accusative (منصوب), and genitive (مجرور). The markings consist of either a short vowel, a short vowel and an “n” sound, or (occasionally) a long vowel. Nouns  can also be in the state of definiteness or indefiniteness, which each take different endings. The system of Iʕrāb specifies the vowel endings for nouns in these different states (Fischer, 86).  


The i'arab system in Arabic is a set of grammatical endings attached to words to convey aspects such as case, mood, and voice in a sentence. This system has its origin in classical Arabic as formulated by the classical Arabic grammarians after the 8th century, and it continues to be used, with very little change, in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), known in Arabic as fusha, the lingua franca of the Arab world and the language of books and official media such as government proclamations and news media.
Here is a basic outline of i'arab for singular nouns:


In Classical Arabic and MSA, nouns (asma') can be marked for three grammatical cases: nominative (marfu'), accusative (mansub), and genitive (majrur). The markings consist of either a short vowel, a short vowel and an “n” sound, or (occasionally) a long vowel. Nouns  can also be in the state of definiteness or indefiniteness, which each take different endings. The system of i'arab specifies the vowel endings for nouns in these different states (Fischer, 86).
1. Nominative case: the noun takes a short -u for definite and -un for indefinite nouns. This case is typically used for the subject of a sentence. E.g. :


It should be noted that Classical Arabic had a sentence structure of VSO: verb, subject, object, with some variation for emphasis and other reasons. MSA has moved (along with the Arabic dialects) to use more of an SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) system, although VSO is still more common in literature (kamal hasan, 7). In Classical Arabic and sometimes in MSA the case system was essential to understanding the meaning of some sentences; as MSA has changed to mirror the dialects, though, the importance of the system for understanding has diminished. Arabic has become a more “analytical” language relying on the positions of words in sentences to convey meaning, whereas classical Arabic was a more “synthetic” language that used the i’arab system to convey this information.  
al-baytu jadīd البيتُ جديد (The house is new) : The word “al-bayt” (the house) is the subject so it takes the ‘u’ final short vowel.


Here is a basic outline of i'arab for singular nouns:
2. Accusative case: the noun takes a short -a for definite and -un for indefinite nouns. This case is often used for the direct object of a sentence. E.g. :


1. Nominative case (marfu'): the noun takes a short -u for definite and -un for indefinite nouns. This case is typically used for the subject of a sentence.
raʾaytu baytan jadīdā رأيتُ بيتاً جديدا (I saw a new house) : The word “bayt” (house) is the object so it takes the ‘a’ final short vowel. The word is also indefinite so it also take a final ‘n’.


2. Accusative case (mansub): the noun takes a short -a for definite and -un for indefinite nouns. This case is often used for the direct object of a sentence.
3. Genitive case: the noun takes a short -i for definite and -in for indefinite nouns. This case is commonly used for objects of prepositions and to express ownership or relation of one noun to another (Karing Ryding, 183-184). E.g. :


3. Genitive case (majrur): the noun takes a short -i for definite and -in for indefinite nouns. This case is commonly used for objects of prepositions and to express ownership or relation of one noun to another (Karing Ryding, 183-184).  
Marartu ʕala l-bayti l-jadīd مررتُ على البيتِ الجديد (I passed by the new house) : The word “l-bayt” (the house) is in the genitive so it takes the ‘i’ final short vowel.  


These are the basic form for regular, singular nouns, there are other variations on these three cases for other types and classes of noun.  
These are the basic form for regular, singular nouns, there are other variations on these three cases for other types and classes of noun.  


As for verbs (afa'al), they can take different endings based on tense, mood, and voice.
As for verbs, they can take different endings based on tense, mood, and voice.


Present tense (al-mudari') verbs can have different endings based on the mood:
Present tense (المضارع) verbs can have different endings based on the mood:


1. Indicative mood (marfu'): The verb ends in -u. This is used when the verb is in an independent clause.
1. Indicative mood (مرفوع): The verb ends in -u. This is used when the verb is in an independent clause.


2. Subjunctive mood (mansub): The verb ends in -a. This is used after certain particles or in clauses beginning with “that” id est “I wish that I was a swimmer” or “I wish that he goes” (in Arabic, it is normal to say “I want that he goes” or “I wish that he goes” rather than “I want him to go” or “I wish him to go” with an infinitive, as infinitive verbs strictly speaking do not exist; the closest equivalent to the infinitive is the verbal noun (“going” “being” etc), but most forms of Arabic prefer the subjunctive to the verbal noun).
2. Subjunctive mood (منصوب): The verb ends in -a. This is used after certain particles or in other cases.


3. Jussive mood (majzum): The verb ends in a sukun, indicating a full stop/lack of vowel. This is used in certain negative commands or after certain particles (Karin Ryding, 445).
3. Jussive mood (مجزوم): The verb ends in a sukūn, indicating a full stop/lack of vowel. This is used in commands or after certain particles (Karin Ryding, 445).


The endings for nouns are thus u, a, and i, and for verbs they are u, a, and sukun (full stop, silent, no vowel). As with the nouns, modern Arabic dialects have completely lost these endings, and MSA may be spoken with or without them and be understood. They were, however, essential for understanding classical Arabic.
The endings for nouns are thus u, a, and i, and for verbs they are u, a, and sukūn (silent, no vowel).  
All of the classical Islamic reading traditions feature full use of the I’arab system, for nouns and verbs. Despite the presence of the diacritical markings on every word indicating the presence of these short vowels, these endings are not pronounced at the end of a line of Quranic recitation. If the i’arab were to be pronounced at the end of all lines, the Qur’an would cease to rhyme; meanwhile, if the Qur’an is read without the i’arab, [[All Examples of Old Hijazi Internal Rhymes in the Quran and Hadith|hundreds of new rhymes emerge.]]


