Sorabe سُرَبِ‎
A manuscript in Sorabe
Script type	Abjad
Period	c. 1400 CE to the present
Direction	Right-to-left
Languages	Malagasy
Related scripts
Parent systems	Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Aramaic Nabataean Arabic Pegon[1][2] Sorabe
Sister systems	Pegon script,Jawi script
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Sorabe orSora-be (سُرَبِ,Malagasy pronunciation:[suˈrabe]) is anabjad based onArabic, formerly used to transcribe theMalagasy language (belonging to theMalayo-Polynesian language family) and theAntemoroMalagasy dialect, dating from the 15th century.^[3]

Researchers are still hypothesizing about the origins of the Sorabe alphabet. "Sorabe" means literally "large writings" fromArabic "sura" (writing) andMalagasy "be" (large). This denomination might point to the existence of a previous writing system with smaller characters ofSanskrit origin used inSouth East Asia as it is evidenced in someMalagasy words.

Traditionally, researchers have speculated that this writing system was introduced through commercial contacts of theMalagasy withArab Muslims.^[4] However, more recent studies claim that this writing scheme might have been introduced byJavanese Muslims.^[5][6] There are striking similarities between "Sorabe" and the "Pegon script", which is theJavanese variant of theArabic script.

A couple of hundred old manuscripts written in the Sorabe alphabet have survived to this day, though the oldest manuscript may have been written no earlier than the 17th century.^[4] Those "Sorabe" are bound in leather and the texts are named after the colour of the skin. Most of the texts contain magical formulas, but there are also some historical texts concerning the origin of some of the southeastern tribes of the island ofMadagascar. These origins are traced toMecca or the ProphetMohammed even though the practice ofIslam is nowhere seen in the texts.^{[citation needed]}

Sorabe eventually spread across the island beginning in the 17th century and, at the end of the 18th century, theMerina kingAndrianampoinimerina called forAntemoro scribes to teach the children of his court to read and write. This was how the future kingRadama I learned to read and write in Sorabe from his childhood.

Nowadays, Malagasy is written usinga Latin alphabet, introduced in 1823.

Pegon uses the original letters ofArabic script. Unlike many languages that have adopted Arabic script, no new letters were created in Sorabe script in order to make it suitable for Malagasy phonology. However, in order to actually accommodate Malagasy phonology, two other ways have historically been employed in manuscripts.

Firstly, theshadda diacritic, whose original function in Arabic isgemination, has been used as a way of expressing an approximation of aprenasalized consonant, [ndr] and [tr] being expressed as a geminated [r] sound (رّ‎), and [mp] being expressed with a geminated [f] sound (فّـ ࢻّ‎).

Another way has been to use Arabic letters in ways completely different from their Arabic sounds. For example, while Arabic letterṬāʾ (ࢋ‎) has been adapted with a dot beneath to represent [t], the lettertāʼ (ت‎), normally having a [t] sound, is used for [ts] sounds.^[7] Furthermore, the letterʿayn (ع‎), normally having a glottal orepiglottal sound [ʔ / ʕ] depending on language, is used to represent thevoiced velar nasal sound [ŋ] (ng). It is worth mentioning that in thePegon andJawi scripts of theMalay world, the same sound is represented with the letterʿayn, modified with 3 dots (ڠ‎).^[8]

Similar to the Pegon script (historically, not so much in more modern conventions) fromIndonesia and theAjami script from mainland Africa, only consonants are represented by letters, but all vowels are written down as well, in the form ofArabic diacritics. Without diacritics, correct reading will not be possible. For example, the wordاو‎ can either meantuber (اُوِ‎, ovy) or "some who comes" (اَوِ‎, avy).^[8]

The table below lists all the consonants used for the writing of Malagasy in Sorabe script. The script doesn't fully represent all aspects of Malagasy phonology. For example, it makes no distinction between plain andprenasalized consonants. An interesting fact about this script is the use of the letterي‎ for what is represented in Latin with "z". This is the ArabicYa' letter, and it represents the [y] sound. Other Arabic letters may be seen in manuscripts, but their usage has been limited to Arabic quotes or loanwords.

In Sorabe manuscripts, vowel sequences and some syllables at the end of words are written following certain conventions. Below is a summary chart. Examples for each are shown as well.^[4]

Notes

1. At ends of words

The following is a sample text in Malagasy of Article 1 of theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights.^[9]

• Madagascar
• Malagasy

• (in English) Adelaar K.A. & Himmelmann N. (2004),The Austronesian Language of Asia and Madagascar, Routledge[1] .
• (in French) Ferrand, Gabriel (1905).Les migrations musulmanes et juives à Madagascar. Paris: Revue de l'histoire des religions.
• Kasanga Fernand (1990),Fifindra-monina, Librairie FLM, Antananarivo.
• (in French) Simon P. (2006)La langue des ancêtres. Ny Fitenin-drazana. Une périodisation du malgache des origines au XV^e siècle, L'Harmattan[2].

• Book containing Malagasy manuscripts in Sorabe alphabet, plus transliteration and translation (1906)Un Texte Arabico-Malgache Du XVIe siècle By FERRAND, Gabrielhttp://ia800309.us.archive.org/29/items/untextearabicoma00pariuoft/untextearabicoma00pariuoft.pdf
• La Case, les Sorabe, l'Histoire
• Arabic in Madagascar,Kees Versteegh, Bulletin of theSchool of Oriental and African Studies, 2001
• East Barito: Who Were the Malayo-Polynesian Migrants to Madagascar?

• Malagasy language
• Arabic alphabets
• Writing systems of Africa
• Islam in Madagascar

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