Belarusian Arabic alphabet
Arabic-based alphabet for Belarusian / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Belarusian Arabic alphabet (Belarusian: Беларускі арабскі алфавіт, romanized: Biełaruski arabski ałfavit) or Belarusian Arabitsa (بَلاروُسقایا ارابیࢯا, Беларуская Арабіца, Biełaruskaja Arabica)[1] was based on the Arabic script and was developed in the 16th century (possibly 15th). It consisted of twenty-eight graphemes, including several additions to represent Belarusian phonemes not found in the Arabic language.
The Belarusian Arabic alphabet was used by the Lipka Tatars, who had been invited to settle in Belarusian territory, at the time part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During the 14th–16th centuries they gradually stopped using their own language and started using the Old Belarusian language rendered in the Belarusian Arabic alphabet. Books of that literary tradition are known in Belarusian as Kitab (Belarusian: "Кітаб"), which is Arabic for written material.
Some Polish texts were also written in the Arabic script in the 17th century or later.[2]