==The Quranic Consonantal Text==


The Qur’anic consonantal text (QCT) is the original consonantal skeleton of the text of the Qur’an. It is derived from two sources, the vast Uthmanic corpus of copies of the Qur’an created after the Uthmanic recension and the Sana’a palimpsest that provides us our only glimpse as a manuscript tradition which differs markedly from the Uthmanic tradition. Both the Uthmanic corpus and Sana’a palimpsest derive from an underlying text of the Qur’an and the two traditions do not differ greatly in their transmission of this underlying text. The QCT was written without many (but not without all) of the diacritical marks and dots which now typify Arabic texts, including inter alia short vowel marks, hamzahs, (many) consonant dot, and differs significantly from modern Arabic texts in the markings of some long vowels, particularly at the end of words.  
A lot of words and particles take a fixed final short vowel that doesn’t change with case, the most commonly used one is ‘a’, which is attached in many instances such as:
 
- Singular masculine verbs in the past tense: dhahaba ذهبَ “(he) went”.
 
- The final “ūn/īn” of the sound masculine plural nouns and second/third person masculine verbs, such as: muʾminūna مؤمنونَ (believers). Yaktubūna يكتبونَ “(they) write”.
 
-The singular masculine possessive pronoun -k: kitābuka كتابكَ  (your book).
 
- Many particles such as: kayfa كيفَ (how) , ʕinda عندَ (at), ayna أينَ(where), thumma ثمَّ  (then), hunāka هناكَ (there),
 
 
Almost all Arabic words take a final short vowel. The exceptions are:
 
- Words that end with a long vowel (though many of them can take nunation).
 
- The jussive case which doesn’t require the addition of a final vowel.  
 
- imperatives, such as: uktub اكتب  (write)


The QCT shows a number of differences from both the later interpretation of it in the Islamic tradition and later medieval norms around writing Arabic.
- A few particles such as kam كم (how much), min من  (from).


===Final Yaa’===
In later Arabic, some words such as رأى  and فتى are spelled with the letter “y”, “yaa’”, but pronounced with a long “a” sound. This letter, the so-called Alif Maqsurah, is not always represented as such in the QCT. In some cases, the sound is written out as a regular alif ا and in other cases it is written as would be later expected, with a yaa’ ى. The difference between these spellings is likely meaningful. The instances in which  the yaa’ is spelled out likely had an original long e sound, whereas those written with an alif likely represented a pronounced long a. These sounds were later merged into a single long “a” realization. (Marijn van Putten Dissimilation of ē to ā in the Qurʾānic Consonantal Text).


===The Hamzah===
Modern Arabic dialects have completely lost these endings, and MSA may be spoken with or without them and be understood. All of the classical Islamic reading traditions feature full use of the Iʕrāb system. Despite the presence of the diacritical markings on every word indicating the presence of these short vowels, these endings are not pronounced at the end of a line of Quranic recitation. If the Iʕrāb were to be pronounced at the end of all lines, the Qur’an would cease to rhyme; meanwhile, if the Qur’an is read without the Iʕrāb, [[All Examples of Old Hijazi Internal Rhymes in the Quran and Hadith|hundreds of internal rhymes emerge.]]
In most cases where later forms of Arabic and interpretations of the QCT would have a hamzah (the letter ء, in later Arabic used to represent the glottal stop) the Qur’an does not spell word with a hamzah in any position. The orthography of the QCT seems to indicate a total lack of the glottal stop in all cases save one:


1. Post consonantal mid-word hamzahs are just not written: يسأل  “he asks” is spelled يسل with no hamzah, أفئدة  “benefits” is written افده.
==The Quranic Consonantal Text==
[[File:Qct1.jpg|thumb|Comparison of modern Arabic Print to the QCT]]
The Qur’anic consonantal text (QCT) is the original consonantal skeleton of the text of the Qur’an. It is derived from the vast Uthmanic corpus of copies of the Qur’an created after the third caliph Uthman standardized the Quran and ordered the destruction of all other different versions. The QCT was written without most (but not without all) of the diacritical marks and dots which now typify Arabic texts, including hamzahs, consonant dots and short vowel marks (rarely used in modern Arabic writing but used in the Quran and Hadith to ensure proper pronunciation). Other differences between QCT and modern Arabic writing include the mid-word long ā vowel which is usually unwritten in QCT.  


2 The sequence u/a ‘ u with a long u is written with a single waw و:
The QCT shows a number of differences from both the later interpretation of it in the Islamic tradition and later medieval norms around writing Arabic.


رؤوس  “heads” is written روس 
'''Final Yā’'''


رؤوف “compassionate” is written روف
Some Arabic words such as raʾā رأى and fatā فتى are spelled with a final “y” (ى) but pronounced as a long vowel ā. The ‘y’ that is pronounced as ā is called Alif Maqṣūrah and in modern spelling it doesn’t take the bottom two dots which are reserved for a genuine ‘y’ or ‘ī’, i.e: in modern prints of the Quran, a word-final ى is pronounced as ā, while a word-final ي  (with the two dots) is pronounced as ‘y’ or ‘ī’. The QCT analysis, particularly evidence based on rhyme, shows that the Alif Maqṣūrah in the Quran wasn’t pronounced as ā. Early Arabic texts written in Greek show that this letter was pronounced as ē. It’s also pronounced as ē in some canonical readings. When Arabic was Classicized, the ‘ē’ sound merged into ‘ā’.


