Thread by @PhDniX

Would people be interested in an online reading club of an early #judaeoarabic Bible translation written in a phonetic writing?

I'd put up a weekly Google Doc with text with Hebrew and English parallel, and you'd be able to place comments and observations. #judeoarabicreading

Classical Judeo-Arabic is a calque on standard Arabic orthography and does not give very direct insight into how it was pronounced.
Phonetic writing is a direct transcription of what is being said, this allows one to get a unique insight into the pronunciation of Judeo-Arabic.

For example Proverbs 15:26:
כורה ארב פיכר אסו ואטהירה עינדוה אקואל אלואדׄיחה אנעימה
Hebrew parallel:
תּוֹעֲבַת יְהוָה, מַחְשְׁבוֹת רָע; וּטְהֹרִים, אִמְרֵי-נֹעַם.
English:
The thoughts of wickedness are an abomination to the LORD; but words of pleasantness are pure.

<kwrh ʾrb fykr ʾsw wʾṭhyrh ʿyndwh ʾqwʾl ʾlwʾḍyḥah ʾnʿymh>
kurh ar-rabb fikr ʾas-sū wa-(ʾaṭ?-)ṭāhirah ʿind-uh ʾaqwāl ʾal-wāḍiḥah ʾan-naʿīmah
'Aversion of the lord is the thought of wickedness; and pure, to him, are the clear words of pleasantness'

There is so much cool going on already in just this phrase , e.g. short vowels /i/ and /u/ are quite consistently spelled plene: kwrh /kurh/, fykr /fikr/.
Definite article is always spelled assimilated: ʾrb /ar-rabb/ not ʾlrb as in Classical Judeo-Arabic and Standard Arabic.

Do you think it'd be fun to look at and think along with others? Do let me know in the poll and we'll jump into it this weekend!

We'll be working from texts that were edited by Blau & Hopkins in this book, transcriptions will be provided.
ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=68…