Variation in the Use of Diacritics in Modern Typeset Standard Arabic: A Theoretical and Descriptive Framework

The extent to which the diacritic layer (taskil) of the Arabic writing system is employed in modern typeset text differs considerably between genres and individual texts, with many in-between forms not aptly captured by the traditional binary categories of vowelled and unvowelled text. This article is the first to present a theoretical account of this variation applicable to modern typeset Standard Arabic. It is suggested that diacritics serve three basic functions: facilitation of reading comprehension; facil-itation of prescriptively correct diction; and to evoke associations with other texts. Six modes of diacritization in modern typeset text are identified and related to data on rates of diacritization from a corpus of electronically published books. Further lines of research based on this framework are suggested.

Automated summary

This article presents a theoretical account of the variation in the use of diacritics in modern typeset Standard Arabic, identifying three basic functions and six modes of diacritization. Further research based on this framework is suggested.