3. Final long a followed by a hamzah is written without the hamzah, so أبناء “sons” is written ابنا  .
The development of the triphthongs in Quranic and Classical Arabic, 2017


Unlike with the other hamzahs, where rhyme seems to indicate the glottal stop was not pronounced, the rhyms involving these words seem to indicate the hamzah may have been pronounced in this position, though it was never written
'''The Hamzah'''


===Ta Marboutah===
In most cases where later forms of Arabic and interpretations of the QCT would have a hamzah (the letter ء, in later Arabic used to represent the glottal stop) the QCT does not spell word with a hamzah in any position. The orthography of the QCT seems to indicate a total lack of the glottal stop in all cases save one : When a final ‘ā’ is followed by a hamzah, such as سماء samāʾ. Unlike with the other hamzahs, where rhyme seems to indicate the glottal stop was not pronounced, the rhymes involving this position seem to indicate the hamzah may have been pronounced, though it was never written.
In later Arabic, the final a sound indicating a feminine noun, the ta marboutah, is written as haa’ ه with two dots over it, the so-called ta marboutah: ة . The QCT never has these two dots. When it does appear, the pronunciation was not with a t followed by the I’rab ending, but rather a consonantal, breathy haa’ that would have rhymed with the third person attached pronoun -hu.


===Nunation Lost===
'''Nunation Lost'''
The QCT never writes out the tanwiin, the addition of a nun to the I’arab ending of a noun, with one exception, where the expression k’ayyin min “oh how many of” is written كأين من  . Otherwise the 3rd person masculine accusative an is written just as a long a ا or else the tanwin is not written at all. All other forms of grammatical nunation, the addition of a nun to a word to mark a grammatical structure, have also been lost in the orthography of the QCT. The loss of nunation is such that in the majzum or jussive for the word kaana “to be” is written without final nunnation in several spots:
1sg. ak اك  (Q19:20)
3sg.m  yak ىك    (Q8:53; Q9:74; Q16:120, Q19:67; Q40̈:28, 85; Q75:37)
3sg.f. tak تك (Q4:40; Q11:17, 109; Q16:127; Q19:9; Q31:16; Q40:50)
1pl.  nak نك (Q74:43, 44)
This also extends to the “energetic” verbal ending -an:
Q96:15 (later Arabic: )la-nasfa’an لنفسعا ‘We will surely drag’Q12:32
Q12:32 (later Arabic: ) la-yakunan  لىكونا ‘he will surely be’


== The meaning of Hamzah (glottal stop) ==
The QCT never writes out the tanwiin, the addition of a nūn to the Iʕrāb ending of a noun, with one exception, where the expression kaʾayyin min “oh how many of” is written in all its 7 attestations in the Quran as كأين من , which is an older form where the nunation got fossilized into the expression. Otherwise the 3rd person masculine accusative ‘an’ is written just as a long ‘ā’ ا or else the tanwīn is not written at all.
A glottal stop naturally occurs in every language when the first word to be uttered begins with a vowel. The glottal stop in Arabic is called “Hamzah” and it has the symbol: ء . This symbol wasn’t invented yet at the time of Muhammad. The Hamzah can occur at the beginning, middle or end of a word.


== Enforcement of Classical Arabic on Early Arabic Texts ==
== Enforcement of Classical Arabic on Early Arabic Texts ==
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E.g.
E.g.


Ομμου Ιωσεw / ommu yūsef/ أم يوسف <ref>[https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Arabic of the Islamic conquests, 2017, p12]</ref>
Ομμου Ιωσεw / ommu yūsef/ أم يوسف <ref>Ibid, [https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century p12]</ref>


But if the possessive noun begins with the definite article, the final short vowel of the possessed noun is replaced with the vowel of the ‘al’ article. E.g.: αβδαλλα/abdalla / عبد الله (Classical Arabic: Abdullah).  
But if the possessive noun begins with the definite article, the final short vowel of the possessed noun is replaced with the vowel of the ‘al’ article. E.g.: αβδαλλα/abdalla / عبد الله (Classical Arabic: Abdullah).  


'''3- The feminine ending “ah” changes to “at” only in construct'''<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Arabic of the Islamic conquests, 2017, p14]</ref>'''. Which proves the lack of final short vowels in non-construct.'''  
'''3- The feminine ending “ah” changes to “at” only in construct'''<ref>Ibid[https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century , p14]</ref>'''. Which proves the lack of final short vowels in non-construct.'''  


Example for feminine “at” in construct:
Example for feminine “at” in construct:
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The word “father” in the nominative appears as abū while in the genitive appears as abī<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Arabic of the Islamic conquests, 2017, p11]</ref>.  
The word “father” in the nominative appears as abū while in the genitive appears as abī<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Arabic of the Islamic conquests, 2017, p11]</ref>.  


E.g.<ref>Ahmad Al-Jallad, [https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century The Arabic of the Islamic conquests], 2017, p12</ref>
E.g.<ref>Ibid, p12</ref>


Αβου Σαειδ /abū saʕīd/ أبو سعيد
Αβου Σαειδ /abū saʕīd/ أبو سعيد
Line 262: Line 284:
'''5-  The alef maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē instead of the Classical Arabic pronunciation ā.'''
'''5-  The alef maqsūrah ى is pronounced as ē instead of the Classical Arabic pronunciation ā.'''


E.g. <ref>Ahmad Al-Jallad, [https://www.academia.edu/24938389/Al_Jallad_2017_The_Arabic_of_the_Islamic_Conquests_Notes_on_Phonology_and_Morphology_based_on_the_Greek_Transcriptions_from_the_First_Islamic_Century The Arabic of the Islamic conquests], 2017, p13</ref>
E.g. <ref>Ibid, p13</ref>


Μαυλε /mawlē/مولى
Μαυλε /mawlē/مولى
Line 273: Line 295:
An example of these Umayyad Greek-Arabic texts:
An example of these Umayyad Greek-Arabic texts:


'''<big>A Greek Inscription from Jordan Dated 42 AH / 662-63 CE</big>'''
=== <big>A Greek Inscription from Jordan Dated 42 AH / 662-63 CE</big> ===
 
[[File:Muawiyah Arabic In Greek.jpg|thumb|A Greek inscription containing an Arabic line written in Greek letters which reveals that final short vowels weren’t used: ABDALLA MAAUIA AMIRAALMUMENEN (The servant of Allah Muʕāwiyah the commander of the faithful)|450x450px]]
This inscription includes the Arabic pronunciation of the title and name of Muʕāwiyah, the first Umayyad caliph.
This inscription includes the Arabic pronunciation of the title and name of Muʕāwiyah, the first Umayyad caliph.


Line 298: Line 320:
Another Umayyad Greek-Arabic text:
Another Umayyad Greek-Arabic text:


'''<big>A Bilingual Umayyad Document From The Year 54 AH / 674 CE</big>'''
=== <big>A Bilingual Umayyad Document From The Year 54 AH / 674 CE</big> ===
 
[[File:Names.jpg|thumb|A Bilingual Umayyad Document where a number of names were written in both Arabic and Greek. The names in Greek lack nunation and final short vowels.|234x234px]]
This is an Umayyad Note to the people of the city of Neṣṣana demanding that they pay their due of the Jizyah (Tax on non-Muslims). It’s written both in Arabic and Greek. The Greek portion includes the following Arabic names that lacked any case inflection:
This is an Umayyad Note to the people of the city of Neṣṣana demanding that they pay their due of the Jizyah (Tax on non-Muslims). It’s written both in Arabic and Greek. The Greek portion includes the following Arabic names that lacked any case inflection:


Line 316: Line 338:
Classical Arabic: Banī saʕdin ibni mālik
Classical Arabic: Banī saʕdin ibni mālik


You can view the document [https://www.islamic-awareness.org/history/islam/papyri/jerus.html here].  
You can view the document [https://www.islamic-awareness.org/history/islam/papyri/jerus.html here].


== The Damascus Psalm Fragment ==
== The Damascus Psalm Fragment ==
Line 361: Line 383:
E.g.
E.g.


أعطى  aʕṭā
أعطى  aʕṭā
 
Αγτα


αγτα


أتى  atē
أتى  atē


Ατε
Ατε




'''4- The “L” of the definite article doesn’t assimilate to the following coronal consonant'''<ref>Ibid, p.49</ref>.  
'''4- The “L” of the definite article doesn’t assimilate to the following coronal consonant'''<ref>Ibid, p.49</ref>.


E.g.<ref>Ibid, p.80</ref>
E.g.<ref>Ibid, p.80</ref>
Line 386: Line 409:


ʕabdərahṃān
ʕabdərahṃān


'''5- The pronominal suffix of the 3<sup>rd</sup> person masculine plural takes only the “hum” form. While classical Arabic has both “hum” and “him”.'''  
'''5- The pronominal suffix of the 3<sup>rd</sup> person masculine plural takes only the “hum” form. While classical Arabic has both “hum” and “him”.'''  
Line 396: Line 420:


βη αυθάνϳὑμ
βη αυθάνϳὑμ


'''6- The indefinite accusative is marked with ā instead of classical Arabic “an”.'''  
'''6- The indefinite accusative is marked with ā instead of classical Arabic “an”.'''  
Line 408: Line 433:
χαϳμετ σεϳλουμ [ḫaymet seylūm] خيمة سيلوم <ref>Ibid, p.91</ref>
χαϳμετ σεϳλουμ [ḫaymet seylūm] خيمة سيلوم <ref>Ibid, p.91</ref>


'''8- ā is realized as [ē] unless there is an inhibiting factor, that is, an emphatic or a labial'''<ref>Ibid, p.51</ref>'''.'''
E.g.


فسالت


'''8- ā is realized as [ē] unless there is an inhibiting factor, that is, an emphatic or a labial'''<ref>Ibid, p.51</ref>'''.'''
φασέλετ


Examples:
fa-sēlet<ref>Ibid, p.79</ref>


Ζηεδ [ziyēd], Μελεχ [mēlek], Αβδελεση [ʕabdelʕēṣī]




Line 521: Line 549:
'''1- Frequent loss of Hamzah'''<ref>Blau and Hopkins, [https://www.academia.edu/38210910/Joshua_Blau_and_Simon_Hopkins_Judaeo-Arabic_Papyri_Collected_Edited_Translated_and_Analysed_Jerusalem_Studies_in_Arabic_and_Islam_vol._9_1987_87-160 Judaeo-Arabic Papyri], 1987, p.126</ref>''':'''
'''1- Frequent loss of Hamzah'''<ref>Blau and Hopkins, [https://www.academia.edu/38210910/Joshua_Blau_and_Simon_Hopkins_Judaeo-Arabic_Papyri_Collected_Edited_Translated_and_Analysed_Jerusalem_Studies_in_Arabic_and_Islam_vol._9_1987_87-160 Judaeo-Arabic Papyri], 1987, p.126</ref>''':'''


Blau and Hopkins, Judaeo-Arabic Papyri, 1987, p.
אלרדיה (The cloaks الأردية )
 
<nowiki>https://www.academia.edu/38210910/Joshua_Blau_and_Simon_Hopkins_Judaeo-Arabic_Papyri_Collected_Edited_Translated_and_Analysed_Jerusalem_Studies_in_Arabic_and_Islam_vol._9_1987_87-160</nowiki>
 
 
אלרדיה (The cloaks الأردية )  


Litteral transcription: alrdyh
Litteral transcription: alrdyh
Line 627: Line 650:
Classical Arabic: yahrubūn
Classical Arabic: yahrubūn


== The Hamzah in the Quranic Reading Traditions ==
== Final short vowels and Nunation in the Quranic Readings Tradition ==
The third caliph’s standardization of the Quran unified the Quranic consonantal text. But as this standardized Quran lacked diacritics, this allowed for the emergence of readings that differ in short vowels, dotting and linguistic characteristics.
The third caliph’s standardization of the Quran unified the Quranic consonantal text. But as this standardized Quran lacked diacritics, this allowed for the emergence of readings that differ in short vowels, dotting and linguistic characteristics.


In their recitation of the Quran, Muslims follow early Quran scholars whose readings became named after them, hence called eponymous readings. In the third Islamic century, the Quranic readings were canonized into 7 readings. And in the ninth Islamic century another 3 were added making the total number of canonical readings 10.  Today the reading of Ḥafṣ is the most popular in the world.
In their recitation of the Quran, Muslims follow early Quran scholars whose readings became named after them, hence called eponymous readings. In the third Islamic century, the Quranic readings were canonized into 7 readings. And in the ninth Islamic century another 3 were added making the total number of canonical readings 10.  Today the reading of Ḥafṣ is the most popular in the world.


Final short vowels and nunation (Iʕrāb) are fully employed in all of the canonical readings. This doesn’t necessarily mean Iʕrāb was part of the original language of the Quran since that the linguistic and historical analysis reveals that these readings were linguistically reworked<ref>Marijn Van Putten, [https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Quranic Arabic], p.214</ref>, none of them represents natural language<ref>Ibid, p.99</ref>, they were full of innovation and didn’t strictly adhere to a supposed oral tradition that goes back to Muhammad. An example of this is the following report from Al-Kisāʾī, the founder of a one of the canonical readings. In his reading, he treats the word thamūd in the accusative as triptotic (thamūdan: i.e. it can take nunation and one of three possible final short vowels). He also treats the word in the genitive and nominative as diptotic (thamūda/thamūdu: i.e. can’t take nunation, and can take one of two possible final short vowels instead of three). Al- Kisāʾī breaks his own rule in verse Q11:68 where the word thamūd is mentioned twice: first in the accusative and second in the genitive. According to his rule, the first word in the verse should be treated as triptotic (thamūdan), and the second word as diptotic (thamūda), but instead he treats both of them as triptotic (thamūdan, thamūdin, respectively):
''ʔa-lā ʔinna thamūdan kafarū rabba-hum ʔa-lā buʕdan li-thamūdin'' (Q11:68)”.
<span dir="rtl" lang="en">﴿أَلَا ‌إِنَّ ‌ثَمُوداً كَفَرُوا رَبَّهُمْ أَلَا بُعْدًا لِثَمُودٍ (٦٨)﴾  هود</span>
Al-Kisāʾī was asked about this, and his response showed that his reasoning had no regard to oral transmission, he said: “It is ugly to have a word occur twice in two places (within the same verse) and then have them disagree [on triptosy/dipotsy], so I treated it [''ṯamūdin''] as a triptote because of it being close to it [''ṯamūdan'']." <ref>Ibid, p.189</ref>
Marijn Van Putten comments on this report saying: {{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.189]|While this account of course does not prove that the Quran was once composed without ʔiʕrāb, what it does show is how readers themselves thought about their role in applying ʔiʕrāb in recitation. Their role was not to faithfully verbatim the ʔiʕrāb as had been taught to them, but rather to argue and rationalize why a word should have the ʔiʕrāb that they would give it. In such cases even purely aesthetic arguments such as the one cited, was apparently enough to deviate from the way their teacher taught it (Ḥamzah, al-Kisāʔī’s direct teacher reads ṯamūda and li-ṯamūda in the relevant verse). As such the application of ʔiʕrāb by these readers can tell us nothing at all about the use of ʔiʕrāb of the original language of the qct. However, given that the choice of ʔiʕrāb was a rational endeavour explicitly based on both the rasm (QCT) and aesthetic preference rather than prophetic example, it becomes quite easy to envision that the presence of this very system was not original to the text, but was rather imposed on it sometime after the standardization of the QCT by ʕuṯmān.}}
Another sign that the application of Iʕrāb wasn’t based on oral tradition, is the pseudo correct use of Iʕrāb, as in the following example<ref>Ibid, p191-192</ref>:
The question word أيَّانَ ʾayyāna (when?) which is used in the Quran several times (such as Q7:187), is a merge between two words: أي  ʾayy (which) and  آنʾān (time). The original shape with Iʕrāb is: ʾayya ʾānin. The Hamzah is lost which allows the merge: ʾayyānin. Yet all of the readings have the word as “ʾayyāna” instead of “ʾayyānin” although ʾān in this structure should take the final short vowel ‘i’ and nunation according to classical Arabic rules: The word ʾayy is the possessed مضاف, and the word ʾān is the possessor مضاف إليه which means it should take the “in” suffix. What explains the readers giving “ayyān” a final -a is that the two words originally had no final short vowels: ayy ān, or ayya ān. And when the two words merged as “ayyān” and got treated as a single word, the readers gave it a final -a because they thought the word is similar to other words such as:
- Question words such as أينَ  ʾayna which only takes a fixed final -a and can’t take nunation nor any other final short vowel.
- Denotations of time which grammatically usually take a final -a, such as يومَ  ''yawma'' ‘on the day’ and حينَ ''ḥīna'' ‘at the time’.
'''<big>The mysterious letters</big>'''
Unlike what the readers did with the entirety of the Quran, the mysterious letters are the only verses they didn’t force case inflection on. These letters appear at the beginning of 29 Surahs, such as Surah no.2 which begins with the three letters ألم (ALM) recited as “Alef lām mīm”. No one knows what these letters mean or why they were employed. Muslim scholars have many different explanations that are based on pure speculation.
In Hadith, which classical Arabic has been imposed on, the mysterious letters are inflected for case:
مَنْ قَرَأَ حَرْفًا مِنْ كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَلَهُ بِهِ حَسَنَةٌ وَالْحَسَنَةُ بِعَشْرِ أَمْثَالِهَا لَا أَقُولُ: آلم حَرْفٌ. أَلْفٌ حَرْفٌ وَلَامٌ حَرْفٌ وَمِيمٌ حَرْفٌ
“If anyone recites a letter of God’s Book he will be credited with a good deed, and a good deed gets a tenfold reward (Al-Qur’ān, 6:160). I do not say that ''A.L.M'' are one letter, but ''alif'' is a letter, ''lām'' is a letter and ''mīm'' is a letter.”<ref>[https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2137 Mishkat al-Masabih 2137, Book 8, Hadith 28]</ref>
In the Arabic text of the Hadith, the three letters are case inflected in the last part of the Hadith:
''“alifun'' is a letter, ''lāmun'' is a letter and ''mīmun'' is a letter.”
Also when modern Muslim scholars cite this Hadith they pronounce the letters at the last part of the Hadith with inflection as can be heard in this video:
<center><youtube>bWxjAURbMYw</youtube></center>
Since that these letters should be inflected in Classical Arabic, why were they left without any inflection in the readings tradition? Van Putten answers:{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.200]|The form of the mysterious letters is fairly easy to understand from a situation that started out as lacking inflectional endings, which were classicized.
As these mysterious letters have no obvious syntactical function, it is difficult to classicize these into an inflectional paradigm. The inverse, however, is more difficult to understand. There is no reason why the mysterious letters would be uninflected, if the base language of the Quran was inflected.}}
== Evidence based on the Consonantal Text of the Quran ==
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/43189829/Al_Jallad_2020_The_Damascus_Psalm_Fragment_Middle_Arabic_and_the_Legacy_of_Old_%E1%B8%A4ig%C4%81z%C4%AB_w_a_contribution_by_R_Vollandt Ahmad Al-Jallad, The Damascus Psalm Fragment, 2020, p.27]|most scholars have assumed that the language behind the most ancient component of the Quran, its Consonantal Text (QCT), is more or less identical to the language recited in the halls of Al-Azhar today. It is only in very recent years that the QCT has enjoyed study as an epigraphic document, interrogating the text for linguistic facts rather than assuming them. These efforts have led to a radically different view of the language of its composition.}}{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.99]|When looking to answer the question what the language of the Quran is, the reading traditions fail to give a consistent answer. They are linguistically diverse, none of them look like natural language, and they must be considered to be a concerted effort to beautify the recitation of the Quran through the use of exotic linguistic features from a variety of different dialects, augmented with completely innovative forms that do not seem to have been part of anyone’s natural speech. However, there is a source of the Quran that carries linguistic information that does go back to the very first decades of Islam: the written text itself.}}
=== The mismatch between Classical Arabic pronunciation and Spelling ===
(for a detailed explanation see [[Internal Rhymes as Evidence for Old Hijazi|this article]])
There exists a mismatch between Arabic spelling and classical Arabic pronunciation. For example:
هناك كتاب جديد hunāka kitābun jadīd (that is a new book)
The word Kitābun is spelled as if it were pronounced as kitāb. The final short ‘u’ vowel cannot be spelled as Arabic doesn’t write short vowels. But the final ‘n’ can be spelled, yet nunation is never written in Arabic. If it was, then the sentence would look like this:
هناك كتابن جديد
Arab grammarians tried to explain the mismatch between spelling and classical Arabic pronunciation by saying that every Arabic word is spelled in the pausal form even if the word wasn’t in a pausal position.
=== Pausal forms ===
A pausal position means the word at the end of an utterance such as the last word of a sentence. When a word is in a pausal position, it receives special treatment in Classical Arabic:
- Neither a final short vowel nor nunation can be attached to the word.
-Due to the lack of a final short vowel, the feminine ending “ah” doesn’t change to “at”: al-madrasatu => al-madrasah.
- The “an” marker for the indefinite accusative becomes a long ‘a’ vowel: Kitāban => Kitābā.
- The dropping of the vowel of the third person masculine singular pronoun: Kitābuhū => Kitābuh.
=== Evidence Against the Pausal Spelling Rule ===
Historical linguists Van Putten and Phillip Stokes note that such a spelling convention is unique among the languages of the world<ref>Marijn Van Putten & Phillip Stokes, [https://www.academia.edu/37481811/Case_in_the_Qur%CB%80%C4%81nic_Consonantal_Text_Wiener_Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_die_Kunde_des_Morgenlandes_108_2018_pp_143_179 Case in the Quranic Consonantal Text], p149</ref> . They also challenge the pausal spelling convention by the following arguments based on the linguistic analysis of QCT:
==== 1- Internal Rhymes. ====
(for a detailed explanation see [[Internal Rhymes as Evidence for Old Hijazi|this article]])
There are Internal rhymes in the Quran that only show up if every word is pronounced in the pausal form. This means that what was thought to be a special treatment for the pronunciation of pausal words was actually the norm for almost all words in the original language of the Quran. The mismatch between the Quranic spelling and the Classical Arabic pronunciation is the result of imposing classical Arabic on a text that wasn’t written in Classical Arabic. Which means the QCT was written phonetically in Old Hijazi, a language that lacked nunation and final short vowels.
An example of these internal rhymes is the following attribute of Allah used as a verse ending in 15 verses such as 4:26, 8:71:
عليم حكيم ʕalīmun ḥakīm (Knowing, Wise)
The first word of the pair, ʕalīm, takes the final short vowel ‘u’ plus nunation. While the second word ḥakīm is in a pausal position (the end of a verse) and hence according to Classical Arabic rules the word doesn’t take the expected ‘un’ suffix. But suffix of the first word is dropped, the two words rhymes with each other:  
ʕalīm ḥakīm
Which means that in the original language of the Quran, final short vowels and nunation weren’t only lost in pausal positions, but they were lost in all words (except in construct).
There are hundreds of similar examples of Old Hijazi internal rhymes. You can see all these examples [[All Examples of Old Hijazi Internal Rhymes in the Quran and Hadith|here]].  
==== 2- The treatment of the final -ī ====
Word-final -ī in QCT is written in some cases and omitted in others.
A thorough analysis of all words with final -ī revealed that -ī is omitted mostly in pausal positions, while kept mostly in context. This important find reveals that the spelling of the Quran isn’t based on the pausal rule. Otherwise, the treatment of the final -ī wouldn’t have changed between pausal and non-pausal positions.
An example of the treatment of final -ī:
The possessive -ī is omitted in 143 pausal positions and never omitted in context. While it’s written in 531 context positions and 21 pausal positions.<ref>Ibid, p16</ref>
==== 3- The feminine ending ‘-ah’ is only spelled as ‘-at’ in construct. ====
Most of Arabic singular feminine nouns and adjectives end with “-ah”. As in: madrasah مدرسة (school). But when these words are in a construct position, or when anything is attached to the end of these words such as a final short vowel, the feminine ‘-ah’ turns into ‘at’ in pronunciation but it remains spelled as ‘ah’.
E.g.:
al-madrasatu hunāk. المدرسة هناك (the school is there).
The word madrasah is the subject of this sentence so it received a final ‘u’ vowel. And since that something was attached to the end of the word, the feminine ‘ah’ of “al-madrasah” turns into ‘at’: al-madrasatu. Yet in spelling, the word is still spelled with a final ‘h’: المدرسة . That’s because in Classical Arabic spelling, the feminine ending is always spelled as ‘h’ even in construct which is a position where the feminine ending is always pronounced as ‘t’ and never as ‘h’. The QCT adheres to this spelling rule but shows some instability in many instances where the feminine ending is spelled as ‘-t’ ـت .
Van Putten and Stokes found that all instances where the feminine ending is spelled as ‘-t’ occurred in construct, a position where the feminine ending is always pronounced as ‘-t’ in all forms of Arabic including Classical Arabic and modern Arabic dialects. The incidence of the ‘-t’ spelling is 47 (22%) out of 218 total of feminine constructs present in the QCT. The rest of the feminine words in construct were spelled as ‘-h’.
“The best way to understand these spellings then, is as inconsistencies of orthography by the scribe, who would occasionally write the construct feminine the way he pronounced it, rather than the non-phonetic orthographic practice to write it with ‘-h’ ـه.” {{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/37481811/Case_in_the_Qur%CB%80%C4%81nic_Consonantal_Text_Wiener_Zeitschrift_f%C3%BCr_die_Kunde_des_Morgenlandes_108_2018_pp_143_179, Marijn Van Putten & Phillip Stokes, Case in the Quranic Consonantal Text, p.23]|The fact that this hāʔ only shows up in pausal position, is yet another piece of evidence that ‘pausal spelling’ is not a governing principle in Quranic orthography. Had that been the case, all apocopates and imperatives should have received a final h, not just the one that stand in a pausal position.}}
As for the other thousands of instances where feminine words aren’t in construct, QCT spells them all with ‘-h’ although most of them are in positions where they should receive final short vowels which turns the feminine ending to ‘-t’. The 22% incidence of the ‘-t’ spelling in construct and the total lack of the ‘-t’ spelling in non-construct proves that in the language of QCT, the construct is the only position that allows turning the feminine ending into ‘-t’. Which means the QCT language lacked final short vowels which explains why there wasn’t any incidence of the ‘-t’ spelling in non-construct. 
==== 4- The pausal hāʾ هاء السكت ====
This hāʾ is used in the Quran several times for rhyming purposes, except in two instances:
- The word ‘yatasannah’ (yatasanna+h) in 2:259
فَٱنظُرۡ إِلَىٰ طَعَامِكَ وَشَرَابِكَ لَمۡ ‌يَتَسَنَّهۡۖ 
The original form of the word is ‘yatasannā’ يتسنى (yatasannē in Old Hijazi), but the final long vowel is shortened because the word is preceded by the jussive negating particle ‘lam’, yielding the jussive form: yatasanna. Which makes the word an apocopate (a word whose final sound is omitted).    
- The imperative word ‘iqtadih’ (iqtadi+h) in 6:90:
أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُۖ فَبِهُدَىٰهُمُ ‌ٱقۡتَدِهۡۗ  
The previous two words, yatasannah and iqtadih, are the only two times an apocopate and an imperative occur in in a pausal position. And both of them received a final ‘h’. Which means in the language of QCT, an apocopate or an imperative receives a final ‘h’ in pause.
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.291]|The fact that this hāʔ only shows up in pausal position, is yet another piece of evidence that ‘pausal spelling’ is not a governing principle in Quranic orthography. Had that been the case, all apocopates and imperatives should have received a final h, not just the one that stand in a pausal position.}}
== The Hamzah in the Quranic Reading Traditions ==
The use of Hamzah is among the differences in linguistic characteristics between the 10 canonical readings. A lot of the readings, including the reading of Ḥafṣ, heavily use the Hamzah while other readings use it moderately. The Hamzah isn’t an original part of the Quran (except in word-final Hamzah that’s preceded by the long vowel ā). There are reports clearly showing that the Hamzah was a later addition. One of these reports says that Nāfiʕ, the founder of one of the ten canonical readings, was asked if it’s possible to introduce the Hamzah to (the two words in the Quran) “al-dhīb” and “al-bīr”. He replied: “If there are Arabs who use the Hamzah with these words then you can use the Hamzah”<ref>السبعة في القراءات لابن مجاهد، ص346، تحقيق شوقي ضيف
The use of Hamzah is among the differences in linguistic characteristics between the 10 canonical readings. A lot of the readings, including the reading of Ḥafṣ, heavily use the Hamzah while other readings use it moderately. The Hamzah isn’t an original part of the Quran (except in word-final Hamzah that’s preceded by the long vowel ā). There are reports clearly showing that the Hamzah was a later addition. One of these reports says that Nāfiʕ, the founder of one of the ten canonical readings, was asked if it’s possible to introduce the Hamzah to (the two words in the Quran) “al-dhīb” and “al-bīr”. He replied: “If there are Arabs who use the Hamzah with these words then you can use the Hamzah”<ref>السبعة في القراءات لابن مجاهد، ص346، تحقيق شوقي ضيف


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Ghanim Qadduuri, Rasm Al-Mishaf, p357</ref>
Ghanim Qadduuri, Rasm Al-Mishaf, p357</ref>


Khalaf’s statement agrees with what early grammarians report. Mukhtār Al-Ghawth says in his book "The dialect of Quraish": “Since that the Hamzah is hard to pronounce, some early Arabic dialects leaned towards dropping the hamzah. This was most notable in the dialect of Quraish as all early sources agree that this dialect lacked the hamzah.” p.39
Khalaf’s statement agrees with what early grammarians report. Mukhtār Al-Ghawth says in his book "The dialect of Quraish": “Since that the Hamzah is hard to pronounce, some early Arabic dialects leaned towards dropping the hamzah. This was most notable in the dialect of Quraish as all early sources agree that this dialect lacked the hamzah.” <ref>[https://waqfeya.net/book.php?bid=1006 لغة قريش]، مختار الغوث، ص39</ref>
 
The enforcement of Hamzah on the Quran is apparent in the instances of pseudo-correct application of the Hamzah. Van Putten lists 12 examples<ref>Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.158-167</ref> of such cases, such as the word kās كاس (cup) which is read as kaʾs in all canonical readings.
 
{{Quote|[https://www.academia.edu/71626921/Quranic_Arabic_From_its_Hijazi_Origins_to_its_Classical_Reading_Traditions_Studies_in_Semitic_Languages_and_Linguistics_106 Marijn Van Putten, Quranic Arabic, p.167]|Comparative Semitic evidence shows that kaʔs ‘cup’ must have a pseudocorrect hamzah in Arabic. The reflexes in Hebrew כוס kos (spelled without aleph) and Aramaic kās as well as Ugaritic ⟨ks⟩ leave no doubt that the reconstruction of this noun in Proto-West Semitic is *kās and the hamzah in the Quranic reading traditions must be pseudocorrect.}}


== The Hamzah and the Consonantal Text of the Quran ==
== The Hamzah and the Consonantal Text of the Quran ==
[[File:الهمزات بين القديم والحديث.jpg|thumb|A table showing how the Hamzah is written in standard and pre-standard Arabic|450x450px]]
The consonantal text of the Quran provides evidence that the original language of the Quran lacked the Hamzah.
The consonantal text of the Quran provides evidence that the original language of the Quran lacked the Hamzah.


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By dropping the Hamzah from khāṭiʾah, it becomes: khāṭiyah خاطية. It’s read as such in the reading of Abū jaʕfar.
By dropping the Hamzah from khāṭiʾah, it becomes: khāṭiyah خاطية. It’s read as such in the reading of Abū jaʕfar.


The second evidence the QCT provides for the lack of Hamzah:
The second evidence the QCT provides for the lack of Hamzah:
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All these different forms: ء , ئ , ؤ, أ are pronounced the same: a glottal stop.
All these different forms: ء , ئ , ؤ, أ are pronounced the same: a glottal stop.


The Hamzah takes all these different shapes because Arabic orthography was standardized based on the QCT which represents a dialect that lacks the hamzah.
The Hamzah takes all these different shapes because Arabic orthography was standardized based on the QCT which represents a dialect that lacks the hamzah.<ref>Marijn Van Putten, Hamzah in the Quranic Consonantal Text, 2018, p.94</ref>


Marijn Van Putten, Hamzah in the Quranic Consonantal Text, 2018, p.94


In many cases, the dropping of Hamzah leads to the creation of a long vowel, the w sound or the y sound. Prior to the standardization of Arabic orthography, the Alef used to be the symbol of the Hamzah or the long vowel ā. For example, the word for "believer" is مؤمن muʾmin. Before the first half of the first century of Islam, Arabs who had the Hamzah in their dialects wrote this word as مامن . The Alef is the sign for the Hamzah in this word. But for Arabs who didn't have the Hamzah like Quraish, they wrote the word like this: mūmin مومن . It’s written as such because the dropping of the Hamzah in this word creates the long vowel ū. That's why in the QCT the word is written as مومن  instead of مامن.
In many cases, the dropping of Hamzah leads to the creation of a long vowel, the w sound or the y sound. Prior to the standardization of Arabic orthography, the Alef used to be the symbol of the Hamzah or the long vowel ā. For example, the word for "believer" is مؤمن muʾmin. Before the first half of the first century of Islam, Arabs who had the Hamzah in their dialects wrote this word as مامن . The Alef is the sign for the Hamzah in this word. But for Arabs who didn't have the Hamzah like Quraish, they wrote the word like this: mūmin مومن . It’s written as such because the dropping of the Hamzah in this word creates the long vowel ū. That's why in the QCT the word is written as مومن  instead of مامن.
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People started writing the Hamzah as one of the three letters ا ي و  following the steps of the Uthmanic script. It became forgotten that the Alef is the supposed shape of hamzah. And it became forgotten that the Uthmanic Qurans were written in the dialect of the people of Hijaz who drop the hamzah. People were careful to follow the Uthmanic Quranic text which was agreed upon by the prophet's companions. This made people stick to the shapes of words as written in Uthmanic text. The Hamzah in the Uthmanic text was written as the vowels  و ي ا . So when people copied this orthography, they added dots over these letters to indicate the hamzahs. Then the dot changed to the ء symbol after Al-Khalīl invented it.}}
People started writing the Hamzah as one of the three letters ا ي و  following the steps of the Uthmanic script. It became forgotten that the Alef is the supposed shape of hamzah. And it became forgotten that the Uthmanic Qurans were written in the dialect of the people of Hijaz who drop the hamzah. People were careful to follow the Uthmanic Quranic text which was agreed upon by the prophet's companions. This made people stick to the shapes of words as written in Uthmanic text. The Hamzah in the Uthmanic text was written as the vowels  و ي ا . So when people copied this orthography, they added dots over these letters to indicate the hamzahs. Then the dot changed to the ء symbol after Al-Khalīl invented it.}}


 
==References==
 
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